Anyone use tablet controlled mixing on stage? If so, what have you got?

[leschirons]

Our guitarist, who owns all the P.A gear fancies going WIFI on stage so we can control monitors . mix etc from iPads or tablets. Anyone had positive or nightmare experiences with this type of set-up?

He's been looking at the Soundcraft units.

Thanks

[drTStingray]

It seems to have its advantages and disadvantages - ours is owned by the drummer who is occasionally doing much greater things and is depped.

This leaves the lead singer in charge and it has been known to take 15 mins for him and the rest of us to work out how to adjust a mike which is verging on feedback - everyone groans and says what price a manual fader. In other words, as with any IT it takes a while to learn to use it and as there is often the need for an urgent tweak, it can be a hinderence if you aren't skilled with it.

An advantage (in a pub) is that someone can take the iPod to the back of the room and mix the sound quite accurately (when the pa mixer would normally be with the band at the front).

[steve-bbb]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1455405266' post='2978939']
as with any IT it takes a while to learn to use it and as there is often the need for an urgent tweak, it can be a hinderence if you aren't skilled with it.
[/quote]

conversely if the sound engineers are very acquainted with the kit they can solve problems very quickly - we had a big wedding reception last year with a very well equipped sound crew and had some really strange on stage feedback going on during the soundcheck - man with iPad comes up on to the stage whilst we were playing and fixed the problem in less than 20 seconds

[chris_b]

Last night the band leader was talking about doing this. He's a gadget freak so I expect he'll make it work.

He'll have the set, words and PA system running from his iPad. He's working on connecting 2 so he has a backup.

He mentioned that we could all use an iPad to control our own monitor sound.

We were only doing a pub gig!

[moonbass]

I've been using the iPad wifi app on my Soundcraft Expression desk for a few gigs now and although it is useful it should come with a big word of caution. Firstly if you think it's suddenly going to solve all your problems with hearing yourself onstage and feedback then think again! I've learned that I am pretty much incapable of playing bass and using an iPad at the same time, so 90% of the time it's just saving me the short walk to the desk, and I still can't hear what FOH sounds like anyway.

When just doing sound for bands it is great for setting the monitor mix onstage, but once you're started with the gig, you can't really be going up every time a band member asks for 'a bit more of themselves' so you're still relying on their judgement most of the time.

And that kinda leaves the option that I haven't dared try yet, which is leaving the iPad with the singers (!) I've certainly not found any that are tech or mixing savvy enough yet to do this, but if you're in a stable band and they're willing to put the time in then this could be a great option.

The Soundcraft app is also not entirely intuitive, and I've still not been able to get the level/monitoring indicators to work yet. Real faders are a lot easier to work with, for me at least. It does however mean I can confidently get to the bar without worrying about something going wrong on the way, but it's probably cheaper just to get someone to go and buy you a pint!

[chris_b]

Doesn't it order your drinks for you?

[taunton-hobbit]

Me, being a technical dinosaur (I still own valve amps, for goodness sake), sometimes wonders it this fixation with all things modern can obscure the original exercise, which was merely to drain the swamp - sorry, play music - not shoot alligators, if you get my drift?

[chris_b]

Our band leader is a professional musician and has been successfully running a 1 man show for the last 25 years.

If it were possible he'd also use the iPad for said draining and shooting as well.

[leschirons]

Well, our guitarist who owns all the P.A. equipment is certainly a tech head so he'll be able to use it. He also hires out his system for fairly large gigs and engineers them too. I can't help thinking though that this is getting stuff for the sake of it.

If you saw his floor pedal set up, you'd know what I mean and tbh I get a little fed up with it all. He has 23 pedals (as that's all there's room for on the board) and when he's got no sound coming through, I have to bite my lip while he checks all connections before realising the standby is on.

From what you're all saying, it just sounds like grief for smallish gigs.

[lowdown]

[quote name='moonbass' timestamp='1455445706' post='2979076']
And that kinda leaves the option that I haven't dared try yet, which is leaving the iPad with the singers (!) [/quote]

They would end up trying to mix with a Tambourine while banging
the iPad on their thighs.

[Roger2611]

I don't get it..........The idea is to adjust the sound from onstage? Surely unless you have a sound engineer with the desk out front then you can manually adjust the sound from onstage with one of them slider thingies....and unless you have a sound engineer to advise you then surely you cannot hope to adjust the out front sound from onstage with any degree of certainty?

Luddite, me

[ratman]

I've been using a Mackie DL1608 & iPads for a year now with my own bands and as an independant PA man. It's brilliant. Proper Logic style EQs wipe the floor with the traditional Bass/Mid/Treble found on analogue desks. And I have 6 auxes. The interface is easy to navigate and it didn't take me long to get to know it. Actually, I'd downloaded the free app before I got the mixer & iPad so I knew how it worked before I even had the hardware. I even use it on bigger 7+ piece bands down to small 3 piece pub gigs because it's just so good. You can save everything - EQs, comps, gates, whole channel strips, complete mixes (incl auxes), which makes life really easy.
The wireless mixing thing isn't for everyone, but I'm sticking with my Mackie.

[crez5150]

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1455479866' post='2979501']
I don't get it..........The idea is to adjust the sound from onstage?

[/quote]

No its not. The idea is that you can adjust the FOH from anywhere in the room.....

[chris_b]

. . . and you can adjust the monitors from the stage.

[FinnDave]

The last time I used a tablet (or two) on stage I had a very enjoyable gig and spent most of it wondering who was playing bass, as I wasn't aware of doing so myself

[sunburstjazz1967]

In a few years time non digital mixers with or without wifi control will be resigned to rehearsal rooms forever.

I have a Behringer xair and a 10.2 galaxy tab, RCF 735 cabs, db monitors.
This gives;
A huge range of FX,
31 Band EQ for FOH, each monitor mix (4 independent mixes), and more 31 band eqs in the FX slots.
Gated and compressed kick drum,
Wireless mix from anywhere in the venue,
4 speakers and some xlr leads give us a 2800 watt pa in ten minutes!
Each band and each venue once mixed can be saved and reloaded everytime you play there so once you have some basic sttings uploaded, perhaps put aside a full practice just once and from then on a small tweek to suit each gig, save and you are done, if you go back a year later, load the venue and voila!

Awesome box smaller than a shoe box!!!

[sunburstjazz1967]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1455480284' post='2979507']
. . . and you can adjust the monitors from the stage.
[/quote]

The xair allows 4 people onto the in built wifi hot spot and you can have different levels of access so you can have overall control for the person that normally does (drummer in my function band, singer in my pub trio) then give 3 more people access to their own monitor mix or in ears if they use them, that also makes a mix of in ears and non in ears players able to play together too.

[bassintheface]

We do it.
We take an engineer out too, but we run an X32 plus iPad.
Also have the app on my phone for my own IEM mix.

[leschirons]

Seems the big advantages are control over monitoring and better EQ possibilities. In the end, it's his decision whether he buys or not and I suppose we'll have a try out with our four piece.

Thing is, the older I get, the less complicated I want everything to be. The French musicians I've played with since coming here seem to all be of that "let's get there 6 hours early to set stuff up" mindset whereas my old UK gig life was more 15 mins before the gig, plug in and play and sort volumes and balance before the end of the first verse

[sunburstjazz1967]

Once you've set it up once it will save loads of time at each gig.

I know a guy who has three flight cases, mixer, iem receivers, wireless mic and instrument receivers. As the whole band are on in ears the mix is the same at every gig, plug it in, turn it on and set the volume for the venue,worst case scenario the foh eq needs adjusting to suit,that's it.

[FuNkShUi]

We've been using the X18 for about 6 months now. Took a while to get used to it.
But it's great. Wouldn't ever go back out of choice

[mrtcat]

I've only got positive things to say about our behringer x-air xr18 set up. Easy to use, massive array of processing if you want it and saves masses of space in the van. No way in a million years that Id go back to a mixing desk now. We do weddings, corporate and private functions. If the gig is a big one that requires pa we use a local hire company who use a behringer x32 desk which allows wifi mixing too. With our set up we do foh mix from laptop then singer uses iPad air for his monitor mix. Drummer uses a galaxy tab something and guitarist uses his phone. Never had any problems.

[sunburstjazz1967]

Still learning how to work mine but so far its awesome! Paired with high end powered speakers and its one hell of a pa in three boxes.

[leschirons]

All academic now. I just got this e-mail. He's already ordered stuff, installed software and seemingly configured it for our band. (Press Play)

So, looks like the band will either have a really great, or really bad, next gig



"Salut Keith

Ok c'est fait, j'ai passé la commande chez Thomann !!!!!! J'ai déjà installé le logiciel sur ma tablette et j'ai déjà configuré l'architecture Pressplay"

Phil

[ratman]

Give yourselves extra time on the set up & sound check on the next gig or three. I found that it took a few gigs to be good and quick getting sound check done. Make sure you ring out the monitors too. And tell the band to be patient with your sound guy, he's got a learning curve ahead of him but he'll get there soon enough.