We did worse than that on analog 40+ years ago. Just a matter of what you have to work with. I won’t say anything more. I have seen to much.
And I will go out on a limb here and say that if you are having to deal with scene changes on a 1/16th note you are way overthinking this process or too many musicians are spoiled. There is absolutely no need for that. Sometimes things can get over complicated. Creates too much room for error. That’s not only the old audio guy in me talking but the pilot also.
@Andreas: blocking mixes/LR- processing was one of the first things I did, after tuning, no pains there. Just confucheized miself w. scene parameters. Youse make all them mistakes, take note, and you’re left with the right way to do stuff.
@GC: x-fade on scene-change would be wonderful. My musicians are not that much spoiled, but the keyboard player has not been able to keep his levels steady, and I hate that sudden jump that wasn’t there yesterday. So I’m constantly riding faders also, amidst all the other variables. And he keeps bringing in new gear he’s not familiarized himself with. (never mind me) It’s busy. And it is a circus-performance- the people on the floor rely on the cues to be precise. If they hear something unexpected, they might lose concentration, and fall. There’s your sixteenth-note miss.
Then you need to tame the players. Someone take charge. No need for that. I know that’s easier said than done. Please understand. I am not trying to be hard on you. I am just an old practical, logical thinking type. When I got into digital I wanted to do it all. Then I figured out I had to not overdo it. I have taken a different approach now to teaching digital consoles.
Check my previous edit: I am not running a concert here. I have heavy responsibility beyond anything the musicians may fumble.
What I am dealing with cannot be compared to a band-gig, let me make this perfectly clear. There is a lot of pressure on the musicians also. The audio is expected to just happen, on the spot. We are not the focal point, but must deliver exactness.
I understand! the show I was speaking of was a concert presntation of a musical drama on Woody Guthrie, an adaptation with actor/singers. Closer than you think!
https://www.thefreight.org/woody-guthries-american-song
Still wishing you the best!
I have heard a lot of this “don’t piss off the sound guy”- stuff, and lived trough a hellish period in my professional life, listening to guys who think it’s their show. Well, it isn’t. My priorities -to get the next call- are, in this order:
The People Who Pay For The Ticket
The Musicians Who Expect Me To Understand Their Music, and make their audio environment comfortable
And, when somebody unexpectedly brings something new to the table, I accommodate,adapt,adjust,and make the best of what’s available at the time. And if something’s not feasible, I’ll tell them. And then we’ll find a way to approximate.
And then I get paid to do just that again.
Happy 2016, may it be prosperous for us all!
“Scene Filters” is actually quite an appropriate headline- I would strongly recommend filtering any scene you might be part of at any given time… I played drums on a professional level for many years, and many years it took for me to understand what my job is: make other people sound good. Ditto for sound work, obviously. It definitely is not to bring as many blinking lights as possible to the FOH-position. “Look at my beautiful pearlescent, glittering set of drums!/ Look how many loudspeakers I have hanging there! And aren’t they loud, too!” Never mind most of even the high-profile gigs sound like crap. Time constraints/ venues where no music should ever be performed come into play, of course. But also engineers who don’t care about or understand The Music. Take the music away, and you’re left with a pile of junk a paying customer couldn’t care less about.
@Stonepiano - Are your scene changes exclusively about mic and musician pickups or are there audio playback elements involved as well?
Yes, there are. I have QLab- inputs on ST1, and a CD-player (remember,anyone?) on ST2.