Easter 09: New stuff…

Easter 2009 was filled with lots of new techniques and systems things that were implemented. In no particular order, here’s some notable stuff…

#1 – Ever since I started mixing on Venue, I’ve learned a lot from studying other engineers’ show files to see how they run the console. One common theme I had noticed was the use of virtual channel strips or EQ/dynamics plug-ins on vocals. I never completely understood why but had not really tried it either. Too many people do it for it to be a fluke. This holiday was a turning point in my channel workflow, especially when it comes to vocals!

For Easter, I used the Digi 7-Band EQ and Compressor on each vocal and it made such a difference in a couple ways. First, the extra bands that were available instead of the 4-band on-board channel EQ were welcome. But the bigger benefit came in automation. By running vocal channel processing from dedicated plug-ins, I was able to easily automate independently from the rest of the band channels. There were multiple instances where I wanted to create a snapshot that had faders/mutes/dynamics scoped and the only channels with EQ scoped were vocals. Using the plug-in route, I could add their plug-ins to the snapshot scope without having to effect the EQ on the rest of the console or needing a second snapshot only to scope the EQ changes. Since this revelation, I’m investigating full blown channel strip plugs and think I’ve landed on the McDSP Channel G as the one we’re going to go with.

#2 – There were three audio playback cues needed in the service – a drama voiceover, music for the crunch, and a testimony voiceover at the end of the day. Inspired by the latest Scovill Digi webinar on advanced Snapshots, I finally got MIDI going back and forth between our ProTools machine and the D-Show. This is so slick! Now, using MMC and a snapshot, I can locate PT to a specific time code associated with said clip, set the level on the fader, and start the clip. Worked perfectly every time. On our second service day, I also used MMC to start and stop recording to PT for all of the sections I wanted. All I had to do during the turnover between each service was set a new playlist for all 56 tracks I was recording and at the end of the day I had all 4 services with each service’s tracks on their own playlist.

#3 – While I was working with MIDI, I also routed MIDI time code from our MOTU Timepiece into the Venue for the first time. I must say, I tried using timecode with our PM1D during my first holiday at KCC and it was more trouble then it was worth. I don’t remember all the specifics of what I tried to do back then or whatnot, but again inspired by the webinar, I thought I’d revisit it on the D-Show.

I think this proved to be even cooler then MMC control of ProTools! Since all of our tunes in the day other than the piano ballad were to click tracks that came from the video system, I was able to lock all of the video rolls to time code so as soon as the video rolled, my console responded and I never had to worry about missing the start of the tune/video. This was also handy for a few snapshot changes mid-song for a couple of the tunes, mainly for subtle effects changes or vocal mix stuff (mics up/mics down). These were the sort of things that were too intricate to hit manually, but since they could be done automatically, added an extra polish to the mix.  It worked flawlessly and was so easy to work with that I think some of these basic time code functions will be a normal part of my operation mode going forward. It was so nice to be able to just focus on mixing and not have to remember to hit every cue manually!  Because our video playback comes from a digital source, the timecode is very stable and locks nearly instantly to the console.

That’s it for now. If more things come to mind, that will have to come as a part two!