mixing onstage vs mixing in a control booth

Which is better - mixing onstage where the action is, or mixing in a control booth?
Read on to see how the two compare...

Most of the time, when doing VLOBLIVE gigs, I end up onstage somewhere with my PPU - often tucked in behind the speaker stack at one side. It's not ideal, but it works.

Recently I did a gig where, for good reasons to do with using installed gear, I ended up mixing in a control booth with a window into the auditorium.

Wow! What a difference. The main difference was the sound level - much quieter, much calmer.
No shouting required just to be heard by the camops. The effect on the show was to calm things down and make it less stressfull for all concerned.

So was it better? Well...yes and no. It was quieter and less stressful, but it was also more detached and remote and I didn't really feel like I was part of the event. It was harder to get 'in the zone' and stay focused on doing a great mix, not just coasting along with the obvious shots.

So there's pros and cons for both, and often the circumstances of the setup will dictate one or the other.
If there are no control booths, then there's no option, unless you can comandeer a room behind stage or something. Also in this case there were video tielines built into the control booth, so running cables was very very easy.

On balance, if it's an option I think I would pick the control booth any time - just makes it all much more manageable, BUT only if I could get a good view of the stage to see what's going on.

Posted: Thu - July 6, 2006 at 11:30 PM |

VLOBLIVE :: 3. Setup

mixing onstage vs mixing in a control booth