A Digital BOO

(Behringer XR18 X-Air Mixer) Some years back, Boo was strictly analog. Back in Tuscawilla days, the sound and lighting was strictly analog, with complicated wiring and lots of gear to make everything work. One year I brought a computer (Amiga) and people were amazed that I would bring something like that to a Boo – but this was my axe – even if it wasn’t outdoors friendly. When we had Boo at Jennifer’s, we still did analog lighting – par cans, dimmers, and a console. But DMX (Digital MultipleX) was just a bit away, so I started getting some DMX controlled lights, and a DMX console, and control was now a single cable, not bundles of discrete wires. (no more bundles of zip cord, Yay!) As we moved to the Little Lake Santa Fe site, I continued to replace lights until all were DMX controlled – a lot more capability, but honestly, a lot more fun. Lights that could change color, position, and pattern, on the fly. So, finally, last year, I finished the transition to LED lighting. No more incandescent lights at all - all LED and DMX controlled. Power on the stage dropped to a fraction – all the lights could be powered on a single circuit! All Digital! Ric Trapp has been doing BOO sound for some years now, and manages to keep the bands happy and the audience entertained. But Ric has to work really hard to make this happen. Maybe (cross fingers) this year will be a bit easier. Sound reinforcement has always been analog – a wire for each signal, all very low level signals, and a constant struggle against noise. And a constant struggle in getting all the gear to work! A big (both physically and financially) part of any sound system is the snake, the mixing console, and effects rack. The snake takes all of the audio signals from the Stage (mics and line inputs) and brings them out into the House (where the mixing console is located), and then returns the processed signals back to the Stage, where it connects to the monitors and mains. The mixing console is a complex system for adjusting and routing all of the audio signals, some of which are routed to the effects rack (for EQ, reverb, compression, etc.) before being sent back to the stage for the monitors and mains. If you have watched Ric work, a lot of his time is spent getting all of these signals to the right locations at the right levels. This usually involves a lot of time going from the house (where the console is located) to the stage (where the mic and amps are located), and back and forth, and back and forth. In professional shows, the audio guy has an A2 to do all the running, but this is Boo… I am a big fan of computer music (music created on a computer), which is a huge and growing field, and I have been following it for a decade or more. Since some of the musicians are working out of their houses and have very limited budgets, a trend has developed to make computer simulations of traditional audio gear. Everything from Synths to Mixers to Effects were done as computer programs. And a lot of them were free, or nearly. So, fast forward to 2015. Ric has a new digital audio device that should make his life a lot easier. It looks like a stage box (the stage end of an audio snake) with a bunch of mic inputs, and several line outputs. All the mics and direct boxes and such can plug directly into it. Then there is another row that has the 6 monitor sends and two main outputs for the Speakers. So where is the cable? Ta Da! It’s wireless! Wireless you say? All of those individual separate audio signals over radio? No, better than that! Actually, the small box on the stage is an audio computer. All of the analog signals (all the audio) is digitized, processed digitally inside the box, and then converted back to analog for the outputs to the monitors and mains. The audio never leaves the stage. So what about this wireless control? Using almost any wireless device (iPad, PC, MAC, Android), you can log in to the controller, and access (in software) all of the controls that a traditional audio console (mixer) has. So rather than sending all of the audio information via wireless (which is a really BIG job), we are just sending control signals to adjust that virtual fader, or that virtual EQ, or that virtual compressor, which are all programs in the computer that is inside the stage box. But even better, the stage box (computer) has additional programs that simulate Reverb, Chorus, and a host of other effects (again all controlled digitally). So, no more effects rack, either. So, this year, I am looking forward to see our sound guy relaxed, wandering around occasionally with a tablet in hand, controlling all aspects of the sound, wirelessly. -Laser Greg