Studio Mixing Consoles / Computer Interface

[fluxONE]

I still do not understand how this works.

 

Everytime i look at pictures of professional studios they have a huge mixing conosle and two flat panel computer monitors sitting on top of it. This tells me that the console and comptuer are linked. HOW?

 

Once all the tracks are recorded on the hard disk of the computer how do they mix on the console?

 

I guess my real question is just how in the world do people link computers and large mixing consoles together to where you can mix on the console and effect whats running through the computers. Im not talking about DAW controllers cause i undertand what those do.

 

Anyone who owns a Professional studio please tell me how you mix.

[Philip OKeefe]

Everytime i look at pictures of professional studios they have a huge mixing conosle and two flat panel computer monitors sitting on top of it. This tells me that the console and comptuer are linked. HOW?

 

Well, you might be right, and you might not be, depending on what you're actually looking at. Some boards are digital and have screens built into the boards so you can see parameters and control various things. That might be what you're looking at. Or you might be looking at a large format analog console, with a computer screen placed above it for convienience sake... it's the computer DAW's screen, and it's sitting where it is because that's the "sweet spot" (the center of the stereo field), which allows the engineer to manipulate things on the computer without having to leave the ideal audio monitoring position.

 

Some links to pictures of the types of boards you're talking about would help me to explain what you're looking at a bit better.

 

As far as how things are hooked up between board and computer screen, again, the screen might be part of the board itself, or it could be part of a computer that is connected to the board... in that case, the audio may be routed out of the computer's interface and fed into the board. And vise versa - the board's outputs might be feeding into the audio interface on the computer. Outboard mic preamps are frequently used in the same way. Some people will send one channel out of the interface into one channel on the board - a 1:1 ratio, with each DAW track getting sent to its own mixing board channel. Others use "stems" - submixes or stereo pairs of various things - I tend to do that a lot too - bringing a guitar submix in on two board channels, background vocals on another stereo pair, etc.

 

But while these are fairly common, they're not the only way things are done. Some guys mix entirely "in the box", doing the entire mix within the computer without the use of the large board you see in the pictures. Some of those projects are mixed entirely with the keyboard and mouse of the computer, while some people use those in conjunction with a physical controller surface that allows more traditional real time manipulation of the software knobs and faders with "real" hardware controls.

 

Other engineers use some computer processing and some on their boards - I tend to take that approach a lot. Others use the computer as a high tech tape deck - or do away with the computer entirely and use old 2" analog decks, or non-personal computer based systems such as the Tascam MX2424 or RADAR systems and do the entire mix on the large console - which may be completely analog and lack any sort of onboard computerized automation or might be completely digital with every possible parameter under computerized control.

 

Again, many methods are used, and each has their own set of advantages and drawbacks. You just have to find whatever setup works best with your preferred working style. And as far as "how is it hooked up?", it's just going to depend on "which studio?" and in many cases, even "who's working there today?" because there's so many different ways you might have something configured.

[fluxONE]

Thank you.

 

If i have a sound card with 24 ADAT ins and outs and i have a digital mixer with 24 tracks can i have all my tracks (say in cubase) running through the digital mixer?

[Valkyrie Sound]

Yeap... Phil is right... depends on the studio.

 

At NPR I work on this console most of the time:

http://beradio.com/images/archive/0703/307br2306.jpg

 

It's got 3 LCD screens...

1. For the Dalet DAW system editing interface

2. For the main level meters and master clock

3. For other metering and routing

More on how the system is configured:

http://beradio.com/ar/radio_others_consolidate_npr/

 

These are part of the console and the only way to interface with it directly.

 

The faders and buttons are just an interface control surface for a computer that "acts" like a console and does all the processing and routing.

 

In my own studio I have 1 digital mixer I use for routing in the studio and a PT DAW that I actually "mix" inside.

 

There are SO many ways digital consoles can work!

 

Valky

[Philip OKeefe]

Originally posted by fluxONE:

Thank you.

 

If i have a sound card with 24 ADAT ins and outs and i have a digital mixer with 24 tracks can i have all my tracks (say in cubase) running through the digital mixer?

If you digital mixer has 24 channels of ADAT I/O, sure, you could easily do that.

 

A nitpicky comment: Tracks and channels are not really the same thing... board channels are normally called "channels", and tape deck or DAW tracks are normally called "tracks". It's easy for things to get confusing if you call a track a channel, but lots of people do it. I've probably been guilty of doing that a time or three myself.

 

But yes, assuming your board has 24 channels and 24 channels of ADAT inputs, and you have 24 tracks on your DAW, and 24 channels of ADAT outputs on your computer, you could easily do exactly what you're talking about.

 

The advantage would be that you can use your board's EQ, compression, etc. for some of the processing duties, and you can still use the computer plug ins too. More choices, more power available. You could do any mix automation you needed on either part of the system - via the board's automation (assuming it has an onboard automation sequencer or system) or via the DAW's automation features.

[polyt]

I'm not a pro studio but my situation can probably illustrate the use of a board pretty well.

 

I have a Delta 44 sound card. 4 ins, 4 outs. Not a whole lot to work with. Now, I'm just recording band practice, so 4 ins is usually enough to give everything it's own channel. Stereo edrums, bass and guitar makes four. In this case the board is not a necessity. I can track everything on it's own channel for later mixdown. But what if we have a couple guys sit in on a session? In this case I would need a submix of some sort at the board prior to going in to the computer.

 

Lets say you have a nice tone in the room, but it isn't tracking quite as well as it should. Add a little EQ at the board before going in to the computer.

 

Want to monitor something while tracking? Send it to the board for latency free monitoring. Need to setup customized headphone mixes? Send it to the board.

 

The four outs on the soundcard are for mixing outside of your DAW. Within your software, assign your tracks to the individual outs (rather than the default stereo out). Each track then has a strip on the board where you then work your magic in the analog realm. You can then route this analogue mix to what would probably be the final destination. Be it a cassette, a masterlink, or even staight back into the computer.

 

This approach is most effective if you have high quality analogue gear and good converters. If not, the drawbacks of all the conversions usually outweigh any benefits of working with analogue devices.

[Rog]

Originally posted by Valkyrie Sound:

Yeap... Phil is right... depends on the studio.

 

At NPR I work on this console most of the time:

http://beradio.com/images/archive/0703/307br2306.jpg

 

It's got 3 LCD screens...

1. For the Dalet DAW system editing interface

2. For the main level meters and master clock

3. For other metering and routing

More on how the system is configured:

http://beradio.com/ar/radio_others_consolidate_npr/

 

These are part of the console and the only way to interface with it directly.

 

The faders and buttons are just an interface control surface for a computer that "acts" like a console and does all the processing and routing.

 

In my own studio I have 1 digital mixer I use for routing in the studio and a PT DAW that I actually "mix" inside.

 

There are SO many ways digital consoles can work!

 

Valky

You use Dalet too?

 

Sucks donkey balls, doesn't it?

[Valkyrie Sound]

Originally posted by Rog:

 

You use Dalet too?

 

Sucks donkey balls, doesn't it? [/QB]

YES! Yes.... it does...

 

Soon we'll be getting the all new Dalet "Plus". Woo Hoo....

 

Where are you using Dalet?

 

Valky

[Rog]

I use it here.

 

There are worse systems out there ... like DCS but Dalet is still pretty terrible, especially for any kind of serious editing

[doug osborne]

If the studio has an analog console with moving fader automation, the automation computer will have a monitor, usually placed on the meter bridge

 

http://www.martinsound.com/images/s1_cr1.jpg

 

The automation system remembers your fades and mutes as you work, and moves the faders and switches on or off the mutes on playback. this would work the same whether you are recording to an analog recorder or a DAW.