This first segment is “how to mix front of house” when you also have control live stage monitors, are feeding IEMS (in-ear monitors) and maybe a sub feed out to a streaming mix. When  mixing all of these different things from the same console, it  forces you into a mode where your gain structure and certain other parameters have to be driven by the other feeds you are mixing, not just the PA. Truly, it isn’t perfect, but it can work.

*In an ideal world you have a monitor engineer, streaming engineer and two more consoles. Lots of $$$$$$$ Good Luck!

So, the first thing you have to look at is how much gain is required to feed the IEM direct outs to get good signal-to-noise. Inadequate levels with whatever types of headphones/in-ears the individual musicians are using leads to excessive IEM Noise.

Tip=> everyone’s IEM’s needs to have high sensitivity at least 107 dB. If that’s not the case, you may have to have enough gain to handle the lower output devices that people might be using.. 

So your Gain structure is initially driven by what needs to go to the IEM and direct outs. Busses will also be used for IEM feeds so  you’ve also got to look at things that need to be grouped into the IEM.  Also determine which feeds are pre EQ, compressor etc.…. and which aren’t. People always say give me a pre everything feed, but that is not always the best choice for live or IEM. (Ear Damage i.e. accidents)

You may not want to have EQ applied  to certain aspects. The last thing you want to do is have any EQ you’re doing at front of house affect, let’s say a bass player and what they’re hearing in their in hears. On most consoles  there’s a variety of feed options with direct outs, buss outs, other ways of getting signal to an IEM with or  without mute with or without EQ with or without gain adjustment.

Vocals vs. Godzilla

When you deal with a group of vocals however, it’s very important that what you’re doing at front of house does translate into the in IEM ears and floor wedges. For example, you have six vocalists and one of them goes “Godzilla” on you and is much louder than the other five.   

At front of house you have to pull that one singer down to save the mix. (It’s a rescue operation!) You want that change to translate to the IEM mix (and floor wedges). So they get  fed off of a post fader group buss. (On most  consoles it’s not called a “group.”  It’s called a “buss.”)  On a buss, send every EQ change and every gain change that you make on the vocals does translate to the in-ears and it also translates to the floor monitors.

Similar issues anyone else using live wedges.

Note – do not let these people have stage IEM control boxes to mix their own mix. This basically becomes a second sound system, being run by a musician. You need control of all wedges or your mix will be destroyed by your other “sound people” on stage.

Floor Wedges  

You’ve got another anomaly you have to look at when you have floor wedges that are primarily giving keyboard and in some cases click cues to the musicians that aren’t using any ears, which most often  are the vocalists.

The question is do you make these pre fader or do you make these post fader? Now the prevailing wisdom would be make that pre fader because you wouldn’t want front of house changes to make it disappear. 

The reality, however, is that when you do that, the tonality in the front of house is constantly changing due to the unchanging monitor mix. If you pull a fader down on the keyboard FOH, the monitor bleed, which is a completely different frequency set and is out of phase and creating comb filtering is at a higher level than what’s coming out of the PA. Can sound pretty bad.

So the best solution is to actually keep a set of in-ears handy at front of house or a really good set of headphones, mix everything post fader – keyboards, guitars, everything else that’s going into the monitors.

You have to check the monitor mix  levels by soloing up that bus to see what the blend is and make sure that with vocals there’s enough keyboards and other instruments  there that they can get all of their frequency cues and all of their timing cues from the click track.  So you want that to be there but not overbearing. 

Streaming

The feed to streaming is a similar scenario. Drums in the live mix do not need to be that loud in the house. Kick drum does, but unless they are in a separate room, most everything else does not. However, what needs to go to the streaming mix is all of it.

So you need to create  a buss mix  that allows you to get a better mix to streaming than you would get if you just left it alone.  This has to be post EQ fader etc….. so your FOH changes affect that feed. And, you have to listen to it once in a while. Okay, so that kind of ends the basic session there about big gain structure, etc…

Also assign a good gain limiting device to that bus overall, and set it so on quiet songs it is barely set on working, on RMS. Use one that simulates a vintage comp/limiter.

It’s still not a good choice compared to mixing on a separate console, but if you pay attention it can work.

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Copyright AVLDESIGNSINC 2021+

Selecting a Digital Audio Mixing Console for Musical Theater Production – Low and Mid-Priced Consoles

Digital – Why?

The primary advantages of a digital audio console is the ability to save scene and library memory. Either of these memory types can be scenes for show for templates for specific uses. Each memory stores volume levels, equalization and other factors that are set by the operator at the time it is saved.

● If you have a skilled sound engineer, have them create and save a memory for you that can then be accessed by a less-skilled operator in the future. As long as the same type of microphones are plugged into the same channels and set up in a similar fashion, when that saved memory is recalled later on the sound quality will be pretty close to the same as when it was stored.

● This requires some hard copy data such as to what microphones were plugged in where, etc at the time that the memories we created. This is especially important for choral ensembles and various types of hand-held, headset and lavalier microphones.

● It is also critical that the transmitters for wireless systems are set at appropriate levels when the system is first set up and are never changed. If a memory is save based on the particular gain structure of a wireless microphone, it only works if that microphone transmitter gain has not been changed.

Libraries

This is where library functions come in. A library is a template for a specific channel. You can save, for example, the same microphone being used in different ways.

◦ Sometimes a handheld microphone will be used by a singer touching their lips. The equalization and gain structure of this is dramatically different than the same microphone that is set up on a podium with someone talking a foot away.

◦ In a library you can save solo vocal SM 58 and make another library for podium SM 58. When you create a particular show, you then can paste a library with those settings on any channel where those microphones are being used in those ways. The same goes for headset microphones for male and female voices, loud singers versus talking, etc.

◦ Recalling a memory from a library to a channel is typically two button presses on the console. That button press gets you all the work that was put into creating a good sound initially.

◦ There are some consoles that do not store libraries. We do not recommend any such consoles for theater or music use.

MEMORY RECALL – SNAPSHOT VERSUS FADE

Another issue with digital consoles is how they perform memory recall. Most reasonably priced digital consoles have snapshot recall. A snapshot is instantaneous.

◦ If you create a series of memories for theater production, it is similar to the way scenes are done on the lighting console. Setting up the memories will help with consistency in each scene on stage. The problem, however, is that lighting consoles fade lights up and down. Most digital audio consoles do not. So, if you create a snapshot for a scene, you still must manually fade down channels before you call up the next scene. Then you must either manually unmute or manually fade up the channels for the next scene. Any signals that continue to run between those scenes must be set exactly the same in each memory. (Library functions are useful for this)

◦ There is one reasonably priced console we are recommending that has fade capability. (Yamaha Q series) It is more expensive than the others but not dramatically. Fade alone, however, is not the reason to pick a console.  Creating a Scene by Scene show for a complex production is time consuming and is only a priority if this is needed.

iPAD REMOTE

Another nice feature of digital consoles is remote control capability. All have iPad Remote apps.

● These apps allow you to operate the console from anywhere in the room in a variety of fashions. If you’re equalizing a stage monitor for a singer, you can stand next to them on stage while you make adjustments. During rehearsals you can sit anywhere in the room and store, in some cases, memories to libraries etc.

● The function of the apps differs significantly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some do not allow storage libraries and memory.  Some do not allow access to all features. It’s just like any other software – your preference is part of the decision as to what console to get.

◦ Most consoles allow multiple iPads and/or laptops to be connected to them via wireless when in use. This allows certain features to be accessible on the fly without having to change anything on the physical console where you’re mixing your faders during the show. You can have a third octave equalizer readily accessible. You can have compressor limiters readily accessible on a different device. In essence you can add multiple touchscreens to most of these consoles using multiple iPads.

Physical layout is another factor you may want to consider, as well as the overall operating system of the console.

● People who learned on analog console may have a specific preference to the layout of some digital consoles. Left-handed or right-handed people may also have preferences.

● Specific manufacturers’ placement of controls, the display screens, the use of touchscreens, etc. are all Part of the decision-making process when you pick a console.

● Some consoles have more channel faders available at one time. Some use DCA’s (digitally controlled amplifiers) remote control faders that can control channels in groups, channels on other pages etc…) People like to work in different ways, and this is a factor.

INPUTS AND PATCHING

Another difference between consoles is that of their digital protocol.

● Most digital consoles can have inputs plugged in directly via XLR Standard wiring. You can also have inputs remotely plugged into a digital stage box that communicate to the console via cat five cable. What travels down the cat five cable however differs from manufacturer to manufacturer.

● The Cat 5 cable could have a number of different types of signals. AES 50, MADI, Dante, Cobranet, ethercon, are just a few of the signal types that different manufacturers use. They do not communicate with each other directly. You can’t just plug-in a console to a Cat 5 cable without knowing what the other end is and expect it to work.

● The positive aspect of all is the ability to have more inputs plugged into the console than actual channels that are available. On a 32 channel for example you can have 32 hardwired microphones plugged into the console and 32 more on digital connections.

● When you decide you want the 16 wireless from a digital stage box to be operable on the 32 channels this is done via digital patching within the console as opposed to having to physically disconnect and move cables.

● Each protocol has pluses and minuses to its operation. Some introduce time delay to signals some less than others. Some can patch one channel at a time. In the example above, you can have your 32 hardwired microphones plugged in and decide you want to just add to wireless on two active channels. You now have 30 hardwired + 2 digital inputs. Some digital protocols can patch one channel at a time in any manner which is preferred for flexibility. Some patch in groups of eight.

● Some protocols require the use of a laptop or another device to assign channels; some auto-assign.

● On most digital consoles these patch assignments can be changed with scenes, so you can have different inputs on the console for any scene within the show.

We picked three common consoles, that are relatively easy to learn.

The three consoles we selected are based on:

● Having the features that are necessary for theatrical musical production.

● Being in a price range that allows them to be used in most schools.

Midas M32

● Easy to use well laid out and in many rental houses around the country. Same operating system as the Behringer X 32. The X 32 is a staple in many schools and churches but has a less robust physical construction and not as good microphone preamps as the M 32. If you end up having demo on the compact version of the M32 it is not as good an experience as the full-size unit.

● 32 inputs XLR on console. Eight additional line inputs. Can have an additional 32 inputs via digital.

● 24 faders – 16 Faders at a time on pages. DCA faders can be used as channels to allow 24 at a time.

● The iPad Interface is exceptional and allows access to all functions on the Console in the connection of multiple iPads at any time.

● The biggest negative of this console is the same for all Midas products which is AES 50 protocol. AES 50 patches in a manner that can accomplish most anything you want but is cumbersome. You have to create a custom patch menu.

● The LED screen is not a touch screen which some people like some people do not like.

◦ Multiple iPads can access the console at the same time which allows touch screens for multiple functions.

● Scenes are snapshot only.

Allen and Heath SQ 7

● Well laid-out and easy to operate. The iPad interface is very good and excesses virtually all features on the console. Patching can be done one channel at the time.

● Multiple iPads can connect to console simultaneously.

● Large LED display is a touchscreen

● 32 Faders can be channels, dcas etc….

● The only negative I have with this console personally is the physical layout of the knobs in radius patterns around the screen. This can obviously be learned but coming from a linear console channel layouts it takes a little getting used to.

● Scenes are snapshot only.

Yamaha QL

● Easy to operate and well laid out, but with fewer direct access knobs.

● 32 faders – can be channels, DCA’s etc.….

● Many faders and all can be channels.

● The only console in this group that has fade capability for scenes.

● Large LED display is a touchscreen.

● Ipad interface allows access to primary functions but not all functions.

● Negatives – higher cost, a bit higher learning curve.

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Copyright AVL DESIGNS INC 2021+