Back when I played in a band, I did this very thing: mixed from stage. But the reason was driven by the amount of electronics that I knew FOH wouldn’t know what to do with.
What’s technology and technical innovation without people who have the sensitivity and wherewithal to push the envelope? It doesn’t surprise me that Ken would dream this up - nice work!
Great! I can't even imagine the heights Depeche Mode could get if YOU are involved on their new album... they are still good but, as I'm still saying since 2005, they need urgently a really good producer/mixer/programmer. You are just magic. Your musical approach and sense are fantastic. Every time a friend asks me if I can digitize and remaster some of his tapes I'm thinking of you.
Opening for DM, very cool. Playing in a band with the NE guys... well... next fucking level. Thanks for exposing me to Black Line. Now I know what I'll be listening to all afternoon.
Ken! Thank you SO much for sharing your knowledge and experience with Us! For several years now, I have been throwing about the same idea of making a compact, road-ready light and sound system for my DJ and (hopefully soon) Live Electronic Music /Video Art performances. I cobbled together a system on a shoestring budget, and now I am going through the process of actually figuring out how to use it. Thanks to your guidance, I am beginning to make progress! Sensei Highwatt hath spoken his musical wisdom to Us, it is now our duty to Honor him and make it so! ;)
Submixes to FOH. Simple and brilliant. I used to mix my various industrial bands live on stage to a single stereo mix to FOH, but the idea to send MULTIPLE submixes never courted to me. And in those days IEMs and personal mixes weren’t a thing lol. Will def do this if I ever perform live again.
Awesome!! This is great. For me the personal reward would be priceless to get to open for a band that inspired me. Thats so great you got to do it Ken. I've had ideas about this general concept applied to getting better control of the band performance, but didn't know if I could make it work at a large scale. You have answered some questions I've had a looong time. Thank you so much for sharing!!!
I love this approach and can tell you it works works for a simple 4 piece rock band as well. I built custom snakes that use CAT6 cables and breakout boxes to reduce weight. We have one box that distributes power and DMX to, and return signal from each band member. Mic pres are all dialed in advance, each performers stereo IEMs are locked in. Use the X32 system to manage mixes including FX per song. We just send 1 or 2 stereo pair to FOH and done! Glad to see this approach was used for bigger gigs as well. Thanks Ken!
Ken, did you work on Conjure One as well perhaps? I am not on picture who did what mixing on Fla, Delerium etc, just wondering. Rhys is an outstanding producer follow those musics since 94ish though
