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Author Topic: My attitude towards remote mixing  (Read 7793 times)

Chuck Simon

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Re: My attitude towards remote mixing
« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2013, 10:47:52 PM »

I agree. For all the stuff that goes on during a live show..even a small one... I find myself controlling 3-4 things at a time and that is impossible on the SL iPad app... Hopefully not on the X 32 app but I still want to have faders and knobs. It is almost a physical rhythm kind of a thing. Like the difference between a real car and a video game.

All true, but there are situations where a FOH position is prohibited or just not practical, and those situations do not usually require a lot of channels.  I love the iPad app, but it doesn't totally replace my snake and a traditional FOH when needed.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2013, 11:08:38 PM by Chuck Simon »
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Tim Perry

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Re: My attitude towards remote mixing
« Reply #11 on: January 14, 2013, 03:58:34 AM »

Even if you don't use it for much during the show it looks cool, hi-tech, and "digital"
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Geri O'Neil

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Re: My attitude towards remote mixing
« Reply #12 on: January 14, 2013, 09:50:23 AM »

All true, but there are situations where a FOH position is prohibited or just not practical, and those situations do not usually require a lot of channels.  I love the iPad app, but it doesn't totally replace my snake and a traditional FOH when needed.

I said I loathe it.

I DIDN'T say I stopped doing it.

My attitude toward the orchestra, is when you have a venue that holds a 60-piece orchestra, you have room for a FOH mix position. I was co-erced into mixing them on a tablet for a yearly hoity-toity fund-raising gala event. This idea was offered by THAT boss (and I'm not saying anything that he and I didn't discuss already..:o)) to the Orchestra board. This year, I went to the Conductor, who trusts me implicitly (yeah, enjoy it while I can, LOL) and made the case for a FOH mix position. A little compromise here and there by all involved and I got my mix position back.

I know of 9 events so far where I'll be mixing from the iPad. I just hope that Soundcraft updates their app at some point soon.

Geri O
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Jay Barracato

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Re: My attitude towards remote mixing
« Reply #13 on: January 14, 2013, 12:26:35 PM »

I think Geri and Chuck get it.

I made a brand agnostic post about a technique that I have commented that I don't see the point of in the past.

I have had a couple of shows where the technique made my job easier. As Geri said, there isn't much point if it makes your job more difficult.

The board belongs to the band so there isn't much point in debating studio live vs x32. As a matter of fact, the debate sounds to me like a debate over which is the better transportation: a ford focus or a Chevy s10. While they are both vehicles, they also are based on different design principles. If you need a truck bed your choice of a s10 makes sense but you are never going to convince someone who needs to put a couple of passengers in the back that it is a better choice.

Like the studio live vs x32, all they really share is the fact they are both vehicles with similar price points. What is missing is that the price point is AS LOW AS POSSIBLE. I am not overly concerned who is winning the feature part of the race to the bottom.

And John, you made me laugh with your comment about needing VCA's to mix. I know mixing is important to you, but I get hired because I can mix better than anyone else the band knows on any system/ any board they provide. It doesn't matter if it is a carvin powered head or a sc48. We have a local joint I work occasionally with two different bands. The rig is all berhinger. The xenyx board is not anything I would ever buy. But every night I am there I have someone come up to tell me that my bands sound better than anyone else they have in there. I don't often get hired because of what I NEED, I get hired for what I can accomplish when the best equipment is not available.

This is a band that I have done over 100 shows with, probably also close to 50 with the studio live. They have four inputs: 3 guitars that are level and tonally balanced on the pedalboard into channel one, lead vocal into channel 2, upright bass direct into channel 3, and kick drum into channel 4. My saved template show has my gain structure set all the way through including the two monitor mixes. Usually all I need is a line check to get input gains and the show is ready to go.

I have found during the show I rarely touch faders. Level changes are usually by fine tuning the compressors. EQ changes for the room/ crowd density/ weather are conveniently done remotely. The biggest song to song changes are vocal effects which also can easily be done remotely.

I still fight with touch screens and the iPad seems no different and I never will be willing to give up a true mix surface but I am doing enough shows with the mixer side stage that I no longer poo poo the technique like I once did.
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Jay Barracato

John Chiara

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Re: My attitude towards remote mixing
« Reply #14 on: January 14, 2013, 01:50:48 PM »

Hey Jay,
I also get hired because of skills, not gear. For my style of dynamic mixing of either big rock bands with backing tracks or 10 piece horn bands with many inputs, my point was that on an iPad app where I can't get to all faders at once and without a VCA screen I can't get to all the things I need without endless scrolling.. Which is not fast enough for prime time in mist cases. I end up mixing on everything and anything, I just have preferences if I have the choice. I can do a better job with VCAs more easily than not. I do a lot of pulling a section down a Db or 2 during verses, playing with leads and effects returns in real time, lowering all vocals a bit when no one  is singing to reduce stage hash..etc. I also do a bit of mixing with EQ... Say on a guitar channel during a verse or when the always consistent guitarists...:)...hits his preset that has 6 Db of boost at 3K. You know what I am saying. I see guys now always mixing with an iPad and so never consider a lot that I believe they would if in front of a console.
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Keith Broughton

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Re: My attitude towards remote mixing
« Reply #15 on: January 14, 2013, 03:17:11 PM »

I find these remote apps are great for setting up and tweaking a rig or getting on stage to adjust monitors.
When it's show time, I want my hands on some faders!
Maybe I'm too old  :-\
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I don't care enough to be apathetic

Jay Barracato

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Re: Re: My attitude towards remote mixing
« Reply #16 on: January 15, 2013, 11:51:13 AM »

Hey Jay,
I also get hired because of skills, not gear. For my style of dynamic mixing of either big rock bands with backing tracks or 10 piece horn bands with many inputs, my point was that on an iPad app where I can't get to all faders at once and without a VCA screen I can't get to all the things I need without endless scrolling.. Which is not fast enough for prime time in mist cases. I end up mixing on everything and anything, I just have preferences if I have the choice. I can do a better job with VCAs more easily than not. I do a lot of pulling a section down a Db or 2 during verses, playing with leads and effects returns in real time, lowering all vocals a bit when no one  is singing to reduce stage hash..etc. I also do a bit of mixing with EQ... Say on a guitar channel during a verse or when the always consistent guitarists...:)...hits his preset that has 6 Db of boost at 3K. You know what I am saying. I see guys now always mixing with an iPad and so never consider a lot that I believe they would if in front of a console.

John,

I thought it was funny because what you said doesn't really match up with what my impression of what you do is.

The real point, that I think we both agree on, is that to truly mix you want immediate access to all of the tools at your disposal. This is one of the reasons I dislike the 01v and ls9. Unless I have set up the board in a way that makes sense to me I spend extra time hunting for what I want.

Many shows, at a surface or remote, once I am up and running I rarely touch faders. I think that shows that what the app designers thought were the most important controls are not what we may think the important controls are.
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Jay Barracato

Henry Moreau

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Re: My attitude towards remote mixing
« Reply #17 on: January 15, 2013, 11:59:40 AM »

Been lusting ever sense I had seen the previews for the X32.
Hopefully this year I'll swing the cash down on the table.  ;)
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Steve Milner

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My attitude towards remote mixing
« Reply #18 on: January 15, 2013, 02:06:31 PM »

Been lusting ever sense I had seen the previews for the X32.
Hopefully this year I'll swing the cash down on the table.  ;)

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My attitude towards remote mixing
« Reply #18 on: January 15, 2013, 02:06:31 PM »


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