software to run audio (actor's mics)
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Lights and Sound
Forum Discription: Technical discussion
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5142
Printed Date: 5/19/24 at 10:27am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 8.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: software to run audio (actor's mics)
Posted By: Scott B
Subject: software to run audio (actor's mics)
Date Posted: 7/31/11 at 8:42pm
Is anyone using software that will run the actor's mics from a Mac? I'm not looking for sound fx cues ... but would like to have software that you could put cues into much like a light board. (Of course with the option to override.)
Something tells me such an animal exists ... but it much too expensive.
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Replies:
Posted By: MusicManD
Date Posted: 7/31/11 at 10:35pm
I think you can get the automation you're probably looking for with a digital mixer. I don't think anything exists in software format that can do what you want, and here's why: In order to plug in that many sources, you'd still need a significant hardware component with the software, which ultimately makes the design prohibitively expensive.
A digital mixer should be able to do what you desire.
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Posted By: Scott B
Date Posted: 7/31/11 at 11:16pm
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Thank you. Not being a true sound guy I didn't give that a lot of thought. Then again ... I didn't even consider a digital mixer having that ability either. It makes perfect sense.
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Posted By: museav
Date Posted: 8/01/11 at 10:31am
Originally posted by Scott B
Is anyone using software that will run the actor's mics from a Mac? I'm not looking for sound fx cues ... but would like to have software that you could put cues into much like a light board. (Of course with the option to override.) |
I'm not sure what you mean by "run the actor's mics". There is software that can be used for show control and scene recall including communicating with some audio mixers. Some digital mixers have software that supports remote control via a computer, laptop, tablet or similar device. And there are software based audio mixers, although many of those are PC based. However, all of these approaches still require some audio hardware, either a compatible audio mixer or for the computer based mixing solutions, compatible audio interfaces.
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Brad W.
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Posted By: Scott B
Date Posted: 8/01/11 at 11:20am
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After the first response I changed my Google search to the digital mixers / theatre and found that most of them (if not all) you're able to cue up just like a light board. With actors leaving and entering it can be daunting to find all the mute buttons ... or in our case ... sliders only. It's an OLD board. The newer mixers seems to have pretty much what I was looking for and they don't seem to be as expensive as I would have thought. Gotta love technology.
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Posted By: museav
Date Posted: 8/01/11 at 3:07pm
Originally posted by Scott B
After the first response I changed my Google search to the digital mixers / theatre and found that most of them (if not all) you're able to cue up just like a light board. With actors leaving and entering it can be daunting to find all the mute buttons ... or in our case ... sliders only. It's an OLD board. The newer mixers seems to have pretty much what I was looking for and they don't seem to be as expensive as I would have thought. Gotta love technology. |
Setting up mute groups and/or VCAs may work for some applications but if you are looking at using scenes then be aware that some popular lowest cost digital mixers are perhaps less suited for theatrical use due to how their scene recall works (multiple steps required, all audio momentarily muting, etc.) or being limited in parameters they can store and recall without such issues. What may be acceptable between bands or events may be problematic in the middle of a show, so if you are looking at using scenes then you might want to verify that you can recall all of the settings that matter to you in a manner that works for you.
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Brad W.
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Posted By: Scott B
Date Posted: 8/02/11 at 12:59am
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Thank you Brad ... that's excellent information. If we go that route I'll be sure to discuss with our local sound guy. He really knows his stuff and I'm sure he can point me in the right direction.
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Posted By: David McCall
Date Posted: 9/19/11 at 1:28pm
The Presonus Studio Live can be run from a Mac or PC. There is a nice app for the iPad that lets you control the computer remotely. I have not played that much with presets. The console only has 100 presets, but I think you can load new sets of presets on the computer as needed. It doesn't really work like a light board though. On a light board you can fade smoothly from one "look" to the next. The Studio Live just snaps from one preset to the next (a preset can include almost all of the settings on the console). I don't know if there is a momentary mute as it switches. Clearly there is enough computer control available of that device that software could easily do what you are asking, but as far as I know that software doesn't exist.
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David M
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