4: Can I Get A Sub?
Ever walk into a venue to mix a band and notice a lack of subwoofers? The bassist is about to be your best friend – fake it if you must, desperate times and all that.
Send the kick drum and bass channels out through an aux send which goes out to the bassist’s amp. The musician gets the bass and the kick, keeping them happy, and the venue now has a sub sitting on stage.
Who said audio production solutions have to be perfect or involve buying more gear? Many times solutions are possible with existing gear – we just have to be creative in how we use it.
5: Vocal Effects Grouping
This was my first exposure to aux send mastery. I was subbing for a front of house tech who had a vocal effects channel on his Yamaha analog console. At the time, I thought he was a genius.
Route the vocal channels to an aux send, take the aux output to a reverb unit, then run the reverb’s output to a console channel. All vocals now have reverb and there’s one more benefit. Reverb on the singer is good but a ton of reverb when the singer is giving a song’s backstory makes for an amateur mix. Use the channel fader to fade the reverb in and out as appropriate.
Compression as an effect is a great tool for improving a drum’s presence. Use the same process to route drum skins (toms, snare, and kick) to a compression aux and then feed the compressor into a console channel.
6: Two-Way Communication
Stage-to-booth communication can be handled through an aux send. Yes, wireless intercoms are the way to go but in some venues, we must use what we have available.
Route a microphone located in the booth to a muted channel, and then route that channel to an aux send. This send can be routed to a backstage loudspeaker or headphone jack. Likewise, route a backstage mic into a standard stage jack and place it into a muted channel routed to an aux send that goes to a set of headphones.
This isn’t an optimal communications scenario, but for venues where you need two-way communication, it’s effective. And let’s be honest, there are some people we don’t want to have our cell phone numbers.
Digital consoles provide some solutions like multi-track recording and effects groups. Squeeze every bit of functionality out of those consoles. However, there are times when a digital console can’t solve every problem and the audio tech should know the back of the console is equally as powerful as its surface.
The power of a mixing console isn’t limited to what can be done with faders and knobs or digital displays. The mastery comes when it’s used for everything it’s meant and then a little more. What superhero uses can you imagine?
