Live mix engineer Antonius Kern, whose credits include German TV productions Popidol and Popstars, and music acts such as Patrice, Max Herre, and Joy Denalane, has been putting Waves Live tools to use on The Voice of Germany and The Voice Kids.
“In The Voice Kids, some of the performers are obviously performing on a live stage for the first time in their lives,” says Kern. “In order to give them confidence, I use Waves tools to provide them with the best mix possible. Initially, I naturally gravitated toward the tools I was familiar with from the analog world, meaning emulations of actual analog devices.
“Working with the DiGiCo SD7, it was great having all my Waves tools available to me from the console’s screen and touch-and-turn knob/button,” he continues. “The Waves-enabled SD7 console is equipped with Waves SoundGrid Server One in a redundant processing setup, which gives me the confidence I need for the broadcast environment.”
He adds, “My favorite Waves plug-ins are the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor for parallel compression; the CLA-2A Compressor/Limiter as a buss compressor for different audio subgroups and also as an input channel compressor for vocals and snares; the PuigChild compressor on the master compressor for some subgroups; and the SSL G-Equalizer for nearly all master subgroups.
“Working with Waves MultiRack SoundGrid, I only need one internal system – no D/A-A/D conversion or class-A signal processing tools. Waves tools are essential in meeting the challenge of mixing a dynamic band on TV.”
