Want to improve your mix?  Well you came to the right place.

Electronic gadgetry is making it easier and easier for the average musician to get better sound these days, but the general understanding of getting the most out of your gear is still a warranted education.

In the end it all comes down to gain staging. Easy phrase to memorize but a lifetimes worth of understanding to achieve. 

Ok here is the bad news. If you truly want to become worth a piss at engineering you must have some understanding of physics and the science and math of the equipment you use. But the good news is. You will be able to apply this knowledge to any situation you may find yourself.  perhaps as time and willingness allows I will get more specific but for now I will speak in broad generalities just to get you going. 

There is an old programming phrase that really better matches the mixing engineers lot in life. It goes, garbage in garbage out. So if you are inputting garbage to your microphone,  garbage will be the amplified result. 

In a broad sense of the term a microphone is nothing more than a small electricity generating motor. The motor is driven by sound sources. Like all devices of this nature, it will have a peak operating efficiency, and different ones will have differing output characteristics. One thing all mics have in common is the electricity they generate is not enough to be used effectively for power amplification. This is why there needs to be preamplifier in between the microphone and the power amplifier. For the live sound person this is the mixer.

Now that we have this weak electrical signal, we need to amplify it. how much depends on the format with radio being the highest operational voltage. just about any mixer I have encountered at the very top of the row the fist knob is the trim/pre-amp knob.  Also there is usually a button or 2 one will say pad and the other will be for phantom power.  For those who are just starting out Phantom power a way to power an electret microphone. Think of it as an "electro magnet."