RoyS Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Hi all,I have just upgraded from a 16-2 to a 32-8-2 desk (principally for the extra monitoring possibilities) and do sound for a variety of bands, some with horn sections, keys, etc. What are the opinions on what to put into the 8 sub groups? Many thanks, Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackerr Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 It depends somewhat on what console you are talking about. Not all consoles with 8 physical groups are useful as 8 groups. What do you have? Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 1 Kik/Sn2 Drums/ Percussion L3 Drums/ Percussion R4 Bass5 Gats6 Anything acoustic / strange e.g strings, acgat etc7 Either BVs or Male vox depending on the show8 Either LVs of Female vox depending on the show But obviously completely up to you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkPAman Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Many Most desks will not let you route to 2&3 as a stereo pair. :) - I almost said "all analogue" but that would be asking for trouble! There are lots of ways of using groups. I like effects on a subgroup, if there are no mute groups. You mention brass & I'd probably give a group or pair of groups to them, but it depends what else is happening, and even two bands with the same line up may benefit from you using the groups in a different way. Compressing groups rather that individual instruments can be a useful thing sometimes. A simple set up to start with until you get confident to change things about could be: 1&2 Drums & percussion3&4 Bass, Guitars & Keys5&6 Brass7&8 Vocals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audio Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 The answers to this question are almost limitless... It depends on the band lineup, how you like things laid out on the desk etc... I personally try to have a groove group which has kick, snare and bass but thats just me! Basically, send any group of channels that you are going to want to change the level of while maintaining their overall relationship with eachother to a group - then its moving one fader (or two if stereo) instead of trying to juggle 12 drum mic faders all at once Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyS Posted October 22, 2007 Author Share Posted October 22, 2007 It depends somewhat on what console you are talking about. Not all consoles with 8 physical groups are useful as 8 groups. What do you have? Mac The desk in question is a Soundcraft K2. Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Mark's suggestion looks good to me, you won't be able to route 2&3 together like David said on a K2. It's usual to stick drums on groups 1&2 and Vox on 7&8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightsource Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 The answers to this question are almost limitless... It depends on the band lineup, how you like things laid out on the desk etc... Very true. I usually: 1 Lead Vox2 Backing vox3 Lead Guitars4 Backing guitars ( any acoustics just go to L+R)5 Keys6 Brass / Keys stereo of required7 Drums Lefty8 Drums Righty I like to pan the drums a little, hence 7&8 for the kit. But it really depends on the band in question. The point is, that I find the sup-groups useful. After all, we could just send everything to L+R, adnd then have a sh**t load of channels to manage. This is the point of the sub-groups in a live sound environment, GROUPING, allows you to manage overall sections, rather than each channel. You said the new desk was handy for the monitoring.... We don't use the sub-groups for mons, that's left to the aux sends, where each channel is available to be mixed for each individual monitor mix. Using the sub-groups will leave you with little individual (channel) level control. So monitor mixing with this approach will be tedious. Hope this helps. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 Just a heads up on using effects when using subgroups... If you're using a vocal reverb and change the level of the vocal with the group fader, you'll change the wet/dry balance unless the FX return is also routed to that group. If the FX is shared between several different sources, you can't really win.Unless you have VCAs of course :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swampman Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 Just a heads up on using effects when using subgroups...If you're using a vocal reverb and change the level of the vocal with the group fader, you'll change the wet/dry balance unless the FX return is also routed to that group. If the FX is shared between several different sources, you can't really win.Unless you have VCAs of course :)Agreement, Tip: if you have not got VCAs and use specific FX for: Snare+drum or Vocals and these are grouped add the the FX onto the group mix NOT onto your main L©R mix out; that way the FX level wll ride with the group master, (Note that some FX are stereo panned and you will therefore need a 1+2 (L+R); 2+3... as mentioned by others.) PS some analogue desks (Yamaha GA series) allow allocation of some (pre) auxiliaries to the Groups, they are therefore useful for Monitors with slider controls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Some Bloke Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 Don't forget that if you intend to use the matrix facility, how you group can be important there too. (Do a search for using a matrix for further information, if required). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.