Posts tagged live mixing
Get Better at Troubleshooting Live Sound Issues

One of the most important qualities of a great sound engineer is not only trying to prevent the issues from happening, but also how quickly and efficiently they can resolve problems. Although most of them usually have a simple solution, the main factor of success is how quickly one can pinpoint the exact piece of gear or the exact situation that is causing the headache. Learning to be a troubleshooting ninja takes time and experience, but can also be acquired more swiftly when keeping in mind some of the following points.

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Teaching Sound Check

The only live mixing events I have been allowed to do in the past 6 months have been mixing school performances at the Music and Ballet Conservatory in Ljubljana, working with the students and teachers from their jazz department. It gave me an insight into how a person that does not have a lot of stage experience can be overwhelmed with the stress of being on stage and how we as sound engineers can help them.

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Long Time No Mix?

In Slovenia, where I live, we had a brief moment of resuming work after almost six months back in September and I was able to get a few shows in before new restrictions were enforced. Those first shows were very revealing in terms of what seems to be working when getting behind the console after a long time - at least for me - and I thought I would share them with you.

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How to wrap a mic cable around a mic stand

It seems like something you don’t really need to thing about. You have a microphone on a stand and a mic cable - just connect the two together and you are done, right? Well, yes, but you should take a moment to take care of how the mic cable actually wraps around the mic stand. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, I made a short video about it.

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How to stay in mixing shape when not working

Freelance audio engineering life usually comes in waves in terms of the quantity of work. There are days where it seems like everyone and their mother is calling to mix their show, but you can also experience periods of time where you are not working gigs and you might have some time on your hands. During those times, however, there are still things you can do to stay in top mixing shape for your next show. Here are a few suggestions that work well for me.

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Which is the best digital console out there?

One of the most common questions I get during the private lessons in my Guerrilla Mixing course is “which is the best console” or “which console should I buy”. Those conversations revealed that the term “best console” actually means different things to different people. I thought I might discuss the factors that determine why I would prefer to work with a particular console.

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Mixing Monitors from FOH: Pre- or Post-EQ?

I don’t know if there is a more divisive topic in the mixing-monitors-from-FOH world than whether one should mix monitors pre- or post-EQ. I have stumbled upon numerous discussions on forums and social media with engineers frantically arguing their side as the only valid approach. So I thought it would be wise to deconstruct this discussion and provide arguments for both sides and also a workaround to this ongoing battle.

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Do I Really Need That Input?

In a world of crazy channel counts with consoles that allow you to process more channels than ever possible, simplifying your setup is still a route that you should consider. By judiciously scrutinizing over your input list, you might realize that you can reduce the number of inputs on your console, the number of microphones and microphone stands on stage, and also the set-up time required for the act to get ready for the show.

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You might be guerrilla mixing, if …

From my own experience, and that of fellow engineers, this perfect world is about as common as a unicorn dancing on a pot of gold underneath a rainbow. In the real world we have the exact opposite - wrong or no information and everything needs to happen 5 minutes ago. Mixing in such an environment, where you are forced to react rather than prepare, is what I call “guerrilla mixing”. And chances are you are fighting the same petty warfare as well ...

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