A Sound and Video Production Company
TL;DR: How to use multiple compressors in a live mix, when your digital desk only has one compression plugin per channel. The Story: A lot of starting live engineers work vertically, adding EQ and compression on each channel individually, and then use groups/bussing for mixing and routing control. This is fine, but I often rely …
Continue reading “Multiple Compressors in Live Audio (Compression Part 1)”
TL;DR: A look into DCAs and VCAs – seemingly strange and esoteric acronyms – how they can help you mix, and how they differ from groups. The Story: As audio mixers got bigger, it made sense to have the controls for outputs, submixes, and other master knobs and faders in the center of the desk. …
Continue reading “Audio Acronyms: DCA, VCA, Groups, and why the nuances matter”
TL;DR: Qlab is not just a tool for theatre. And it isn’t just for playing back media cues! The Story: I have been the North American sound engineer for Pain of Salvation (https://painofsalvation.com) for a few tours. I could go on at length how awesome that job is. One of of the issues we deal with …
Continue reading “Rock & Roll tours with Qlab (and help from Evernote)”
TL;DR: Use Qlab to control every application on your Mac, so you can focus on your show. Also, ToneGenerator is great for soundcheck and room tuning. The Story: By now, you know that I am a big fan of using Qlab for everything. Part of that is the unified interface with the shows I work …
Continue reading “Let Qlab run other applications with Applescript (with ToneGenerator as example)”
TL;DR: Sync your computer with the rest of your team when you receive a Google Drive share. The Story: As I will cover elsewhere, Google Drive is king of all of the sync services out there – plenty of space for free, everyone has a Google account, and the Apps for word processing, spreadsheets, etc …
Continue reading “Google Drive and syncing your show with Backup and Sync software”
TL;DR: Clean out your Google Drive of old, orphaned files you didn’t realize you still have – and close up a potential privacy hole. The Story: I am working on a longer, detailed article on how I use Google Drive, and how it has transformed how I work on live productions. In researching what might …
TL;DR: QLab has a function that quickly and easily archives/bundles your show, copying all of the files you used, so you can remove it from your show computer or move it to another theatre…with a caveat… The Story: In an earlier way-too-long post, I described my Type-A method to organizing my files as I design a …
Continue reading “Archive/Bundle functions in QLab (Save your show after it closes)”
TL;DR: Cover your assets by working with versions The Story: I talk a lot about Qlab on this blog, but today’s installment applies to working in any application. I’ve always been pretty organized, even before I started using computers. (You know, before entering college in 1994…) Keeping things straight is critical to knowing where you …
TL;DR: Color-code cues in Qlab while they are highlighted, during your run, so you can go back to them later, using Hotkeys. The Story: I love books. But I hate paper when it comes to the production process. Partly because I’m a geek and want to find cool ways to do things. And partly because …
TL;DR: A primer on what you have to pay for – and what you don’t. And how it’s more affordable to use QLab than you might think. The Story: We have all been there. People use iTunes and Keynote (or, gasp, PowerPoint!) for a live production, because they don’t know what’s better out there. (That’s …
Continue reading “QLab licensing, costs, and what it all means”
