#3: Audio Outtakes: Lessons Learned From “Crashes And Burns”

ProSoundWeb

Another example of changes being lost and old settings recalled is when songs are saved as scenes, but the scene parameter SCOPE options are not set up as you would like. The first time I ever worked on a digital console, a Yamaha PM1D in 2003, I wasn’t really hip to the SCOPE thing and I spent a good 10 minutes EQ’ing the kick drum in line check only to see those changes dissolve in a puff of smoke when I recalled the next scene during sound check. Other sad things can happen involving mutes and fader levels if those features are not set to “ignore” in the SCOPE.

Lessons learned: Save early and save often! When I’m setting up a console at the start of a tour or a corporate event and decide I’m only going to use one scene, I make sure to repeatedly hit the Save button as I move along.
Another practice I’ve incorporated is saving all my changes to my main scene, let’s say Scene 11, but also saving a backup in Scene 10 and Scene 12, just in case I accidentally fire Next or Previous Scene. This one has saved me more than once. I also click the box entitled “Scene Recall Confirmation” so I don’t accidentally recall another scene. When I want to use a different scene for each song, I open the SCOPE and start by unchecking all of the parameters to be recalled when I fire a scene until I’m sure I know exactly what I want to change.

Insert Foot In Mouth

I like to experiment with inserting a cool compressor plugin across the Master L-R bus. My favorite so far is the SSL bus compressor, and when I have the time to really dial it in, it can be a nice addition.

However, a Main L-R insert can cause trouble if you’re doing a lot of one-offs or festivals using a number of different consoles and processing supplied by various vendors. Sound companies providing consoles for one-offs will often ask for a recent show file from the FOH and monitor engineers before the event so they can load them and fully check the gear.

I often forget at the end of the night and leave the insert in on the Master L-R bus, save my show file, then email it to an upcoming show’s audio provider. I’ll then receive a troubling phone call from a tech setting up my next console package asking why he can’t get any signal to the Master bus when running test signal. Unless all the plugin hardware and software is in line exactly the way I had it at the end of the last show, this can be the case.

Lessons learned: If you’re doing a lot of one-offs, make a note to pop the insert off the Master L-R before saving your show file. At the very least make a note in your advance to upcoming sound providers that they will need to do this if all of the plugins are not up and running. An even safer route is avoiding any inserts across the Main L-R if you’re not on the same gear night after night. Too many tragic stories begin this way…

Well, we’ve had a few laughs and these tales have probably brought to mind a few personal audio tragedies you’ve been a part of. Let’s agree to keep both hands on the wheel, check our mirrors and steer clear of potholes. It’s usually “the other” driver that causes the accident, but if we all stay alert and prepared, hopefully we won’t have any fender benders or humorous audio outtakes to add to the bonus features.