Paper 19- Mixing Digital

Mixing Digital: Is This the Future of Live Sound?

Canadian Musician 25. 2  (Mar 2003): 54.

Abstract (summary)

While digital technology continues to proliferate in studios, in live sound reinforcement, it has taken much longer to be accepted. The advantages of digital technology for live consoles are explored. In order for digital technology to be adopted by live sound engineers and musicians, the programming code must be extremely stable. Computers are also susceptible to climate changes. Manufacturers have focused on these issues, whether it be writing code for their own operating systems or ensuring that the audio keeps flowing even if the computer goes down.

Full Text

Digital audio is nothing new, in the recording studio that is. For more than a decade, studios of all sizes and budgets have been updating from analog to digital. Despite the continued debate over the sound quality of digital recordings, the advantages of digital technology are indisputable. Non-linear editing, full automation of all parameters, full storage and recall of all parameters, cheaper media formats, and waveform editing down to the individual sample are available to even those on a shoestring budget. While the new technology continues to proliferate in studios, in live sound reinforcement, digital audio has taken a lot longer to be accepted.

The advantages of the digital technology offered on live consoles by companies like Yamaha, InnovaSON and DiGiCo are a sound engineer's dream. One advantage digital live consoles offer over their analog counterparts is memory storage of most, if not all console parameters, which can drastically shorten daily setup time on tour and makes running multiple bands off the same console that much simpler. Another advantage is space. Most digital consoles have all effects (delay, reverb etc.), dynamics (compression, limiters and gates) and EQ functions on board! This renders the need for racks and racks of this type of gear at the Front of House mixing position obsolete. Engineers, techs and roadies can all appreciate this. Yet another great advantage of digital live console technology lies in the simplicity of cable runs. Most digital live consoles have a couple of large racks, located just off-stage, which contain the mainframe computer, analog and digital inputs and outputs, and analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters. This is where all the audio processing and patching takes place, the console itself is merely a control surface. This means that there is no longer any need to run all audio from the stage to the console and then back to the amplifiers via thick and cumbersome cable snakes. The only thing that runs between stage boxes and a digital console are two thin optical or coaxial cables (one is redundant just in case the first gets crushed or cut mid-show) to link the console and mainframe computer, and an AC power run.

So why are analog consoles still being used much more than digital ones in live sound reinforcement? It's definitely not the same reason as the initial resistance to digital technology in recording studios. Live, the quality of analog-to-digital conversion and vice versa is less of an issue as the subtitles of conversion are less noticeable. Instead, the problem lies at the heart of the technology itself: computers. If a computer goes down in a studio setting, everyone goes on lunch until the problem is fixed; in a live setting, you risk a riot. So the key in digital live console is stability, the engineers and musicians have to be confident that the programming code is stable - very stable. What's more, one has to consider that computers are very fragile by nature. In a studio they sit in a climate-controlled environment and remain immobile; on tour, they are in a different city every night and travel many kilometres in between. Manufacturers have focused on these issues, whether it be writing code for their own operating systems, or ensuring that the audio keeps flowing even if the computer goes down. The fact that we are starting to see more and more digital consoles being used on major tours is proof that engineers are beginning to feel more secure with the stability of the technology - they have always been impressed with its potential.

Word count: 591

Indexing (details)
Cite

Narrow subject
Digital Technology, Computers, Equipment Makers, Live Sound Engineering, Sound Reinforcement, Technological Trends, Mixers (Audio Equipment)

Broad subject
Musical Performance, Sound Recording/Processing/Systems

Title
Mixing Digital: Is This the Future of Live Sound?

Publication title
Canadian Musician

Volume
25

Issue
2

Pages
54

Publication year
2003

Publication date
Mar 2003

Year
2003

Publisher
Norris-Whitney Communications Inc
Place of publication
Toronto, Ont.

Country of publication
Canada

Journal subject
Popular Music, Music, Canada

ISSN
0708-9635

Source type
Magazines

Language of publication
English

Document type
Commentary

ProQuest document ID
1358585

Document URL
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1358585?accountid=144516

Last updated
2012-09-17

Database
International Index to Music Periodicals Full Text