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Which type of console would you prefer to see at a line-check-and-go festival, where you would not be bringing your own console?

Midas XL4 and plenty of outboard
- 19 (22.6%)
Your digital console of choice
- 59 (70.2%)
Other analogue console and associated toys
- 6 (7.1%)

Total Members Voted: 83

Voting closed: March 20, 2012, 04:02:38 PM


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Author Topic: Festival FOH Console  (Read 8266 times)

Alan Singfield

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Festival FOH Console
« on: March 13, 2012, 04:02:38 PM »

If you were arriving with a band at a festival where only the headline act is allowed to bring their own consoles in, and where you will not soundcheck but line-check silently (on headphones/local monitoring) in twenty minutes and go?

Remember kids, I don't want to turn this into a discussion on the rules imposed by festival production, I just want to know if you had to choose one console for this situation, which would it be?

Obviously it would be better if the festival provided the console that you specified/had a show file for, but let's assume that isn't the case, for the purposes of this poll. As we know, if there's one group of people you won't be able to please all of the time, it's sound engineers.

Thanks for your input.
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Alan Singfield
Sound Engineer/Director
Black Box Professional Audio
Glasgow, UK
www.blackboxproaudio.com

Alan Singfield

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Re: Festival FOH Console
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2012, 04:07:28 PM »

This might influence my decisions about what to provide at festivals this summer, if you need any more motivation.

Thanks,
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Alan Singfield
Sound Engineer/Director
Black Box Professional Audio
Glasgow, UK
www.blackboxproaudio.com

Tim McCulloch

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Re: Festival FOH Console
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2012, 06:24:51 PM »

If you were arriving with a band at a festival where only the headline act is allowed to bring their own consoles in, and where you will not soundcheck but line-check silently (on headphones/local monitoring) in twenty minutes and go?

Remember kids, I don't want to turn this into a discussion on the rules imposed by festival production, I just want to know if you had to choose one console for this situation, which would it be?

Obviously it would be better if the festival provided the console that you specified/had a show file for, but let's assume that isn't the case, for the purposes of this poll. As we know, if there's one group of people you won't be able to please all of the time, it's sound engineers.

Thanks for your input.

I picked digital of choice, but the reality is that I'll mix on anything that has enough working inputs and outputs for my act.  It's a festival... and while I want my act to be presented as best able, if I have no choice of desk, outboard, etc I'll take whatever is there and play our 40 minutes (and hope we sell out of merch).

YMMV.
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Tim Weaver

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Re: Festival FOH Console
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2012, 07:00:11 PM »

If you were arriving with a band at a festival where only the headline act is allowed to bring their own consoles in, and where you will not soundcheck but line-check silently (on headphones/local monitoring) in twenty minutes and go?

Remember kids, I don't want to turn this into a discussion on the rules imposed by festival production, I just want to know if you had to choose one console for this situation, which would it be?

Obviously it would be better if the festival provided the console that you specified/had a show file for, but let's assume that isn't the case, for the purposes of this poll. As we know, if there's one group of people you won't be able to please all of the time, it's sound engineers.

Thanks for your input.

I voted for digital here. I have worked a number of festivals now with the Soundcraft Vi6 and can say that it excels at festival work. It is easy to use, and fast to teach to the noob. Also your FOH tech can command the right fader bank and help the BE get his show up and running FAST.

When I do this, I'll let the BE work on his money channel while I start dialing in the drums. We will meet somewhere around the guitars and then he can take over. It works great, and it's a fantastic sounding desk.
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chuck clark

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Re: Festival FOH Console
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2012, 01:56:51 AM »

Had to vote analogue. Realistically, I can hardly think of a worse time to have to deal w/ the learning curve of an unfamiliar digital system than with 20 min. to showtime and 24 channels to line check. God forbid you should actually encounter any actual problems on any of those channels. Who has time for THAT when your  learning to program on an unfamiliar OS?
But it's NEW -it's HIGH TECH, it's the LATEST & it's the GREATEST. ya gotta love it! Right?  MAYBE, but we really should be realistic about the subset of arbitrary digital issues that comes with any new software. It's often a giant pain in the arse that in LIVE sound, we simply don't have time for.  There . I said it and I'm glad.   
Chuck
PS: Maybe we should vote, how many think we need MORE or LESS headaches running live sound?
Voting results notwithstanding, I'm pretty sure which one we're gonna GET! Ha! Thank God for the control Z button. (undo)     
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Festival FOH Console
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2012, 03:12:22 AM »

Had to vote analogue. Realistically, I can hardly think of a worse time to have to deal w/ the learning curve of an unfamiliar digital system than with 20 min. to showtime and 24 channels to line check. God forbid you should actually encounter any actual problems on any of those channels. Who has time for THAT when your  learning to program on an unfamiliar OS?
But it's NEW -it's HIGH TECH, it's the LATEST & it's the GREATEST. ya gotta love it! Right?  MAYBE, but we really should be realistic about the subset of arbitrary digital issues that comes with any new software. It's often a giant pain in the arse that in LIVE sound, we simply don't have time for.  There . I said it and I'm glad.   
Chuck
PS: Maybe we should vote, how many think we need MORE or LESS headaches running live sound?
Voting results notwithstanding, I'm pretty sure which one we're gonna GET! Ha! Thank God for the control Z button. (undo)     

I would presume that you'd ask for a familiar console regardless of ones and zeros, but I would pick a familiar digital desk first, followed by familiar analog desk with sufficient outboard... and if we're not the headliner, how much outboard dynamics do I get?

I certainly agree that learning a new desk at set change isn't fun.  There's a wee bit of pressure being the teacher, too. ;)

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"If you're passing on your way, from Palm Springs to L.A., Give a wave to good ol' Dave, Say hello to progress and goodbye to the Moonlight Motor Inn." - Steve Spurgin, Moonlight Motor Inn

Matt Tudor

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Re: Festival FOH Console
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2012, 11:04:09 AM »

The other side of your discussion is that if we have 20 minutes in a festival situation, how deep into the board are you really going to be digging? If it's a festival, the board is (hopefully) already patched, odds are you're not going to be spending much time with the house EQ or processing. I can see some room for frustration if you have lots of very specific effects or routing that you need help finding, but that's what the provider's system guy is for. For a line-check-and -go gig, I'd rather have the digital board with lots of channel dynamics and effects a click or two away, than have to take time to run around to the back of board and physically patch a spaghetti mess of insert cables and gak in the doghouse for whatever FX are leftover in the rack.

Had to vote analogue. Realistically, I can hardly think of a worse time to have to deal w/ the learning curve of an unfamiliar digital system than with 20 min. to showtime and 24 channels to line check. God forbid you should actually encounter any actual problems on any of those channels. Who has time for THAT when your  learning to program on an unfamiliar OS?
But it's NEW -it's HIGH TECH, it's the LATEST & it's the GREATEST. ya gotta love it! Right?  MAYBE, but we really should be realistic about the subset of arbitrary digital issues that comes with any new software. It's often a giant pain in the arse that in LIVE sound, we simply don't have time for.  There . I said it and I'm glad.   
Chuck
PS: Maybe we should vote, how many think we need MORE or LESS headaches running live sound?
Voting results notwithstanding, I'm pretty sure which one we're gonna GET! Ha! Thank God for the control Z button. (undo)     
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Matthew Brown

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Re: Festival FOH Console
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2012, 12:27:43 PM »

The other side of your discussion is that if we have 20 minutes in a festival situation, how deep into the board are you really going to be digging? If it's a festival, the board is (hopefully) already patched, odds are you're not going to be spending much time with the house EQ or processing. I can see some room for frustration if you have lots of very specific effects or routing that you need help finding, but that's what the provider's system guy is for. For a line-check-and -go gig, I'd rather have the digital board with lots of channel dynamics and effects a click or two away, than have to take time to run around to the back of board and physically patch a spaghetti mess of insert cables and gak in the doghouse for whatever FX are leftover in the rack.

+1 digital of choice. You will have all of your dynamics processing and some key FX right there. If you have done gigs on this digital of choice, you might have a setup that will get you close as well.
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Ben Brunskill

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Re: Festival FOH Console
« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2012, 05:26:55 AM »

If I couldn't have digital of my choice, I'd take the analog + outboard. I wouldn't want to try and learn an unfamiliar digi console while line checking all at once.

Having said that, I'm slowly picking up some time on various digi consoles, and in a pinch I reckon I could do ok on a new one.
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Jay Barracato

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Re: Festival FOH Console
« Reply #9 on: March 15, 2012, 09:39:51 AM »

If you were arriving with a band at a festival where only the headline act is allowed to bring their own consoles in, and where you will not soundcheck but line-check silently (on headphones/local monitoring) in twenty minutes and go?

Remember kids, I don't want to turn this into a discussion on the rules imposed by festival production, I just want to know if you had to choose one console for this situation, which would it be?

Obviously it would be better if the festival provided the console that you specified/had a show file for, but let's assume that isn't the case, for the purposes of this poll. As we know, if there's one group of people you won't be able to please all of the time, it's sound engineers.

Thanks for your input.

If the provider knows what they are doing and has a good festival template setup, it can be dead simple to walk up to a digital console, line check, and get what you need, if you are familiar with the band you are mixing.
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Jay Barracato

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Festival FOH Console
« Reply #9 on: March 15, 2012, 09:39:51 AM »


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