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[Tim McCulloch]

There was a time in a previous century when I'd offer unsolicited advice if I were attending as a civilian.

There are times while working, when I'd love to tell the BE "there's a problem on the bus, they need you" and fix the mix whilst the BE is on my fool's errand.

Most of the time I just put in the earplugs and read internet forums... /nudge, wink

And the idea of "fixing" a mix via stealth?  Yeah, it's got some cloak and dagger appeal but it it's that bad I'll just leave.

[John Roberts {JR}]

I've rarely been lubricated enough and in such a situation to offer mix advice to a stranger. I think I tried that exactly one time (the mix was that bad in a bar in Cincinnati) and my suggestion was not well received.

JR

[Mark Scrivener]

I agree offering unsolicited mixing advice isn't generally well received. In the story I related there were a few things that made me more comfortable doing it:

1. I was there during some of the setup/sound check and was friends with the band, the sound guy saw that and I'm sure realized I knew what I was doing based on my conversations with the band members.

2. I started the conversation with the sound guy in a non threatening way, with a comment about the ancient board the venue had stuck him with and established some comradery. After some friendly banter I said something like "I wonder if it would help to ......" and he was immediately receptive.

Bottom line - If you are somehow invested in the show (friends playing, etc), sense an openness to your input, and are extremely tactful in your approach, it can be done.

Oh, I just remembered another one......long time ago I was in college and went to see a band I had heard about. Right at the the start the sound guy got pissed off for some reason, pulled all the connections out of the board and stormed off. I really wanted to hear the band so I just walked over to the board and started figuring it out. No one complained :-)

[Dan Richardson]

  First, they will have to log into your Wi-Fi router/access point by cracking your password, then figure out your desk address,

Minor fyi, Mixing Station can search and find the desk address.

[Dan Mortensen]

Minor fyi, Mixing Station can search and find the desk address.

Thanks for that detail, I didn't know that. Or is that only for DHCP setups?- What if the desk is set up for Static IP?

Regardless, if there's no password on the wifi network then anybody can get into the network and connect to the desk. I put the IP address on my Static IP consoles (all of them) so I can find the right one when needed. Since the network password is pretty robust I don't worry about someone having the IP address. Hope that continues to be enough.

[Russell Ault]

{...} Or is that only for DHCP setups?- What if the desk is set up for Static IP? {...}

Mixing Station will only find consoles with IP addresses that are in the same subnet as the device it's running on. Put another way, if the console is addressed in a different subnet than the one being assigned to Wi-Fi clients (either link-local or via DHCP) then Mixing Station won't be able to find it.

As a slight aside, I'm a little surprised that no one has tried to make an OSC "firewall" for the X/M32 platform (i.e. rather than connecting directly to the console, devices connect to an OSC proxy that could filter incoming messages or even enforce some kind of authentication mechanism).

-Russ

[Jay Marr]

You go to a venue. There’s a glaring issue with the mix. Low and behold, the band didn’t put a WI-FI password on their mixer and you’ve got mixing station installed on your phone. You could easily just go in and take care of it, but know you shouldn’t. But it sounds so bad and would be so easy to fix…..

In this case it sounds like there is no FOH engineer and the band is mixing themselves.
I would absolutely approach the band and ask if they'd like me to help 'finish their mix' from out front.
I imagine they would be ok with it.  If they don't know enough to lock their WiFi and/or mix themselves, then chances are they may know their flying by the seat of their pants and would welcome some help.

If someone did it to me without asking, I'd be pissed.  Even if they fixed something that I could hear was wrong (and just couldn't get back to the ipad to fix)...don't touch my stuff!   I know you're doing it for their benefit, but I'd agree with most - ask first.

Last week I was gigging and a friend of mine showed up that is an engineer.
We only had a minute to line check (then had to start), so after we line checked I said - hey you want to throw a few faders?  He said sure, and did so.   
A few songs in, I walked out front and it sounded great.
He did a better job than I could have done in the time I had.  So if I know my mix isn't where it should be, and there is someone competent to help - I'm into it.

Not sure what you did (or didn't do) but if you asked them, and fixed their mix, I bet they would have been grateful.  (hit save, hit save...this is our new starting mix!)

[Dave Bednarski]

Chuckle, take a screenshot or two; if you care enough, inform the audio tech or band about their open wifi after the show has concluded.  If you're a do-gooder, pass a business card if they need assistance or have questions about how you gained access. 

By messing with their mix or even bringing up the subject, you risk causing more damage to the show than leaving it at a shitty mix.  The last thing anyone needs mid-set or on a break is someone deciding it's an excellent time to try and sort out network security or just the headspace of tender egos and the mix.

[Kevin Maxwell]

Chuckle, take a screenshot or two; if you care enough, inform the audio tech or band about their open wifi after the show has concluded.  If you're a do-gooder, pass a business card if they need assistance or have questions about how you gained access. 

By messing with their mix or even bringing up the subject, you risk causing more damage to the show than leaving it at a shitty mix.  The last thing anyone needs mid-set or on a break is someone deciding it's an excellent time to try and sort out network security or just the headspace of tender egos and the mix.

If you tell them about the open WI-Fi you might be putting the idea in their mind that you might have been responsible for the way that the mix sounded. While it is nice to caution them about it do you want to give them an excuse to blame you. 

[Bob Stone]

LoL geeze, you guys around here are no fun...lighten up.

[ProSoundWeb Community]