Posted from: Portland, OR
Next tour stop: Denver, CO
This one’s for the sound guys–something that I was reminded of this last week
when I had the pleasure to mix on the house console, an Amek Recall, at the
Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Being on an analog console with Neve preamps was
a nice change of pace from the Yamaha 02R I normally mix this tour on, for sure,
and I ended up making use of a little trick that you can’t do with motorized
faders.
One of my inputs on the show is a stereo music mix. Trying to keep two individual
channel faders lined up for a source like that can be a pain, especially if–as
I do–you tend to mix the music rather dynamically with lots of little bumps
and slides. Now, you can do this with a stereo input on the console, but depending
on the console, this may not provide the routing flexibility you need (especially
if you’re not running a stereo system, and odds are, even if you think you are,
you’re not, but that’s a rant for another post). Or you may just want that input
located elsewhere (I, for example, am most comfortable with this particular
input on the left extreme of the area I can comfortably reach while mixing),
but most consoles have the stereo inputs all the way on the right. So, what
to do?
On a digital console, you can link the motorized faders so that you just push
one fader, and the adjacent one(s) move in sync with it. Bingo, you’re done.
But on an analogue console without moving faders, you can physically gang, or
bridge, the faders together. There’s the pretty way to do this, and the quick
and cheap way. First, the pretty way: molded
fader bridges by Canford Audio. These are available in four different widths,
and just slide right over the fader caps (they list a number of fader brands
they fit in the PDF on the website, others you’ll have to try on your own or
try e-mailing them to inquire. Unfortunately, I don’t know of a US source for
these; if you do, post it on the comments page!
Now, the quick and dirty way. Get yourself a roll of white gaff, and some sort
of stick. Some guys use bits of pencil, I’ve heard of those plastic 9V battery
caps being used. My personal favorite is those same plastic cocktail straws
we used to stiffen floppy
wireless TX antennas way back when. In this case, I cut two pieces of one
of them that were the same width as the faders I was bridging (I found that
one was a little two flimsy for my tastes). Then, I tore two strips of gaff
tape just slightly wider, and equal in height, to the top surface of the fader.
Bring the two faders to the bottom of their travel, and firmly press the first
strip across the two faders.
Then, place the two pieces of stirrer across the center of the faders, and
secure them in place with the second strip of tape. Finally, take two thin strips,
slightly narrower than the faders, and about a half inch longer than the top
surface of the fader. Place these strips down the faders, on top of everything–these
will help keep the whole tape/straw thing from shifting. Press it all together
nice and firm, and make sure that no tape is hitting the actual console surface,
or pulling on the faders in such a way that you feel resistance when you move
the faders. Finally, take a marker out and draw a new line across the gaff where
the line on the fader caps is, so you know what level your fader is at.
I personally find it more comfortable (and more secure) to ride the newly bridged
faders by pressing on the straws in between the faders, rather than one fader
or the other; if you’ve taped it securely enough, though, you should be able
to ride one fader and carry the other one along with it if you prefer. I like
the little bit of give that you get when you press in between the two.
Here’s a picture I grabbed on my cellphone of the stereo pair I was using this
week, to give you an idea of what it looks like (sorry it’s not the greatest
photo; leave it to me to be at the gorgeous Kodak and leave my real camera at
the hotel, d’oh!):
Now, the one key to remember, is to never, ever, ever do this with motorized
faders. NEVER. Motorized faders can be royally screwed up if you don’t let them
do their thing, and doing this can restrict a fader from moving freely (duh)
if it gets recalled to another position. You don’t want to do that. That’s expensive.
You can’t afford it.
Till next time,
Andy
On a digital console, you can link the motorized faders so that you just push one fader, and the adjacent one(s) move in sync with it. Bingo, you’re done.
One bummer with that on the Yamaha line of surfaces is that the left always has to be in an odd input and the right on an even input. IIRC a Yamaha power user told me they were going to fix that, at least in the PM1D. One cool thing about a Digico D series is that you can assign any of the inputs to be ganged as a stereo pair taking only one slot on the surface.
The fader caps are a neat trick. I first used them recording many years ago. AFAIK, it’s a Brit thing but anyone looking should ping Fletcher at Mercenary in Boston (Foxboro really) If he doesn’t have them I bet he can get them or knows who have them.
Very true, Dave, yet another to add to the longgggggg list of bummers on the Yammy digitals. I should also note that one thing that kills me on linked motorized faders is the lag; I hate having the linked fader lag behind the one I’m pushing. But since I can’t physically gang them (that darn fader flip will get you every time), I’ve learned to deal with it. I’m not sure if they fixed it or not on the PM1D, most of my experience is as a bystander when I was out as A2 on a tour with one. I’m curious what they added in v2, but the ads mention very ltitle on the new features.
Ah, the DiGiCo, there is the stuff dreams are made of–such a perfect example of how to design a console with the actual users in mind. Seriously, the first time I got my paws on a D5 at the inaugural BSMC in 2003, it made me want to do very immoral things that no man should ever want to do with a machine. But I digress.
I’m always bummed that I never got to meet Fletcher when I was going to school in Boston; anybody who can create a sculpture consisting of a large spike upon which he’s impaled an ADAT and a Mackie 1202 and title it “Shit on a Stick” is a hero in my book! Then again, maybe I’m just bitter because my Cafe Press shop with parodies of the Mackie running man on a hangman noose got shutdown when Mackie complained that it infringed on their trademark/copyright (which, of course, it didn’t, but the people at Cafe Press are big sissies). Okay, deep breath time… :o)
I’ve seen this bridging stuff too — but we used spent AA cells as bridge hardware; hidden under gaff layers. We found the AA cells rest well in the fader cap “valley”.
Great suggestions, Måns. I tried this out today, since I’m again using a house console (this time a Midas Heritage 3000). The big plus is that it’s a lot quicker to assemble, and a lot more solid than the cocktail straws. On the other hand, it’s a huge honking thing, and I sorta like the give that the straws have if you press in between the faders with one finger. Plus you can use those for more than two faders. Jury’s still out, though, I’m not sure which I like better, each has benefits. Try ‘em both for yourselves, the rest of you, and let us know what you think!
on the Yamahas (at least the DM2K but I think it carries across the line) you have fader groups that allow you to link any 2 (or more)faders. even-odd, or non-adjacent channels ar thus linkable. Sometimes you have a single empty fader available on a particular layer and want to plugin a stereo source, you can patch the other channel to some other layer and still control it from the single fader on your top layer. The pairing and grouping will track perfectly with offset values. Try that with gaffer tape and a stubby pencil!