Digital Surfaces Behringer X32 - setting up monitors

Hi all

I'm using the desk for the first time for a stage musical with 10 radio mics and an orchestra. I'm slightly confused in the setup of the monitors.

I have a set of monitors on the stage, and then four different feeds to the orchestra. Following various tutorials, I'm assuming I want to select '6 + 6 + 4' under the configuration, this then gives me six monitor feeds, six sub groups and four fx faders.

However, when an actor goes off stage, I will obviously pull down their fader, so their radio mic isn't heard through FOH. My question, is how do I setup the monitors correctly, so that the radio mic doesn't come through the monitors when they leave the stage and I pull down their fader (I'm assuming this means the setup of the monitor bus needs to be POST fader)?

However, with the orchestra, they'll want to keep their instruments through their monitors at the same level, but the radio mics will need to go on and off as described above.

Any advice much appreciated.

A
 
There are several ways to do this. I mostly mix on an older Soundcraft K2 which has digital recall of mute settings. I tend to run the body packs prefade to the pit, and as actors enter/leave the stage, I turn on and off the channels at the appropriate moments, either manually or via scene recall. I prefer to run wireless prefade so the house mix doesn't affect the levels the musicians hear in their monitors. But there are plenty of ways to do this, and I'm sure at least 2/3 of the folks to post after me will tell me their way is better.
 
Your best bet is to mute the input rather than drop its fader. You could set your monitor sends to post fader but then you are going to adjust the monitor mix every time you adjust the house mix.
Remember that you can set the send attributes for each set of sends. (has to be done in pairs) You do not have to use the preconfigured settings.
 
Is it fine to program and save the mutes under the scenes, which I can then just recall? I can then tweak the level of the faders when I run the show. What are the best settings for 'Scene Safe' 'Param Safe' and ' Channel Safe' ? Many thanks
 
To answer your question, yes you can (as Jbum mentioned), and here is how:

First, the 'Config' menu you are at under 'Setup' is simply to get you started. It sets things globally for all channels. You can theses options on a per-channel basis however too; by going selecting a channel, then 'Home', then the 'Sends' tab. Tap under 'Mute' where it will say pre..., post..., whatever and you will notice it changes. This means that you have the vocals be post fade and the band pre fade to the same sends you are using for the stage monitors.

Now that you know how, should you? I will mirror Bob and Jbum and suggest that you leave the vocals pre-fade and use the mute button instead for entrances and exits. That way you don't run the risk of pushing up a vocal in the house and having it feedback in the wedge. But then again, I am also the guys who sends bare minimal vocals to the stage monitors, or none at all if I can get away with it.
 
Thanks Lakota! That makes sense! Any tips on the programming of the show - I'm struggling to understand what the various Scene Safe/Param Safe / Channel Safe options i Should select. Many thanks!
 
Is it fine to program and save the mutes under the scenes, which I can then just recall?

Absolutely! It's your show. Run it in a manner that works best for you.

What are the best settings for 'Scene Safe' 'Param Safe' and ' Channel Safe' ? Many thanks

If each actor has their own pack/mic, then I would have everything 'Safe' but the mutes and fader level. That way if I make changes to the EQ or dynamics because and actor is a little under the weather or something, it will stay consistent throughout the the show.

If your cast is sharing packs/mics, you have two options.

First; you can do a digital split* and give each cast member their own channel (assuming you have enough). You will be able to run the show as if they really had their own mic.

Second; you can handle the changes need by the hand off by having the gain, EQ, dynamics changes when you recall the scene. It will save you channels if you are don't have enough, but any changes you make you'll have to go though scene by scene to duplicate and re-save. Some higher end consoles have a features to get around this issue, but to my knowledge the X32 does not.

If given the option, I would chose the former.




* - you can assign any given input to more than one channel. The preamp setting has to be shared, but all other parameters will can be uniquely set for each. Thus, you'll want to set the gain for whomever is loudest so you don't overload the preamp, and then you can makeup the gain for the quieter actor if need be by using the digital gain stage located with EQ section.
 
99.9999% of all the mixing I do is in analog land, so when I encounter a digital desk (normally a Soundcraft Si3), I safe just about every parameter except mute because I don't have time to unlearn the bad habits of analog mixing (assuming things stay where you put I tweak them and then change scenes). One theater I'm a troubleshooter for is actually looking at replacing a DDA CS3/Digidesign 002 rack (for fx playback) with an X32 Compact. Nothing's wrong with the DDA, but the 002 is starting to show its age, and the X32 isn't much more than just a replacement for the 002.
 
Will you be having a sitzprobe? If so, I recommend running vocals post fade, and using that to set the balance on the pit sends. I would hesitate to just recall a mute as an actor walks on or off stage, it's much more jarring to the audience than pulling the fader up or out. You can use recall to fine tune the sends on a per-scene basis as well.
 
Putting the cast in the monitors does mainly three things:

1) It reduces gain-before-feedback in the house.

2) It causes the cast members to project less, which exacerbates #1.

3) It increases "funky" sound owing to comb filtering as each mic pics up the cast member, the monitor wash, another cast member, and that cast member's monitor wash.
 

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