PNW Section September 2023 meeting on live club sound with Benjamin DeVore, shown here at Seattle's High Dive club with their Midas M32 and Onyx light board.
PNW Section started their 2023-24 season with a presentation on live club mixing by independent engineer, Benjamin DeVore. The meeting was held in-person and on Zoom (hybrid) at the High Dive, a club in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood. About 10 persons came in-person (6 AES members) and 23 were on Zoom (17 AES members).
PNW Chair Dan Mortensen opened the meeting with announcements, then self-introductions by attendees - first those on-site, then Zoom attendees. PNW Committeeperson Jayney Wallick organized the meeting, and introduced Benjamin DeVore.
Benjamin has been a featured live audio engineer at Fremont's High Dive and affiliated club, Nectar Lounge since 2018. Benjamin has specialized in mixing and recording live music throughout the Seattle area as a professional front of house engineer for over a decade. Additionally, Benjamin has provided mixes for live recordings and live streams in many different settings and levels of production.
Benjamin covered the basics of mixing live bands in a club like High Dive. He spoke about the High Dive; its history and the sound system (McCauley mains/subs, Midas M32 board). He then moved to the mix booth, at the end of the bar and maybe 20 feet from the stage. The Midas lives here, and an Onyx light control system - the sound person also gets to run the light cues. Benjamin described practical operation of the Midas M32 at this club.
Next, he gave many practical tips about handling live club mixing, such as budgeting your time, running a sound check, and use of earplugs (he uses Loop Experience earplugs).
He went on to demonstrate many practical tips for running the popular Behringer X32 mixer (functionally the same as the Midas M32).
There were several Q&A and descriptions of other's personal experiences.
Thanks to Dansound for providing the video/streaming system.
Recording on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-opKGX4ZyBo
