Canadian Musician September / October 2019 | Page 60

LIVE SOUND Drew Robertson is a freelance audio engineer, independent broadcaster, and live sound specialist based out of London, ON. He can be reached at [email protected]. By Drew Robertson Why Switch to Digital? I n the year 2019, why would you not? But for the record, let’s lay it all on the line and delve into why a digital PA system is your new best friend and the ultimate toolbox for the live engineer. Then to Now When digital systems became an emerg- ing market in the 1980s, they were hell- ishly expensive, bulky for what they did, and really didn’t offer anything an analog PA could not already do, minus perhaps motorized faders and instant recall. Modern systems are leagues less ex- pensive and offer nearly unlimited flexi- bility in terms of routing and signal man- agement. Additionally, most offer built-in effects such as compression, parametric EQ, and reverb. They often use much less power than traditional analog systems and require far less gear to get up and running when you arrive at a venue. I’ve had the pleasure of working in a number of top-end venues and have worked on dozens of different platforms, and by far the most pleasant experience has been using a digital PA system. At first blush they are deeply com- plex, and it may seem daunting to fig- ure out how it all goes together. In a traditional system, every function has a knob, fader, or button, but in most digi- 60 CANADIAN MUSICIAN tal consoles, functions are shared across a single set of controls that are adapt- ed to whatever you’re trying to change. When you can use a touchscreen to ad- just EQ curves, you don’t need knobs on each channel strip. It really shrinks the footprint of your rig to a much more manageable size. For those not in the know, menu diving can be intimidating, as you try to find the parameter you’re trying to change or route an input to the desired channel strip. So, again I ask, why switch to digital? The Advantages The answer is simple: flexibility in work- flow and minimal equipment. Once you’ve had the interface under your fingertips, the power you have to route audio and command signal flow is un- paralleled when compared to traditional analog systems. When I first started working on live productions, it was on a tank of an Allen & Heath console that needed two of us to move, a bulky snake set-up and as- sociated stage equipment, power gear, and the list could go on. These days, I have two flight cases for my main PA rig. My console resides in one and my stage box and amp rack occupy the other along with a run of standard ethernet cable to connect the stage box to the console. That’s just two cases down from at least four for only my PA and front-of-house set-up. I’ve always operated under the assumption that every ounce counts and that you should save space and weight wherever possible to “lighten the load,” so to speak. In that vein, we can also talk about workflow in the digital world. Gone is the need for recall sheets as just about any digital console will have automated faders and the ability to instantly recall any previously-saved setting. While such a thing is not everyone’s cup of tea, I won’t get into the debate between on- the-fly and reliance of presets here; how- ever, it has absolutely come in handy on several occasions and made for an extra speedy reset for a show start after rehearsal and sound check. Speed is everything in the live busi- ness; the faster you can be up and run- ning on your end, the faster your clients or performers can be on stage checking sound and whatever else it is they need to do. That lets you get into the groove of what you’re doing. At the end of the day, our role at any event is to make it sound great and run smoothly. These days, we should be al- most unnoticeable due to the control we can achieve in our workflow as engi- neers with modern tools at our disposal.