Whew ... one down, one more test run to go.
So, Thursday night - small room, small crowd, but reasonably high energy. It's a millennial crowd (I know, I feel like "The Intern"!") and they drink fast, talk loud and stay up late. Perfect for an old guy like me, right? It's funny, every night I finish up feeling like I didn't "connect" as well as I'd like, but then I get warm hugs and positive responses from patrons and management before I leave. Go figure.
OK, back to the report card:
The single biggest, best part of using the 4x last night was the vocal processor. I've owned many TC products, and this one is by far the best sounding one ever, and that includes my VoiceLive-3. Something about the tone of the harmonies, and the overall transparency really impressed me. I did things vocally that I might not have done on my 900 because I liked the sound so much.
Of course, the Piano, Rhodes, Organ and bass all sounded fantastic too, but I did not buddy up to the drums as much. It's not that they sounded bad in any way - far from it, but it relates to my one single, biggest HARDEST part of the night ... monitoring from further away. (I'm SO used to "in my face" range)
I have excellent gear, and I know a thing or two about gain stages, mixing and compensating for room and audience acoustic challenges, but I'm an old dog, and this new (to ME) trick of using external monitors just changes how I hear everything. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but last night, I was not comfortable with the drum tones. I need more time to experiment, but my best 2 options are:
1) using two TC FX150 monitors, at each corner of the KB ... or
2) using IEMs. This is not my preferred option, but I still may give it a whirl. It will save on space, setup time, and maybe give me the ultimate control that I seek.
I've only used IEMs in a large, show-band environment before, and we had a full time engineer on a HUGE monitor desk giving us anything we wanted in our headphones. Mixing myself "might" be more of a challenge ... not to mention the "cut off" from the room acoustics. As I type, I'm talking myself right out of this option. LOL - we shall see.
So, overall, I'd give it a solid B+ for the night, taking into consideration the fact that the user was not in his highest comfort zone.
Size, weight, looks, accessibility - these are all A+ features, and I'm sure that with a little more time on the road, I'll tame this sonic beast into submission.
I keep reminding myself that I'm in my final renaissance, and change is always harder as we age. The one thing that remains is my passion for my craft, and my dedication to my audiences. (that's 2 things, right? duh) Tonight is a simpler task - just straight piano and vocals. I can do that in my sleep.
More after the "gig" (you're welcome)