Mixing, Performing, and monitoring

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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J_R
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue May 05, 2020 11:49 pm

Mixing, Performing, and monitoring

Post by J_R » Thu Jun 02, 2022 6:04 am

My research concludes that:
Common Knowledge dictates:
One mixes and arranges using studio monitors because they "are built to produce a very flat frequency so that sound engineers can hear tiny details in a mix".
Second best, certainly better than (just) 'speakers', seems to be to use headphones--studio/monitor headphones.
More often than not the studio speakers/headphones will be connected to your Audio Interface.


So after completing your mixing, you want to take the material and use it in a live performance (where, among other things, you'll need more volume). What kind of output device/speaker(s) situations are recommended:
  • a) Use the studio monitors you used to mix the music?
    b) Use a stereo, amplifying and outputting the sound through (non-studio monitor) speakers?
    c) Use one or more guitar amps amplifying and outputting the sound through their speakers?
    d) Use a, b, or c, miked and mixed through a PA--a more 'dependent' on the sound engineer/performance venue solution).
And back to the headphones...
  • e) If your output is miked (d) and you are performing over your mix and are using headphones or a speaker monitor the sound engineer can separately adjust and present to you elements of the sound you most need to hear.
    f) If your output is not miked, can you, using Ableton, create a track you can adjust on stage to hilight elements of the sound you most need to hear and have that track play through your headphones (while the rest of the mix is sent to the performance space)?

DunedinDragon
Posts: 104
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 5:46 pm

Re: Mixing, Performing, and monitoring

Post by DunedinDragon » Thu Jun 02, 2022 11:26 am

I do this all the time and I have separate areas for recording and rehearsing for live performances. In both the studio and on my performance laptop I have Ableton Live standard edition. I individually record all the tracks I'll need and get them to reasonable mix levels using studio monitors (Yamaha HS7). In the studio I'm mostly concerned with getting the right sound out of each instrument, not the perfect mix. That will be done on my live rehearsal system. Once I get all tracks the way I want them I reduce all instrument tracks down to WAV audio files for use on the live system. This reduces the load on the live system for better and more dependable performances.

My live rehearsal system consists of all the main gear I use when performing which is a high end Windows laptop running Ableton Live (without all the plugins), an audio interface for converting the output of tracks to analog which plugs into my Yamaha 12 channel mixer. I have one Yamaha DXR12 as the main speaker from my mixing board which is the same type of speaker I use for live performances. At home I have the speaker about 5 feet off the ground and listen to it from about 6 feet away to avoid the close up harshness and get the full normal blend an audience would hear. I transfer the WAV audio files from the studio system over to the laptop and load each song with all it's individual tracks into individual Ableton scenes. I plug my mic, my guitar through a Helix and the stereo output from the Ableton song tracks into their individual channels for playback. That's when I do the final gain staging and balancing of the tracks and the live instrument and vocals. I generally have my mixer's faders positioned where I want them (vocals higher than instruments) and gain staged appropriately on the mixer and I adjust each recorded tracks volume within Ableton and my guitar output through the Helix for the final mix. I store all the changes to the audio tracks to the laptop and all my preset changes to the Helix, and it's ready for a live performance.

DunedinDragon
Posts: 104
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 5:46 pm

Re: Mixing, Performing, and monitoring

Post by DunedinDragon » Thu Jun 02, 2022 11:37 am

J_R wrote:
Thu Jun 02, 2022 6:04 am

And back to the headphones...
  • e) If your output is miked (d) and you are performing over your mix and are using headphones or a speaker monitor the sound engineer can separately adjust and present to you elements of the sound you most need to hear.
    f) If your output is not miked, can you, using Ableton, create a track you can adjust on stage to hilight elements of the sound you most need to hear and have that track play through your headphones (while the rest of the mix is sent to the performance space)?
I perform with two other people. We don't use IEMs, just high quality floor monitors (a mix of DXR12s and QSC K10.2) each with their own mix based on what the person needs. No instruments on our stage are mic'd and we all go direct to the mixer. Since all of my mixing has been done prior to stepping on stage we simply have to do a quick runthrough to check levels and correct anything if necessary for each person's monitors and we're ready to go.
Basically it's a studio quality performance and mix both on stage and for the audience.

Max Regus
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2022 8:03 pm

Re: Mixing, Performing, and monitoring

Post by Max Regus » Wed Jun 29, 2022 1:06 pm

a) Use the studio monitors you used to mix the music?
If they're loud enough, and you don't mind the risk of taking them out of the studio, this would work well. It would be my preferred solution for a house concert or similar. You'd need 5" woofers or more for a small room.
b) Use a stereo, amplifying and outputting the sound through (non-studio monitor) speakers?
This would also work. The sound would be coloured by the non-studio monitors, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. It would be good to hear what the hi-fi sounds like in advance
c) Use one or more guitar amps amplifying and outputting the sound through their speakers?
I wouldn't suggest this. It depends on your material, but guitar amps have their own qualities, suited to guitars
d) Use a, b, or c, miked and mixed through a PA--a more 'dependent' on the sound engineer/performance venue solution).
Why mic these up? You can use the direct signal, and plug straight into the venue PA. Venue PAs vary widely in sound quality. I recently had a theatre performance with surround sound audio. I chose to use my own set of 8 x small monitors to put subtle sounds around the theatre. Using my own speakers meant I knew how they'd sound before taking them to the venue.
And back to the headphones...
e) If your output is miked (d) and you are performing over your mix and are using headphones or a speaker monitor the sound engineer can separately adjust and present to you elements of the sound you most need to hear.
Depending on the complexity of the PA, it should be possible to have a mix with the elements you need. You'd have more control if you could have a stereo output that directly connected to the PA, AND a headphone mix output for your monitoring. All controlled through the computer
f) If your output is not miked, can you, using Ableton, create a track you can adjust on stage to hilight elements of the sound you most need to hear and have that track play through your headphones (while the rest of the mix is sent to the performance space)?
Yes, go to Output Configuration to set up 2 main stereo outputs, and 2 outputs for your headphone mix.

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