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Troubleshooting 101

Troubleshooting is an essential skill in any part of the sound world and especially on tour. On tour, you’re often on a tight schedule, in an unfamiliar city, and outside a quick delivery distance of the shop. Learning to diagnose and fix (or work around) problems on your own is the only way to keep a show running.

Of course, it’s also one of the hardest things to learn because there are an infinite number of problems that can pop up and most of the time you figure them out as they come your way, building a database of issues and fixes for your future self.

However, if you develop a system of how to approach problems, even unfamiliar gear or new gremlins become progressively easier to solve.

First, never discount these basics. Turning it off and turning it back on is sometimes the power cycle that’s needed if things didn’t start up in the right sequence or it’s simply checking that the piece of gear is actually plugged in. I once spent 15 minutes trying to figure out why a keyboard wasn’t transmitting MIDI (reseated and swapped out cables, got a new MLA (MIDI Line Amplifier), and more) only to realize that the keyboard itself had been off the entire time.

After the basics, you follow the signal flow. Learning how a system goes together is key to fixing a problem. How does signal get from Point A to Point Z and what are the patch points, cables, adapters, and everything in between? Connection points at adapters or racks are typically the weakest points in any chain, whether something didn’t get plugged in (jokingly referred to as a “high impedance air gap”) or strain on a connector that results in a band connection.

 

For example, some of our cameras on tour are built into the lighting trusses that hang over the stage. From the camera, there’s a cable that goes to a rack that lives with the dimmer racks (we call it “Dimmer Distro” on our tour) which is a distribution point for all the cameras and speakers that live on truss or lighting ladders that Electrics sets up during load in. At the Dimmer Distro rack, the cable patches into a panel which barrels through to a repeater inside the rack. The outputs of the repeater connect to another panel where our Crossover (XO) bundles plugin to get the camera signal from the Dimmer Distro rack across the stage to Ampland. In Ampland, there’s another panel that connects the XO run to the input of a video matrix.

As you can see, there are a lot of sections to troubleshoot if something goes wrong. And that’s just getting the camera to the central hub. There’s a whole other set of cables and connection points to get the video from the matrix out to the SM call desk or Automation or FOH or any number of other places. Learning the signal path of each of the systems in your production (audio, video, com, etc) will make it much easier to eliminate possible causes as you work through troubleshooting logic.

Ask yourself, what is the problem? Be as specific as possible. “Video is flickering” and “the FOH color shot at the automation rack is intermittently going out” are two completely different problems.

Next, ask questions to narrow down the problem. Learning the right things to ask can significantly narrow down what you have to troubleshoot.

Continuing on the video theme (com and video will be the things you have to troubleshoot most often), let’s run with the problem of the FOH color shot going in and out at automation. First question: Is the FOH shot doing the same thing everywhere? Usually, there will be multiple places that have the same video. If the FOH shot is stable in other locations (Fly Rail, SM desk, etc) that means the video input itself is okay, there’s just some problem getting to Automation. If it’s flickering everywhere, the issue is more likely on the input end, somewhere getting from the camera to the video matrix. But, by answering that one question, we’ve eliminated about half of the system (either the output side, if it’s just automation, or the input side if the problem is in multiple places) that we need to look at.

This is also something you ask when there is a main and backup (or spare) in the system. Does one work but not the other, or is the issue the same for both?

Our keyboards have a main and backup system, so when there was signal loss on one of the channels, we tested the backup as well. When that also had a problem that told me that the issue was somewhere after the two inputs merged. It ended up being a bad line coming from the pit rack up to our DigiRack in Ampland and checking the backup helped quickly eliminate a section of the system so we could move on to more likely culprits.

In this case, again, I looked at signal flow. The keyboard is sending MIDI messages to two computers: one Main and one Back Up. Those computers each send three stereo pairs to an interface, and that interface sends to a switcher that takes the two inputs and (via a pedal at the keyboards) can switch between the two signals to send a single set of three stereo pairs of audio from the pit up to the DigiRack in Ampland (with panel inputs at each rack). Then the DigiRack connects to the console via a fiber loop.

So, first, we identified the problem: “The Left channel of Key 2A (again 3 stereo pairs: A, B, and C) is coming into the board at a significantly lower level than the Right.”

Next, narrow it down:

“If we swap to the Backup, does that fix it?” Answer: No. The problem is somewhere after the interfaces connect to the switcher.

“Is it happening anywhere else?” Answer: No. Likely it’s not the fiber link or there would be other channels having the same issue.

This eliminates the first couple of links in the chain and the last one. The problem is likely either the run between Ampland and the Pit, the tails on either end or the card in the DigiRack.

Now you can start to change things. (As a note, it’s best to change one thing at a time, check if that helped, restore, then change something else. If you change a whole bunch of things and it starts working, you won’t actually know what was the problem.) In this case, I swapped the line for Key 2’s A-Left channel to a spare line in the run to Ampland and that got the channel back to a good level.

Conclusion: Bad line on that mult or one of the tails. (On tour, fix the problem, then you can do more specific tests when you have a work call or more time.)

Consistent problems like this are usually easier to identify and solve: you know when you’ve fixed the problem because the problem goes away. With intermittent issues, it’s the opposite: you can identify what the problem is only when you can recreate it, or you have to wait and watch for a while to verify that it’s not coming back.

For these problems, still, try to eliminate as much of the system as you can so you can focus on the most likely fixes. Then, find out how to recreate the problem. Pre-Covid, I had a bad fiber line that was causing pops in the system: it would be consistent popping when the system was first up, but after about 30 minutes the pops would be intermittent or stop altogether. At the console, I could see that it was happening over multiple channels, all of which were from one of the DigiRacks in Ampland. That told me that it was likely an issue with the fiber loop that connects the racks to the console. We have seven fiber links that create our loop (the console, three DigiRacks, one Mini Rack, and an SDRE), so we spent a work call powering up the system, unpatching one link at a time, and waiting to see if there would be another pop. If there was, we’d re-patch and unpatch the next link in the loop. Sometimes the pops would go away on their own and we’d have to power down and power back up to see if we’d actually solved the problem, or if it had just shifted from consistent to intermittent popping. It probably took at least three or four rounds through to finally identify the bad line. Once we were fairly certain we had the right link, we ran a spare and sent the bad fiber reel back to the shop for repair. However, after several shows with pops at random intervals, it was a few more days before I was able to relax from being on high alert and trust that we’d actually fixed the problem.

 

Sometimes you don’t have time to solve the problem, just put on a band-aid until you can get a work call or a point in the show where you can actually take a look at what’s happening. This is why you have backups and spares. On Les Mis, the backup engine on the console crashed mid-show and we ran without it for a couple of shows until the shop could send out another engine. If someone has a midshow mic pop, sometimes it’s easier to toss a new rig on them and take a look at the old mic back in Ampland instead of trying to diagnose an issue during a 30-second quick change. Recently on Mean Girls, we had one of our RF antennas disconnect sometime between preset and the show starting. Since we couldn’t get out to the towers where the antennas were mounted during the show, my A2 set up the spare antenna backstage so we had something to work with until we could check it out at intermission.

Always remember that you can ask for help. You’re only as good as your tools and your network. When my console crashed, I called a DiGiCo tech and then the shop to help me work through the problem. When our keyboards have problems, I ask our keyboard tech if he notices anything I might have missed. When video is being a pain, my A2 and I will tag team on monitors: someone can swap cables while the other one watches the monitor so we know right when a problem acts up again or if it’s fixed.

Testers are also your friend. Signal generators like QBox or CabDriver help you move step by step through the signal chain to check things. Personally, I use my CabDriver to send pink noise down the NL8 lines to my cluster as I’m building it and it’s still within easy reach. Once I’ve heard a signal through the speakers, I know for sure when I fly it out 30+ feet that everything’s functioning from the Ampland end of the bundle to the speakers. Multimeters can help you with electrical connections and cable testers (especially one that supports multiple connectors) are indispensable. Personally, I have an SM Pro CT-3 which has two separate parts so you can split it to take it to two different places (troubleshooting usually means that you don’t have both ends of the cable in the same place) and has indicator lights to tell if something is cross-wired.

Troubleshooting is a skill that takes time and practical application to build. The more problems you see and solve, the better you’ll get. It starts as a slow process, so give yourself some patience and try to work through problems as logically as possible.

Painting A Dream 

Sylvia Plath: the Beacon, Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England, September 1956 

I wasn’t sure what to write about this month since I had been so busy being active with my sisters of Non Una di Meno, after all, the patriarchy is not going to burn itself. However, I came across a post from Karrie Keyes, Soundgirls co-founder, on  Facebook about Woody Guthrie and the song: This Land is Your Land, a song with a  message, sometimes referred to as a protest song. These are the kind of songs often sung by artists such as Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell to name but a few.

However, I changed my mind, but I will mention a song, very dear to my heart and is virtually a feminist hymn in Latin America and for us of Non Una di Meno Italy. Canción sin mieda – Song without fear.

This song really is a protest by the women of Mexico about the number of femicides in their country. When you watch this video, by the same time the following day, 11 women will have been murdered by men, and of those 11, four will be under the age of 14. Of the 11 murderers, ten will continue to walk freely,  unpunished.

You can find the English lyric here and some appalling statistics

 

I don’t want to be killed

When I wrote my first blog, I spoke about returning to electroacoustic composition and seeing the art as close to the plastic arts in the sense of layering sounds on a  blank canvas which gradually fills in layers creating the whole image. Of course, there are differences in the way these compositions move in time and develop; in this way, there is also an element of storytelling with a constantly evolving narrative. I do in fact use narrative visualization in my pieces, a process that seems to suit me well.

I also discussed in a previous blog what kind of composer I am. The mode of composition and the means of construction are loosely termed electroacoustic since the materials I use often start as acoustic sound samples, treated electronically. I also discussed the idea of being experimental and, as I shall demonstrate in the section on building drones, this is the principal means of producing music. But to this, can be added the process which shares much with painting; in the sense that I leave a piece at any given time in a state of non-completion and then add other layers and images to develop my story further at a  subsequent session. So, since many of the more common musical elements are not always to be found in these pieces, avoiding the word music can be helpful and Sound Artist is a useful and accurate description of what I do: painting with sound. As a brief aside, if I tell people I meet that I make electronic music, their assumption that I might perform in a Berlin basement with flashing lights around me is often their first thought. In fact, for the moment anyway, my music sits within the classical tradition as a branch of the Avant-Garde; in time, I hope to develop and move into live improvised electronics as well.

So, the piece I want to talk about is in this style: acousmatic music on fixed media, able to be performed without the presence of performers other than someone at a  mixing desk to diffuse the sound. The title then refers to my view of the composition process and refers to my dream of Sylvia Plath which became the genesis of the work; thus, painting a dream.

THE WOMEN have PERFECTED: a devotion in five moods

1: Il sogno – 0’:00” to 6:30”

2: The haunting – 6’:30 to 10’:40”

3: La conversación – 10’:40” to 16’:23”

4: La poème – 16’:23” to 20:21”

5: Der Abschied – 20’:21” to 24’:19”

The piece was inspired by a dream I had about Sylvia Plath. As a result, I felt compelled to write it. I had been previously thinking about a song cycle based on poems by lesbian writers or something based on the contours of the female body: back and shoulders. However, Sylvia Plath saved me from all that angst although I  see this piece as devotional and confessional. The title is adapted from the first line of the poem Edge which I have adapted to express a bond between Sylvia Plath and me: she was perfected in death and I, as a queer woman, am now at ease with myself.  The work was conceived as a whole but each mood suggests its own narrative thread. In fact, my music is always about people, feelings, and emotions, and I work best from a narrative line.

The narrative texts are short extracts from Sylvia Plath’s, ‘The Bell Jar, the poem  ‘Edge’, and a couple of lines of my own. One section in particular, uses fragments of a recording I made on my way home from watching a film about the women of the Bauhaus. As a committed and active feminist, I belong to Non Una di Meno, I  became quite emotional and angry at the way the women had been treated and in particular the Jewish women. So, these recordings, though not audio-perfect, have a documentary and aesthetic validity for me. Moreover, they were recorded minutes after the end of the film while my emotions were still wild and in a state of abandon,  I recorded my feelings in Giardini Cavour with dogs barking and the rawness of my inquietude.

I feel very strongly about authenticity in art; in the sense that the act of creation has a purpose for the artist and in that sense, this work is authentically me in response to my dream about Sylvia Plath. As I shall make evident the inclusion of some sound samples are symbolic for me, e.g. the Swiss cowbells which feature in the second mood were recorded by my ex-girlfriend in Switzerland and their inclusion is important to me since they are part of a life lived, even if I make them sound like chains in a more horrific scenario.

Structurally, the work sits in a classical tradition, I would even venture to say, in the  French musique concrète tradition since my teacher, Denis Smalley had studied in  Paris and most of our study listening was of the French School; I can also trace this back to my interest in the Ars Nova of Notre Dame in the 13th and 14th century right

through to the present day where influences have been Eliane Radigue, Felicia  Atkinson and Claire Rousay, artists I spoke about in last month’s blog (though Claire  Rousay is actually from San Antonio, Texas). These artists, while appealing to a new generation, are still composing electroacoustic music.

When I work, I prefer to use Adobe Audition (ideal for what I want to do but prone to crash and has no MIDI) and audio files since I can process them, develop them, and assemble the composition in the same way I did with magnetic tape. I used a  few frequency-modulated sine wave drones generated from Max MSP, but most of them are my own sound recordings.

1: Il sogno, (the sleep) is part sleep, part dream, part waking to the sounds of the city. This opening mood was the hardest for me and took a lot of repeated listening and small changes; in fact, the last change was today when I added an abstract bit of dialogue in response to a reflection on my current sense of self, placing it at the point where the six-part drone rises in frequency.

6-part drone construction

 

This screenshot shows the six separate files, each of which is often spectrum filtered from the full frequency file. For example, the low hollow drone was filtered by selecting a narrow band on the spectrum analysis; you can see that the upper partials have virtually been eliminated leaving the low (the word hollow was my subjective description to help in cataloging the files – see image below). Going back to the multitrack image you can see that I have tried to create a two-voiced drone in the lower range which overlaps and fades into the third part to become a higher-pitched drone. So, when I say, “I am rising,” referring to my sense of wellbeing, at the transition from low drone to high, the accompanying music  (drone) also rises, rather like the musical word-painting of the late renaissance in,  for example, Monteverdi madrigals. The bounce 8 (yellow) is the finished 6-part drone.

Lo hollow drone

 

One other feature to note is the use of effects on individual clips/stems. In particular, the parametric equalizer which I adapted for maximum excitation of upper frequencies on the clips of raindrops on an umbrella; on the lower track also chorus and stereo expander. Typically, throughout the whole piece, I make use of automation of volume and panning.

Rain clips

2: the haunting is mainly dominated by drones as a kind of fundamental stability.  Most of my drones are made from recorded sounds which, as well as being  ‘spectrum filtered’ (Lo hollow drone, above) can also be treated in other ways. For this work, I make do with the Fx tools in Audition plus an Arturia reverb plug-in.  Two examples of drone construction: in the example below, I copy three times extracting the stereo information to mono. Then pan hard left, right, and center and use the stereo expander to play with the width of all three clips once happy with the mix, I can bounce all three back to a single stereo track. I’m told that the  mono signal is more solid/stable than the stereo one; it’s always worth a try

Mono drones

Here I have Soloed the four tracks that make up a chordal drone. They are made up of the resonance of a recording of a Tibetan bell, which may be stretched or looped and probably mixed with a reversed version of itself to smooth it out; I never really note what I do and, as a result, each processed sound, rather like individual spoken utterances, tends to be unique. So, my usual practice would be:

piece, I have only used Sine wave drones in different combinations; just trying to get a bit of frequency modulation, but doing it my way 😉 I used this patch with three combinations of synthesis. The one on the right was rather nice since I could produce a frequency-modulated drone in each channel with a lot of variables to play with: I even noted the frequencies of each oscillator.

Max MSP Oscillator patches

What I did then was to copy and transpose the drones from low; plus an octave;  plus an octave and a fifth, and then added the ninth (see Drone 9th chord below).

I have extracted the four individual tracks as a sound file so that you can hear how they are introduced in ascending order of frequency. The lowest and the highest drones have an attack placed in front, both made by twanging elastic bands over a Tupperware plastic box. The second gave me a screech (processed) which suited the piece of text at that point, and also heralds the entry of other materials.

Drone 9th chord

Other things about this second mood are: it is the most nightmarish and contains some anguished dialogue which was recorded in anger and in sorrow. The drones are challenged by the flute sounds, the texts: some from the attempted suicide in Sylvia Plath’s novel, The Bell Jar, and my feminist rage at the mistreatment and murder of women of the Bauhaus. At this point, the gentle sound of alpine bells is transformed through the use of a parametric equalizer to excite the upper frequencies, making them sound more savage. A slow languorous melody creeps in disguised as a drone and makes itself noticed before thickening the texture in a crescendo towards the end of this mood.

3: La conversación is at the center of the work and eases the tension somewhat.  The fact that this 24-minute work fell into five movements reminded me of the formal aspects of composition; this is my preferred ‘bridge form’ which balances a  central movement by crescendo and decrescendo on either side. This form was much favored by the Hungarian composer Bela Bartok in his orchestral and chamber works. I’m not sure just how bridge-like my work is, but if I were to assign a tempo/mood marking to each movement, it would probably go like this: 1:  Andante – waking up; 2: movimento – dramatic; 3: Allegretto – getting lighter; 4:  Maestoso – dirge-like; 5: Crescendo a poco – gently leaving. So, if not classical ‘bridge form’, it’s as near a description as I can find in musical terms.

This movement is kind of transitional and contains a ‘meta-commentary’ on the whole work and its inception. The drones continue with the slow insistent melody blending in and playing with them. At the point where the meta-commentary refers to my decision to set one of her poems to music the melodies are introduced again but this time at intervals of a 5th and 8ve rather like the organum of the medieval period. These melodies were transcribed from the lines of a  reclining nude seen at an art exhibition in Turin in 2019; the cello melodies were also derived from this source. Again, the flute sounds, purposely slightly spasmodic, add a touch of drive and urgency to what would otherwise be a very tranquil section of the music. The final part of this section continues with the conversation and ends with a slight thickening of the chordal texture and an increase in volume, creating a tension that resolves just after another affirmation,  “I love you, Sylvia Plath’.

4: La poème is mainly just that, a reading of her poem Edge which was written shortly before she died. The text has been spliced and separated into units which I have adjusted to the rhythms of the organ accompaniment. The poem was read naturally and needed minimal treatment: parametric EQ and De-noise; the latter to eliminate the hiss introduced by the parametric EQ. The hiss had the potential to be quite disturbing since there were gaps between the clips containing the text.  Another noticeable feature is the use of a chamber organ. I chose this in preference to larger instruments for its ‘reedy nasal’ quality. The time signature is 5/2 and due to its very slow tempo, it has a meditative quality. The drones continue but have mutated to be something else and as the frequencies beat gently against each other the overall sound is one of evolution and just one note change at 3’:20” creates a  magical effect in its simplicity. The flutes continue to the end, albeit very flighty in nature.

5: Der Abschied gets its name from the last song of Mahler’s song cycle: Das Lied  von der Erde. The farewell seemed appropriate for the end of the work. In fact, I  broke one of my own rules, never to sing but I found the final word of the song:  Evig (forever) in a suitable register for me. It is repeated twice, and the voice is doubled, one of them being pitch shifted by about 50-75 cents, enough to make it sound like two different singers and then each of the voices is panned hard right and left and put out of sync with each other to help separate the voices and create a slight bloom around them. When making these fine adjustments (I do the same with the doubled harmonica melody), I always turn off snapping and zoom in so that I have maximum control over the separation.

This section shares a common feature with the first, in that it is ‘collage-like; and to the recognition of this approach, I owe a debt of gratitude to the recently departed Mira Calix, whose album I referenced in my first blog. It opens with another ILYSP and followed by a soft chime that introduces a section that was an experiment, worth repeating in my view. Taking an idea about some of Eliane  Radigue’s early feedback works, I recorded speaker feedback through the microphone of some text from The Bell Jar about suicidal intent, thus creating some echo delay in the voices and hi and lo feedback from the speakers. This was particularly gratifying to get some ‘old school vibe into the piece, as well as knowing that this passage is unique, and experimental even since I had no way of controlling it entirely. Even John Cage might have admitted that the uncertainty of the outcome, the chance element gives this section its experimental status. But hey, who cares about labels? I was just referring back to one of my earlier blogs, which kind of makes me feel that I’m being coherent in my haphazardness.

What else, oh yes! The harmonica melody was doubled, pitch-shifted and tweaked ever so slightly out of phase to create a pulsing kind of tremolo. The melody was based on the squeaky gate that you can hear in the footsteps passage. Out of sync/phase is a technique I have favored ever since hearing Steve  Reich’s early ‘phase’ works; though I have yet to mimic, Eliane’s technique of running two or more loops of the same recording but of unequal length so that as they continue to run, they gradually get out of sync with each other through meeting up again at some point further on. These techniques are particularly successful when the acoustics of the listening space add to the listener experience.

This section makes use of conventional correlated melodies: cello, harmonica, and voice. The drones gradually drop out of the picture leaving just a high drone and one I jokingly called ‘Fontana Mix’ since the sound source was a fountain and running water (Fontana in Italian) and of course, Fontana mix is a famous early electronic piece by John Cage. The piece ends with footsteps, a squeaky gate, a  cello, and voice

The piece will be published on Bandcamp quite soon, I hope. I am thinking of a  different title, maybe:

In the meantime, here is a link to the second, very troubled mood: The Haunting 

https://soundcloud.com/francesca-caston/the

haunting?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_shari ng

Harking back to the Canción sin mieda (song without fear) and remembering the  (far too many) femicides around the world: stay safe, Sister! 

So, from Torino…Hermana yo te quiero 

This Show Must Go Off – Soccer Mommy

Soccer Mommy landed in New York to support their new album “Sometimes, Forever”. As part of the “Gov Ball After Dark” series, the band played the Bowery in the early morning hours, and I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to mix the show, and then some.

Advancing

An email came in about a month before the show date, from the band’s usual PM/FOH. For this promo run, he was handling the advancing and PM needs remotely.

Initially, the band would be traveling with a manager and a local FOH engineer. Everything read like an easy show. They were a five-piece band with a backline brought in from a local vendor. No additional production. The FOH engineer would bring a mic package, and the band would bring their guitars and personals. Easy. For monitors, everyone would use venue-provided floor wedges, and Sophie [guitar and vocals] would supplement with In-Ear Monitors.

The only tricky part to this day was the production schedule. NYC’s Gov Ball music festival takes place at Citi Field usually on a weekend in June from about Noon til 10 pm each day. In support of local venues and nightlife, promoters started curating an After Dark series of Artists who would do underplays in intimate rooms after the festival was over.

For Bowery, this meant having to juggle the needs of an early show with Soccer Mommy’s late performance.

The full production schedule for my staff ended up looking something like this:

 

Each show would require the full venue call of – one Stage Manager,  two Audio techs, and one Lighting Designer.  The A2 and myself remained on call for both shows, and two different stage managers and LDs split the day as it made sense hourly.

I received a clear, easy-to-read Stage Plot, Input List, Hospitality Rider, and Backline Rider for Soccer Mommy.

 

 

48 Hours Out

During a Bowery load in one afternoon, my phone buzzes with the call of long-time mentor and incredible engineer Phil. I have known him since I moved back to New York in 2010. I feel lucky each time our paths cross, and most recently, it has been FOH at Bowery. His call asked if I was free and interested in mixing Soccer Mommy for their full weekend of shows here in New York. It included an early evening show at Rockwood Music Hall, and possibly the Governors Ball Festival set the afternoon after their Bowery show.

Logistically it was a little tricky on short notice, but that feels a bit like everything in our industry these days.

I was excited at the chance to mix, and really enjoy the music, so I told him “sure, throw my name in the hat”. The next morning an email came through to firm up the agreement and get up to speed. The band’s manager sent over the day sheets for the Rockwood performance, and I had a nice conversation with their usual PM/FOH about mix notes and general approach. Suspicions were validated. The band is phenomenal and “do the heavy lifting”, making it a dream to mix. We chatted effects, mic choices, and our favorite tips for getting quiet singers over loud backline.

The biggest jump was going from the first gig to The Bowery Ballroom show.

Rockwood Music Hall is a 200-capacity performance space known for its great sound, but logistical challenges. The FOH position is very cramped and lofted, accessible only via ladder. The room lends itself to playing to it, rather than trying to recreate your show in it. Higher SPL shows can be a bit tricky, and the band is much closer together than most other stages.

I was still excited at the chance of working with a band for a few nights. As someone who greatly misses touring, this gets me close. I get a chance to learn how to best work together, everyone’s personalities, and playing styles, and if you do it right, you see your mix grow and get better at each show.

Show Days

Friday was a nice compact day. 2 pm load in for 5:30 Doors and a 6 pm performance. This was part of WFUV’s live series, which broadcasts on their radio station. I was working closely with the radio personnel as well as venue staff. All inputs would run into a passive 2-way split. The radio station would operate independently from what I was doing and record the audio from their broadcast desk. We came to an agreement on the input list based on what would work for both of us.

The 35-minute set flew by and we cleared out for the late shows at the venue.

The nice thing about New York is that Bowery Ballroom is only a 10-minute walk from Rockwood, so we loaded all personal gear into Bowery that night. It made the morning of our 10:30 am call a little less harsh.

Saturday came too early and I saw the band back at Bowery at 11:00 am. A bagel and coffee spread was a MUST.

I think we were all grateful for the longer soundcheck this day. Even if it needed to happen 12 hours before their set. There was a lot of new material for them to get through, and having time to rehearse everything with full production was helpful.

Our stage at Governors Ball would have a similar Avid S6L console to the one I installed at Bowery, so I spent extra time with my show file knowing that it would need to translate on a larger stage. I also went a little heavier with the Waves plugins than I usually do when busking a mix. The Waves doubler on lead vocal, as well as the F6 floating band dynamic EQ on the vocal group really helped to get lyric fidelity just over the band, without sacrificing the power of the guitars. Another trick I used was to send a bit more of the vocal group to our center cluster and front fills. This helped the audience in those coverage zones hear the vocals over the stage volume.

During the show, I recorded my mix, as well as the group outputs using the AVB protocol on the desk.

Doing so helped me to fine-tune my eq and effects settings. Using virtual soundcheck I heard an accurate vocal performance without needing to worry about the band on stage or any stage volume. With that, my show file for Gov Ball, and for tonight’s performance was in a place I was comfortable with.

Sunday– We had a 12:30 pm arrival at our festival stage, with stage access 30 minutes before our set at 2:45 pm. It would be a scramble. Working in the wings I saw some familiar faces from old shows and a couple of past employees. It all warmed my heart and helped to calm my nerves.  We exchanged pleasantries while juggling gear and risers.

The Gov Ball set made me miss the report of my venue engineers and I. Needing to rely on a festival monitor engineer is hard, and while I had myself in a good place at Front Of House, I noticed the band struggling on stage and wished for a little extra time, or to split myself in two.

For a “throw and go” I had a lot of fun, and was pretty happy with my mix. It evolved with each show as I learned the arrangements and what I wanted acoustically from the show.

 

I love the new record and recommend everyone give a listen. I look forward to seeing Soccer Mommy with their touring crew and swapping stories, and if I cannot be on the road, pinch-hitting is the next best thing.

 

How to Avoid Over-Editing Podcasts

You may have heard the basic tips and tricks of podcast editing, or editing any kind of speech audio. Remove ‘ums’ and ‘ahhs’, breaths, mouth noises, pops and clicks, silences, etc. But sometimes we can take it too far and actually end up over-editing a podcast in pursuit of the perfect sound (tip number one: there’s no such thing as perfect). Here are three things I’ve learned which have helped me avoid doing just that.

Don’t get rid of all ‘ums’ and ‘ahhs’

Yes, they can be very distracting, particularly if there are too many of them. If they’re littered throughout a person’s speech and are of no value to what’s actually being said, go ahead and get rid of them. But I really think it’s okay to leave the occasional one in. Maybe the person in question speaks quite fast and it’s difficult to remove an ‘um’ without cutting into the next word. Maybe they’ve started an answer with an ‘um’ because they’re considering what they’re going to say, or they’re reacting in the moment to an unexpected question or statement. There can be various reasons, but if it isn’t excessive (as in every other word), there’s no harm in a couple of ‘ums’. Sometimes we have to make allowances for someone’s natural speech patterns.

Don’t get rid of all breaths

You may have heard that this is the thing to do, but I personally would argue against it. Again, if someone is a really heavy breather and it’s a very distracting sound, by all means, remove it (or at least quieten it down a bit). But for the most part, it’s perfectly natural to hear someone take a breath while speaking, so much so that we usually don’t even notice it. So if it’s not overly noticeable, there’s no need to take it out. If you are removing a breath, just make sure you do it by reducing the dB rather than deleting it, or the edit might sound too sharp. It all comes back to the idea of trying not to mess too much with people’s natural speech patterns. You want your audio to sound as clean and polished as possible, but you also want your guests to sound like human beings and not robots.

Silence can be a good thing

Everyone has different editing styles, and those styles will suit different types of podcasts. Some may be more fast-paced, others more reflective. There is a tendency for some editors to take out every pause or every bit of silence, but decisions like this should be made based on the pace and style of the podcast. One of the most valuable pieces of advice I ever got from a tutor was that silence can be an incredibly important storytelling device. If you’re editing a particularly emotive or thought-provoking conversation, leaving in pauses gives the podcast more breathing room and allows time for the listener to really process what they’re hearing. So before you take silence away, always stop to consider what it might add.

Make (only) Some Noise: Noise Regulation at Live Events

 

Noise regulation is a necessary part of our live events family getting along with the wider community. We want to put on great, big, all-encompassing shows, and our neighbours want to work, play and sleep without being disturbed. Some sort of compromise needs to be reached to keep the peace between us. This is where noise regulation comes in: it varies depending on the nature and location of the gig, but an agreement to keep to a certain average volume (more on that later, for the pedants, reading this) is usually a condition of the event’s licence. Breaking that agreement can result in fines, but even more importantly it can lead to the licence not being issued the next time, or even revoked from the venue. If you have any respect for the wider live community you’ll do your bit to stick to the noise limits. Even if you don’t, someone else will probably turn you down or switch you off anyway.

How are the limits decided?

There are several different approaches to setting limits. It starts with consulting your country or region’s guidelines on noise at work (because it is a workplace, for us technicians and bar staff, security, etc.), and adapting these sensibly, for example offering free ear plugs to staff and guests if recommended limits will be exceeded, rather than making it unfeasibly quiet. There don’t tend to be government guides specifically for live performances, so licence providers deal with applications on a case-by-case basis. Third-party noise consultants, colloquially known as the noise police, can help with this aspect of planning as explained by UK consultancy Vanguardia’s Roly Oliver in this guide (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/blog/noise-management-for-events-ds00/). Factors like the location, time of day, length, and nature of the event, as well as how often it’s due to occur, contribute to whether a licence is granted and what volume is agreed. For example, a one-off community event in a park on a Saturday afternoon might be given more leeway than a rave every Wednesday night in the middle of a residential neighbourhood.

The limits are usually based on how loud the sound from the event is at the nearest residence (or sometimes it’s really the house with the person rich enough to retain a lawyer for noise complaints), so both modelling and real-time measurements concentrate on this area. When the PA system is first set up, music is played through it and measured at that residence. Seeing as it will be heard by the general public, it is recommended that the song doesn’t have swearing in it, but for some reason, Rage Against the Machine is a perennial favourite. The licence issuer will usually do the off-site measurements but noise consultants are often hired to do their own measuring alongside this, for verification and as a backup for the promoter if there are any disagreements. The consultants or venue staff also measure within the venue, usually at FoH for convenience. The music is turned up until it hits the off-site limit, and whatever the measurement is at FoH at that point becomes the maximum level for mixing (again, for any pedants, we’ll come back to this). There might be several off-site recording points of interest, so depending on how many microphones are available they’re either recorded all at once, or the process is repeated for each location. If there are multiple sound systems at the event, for example at a festival, each one will be measured in turn. This process is called noise propagation and can only take place at a previously agreed time, to minimise disruption to the community. When setting up one-off events, the PA takes priority over other aspects of audio in order to be ready in time for propagation.

What exactly do we mean by average volume?

Of course, what is meant by ‘volume’ and even ‘average’ isn’t completely straightforward. As sound engineers, we most often think of volume in terms of the sound pressure level (SPL), measured in decibels (dB). SPL measurements are usually taken through filters that account for how humans perceive this pressure, as we are more sensitive to some frequencies (centering around human speech) than others. These filters are known as A, B, C, or Z weighted (https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/decibel-d_59.html). A-weighted measurements are roughly the inverse of equal loudness contours (see figure 1) at lower SPLs, so if we were to hear sound that we perceived to be equally loud across the spectrum at a lower volume, the meter would register it as equally loud as well. The C-weighted filter is flat across much more of the spectrum. As the sound gets louder, the equal loudness contours start to resemble C-weighted filters more closely. B-weighted measurements are in between A and C, and Z-weighted ones are completely flat, but these two are almost never used for live sound. Luckily for audio engineers, most SPL limits are set in terms of A-weighting, so there is more room to play with lower and higher frequencies than if it were C-weighted. However, low frequencies travel further than higher ones, so they can still cause issues at off-site monitoring locations.

Depending on the budget for noise monitoring, the equipment may or may not be sophisticated enough to record which frequencies are the loudest. A lot of venues have simple handheld sound meters that give you one overall SPL reading so there’s not much that can be done about it, but bigger gigs and festivals use software that includes a real-time analyzer (RTA) so one can see which frequencies are causing issues. The engineer can then decide whether notching those frequencies down will be worth a corresponding increase in overall volume, or whether it’s better to leave them in and mix at a lower level.

Whatever the limits end up being, they’ll be described in terms of a time window, for example, “95dB(A) Leq15’ ”. The Leq (technically LAT for the pedants) is the mean value of sound energy over that time, on a rolling basis. So the example limit is an average of 95dB, A-weighted, over a continuous 15-minute window, measured throughout the show. You might also see reference to “fast” or “slow” measurements. These are settings for sound meters that are traditionally used for regulating noise at work, for example on factory floors, so are only averaging over a few seconds. They aren’t that useful when applied to something as dynamic as a live performance, but if the event organiser has based their noise regulation plan directly on occupational noise documentation or they only have a basic handheld device, that might be the parameters that you’re left with. If you’re given a proper Leq value you can get away with a much louder performance by interspersing songs with chatting from the artist or alternating louder songs with quieter ones. Even the changeover can help bring the measurements down. As long as it averages out ok, and you don’t go above any peak limits that are set (these tend to be much higher than the average limit and measured as C-weighted), you’re fine.

But my band needs to be mixed LOUD!

Cool story. If you’re given a low limit (and admittedly they can be upsettingly low, especially at outdoor festivals in the middle of cities), you have two options:

  1. Learn to mix well at a lower volume.
  2. Have a bad show.

Unless you’re with a very rich headline act who doesn’t care about the gig renewing their licence, and you have a big stick to keep the system engineer away from their gear, there is no third option just to be loud because you’re cool. No matter how much you turn it up, the system engineer will turn it down further along the signal path and all you’ll achieve is making your mix sound worse. If you really push it (or there isn’t a separate system engineer) you might get switched off completely. Some small venues even have an automated ducker or kill switch which will kick in as soon as you go over the set limit. There are plenty of tricks out there to get more out of your mix at lower volumes. Jon Burton, university lecturer and front-of-house engineer for EDM act the Prodigy, is famous for making their shows sound massive while sticking within noise limits. In fact, he wrote his master’s thesis on one of his approaches (https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/83934715.pdf).

The sound of the noise police

Due to the large fines and reputations at stake, there is often quite a lot of distrust between audio engineers and noise consultants, but we are on the same team. They are not just killjoys who don’t like music; by monitoring at FoH and letting the engineer know whether they’re within the limit in real time they’re actually making the process easier for everyone. By asking engineers to stick within the agreed limits, they are protecting the event from fines and complaints and ensuring it can take place again next time. It is in everyone’s interest to work together to leave both the audience and the wider community feeling positive about live events by reaching a compromise while delivering the best show possible.

Further resources:

Speaker manufacturer d&b offers free noise prediction software for their systems:

https://www.dbaudio.com/global/en/products/software/noizcalc/

Guidance on noise at live events from the UK Goverment’s Health and Safety Executive: https://www.hse.gov.uk/event-safety/noise.htm

Live DMA working group’s inventory of various sound regulations across the region: https://www.live-dma.eu/sound-regulations-in-europe/

AES’s white paper Understanding and managing sound exposure and noise pollution at outdoor events: https://www.aes.org/technical/documents/AESTD1007_1_20_05.pdf

ProSoundWeb article based on this white paper and other research, outlining the what has informed the World Health Organisation’s stance on noise levels and potential future global standards, and how to approach mixing within these limits: https://www.prosoundweb.com/live-event-sound-levels-rising-above-the-insidious-undercurrent-of-aural-incapacitance/

 

Lisa Machac: Founder of Omni Sound Project

Lisa Machac is a musician and entrepreneur based in Austin, Texas who, in February of 2020, founded the audio education platform Omni Sound Project. Through Omni’s virtual member mixers and other educational opportunities, she has brought together women+ artists, engineers, and producers from all over the globe while maintaining an essential intimate quality.

Committed to music education and empowering folks from marginalized genders, Lisa has forged partnerships with a multitude of audio companies to offer powerful incentives to Omni’s workshop attendees and participants in their popular Four Track Challenge (being held August 1st-6th, 2022). She has also begun contributing to the popular recording magazine Tape Op, and has thus far interviewed audio legend Lenise Bent as well as the songwriting/producing duo NOVA WAV

Lisa answered the following questions via email.

Had you played a role in developing an organization prior to founding Omni Sound Project?

Yes, I have always been self-employed/entrepreneurial. I opened a wine bar that I operated for a few years (and then sold) and after that, I owned a business hosting yoga retreats. I love working for myself and the creativity it allows!

What has been the most difficult aspect of maintaining an online audio organization?

As you know, Omni was to be a local, in-person organization but the pandemic immediately forced us online. Looking back, I’m so glad! We are now a global organization with members on every continent. (Well, not Antarctica… yet!) The one and only downside of being an online community is that we have not yet gathered in person. The relationships that have developed in the Omni community are deep and genuine, and we can’t wait to finally see each other at a live event someday.

What are your hopes for Omni as it grows?

2023 will be Omni Sound Project’s FOURTH year and we have very big plans. In addition to our free intro classes and workshops, we’ll be finally hosting in-person events. I’ll be sharing more about that in 2023, but it’s my intention that the in-person events will be immersive education experiences that build local communities.

It’s my hope that over the years, Omni becomes the go-to educational community for anyone interested in audio engineering and music production, but especially for marginalized folks who may not feel welcome in more traditional settings.

Can you tell us a bit about the Four Track Challenge ⏤ what it is and how it came to be?

The Four Track Challenge was inspired by repeated requests from our members for actual hands-on practice. I wanted to keep the challenge accessible enough for brand new producers/engineers but leave space for those with experience to really go crazy with their skills. Basically, we provide prompts to challengers and at the end of the week, we gather for “Hear and Tell,” where participants are invited to share their creations and provide positive feedback to other challengers. It’s basically a really big creative love fest, and we all look forward to it all year!

How has the Omni community ⏤ faculty and members ⏤ influenced its growth and current form?

Oh, wow. Well, quite simply: Omni wouldn’t be Omni with our teachers, members, and allies. When I look back at all the incredible folks who have been drawn to this community over the years it’s really obvious the imprint they’ve had. In our events, the teachers and I create a lot of space for socializing in addition to education. We host regular member mixers where people can meet for support and encouragement and our Discord is a super safe space to ask questions and form friendships. The types of people who are drawn to Omni tend to be really optimistic, kind, and encouraging.

What is your relationship with audio ⏤ personally and as a collaborator? As mentor or mentee?

I consider myself a musician with an interest in audio. I took a basic class with Women’s Audio Mission back in 2012 or so and quickly realized that I am far too impatient to be an engineer. However, as a musician, I wanted to experience a less intimidating and more welcoming atmosphere in the recording studio. I also know how important it is to receive encouragement when creating. Omni is basically a big audio cheerleader: trying to give marginalized folks more confidence to be themselves in the studio because that’s what will make the studio a better place to be!

In terms of mentoring, I rely a lot on several mentors. My good friend Josh Thomas (of Rupert Neve Designs) has never turned away a request from me for advice and guidance. Our sponsors have guided me through program creation, and our teachers mentor me with curriculum development. I haven’t yet actively mentored anyone, but do consider my work with Omni to be a form of mentorship for sure!

What dreams have arisen for you as a musician and creative since beginning Omni Sound Project?

I’m still exploring my next evolution as a musician. I was a performing musician for many years and right now my lifestyle is a mismatch with performing live gigs. I’d like to get back into performing at some point.

In the meantime, I have been learning how to play the piano. This is definitely helping me finally uncrack the code of music theory in a way that’s more visual than playing guitar or mandolin (my previous instruments). It’s really challenging but really fun, and I could play for hours.

Who would you most like to involve in a future event that you haven’t yet worked with in that capacity?

There are so many incredible engineers that we have not yet worked with! I’m always excited to connect with new teachers that want to share their knowledge with the Omni community. There are also a lot of companies that I want to partner with to aid their efforts in reaching marginalized genders.

I hate my job. What do I do?

I’m going to go deeper this time around and combine some of the things I’ve discussed in previous blogs. I’ve mentioned you should always be willing to take the job on the table, even if it’s not the one you thought or dreamed of. But what happens when you do that, and you absolutely hate that job and it’s a toxic environment? There are ways and there are ways to deal with this.

My Story

I’ve only once ever completely walked away from a job because I couldn’t take it anymore, but I stayed there for a year and a half. I knew when I signed the paperwork that it wasn’t for me, but I needed a job. And I needed an in, and this was it. In fact, I kept going to job interviews after I signed the papers. I hated the hours, the corporate structure, and I had a really, really horrible relationship with the executive producer (I wouldn’t find that out until later). Up front, I will say, I wouldn’t change the experience since I got my next job because I had that on my resume. I also was trying to conceive, they had full fertility coverage, and I was struggling to get pregnant.

Things came to a head several times. I had ambitions to grow and do other things, and this person was not letting me do that aside from being a person who really had to micromanage every little thing you did. I tried really hard to move to another department, to get away from the EP, and to also have better hours. It was considered a no-go because it would look like “poaching” within different departments. I spoke to my manager about it; I was not the only one who had issues with this person, but it was deemed we were both adults and we needed to find a way to deal for the good of the show.

I went on job interview after job interview and got no after no. So I stayed with it and worked every holiday. I focused on the work itself, and I did things I was proud of. After a while, I made friends with the hosts and some of the other folks on other shows. One of the hosts let me start writing the box office reports on Sundays, and another producer right towards the end let me put together a story (which aired on my last day there). But after one year and a half of stress, migraines, difficulty getting pregnant, and several SEVERAL conversations with management, I quit. I did it elegantly. I wrote a great resignation letter, offered more than the expected notice, and left on a high note.

I’ve never left a job with nothing on the horizon. I had enough money to get by for one month, and I was fortunate because I had a partner who also had a job. We didn’t have kids at that point, and we were in an apartment in Queens, so let’s say the stakes weren’t that high. It was terrifying, but I also knew I couldn’t take it anymore.

I sometimes believe that there’s an energy that keeps us from attracting the things we need, and for me, after I left this place, it felt like I’d liberated something. I received 2 offers within the month I left and actually had to choose. I landed at Futuro Media (home to Latino USA, etc) where I still work, and got pregnant like 3 months later.

I’ve made it a point not to burn bridges throughout my career and because of that, I’m able to check-in with old bosses and companies if I need work. Remember the audio world is small – everyone is connected, so don’t burn the bridge unless you plan on never looking back.

Tips for dealing with toxic workplaces

I hate my job, but I need the money.

First off, you should always give yourself some time to get used to a job. Don’t decide on the very first day or week that this job isn’t for you and you need to go. Every change in life needs time to adjust. For me, that’s about 6 months (could be less for you). It may seem like a long time when you’re miserable, but maybe you just need a minute to get in the groove. I came home from the first day of a new job crying; you may know it’s not for you, but you need to give it time to see how things play out.

So what do you do? Buckle down and focus on the job you were hired to do – you will inevitably learn something there. Try to find things outside of work that fills you with joy and helps you to decompress. Money is unfortunately an important factor, and unless you are able to just walk away, you need to put blinders on and just stick with it until you can find something else.

If after 6 months (or whatever number that is for you), you cannot fathom another day at this place, time to start thinking about your next move.

The environment is toxic.

A toxic work environment will wreak havoc on your mental (or physical) health. Whether it’s a specific person, being overworked and burnout, or physically damaging to your health, there are cases where you have to evaluate what this job is doing to you and figure out the quickest way out.

Some of these issues can be handled by being open and having conversations with your manager. If it’s a person, can you request to be moved to a different department? Ask to work on a different team? Have you had a direct conversation with this person as two adults willing to find a way to work together? Is your team understaffed, and you’re super burnt out? Do you work overnights and it’s affecting your health to do so? Those conversations are difficult, but you need to have them – especially if like point one, you need the money. It’s in your interest to find an immediate solution to make things better.

But, never have a conversation in the heat of the moment. (Or write an email for that matter). When you’re angry, your emotions get the best of you, and we end up seeming less professional. You need to have a plan of action, documentation, and propose different solutions to the issue. I’ve often written emails when I’m angry addressed to no one, saved them as a draft, and then come back to it the next day. It serves as a way to get things off my chest, without potentially having a falling out with its intended subject. I’ve written a lot of angry emails and have never sent them. No matter how #&*#$^ a place is, you have to manage things calmly and as a boss. A boss has a plan and a solution to everything, and that often comes from time to cool off so you can see things from another perspective.

The job is affecting my physical health

In this case, it’s important to find solutions quickly. No job is worth risking your physical (or mental) health. Be familiar with your company handbook and see what options are available to you. Can you take a leave of absence? It is really important to have some savings. I say this as a person who is horrible with finances, but you really need to have a small, humble cushion. Not talking about “retiring at 40” type savings, just enough to keep you safe during emergencies. Can you walk away and stay afloat for a month while you have time to find something else?

Overall advice

No matter what the issue is, make sure you find someone outside of work to talk to. Is that a therapist? best friend? Family member? You want to be careful of not sounding like a broken record on how horrible something is without actually doing something about it, but you do need to find someone to be able to unwind and let go. Sometimes just talking things out helps provide you with your own solutions. Otherwise, your fuse will burst a lot quicker.

Live System Engineering Shadowing Opportunity

Systems Engineer Michael Lawrence is accepting applications from members of SoundGirls to shadow him on his upcoming tour in August – September.
It’s a big Meyer Panther rig and he will use Smaart v9. It’s a good opportunity for learning as he does not use any auto EQ, auto splay, auto solvers, beam steering, etc his workflow, it’s all Real Science. No clicking the magic button and letting it do your job for you.

One person per date and will prioritize people who have an interest in the systems engineering /measurement/ tuning side of things.

You will have to bring a bag lunch and show up at call times TBD. 18 and over.

Apply Here

 

Why I Don’t Use Plug-Ins When Mixing Music Live

I talk a lot about how I don’t use plug-ins.  I want to clarify a few things, and in this blog, I’ll explain why I don’t use any plug-ins when I am mixing live sound and how I use plug-ins when working in a DAW.

MIXING LIVE SOUND

If I’m mixing on an analog console, I’ll have a rack of outboard gear consisting of some gates and compressors, reverb, and delay.  I’m less is more kind of gal and I like to keep things simple.  If I’m mixing on a digital console, unless it is by the artist’s request, I use only the EQ, gates, and compressors on the console.

I do not use sound-shaping plug-ins to create the sounds I want.  I focus on using the right tool for the job starting with choosing the right microphone, using a great-sounding console, and minimal processing in the signal path. I rely heavily on good gain structure and proper use of EQ. I also work to make sure what I’m mixing sounds great before I put a mic on it.  When you start with great sounds from the source, it makes mixing that much easier.

I want to be able to mix my show on whatever console and equipment I have and when I’m touring all over the world with an artist, there is no guarantee that I will be able to have the exact gear that I request in every location.

When your show is built around layers of plug-ins, you will inevitably run into a situation where your server is down, your licenses don’t work, your console won’t speak to the waves rack, or there isn’t enough DSP to handle it.

I’ve watched so many sound people at festivals frantically on their phones with tech support trying to resolve issues with their plug-ins not working. They are super stressed because they cannot mix the show without the plug-ins.

They never learned how to properly use EQ or compression and rely on the plug-ins to do what they can’t.  Without plug-ins, their mix completely falls apart and they have a terrible show.

As the sound engineer for a band, you should be able to walk in and mix your show on whatever equipment you have.  Of course, some shows will sound better than others due to the quality of the sound system and equipment available, but you should never be in a situation where you can’t make the guitar sound good without your Maserati ACG or GTR3 ToolRack or you can’t get any warmth or thump from the PA without your OneKnob plug-ins.

When we start to rely too heavily on the tools, we lose our skills.  If you want to master your audio skills, make sure you start by learning the fundamentals.

MIXING IN A DAW

When I talk about mixing music in the studio without using plug-ins, I’m referring to sound-shaping plug-ins.  Things like OneKnob, Maserati, Clarity, etc.  Plug-ins that do things that you can do with proper EQ and compression.

When using a DAW it’s a given that you will need to use plug-ins.  Most DAWs come with basic EQ, dynamic, and effects.  These are all integral components of a mix.  Beyond the basic plug-ins available in your particular DAW there are many higher-quality options available.

The Neve, API, or SSL EQ plug-ins will sound better than the generic EQ included in your DAW.  Listen to compare and choose the one that sounds best to you.

As well, the UA audio, Empirical Labs, CLA, and SSL compressors will sound better than the ones included in your DAW.

Take your time in choosing what works best for your music and mix.

But when it comes to finding clarity in the vocal, getting that extra punch on your drums, or fattening up a thin acoustic guitar, etc. these are all things that can be accomplished with proper mic choice, good signal level, and EQ.

If you want a great-sounding electric guitar, take the time to dial in the sound of your amp before recording it.  Tuning and recording great-sounding drums will prevent the need for doctoring up with multiple plug-ins.

There is nothing wrong with using plug-ins to enhance your mix but it’s important to build a great-sounding mix with the basics first.

The skills of using critical listening to choose the right mic and position, tweaking the sound of the source to make it as good as possible before recording, setting proper input gain, and using EQ and compression properly will serve you far better than a toolbox full of single-use sound-shaping plug-ins.

If you’re getting started in Live Sound, CHECK OUT THIS BLOG, and if you’re recording and producing from your home studio READ THIS.

By: Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato MixingMusicLive.com

 

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