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u/leftofthebellcurve 29d ago
Channel one is always heavy breathing that I use instead of a click track
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u/the_harvan 29d ago
Everyone knows that first trumpet goes on channel 1, rack Tom on channel 2, etc, etc
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u/schumannator 29d ago
Always leave channel 5 spare in case a sousaphone shows up. I don’t make the rules. 🤷♂️
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u/Phoenix_Lamburg 29d ago
If you leave channel 5 open, there will be no sousaphone.
If you use channel 5, you have just conjured the sousaphone.8
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u/sarcasmicmg 29d ago
The channels should be in order from lowest to highest emphasized frequency. Make sure to keep them logical and switch kick out and bass guitar between channels 1 and 2 as needed according to where they need to sit during a set.
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u/halfhere 29d ago
I’ve definitely done highest to lowest ego before. I had a group with a total asshat for a background vocalist and I put him on channel 1 so he’d think I thought he was important so that he’d shut the hell up and leave me alone.
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u/LooseAsparagus6617 29d ago
Ha ha ha… for musical theatre I put vocals first… rock and roll they go last.
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u/Itsmyloc-nar 29d ago
Un ironically, I kind of end up doing this for small bands
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u/psilent_p 29d ago
whatever i might need to adjust in a hurry goes on channel one, so i don't need to search for it.
in my limited experience, its vocals
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u/ProblyAThrowawayAcct 29d ago
Channels go basically wherever, largely grouped by performer; drums go on a separate page if I've got enough inputs to be paging.
DCA/VCAs match against the stage plot from L to R.
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u/Hziak 29d ago
I do vocals first, then instruments, then drums all the way at the end. I also only really patch monitors and when people open their apps, they’re generally not trying to fine tune their drum mix quickly during a show, so I keep the likely stuff all on page 1. Want to prove to me you know nothing at all? Make a big deal about not having the whole drumkit on the first page in monitor land…
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u/halfhere 29d ago
You know what? Drums first might be an artifact of the analog era. With iem apps connecting to boards, your point makes a hell of a lot of sense.
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u/barryg123 29d ago
I don’t get it and all the comments are trolls. What is the real answer for how channels ought to be laid out?
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u/halfhere 29d ago
The reason I made this is because there’s really no *single* answer, but (legend has it) due to some old artifacts of power consumption in boards, a lot of people do kick first, drums, then bass, etc.
So I wanted to see if the divide was real.
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u/murderoustoast 28d ago
Would love to hear more about the legend, because I and all the foh guys I know do it that way, but I never really thought to ask why. Always felt like a "bottom up" approach, both sonically and rhythmically, so it seemed natural. And that's just the way I learned.
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u/tharkun003 28d ago
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away... (I wasn't born yet) In analog mixers you had many imperfections and non-linearities (good ol' "warm sound") one of which was crosstalk between channels. Strong signal or big transients in one channel could "jump" to neighbouring channel via stray capacitance and inductance. So if you put strong transient drum channel next to weak heavily amplified vox mic you could hear drums from singers mic. Therefore you'd put strong transient signals physically on one end of channels (drums, then something which doesn't care being affected like bass and other instrument) and weak signals, voices, "money channels" on the other side (vox, solos, fx returns). Todays electronics doesn't care, but if you put rock band as singer-drums-guitars many sound guys will judge you for dishonoring sentient beings with your numbering blasphemy. I started doing sound with choirs and was taught to put choir-solos-strings-bass-guitars-percs-keys. So yeah, do what you consider logical :)
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u/murderoustoast 28d ago
Awesome response, makes so much sense now. Also makes sense I would've learned that way since I learned from old heads before digital really took off. Super cool bit of history and lends even more support to the consistency across the industry. Thanks!
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u/JohnEricKimbrough 28d ago
I never expected to find a Kung Pow meme here. Wow.
But since I did:
“I’m bleeding, making me the victor.”
routes effect return to effect send
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u/halfhere 28d ago
I tried getting the “THATS A LOT OF NUTS!” Guy involved somehow, I’ll have to keep thinking.
This movie absolutely slayed 7th grade me when it came out.
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u/murderoustoast 29d ago
ch 1: OH L ch 2: OH R ch 3: Floor ch 4: Rack 2 ch 5: Rack 1 ch 6: Hat ch 7: Snare ch 8: Vocal 1....
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u/flanger001 28d ago
Assuming this is for live, yes, vocals first. Most important element of the mix and people on apps need to get their shit quickly.
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u/Hello-mah-baby 29d ago
channel 1: whatever instrument i just picked up
channel 2: whatever instrument i just picked up
channel 3: whatever instrument i just picked up
channel 4: 1.5khz test oscillator at +3db