This Empath audio mixer was made by the Rane Corporation, Mukilteo, Washington. It is a Grandmaster Flash Gold Signature edition, serial number (21) 00425549, 3-channel, 10” format mixer. A mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or audio production console, is an electronic device for combining or “mixing” audio from multiples sources such as turntables or cd players and equalizing, cross-fading, adjusting timbre, and changing dynamics of audio signals to an external source such as speakers or a recording device.
Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler), was born in Barbados in 1958. Growing up in the Bronx, he was influenced by his father’s massive record collection. As a teenager, Grandmaster Flash first experimented with DJ equipment and became involved in the New York DJ scene while attending daytime technical school courses in electronics. The innovations and techniques developed by Grandmaster Flash established him as one of the pioneers of hip hop and deejaying.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.