u/harleydood63

Hello fellow enthusiasts!

Quick background; I'm a musician first, but started running sound for local bands about 20 years ago. I do it because I enjoy it. I'm pretty good at it...lots of repeat business. That out of the way...

For those in my same position, how do you handle a mix when the band has an instrument that is not in the original song?

Most of my clients strive to sound like the music they're covering. However, what do you do when the original song has only keyboards (no rhythm guitar), but the band has a guitar player? In that situation I have been kind of undermixing the rhythm guitar a bit, making sure to boost during his solo.

My question; Should I mix the rhythm guitar to a level that I would *normally* mix it? Or do I keep it down in the mix to better emulate the mix of the original artist?

NOTE: I always try to emulate the mix of the original artist with details like correct FX on vocals, etc.

Discuss.

D

UPDATE: All good comments. The consensus is clear. I appreciate the advice and will follow it. Thanx!

Hey guys,

As an audio engineer, I have been using Behringer and Midas digital consoles, X32 and M32 respectively, for about 3 years. I've been very happy with them. But for my band I've been using a SoundCraft UI16. As a drummer, I don't do any mixing. I just set it up, ring it out and hand it over to the lead singer, who pushes faders. He does a good job.

My question; Should I be concerned with the reliability of the UI16?

I don't carry a spare console (can't fit any of my consoles in my SUV with my drums loaded). I've heard only rumors of UI16 unreliability and one real story of a DOA UI16 straight out of the box. I got the thing for cheap and it's been laying around for about a year, so I decided to put it to use. So far, about 10 gigs in, it hasn't given us any problems.

My X32 Compact has been rock solid for well over 100 shows. I know that the entire X32 platform has been pretty reliable. Should I just spring for a rackmount X32? Or can I trust this UI16? Is it a ticking time bomb?

I'd like to hear from anyone who has had either a failure or great reliability with the UI16 (100+ shows).

Thanx!

D

Hello fellow sound doods,

Briefly, da facts...

I've been a professional drummer for over 45 years and still perform. I've been an audio engineer for about 17 years. My goto console is the ol' reliable X32 Compact. I record every show 3 ways; video (GoPro), 2-channel audio (stereo board mix) and 16 or 32 channel (depending on how many live channels I'm using). That said...

On a whim, on the off chance I might need it, I decided to start setting up my consoles (Scenes) with a Broadcast Matrix. On the advice of others, I parsed out the drums, melodic instruments and vocals into their own subgroups, which are then fed to Matrix 3 & 4, which are assigned to local outputs 3 and 4 (done purely for consistency - Matrix 5 & 6 are Mains, assigned to 15 and 16 on the stagebox, again, for consistency).

Naturally, I've been using the 16-channel recordings to audit and test signal paths. Honestly, in this scenario of separating live mix signal with Broadcast signal, the signal path gets a bit complicated - something I do NOT wish to troubleshoot at the gig. What a great way to really learn one's console. Anyway...

UPDATE 8/17 @ 12:38 PM Mountain time: FX Returns...

I forgot to mention that I'm handling my FX Returns in, what some might consider, an unconventional way. For my Main mix I simply return FX to Mixbuses. Not sure if everyone else does it that way, but I like having all of my FX buses on the same page as my Monitor Mixes (buses). I have Delay, Reverb, Tap Delay and Drum Reverb. That said...

For the Broadcast matrix I return Reverb, Delay and Tap Delay through the vocal subgroup. I return Drum Reverb through the drum subgroup. (See added question 5 below).

My questions are this:

1. Do you guys automatically set up a Broadcast Matrix "just in case" it's needed?
2. Or, are you good enough that if the client demands a Broadcast signal on site, that you set one up right there and then?
3. Or, do you demand that any Broadcast Matrix requests are made up front BEFORE show time so that you have time to set it up?
4. Do you go through the trouble of parsing out instruments and vocals into their own subgroups so that you can make up for acoustic differences between a live room vs. a Broadcast?
5. How are you guys returning FX into your Broadcast Matrix? Do you use a separate Mixbus for FX Returns? I thought about setting up another Mixbus for FX, but am finding that returning through the aforementioned subgroups seems to net a good result. Thoughts?

Just curious to know what you guys are doing.

D

Hey doods!

One thing I can't stand about changing the oil in my R60 is the lack of thought that went into oil filter access. Anyone who has changed their own oil knows that in order to gain access to the filter one must breast the coolant reservoir. If one just pushes it up and over, this takes a good amount of force, which puts a strain on connectors and hoses.

Strain on coupling

What I have discovered is that I can use an old drum stick to not only breast the coolant reservoir, but support it from underneath AT the connector. Now, instead of PULLING the reservoir UP away from the connector, we're PUSHING the connector up into the reservoir, thereby taking all of the strain OFF of the connector.

Stick pushes connector into reservoir

And while I won't tout access as "unfettered," it IS very manageable. Loosening and subsequently removing the oil filter and then replacing it is very doable.

Filter accessible

And while I'm at it, I made a nice tent using old hard drive neodymium magnets and an old table cloth. Perfect for those hot days!

Tent provides awesome relief from the hot Sun

Anyway, just thought I would share this hack. After 12 oil changes doing it the old way and subsequently damaging the old connector, oil change #13 was a much better way.

Discuss.

D

Hey doods!

In a recent thread I asked about comb filtering on this system:

https://preview.redd.it/hrwo66zqd1zg1.png?width=548&format=png&auto=webp&s=c82461bf2a87030b11c87673e03eab8ab5c62cfb

It was pointed out to me that the engineer may have been splitting duties between speakers. e.g. Vocals in one stack and instruments in another.

Q1: Are there any real world gains by running 2 pair of mains and parsing out instruments and vocals? If so, what are the gains?

Q2: If you've done this, how do you guys split up the mix between speaker pairs?

My thoughts are that it's kind of intuitive that more speakers with less acoustic duties might be beneficial. But another part of me is thinking "not really." I just don't know. So I'm asking you guys.

D

Hey doods!

A couple years into my soundman journey I really dove into the acoustic science side of audio engineering. After a very difficult gig of pairing point-source speakers at an outdoor show, I decided to dive down the rabbit hole to figure out what went wrong. This is where I discovered the anomaly of comb filtering. Interesting journey. Lesson learned. That said...

I had a gig a couple weeks ago (I've been a pro drummer for many decades). When I get to the venue I see this:

https://preview.redd.it/p9isuol6pyyg1.png?width=2131&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb64f9f465549eac2e0d6421949ada67a1f7cd6a

This system belongs to the house engineer.

Now, as a performer I don't micromanage audio engineers. I keep my mouth shut and let them run sound the way they want to. But clearly this is not only creating a comb-filtering nightmare in the top cabinets, but also a good dose of destructive interference and constructive interference with the subs, also creating a power alley (there's an exact duplicate of the SL mains on the SR side circled in red).

I know this engineer. He's a nice guy who also performs as a guitar player. I like him. Listening to the mix via a GoPro camera it doesn't sound bad. The mix is good. The drums have no punch, but that's okay. They're in the mix and nobody mixes drums like I do, so I try not to judge. They're heard, and I'm good with that.

Conversely, when I mix this room, subs are centered and I use only a single point source speaker per side (yes, I use the term "point source" colloquially).

https://preview.redd.it/rwsv3f34syyg1.png?width=1368&format=png&auto=webp&s=f04ae5bb20ca33cdad680a44fe9f2a907d40999e

NOTE: In this case, hard to see are the main speakers, which are QSC KW153's, which belong to the client, which are not my favorite speakers, but we made them work.

This video is a combination of GoPro Hero13 audio and 2-channel board audio:

https://youtu.be/YfiewcqoFA8

Not a perfect mix by far, but what I would consider "good" (undermixed the GTR a little). There's a hardwood ceiling over the stage, which makes mixing the wedges lots of phun. And that hardwood floor. Thank God for the water bags. But I digress...

My question is for those audio engineers who also still perform as a musician.

Q: Do you ever "coach" your audio engineer at your gigs? Or are you like me and just let them do their job?

I WANT to coach him, but then part of me just wants to let the guy do his job the way he wants to do it. I got compliments on the sound all night, so part of me just wants to leave well enough alone. I don't want to be a backseat driver. But I feel like I could help him a little bit. Tough call.

D