We’re all aware that digital consoles feature automation functions such as storing and recalling scenes or snapshots, which can make life a lot easier by enabling you to instantly recall different settings for specific shows, bands or songs. However, as FOH columnist Steve La Cerra has recently pointed out, taking advantage of console automation, requires being realistic about what automation can or can’t do for you.
Here are some additional pointers from La Cerra’s column, “On the Digital Edge,” on page 42 of the Nov. 2023 issue:
In an ideal world, you’d set up your desk, patch in all of the inputs, hit “Recall” and hear your show exactly the same as it was last night. Good luck with that. At the very least, you’ll be dealing with changes in acoustics as you move from venue to venue — multi-night stands at the same venue notwithstanding. To that, at minimum you can add the likelihood that some of the musicians will play at different volume levels from night to night, resulting in the need for you to adjust preamp gain. So, even if the entire signal path is consistent, you’ll still need to make changes.
If you’re lucky enough to be doing a tour where you’re carrying everything from backline to consoles and racks and stacks, then storing and recalling preamp gain settings with a scene makes sense, as the only variable(s) you’ll have are how loud the musicians are playing. Of course, in this day and age that may apply only to drums, as a lot of guitar and bass players are using amp simulators. You’ll be able to set up a scene or snapshot for each song and sequence them into a show. If you find that levels from the musicians vary significantly from day to day, you can manually adjust the input gain settings and then “safe” the preamp settings from recall. As you recall each scene, the preamp gain settings will remain unchanged from the settings you dialed in manually at sound check, relieving you from the need to adjust the preamps every time you recall a different scene or snapshot.
If you’re in a touring situation where you’re not carrying a mic package, or you’re renting backline at each destination, don’t expect the gain or EQ settings in your scenes to be perfect. You’ll certainly need to tweak the preamp gain, and I’ve found that different revisions of the same brand/model of console can have drastically different gain structures even when you do have the same mic package.
Generally, when you designate a parameter for “Recall Safe,” the console will not recall settings for that particular parameter. The majority of digital desks also provide some sort of “Global Safe” feature, which maintains certain settings regardless of what scene is recalled. Global Safe is useful, for example, when there’s compression or EQ on the master L/R bus that you want to keep in place regardless of what scene is recalled.
Recall Safe is a contrast to using Focus or Scope, both of which set parameters that will be updated when you recall a scene. This is useful if you’re doing a Broadway-style production where the backing band is consistent, but the lead singer changes from song to song. You can create different scenes with settings optimized for each singer (EQ, compression, de-essing), then set the recall focus for a lead vocal channel that changes while the channels for the band remain the same.
During sound check, I’ve made it a habit to visually scan channels in my snapshots to make sure parameters are recalled to the correct settings, because certain combinations of show files and firmware revisions can be quirky.
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