Offshoot from the recent stereo/mono thread, albeit unrelated.
Supplying and operating FOH for corporate bands (100-300 audience, ballrooms etc), I've recently been running the entire band through the LR bus, except for lead vocals which go to mono only. LR and Mono sent to FOH via matrix on my Soundcraft Expression.
Light compression on the LR bus, even lighter comp (if any at all) on the Mono bus. The usual channel compression as needed. Its an easy way to keep the lead vox on top, should the band get excited as tends to happen. LR comp keeps the reigns on the band without pulling the lead vocal down.
The mono fader is always an easy grab, and you can GEQ or PEQ to suit the vox without digging into LR. Plus if a backing vocalist takes the lead on a song, its an easy on/off toggle from LR to Mono and back again. Fx returns can remain in stereo as needed. I haven't yet found a real disadvantage to this approach, esp considering the Mono fader went largely unused before. Essentially similar to aux bus/subgroub, but easier to implement and manage. Thoughts or suggestions how to further refine this approach?
