Lou's Quick Guide to Sound at the Laurel - 8/94 This is a guide to the Mackie 1604 system installed at the Laurel Theatre, the home of Jubilee Community Arts, in Knoxville, TN. It is compiled by Lou Gross (gross@math.utk.edu). Copyright 1995 - L. J. Gross Caveat: This is not meant to replace the Manuals - READ THEM Remember: This system was paid for by member's donations - treat it kindly. The amp can blow out the speakers, particularly the monitors. Be careful about levels - always turn main and monitor levels off when powering up the amp, or connecting speakers. Set the sound as the artist requests. If you're not sure how an instrument is supposed to sound, take it out of the mix, go listen to it accoustically, then solo it in the mix and try to make it sound the same. The phantom switch is next to main power switch - watch what you turn on. Don't turn on phantom unless you know what you're doing. Below are the basic setups, which should cover most situations. Setting Channel Levels You want to keep everything at unity gain. To do this, set all faders at the center detent, and working with one channel at a time do: 1. Set EQ for the channel (or approximate) 2. Pan channel completely to left 3. Turn sensitivity (e.g. input gain) completely counterclockwise 4. Solo the channel 5. Have artist sing/play in channel as they would in performance 6. Adjust sensitivity til channel input peaks at 0dB on LED meter 7. De-solo channel and set pan pot as appropriate. You may want to just slightly decrease the sensitivity in each channel below the setting from above - evidently this helps in feedback control. Setting Amp Levels The amp has level controls for each side. Ideally these should be set so that when the Master faders are at center detent, the volume in the hall (or monitor) is about right. This will generally mean that the side being used to drive the monitor will have a lower level that the side being used for the house. Setting the Graphic EQ As we get used to the system, there will probably be a standard setting developed for the side used for the House. Until then, try a slight W-pattern to start, or just keep it level. We may find that the Mackie EQ controls obviate the need for major changes in the house graphic. The monitor graphic is another story - setting this will no doubt vary with each show, and will be affected by mic and monitor placement. You will probably have to make a number of trips back and forth to the stage to get this set correctly. Mono House Mix - Single Monitor Mix We use one side of the amp to drive the main speakers, and one side to drive the monitors, with one side of the graphic for each. Thus Mono output on Mackie is routed to one side of the graphic, the output of that side of graphic is routed to one side of the amp, and the amp output is sent down the snake along one of the powered send lines. The stage box then has two outputs for connecting the two main speakers. The Monitor Send is a bit different, since we want to set up a way on the Mackie to control the overall monitor output. We do this by taking the Monitor/Aux 1 output of the Mackie (you use Monitor/Aux 1 with Monitor button pushed in on each channel you are mixing into the monitors) and routing it to the input of a channel (we will typically use channel 16). On channel 16, press in the Mute button, and pan the channel completely to the left. This sends the monitor mix through channel 16 to the ALT 3/4 bus, so you can use the channel 16 fader to control the overall monitor level (be sure the channel EQ is set flat). Then take the output from ALT 3/4 left side, route it to the graphic side being used for the monitor, and the output from this side of the graphic to the unused side of the amp, and then down the other powered send line in the snake. You will have to set the Sensitivity control of channel 16 to give the monitor mix unity gain. You can hear the monitor mix in the Headphones by pressing in the ALT Preview button. This setup assumes the artist wants a monitor mix separate from the house, and not affected by the channel EQ's and fader (e.g. the artist wants a pre-fader, pre-EQ monitor mix). If the artist wants to hear the house mix in the monitors, use AUX 1 without the Monitor button pushed in, and set all levels on Aux 1 to center (these can then be adjusted as per the artists request, but the channel fader WILL AFFECT the monitors too - so as you change the mix in the house, the monitors will reflect this as well). This monitor mix is then post-fader, post-EQ. As above, you can send the monitor mix through channel 16 to give you overall monitor level control. Mono House Mix - Two Monitor Mixes Setup is the same as above, except you need to use another AUX send (say Aux 2) for the second monitor mix (this will then be post-fader, post-EQ). Then take the Aux 2 Output, send it to an unused channel (say channel 15), pan the channel hard right, and Mute it. This allows you to take the second monitor mix out of the ALT 3/4 bus right side, send it down the snake using one of the unpowered monitor send lines, take the stage box output into the Peavey Mixer, and use this to drive the monitor. The only graphic EQ forthis monitor will be the one inboard on the Peavey. You will hear both monitor mixes in the Headphones (one in left and one in right) if you press in ALT Preview. Thus it is probably better to just Solo channel 15 or 16 to hear the two monitor mixes separately. Stereo House Mix - One Monitor Mix Here we use both sides of the Crown amp for the house, and then use the Peavey amp to drive the monitors. Use Main Left and Right outputs from the Mackie into each side of the graphic, then into respective sides of the amp, and down the two powered send lines in the snake. Take the Monitor output on the Mackie, send it to channel 16, Mute channel 16 and pan it hard left, take ALT 3/4 left side and send it down the snake using one of the unpowered send lines, then into the Peavey at the stage to drive the monitors. Again, the only graphic for the monitors will be what's inboard in the Peavey. Taping for Live at Laurel using the 4-track There are two basic options, but in both I assume you are satisfied with a stereo tape mix and don't want a true 4 track. We could do a 4-track mix for the tape, but I doubt we'd want to without alot of forethought with the artist. In both of the below we still take the ambient house mics into channels on the 6-channel TEAC board used for the tape mix - they don't run through the Mackie. Option 1 (Easiest): Just take the house mix out via the Bus L/R Inserts by plugging into these only til the first click, and taking these outputs to two inputs in the 6-channel board being used for the tape mix. This will give the house mix, post-fader, post-EQ, but not affected by the Main faders on the Mackie. If the house mix is Mono, then you can use the Pan Pots on each channel to make the tape mix as stereo as you like. Alternatively, you could just take the Main Left and Right outputs from the Mackie (assuming the house mix is mono and therefore using the mono output), but these will be affected by the Master faders. Option 2 (A bit more difficult): Here we use two Aux sends (say Aux 3 and 4) for the left and right sides of the tape mix. The advantage is having some control over the levels of separate channels in the tape mix, independent of the house mix. This will still be post-fader, post-EQ though, so it will still be affected by the house mix. To do this, center all Aux 3 and Aux 4 levels, take Aux 3 and 4 outputs from the back of the Mackie to separate input channels in the 6-channel board used for the tape mix. You can then increase or decrease the level of any channel in the tape mix by adjusting the Aux 3 and 4 channel levels. You are doing a stereo mix though, so you have to be careful to adjust each channel's Aux 3 and 4 pots to give the stereo mix you want. The only way to monitor this mix in the Mackie I think is to Y-out the output from the Aux 3 and 4 outputs, with one set going to the 6-channel TEAC board and the other set going to two open channels. Pan one of the channels hard left and the other hard right, and the faders on these channels will control the level heard through Headphones when the channels are Solo'd. THE BIG PROBLEM with this is, the two channels have to be Muted (or else they wind up in the house mix), and thus sent to ALT 3/4, which means you can't use ALT 3/4 to control the monitors. Live Broadcast This is easy since the live feed is mono. If the house mix is mono, you can just Y-out the Mono output from the Mackie. This just gives the house mix, and is affected by the Master faders. However, it is probably best to use one of the Aux sends as per option 2 above, since then you have control over each channel in the live feed mix, and it is not affected by the Master faders. You only need to use one of the Aux outputs, and you can Y-out the output from this, sending one side to the radio board and one side into one of the open channels, Mute the channel, and pan it hard to the right (assuming the Monitor channel 16 is panned to the left). You can monitor the live feed mix by soloing the channel you sent it to in the Mackie. Processors and other junk Connecting a processor to a single channel is easy, if you use a Hybrid 1/4" plug set to set up an effects loop by plugging it all the way into (2nd click) the channel insert for the channel you want the effect in. For example, to use a graphic on a single channel (Mike Cross does this for his guitar), plug the Hybrid into the channel insert, connect the output side of the plug into the graphic input and the input side of the plug into the graphic output. This inserts the graphic into that channel. For other more exotic effects, like reverb, which you want in several channels, do a sub-mix in one of the AUX buses of the channels you want reverb in, take the AUX output to the reverb and take the output of the reverb into one of the AUX Returns. If it gets more exotic than this, the group is probably carrying their own sound person, so why should you worry? Best of luck - if you have questions call me at 974-4295 or 584-2049. Last revised: April 30, 1995 Louis J. Gross Department of Mathematics and Graduate Program in Ecology University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996-1300 615-974-4295 615-974-6576 (FAX) 615-974-2461 (Secretary) gross@math.utk.edu http://mathsun1.math.utk.edu:8000/~gross/