Engineer Randy Faustino, CEO and president of Creative Sound Solutions, mixes all of the music for TV reality show The Voice, as well as for sister productions American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.

Faustino, along with partners J. Mark King and Tim Hatayama, hold court in three mobile production units outfitted with multiple Avid VENUE and Pro Tools|HD systems.

The Voice has aired on NBC since April and stars judges Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton, and Adam Levine, with auditioning singers intentionally hidden from the judges’ views to preclude any decisions based on their visual image.

“We mix live to air, using the same setup for all three shows,” says Faustino. The setup comprises three 96-channel VENUE systems, each with a VENUE D-Show console, an FOH Rack, and two Stage Racks. An additional VENUE Mix Rack System, featuring the VENUE Profile console, is available for smaller shows and mobile situations, such as recording the band off-site.

Each VENUE system, equipped with two VENUE HDx Option Cards, feeds a 96-input Pro Tools|HD system, used to record the shows, enabling Faustino to move between live and pre-recorded mixes of backing tracks.

“Using the VENUE systems together with Pro Tools is really the whole point for us,” says Faustino. “We record every show to Pro Tools|HD as a multitrack session. When we come in the next day, we flip the session into [VENUE] HDx mode, and you’re looking at the same show you had the night before. So it’s easy to set up scene snapshots for every number. Then when we’re ready to do the show, everything is already there and all you have to do is mix.”

In fact, Faustino points to the VENUE system’s snapshot recall as one of the main reasons for selecting VENUE. “Sure, it’s a great sounding console and we love all the plug-ins,” he observes. “But it’s the ability to quickly flip back and forth between Stage Racks and Pro Tools playback, so we can make adjustments after rehearsal or sound check, that makes it so perfect for our use. We’ve typically got around 180 scenes for each show, including different scenes for the audience mics when the performers talk, when they’re singing, when the announcers are talking—pretty much everything. It enables me to bring in both pre-recorded and live elements, and handle a live mix while tracking. It’s a truly integrated system with an amazing amount of flexibility.”

Onboard processing is, of course, also an important feature, with Faustino citing the TC Electronic 6000 and SSL Channel Strip among his favorites, as well as plug-ins from Avid, Waves, and API.

Avid