The AudioArt Blogs

Yesterday I participated in a benefit for a local musician who has been stricken with a serious illness that is preventing him from working. Reuben ‘The Lounge Lizard’ Morgan has been part of the local music scene for many years. He has played locally and generally promoted live music in the area. The community held a fund raiser to help out with his expenses while he is unable to work. I was pleased to be invited to mix the sound for the main stage at this event.

I took the new SAC rig down to the venue and tied it in with the house system. This was my third time out with the rig. I am beginning to find my way around without problems, but I have only scratched the surface of the capibilities of this virtual mixing system. There were 9 acts that performed on the main stage within a 10 hour time peroid. The show went smooth as there were plenty of experienced volenteer stage hands available and there was provided backline so that set changes were quick.

The SAC rig performed flawlessly through out the day. The sound is very well defined. With the experience that I now have I can tell that this system is going to be a pleasue to use. Things will only get better as I gain more experience with using the system. Things become easier and I learn more each time that I use the system. The work flow becomes more natural and I do not have to think as much about how to do the things that I want to do. I had never had opportunity to mix on any of the hardware digital systems prior to putting this virtual system in service. I have been strictly analog up to this time. The digital workflow is a bit of an adjustment for me.

One thing that has amazed me about the system is the reaction that I see from both the musical community and the crowd in general. Everyone thinks that this is a natural way to do sound in these times. There are a lot of ooh’s and aah’s about the system and the GUI. One other thing that I have noticed is that noone has asked if I know what each of those knobs (as in big hardware) do. Most of them do not realize how much hardware is replaced by the Mixer In A Box.

I have begun to use a digital mixer that resides on a PC. This is a very reasonably priced entry into the world of digital live audio production. The mixer runs on the software package developed by RML Labs. RML Labs has had a studio software package available since the early ’90′s and has now added a live version - The Software Audio Console – also known as SAC. This software provides a full digital mixing experience comparable to the finest hardware digital mixing systems. It is capable of processing 72 full stereo channels and has many features including a 5 band parametric eq with low and high pass filters and patchable gates and compressors on each channel.

I built my system and have been using it live. I have just put up a website with more information and an offer to assist in the assembly of SAC systems. Visit the new site at: Mixer In A Box.

Please send a link to anyone that you think may be interested in this product, either from an informational standpoint or a user standpoint. Thanks!

As I mentioned in an earlier post I have been exploring the world of digital audio for the live situation. I decided to put together the SAC – Software Audio Console system. I have just completed the system and am beginning the test procedure. I hope to use it live at a club gig next weekend.

I have been posting progress reports on the I Built My Computer site. If you are interested in the adventure you can read all about it there. I built a dedicated computer for use with the system. If it performs up to expectation I may build one or two more instances of the system over the summer. One would be a smaller system that would be more compact for the smaller gigs and club dates. The other would be a full concert system.

The system that I have now built is a 32 channel system that I plan to use for events and conventions. The club rig would be probably 24 channels and would be significantly less expensive to put together. The concert rig would be on the order of 48 channels and have some other requirements that will make it more expensive.

This has been fun on several levels. I got to build another computer. I have been learning about digital audio. Both of these are areas of special interest to me. It will be interesting to put the new system into service and see how it works in the live sound world.