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Soundcraft Plugin and Virtual Sound Check Solution

Soundcraft Plugin and Virtual Sound Check Solution

The auther at Britt Festival FOH with his Soundcraft-RME-Waves solution

I've been using my Soundcraft Vi6 as my FOH console for several years in festival situations because of its ease of use mixing on the fly and getting guest engineers up and running quickly. There were a couple of additional features, however, that I wanted to implement on my console. The first was the ability to record to 48 tracks and bring them back into the console to create a virtual sound check, and the other was to have the ability to use plugins.

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Josh Groban On Tour

Maryland Sound, Mickey Beck and Will Miller Deliver "Straight to You"

Touring to support his fifth studio recording, the Rick Rubin-produced Illuminations, singer Josh Groban toured many North American markets this summer, returning to Europe for the remainder of the year. The "Straight to You Tour," named after a track on Illuminations, is playing indoor arenas.

 

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New Consoles Showcase

To download a PDF of the Aug. 2011 FOH Buyers Guide, CLICK HERE .

Every year, there are more new consoles to choose from, on both sides of the analog-digital fence. Some prefer the simplicity and convenience of knob-per-function analog desks, while other enjoy the extra features and benefits offered by digital consoles. 

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Earthworks SR40V Condenser Vocal Mic

In the last few years, Milford, NH-based Earthworks Inc. has produced several products that have resulted in a transformation of the company's image within the audio engineering community. Earthworks originally built its reputation on its impeccable omnidirectional measurement microphones, and subsequently ventured into the studio recording market with their high definition omni and cardioid small diaphragm music microphones.

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Countryman Type 10 and Type 10S Active Direct Box

My first Countryman DIs were the ones I loaded into the workbox for my first tour in 1985 with Crystal Gayle: brand new black anodized Countryman Type 85 direct boxes, which have since become a ubiquitous staple in live sound and asked for by brand – the ‘Scotch Tape' of DIs. I'm sure most of you have used them.

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Superglue Saga, Part 1: The Game’s Afoot

Okay, some of you remember reading the story of my nightmare titled “Nightmare on Murphy Street – Denver Edition” (FOH, Oct. 2007) and enjoyed reading about life on the road when Mr. Murphy is around. Well, there are other times when Mr. Murphy (I always use the title, as you never know when he may be taking notes) uses the hands of others to make you take a moment of pause and reflection. Such is the case here.

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Leasing Business Shows That the Credit Crunch is Easing

Photo by Mark Frink

Doug Kocsis, president of leasing firm DK Capital in Okemos, MI, had just about nailed down another deal, this one for a PA system for a regional production company. Then he got a call from the lessee. "He called to tell me that the Missouri River was rising," says Kocsis. "That was going to result in cancelled gigs, so he cancelled the purchase."

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Exploring Your Space

Waves Renaissance Reverb

How much time and attention do you give to reverb? Probably not enough. Adding reverb is like adding another instrument to your mix, in some cases taking up as much or more space than another player. Before we dive in to how you can improve the sound of your ‘verb, let's quickly revisit the main parameters of a typical reverb (hardware or software).

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Turning Lead Into Gold

I have promised (or threatened) more than once that I would address how to solder properly. And that is the subject of this installment of Sound Sanctuary. However, I have got to tell you all about an amazing outreach program I have had the pleasure to be involved with over the last few weeks. The organization is called WOW JAM or WOW (Winning Our World) International.

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Who Cares?

There are a lot of great things about live audio and what we do as engineers that I really appreciate. It can be fun, exciting, entertaining and rewarding while, at the same time, providing us with a decent livelihood. The hours are often long, but we are neither shoveling manure, risking our lives (unless you're a rigger), nor are we working in a dead-end 9-5 job.

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