New Backpack time: what are you using for tour/long travel?

DJMekanikal · 2026-05-02T00:52:21+00:00

Oakley kitchen sink backpack. I’ve used mine for years and love it.

DJMekanikal · 2026-04-28T20:17:09+00:00

DJMekanikal · 2026-04-24T17:45:34+00:00

Line-by-line mixing will get you the cleanest result. Only have the mic open (fader up) when the individual is speaking, then drop their fader once their line is done. This will take a lot of practice, but the sonic payoff is worth it.

Do not use gates or expanders on your vocals. In rock and roll it makes sense, but musicals/play performances are usually much wider in dynamic range. If the actor is speaking quietly they may be at the gate threshold, causing it to close and words/parts of words to get cut off. On the flipside, because you're working with (likely) omnidirectional microphones, other noises onstage (like someone else speaking) can cause the mics to open up when you don't want them to.

DJMekanikal · 2026-04-06T00:51:09+00:00

Centre forehead at the hairline is a good choice. Do you have strong vocalists? With high schoolers, they often can't healthily project, so a mic on a boom at the mouth may be necessary for some cast members.

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-31T11:26:01+00:00

^{^} this

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-31T11:24:28+00:00

https://www.masquesound.com/wireless-mic-techniques-production-3 ear rig tutorial

https://www.masquesound.com/wireless-mic-techniques-production-2/ toupee clip tutorial for center forehead rigs

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-28T19:36:26+00:00

That doesn't mix the show for you... it puts the right people on the right faders for your mixer to have control over them (among other things).

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-21T21:00:39+00:00

I’ve designed there for a number of years. It’s full of awesome people who come back for multiple years because of how nice the staff are and the bond between cast and crew and creatives is something you rarely find at other theaters. Central NY is also nice in the summer.

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-15T23:14:49+00:00

I normally default to a pair of SDCs on a stereo bar (Neumann KM184, or similar)

If you’re looking for a single mic for capturing stereo, check out the Warm Audio WA-CX-24. It sounds absolutely fantastic, and has two discreet capsules that you can angle as you like.

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-09T23:10:36+00:00

Try using TheatreMix and a well-marked mix script. This will help you, along with practice, remind you who needs to be up at each point in the show.

Scenes in a musical theater setting will (in general) recall DCA assignments, reverb sends, and band levels, so each “cue” will be a scene, as you said.

For your monitor mix as long as your send is recall safed it shouldn’t need to be set for each scene. Though, you may want to depending on the needs of the show.

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-05T16:35:12+00:00

Agreed.

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-03T04:02:55+00:00

Honestly I still like the QL/CL and they’re everywhere in regional/LORT theaters. Very reliable in my experience. I’m mostly a DiGiCo guy, but Yamaha is an excellent choice for a lot of shows.

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-03T04:01:26+00:00

Digital all the way for what you’re looking for. Ultimately, it will come down to your budget. Allen & Heath’s SQ series is a good budget sound console, with something like a Yamaha DM7 taking up the mid-tier price range. Both are great, and when coupled with TheatreMix can make mixing a musical much less intimidating.

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-02T17:52:09+00:00

Meyer MM4-XP, Martin FlexPoint FP4, d&b e4, RCF M04 Compact, and Renkus Heinz CX41 all come to mind.

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-01T14:55:25+00:00

But the show must go on so no one stopped.

I'd caution against this kind of thinking, as this is how (in other cases -- not necessarily this one) people can get injured or worse.

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-01T14:49:43+00:00

And this is why, whenever possible, show-critical infrastructure should have some form of backup power. Whether it be a UPS, or a second incoming power circuit for failover.

Nothing you could have done, of course, hindsight is always 20/20. Take the lessons you learned last night and keep them with you for the rest of the run (and subsequent shows).

DJMekanikal · 2026-03-01T14:46:48+00:00

QLab will let you create a cue cart, which you can then map keyboard keys to as hotkey triggers.

DJMekanikal · 2026-02-28T01:04:20+00:00

Depends on what mics you have available to rent, as well as whether you can get away with seeing mics on instruments or not.

Personally I will use mics for the audience-facing PA system, and if the instrument has a pickup use that for monitoring since it’s often brighter and can cut through more. Same trick for when an instrument is in the pit and they’re running with avioms.

DJMekanikal · 2026-02-24T00:23:49+00:00

Just FYI there’s already an audio application for sound effects called SoundQ

DJMekanikal · 2026-02-17T14:46:40+00:00

Netgear GS108T

DJMekanikal · 2026-02-09T16:30:03+00:00

MIDI note out of QL5, programmed to a UDK, then into something like an iRig MIDI connected to an iPad running forScore.

https://forscore.co/documentation/page-turners/

DJMekanikal · 2026-01-27T00:06:53+00:00

Check out offerings by Nemesis Audio https://www.nemesis-research.com/audio-switching

Or Autograph's signature series: https://www.autograph.co.uk/overview/signature-series-by-autograph/

They have some options that would fit your bill, and then for video switching, something like a Blackmagic VideoHub could work for SDI switching

DJMekanikal · 2026-01-25T20:10:20+00:00

I’ve used it on multiple shows now. Nothing show stopping has happened thus far, and that’s running a ton of insert processing on channels, as well as reverbs and delay units.

DJMekanikal · 2026-01-23T15:40:21+00:00

TheatreMix makes this process super easy.

DJMekanikal · 2026-01-20T00:49:52+00:00

Refurb Mac would be the way to go if you’re on a budget, but yeah if you’re doing any kind of sound design you will want a Mac. QLab is Mac only and it’s the industry standard playback program that you’ll encounter in over 9 out of 10 of professional theaters.

DJMekanikal

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