These posts will be step-by-step walkthroughs. Keep in mind I've never actually touched the Venue mixer, so I might be wrong as much as I'm right. Please post corrections or better ways to do things. And read the manual, if you have a chance.
Before starting the first walkthrough, download and install the software (linked above). Then start it (it installs on your Start menu under the VENUE folder. It's called VENUE D-Show.
If you have used the D-Show software before on your computer, you may need to return to the INPUTS page.
Also, before you ask, there are no pictures. You'll learn much better by doing.
Welcome to D-Show
When D-Show starts, it gives you something that looks very much like a mixer. Channel faders, mute and solo buttons, and FX returns are along the bottom. Mute groups are in the bottom right corner.Almost everything above the fader strips is configuration for one channel.
On an analog board, each channel strip is identical (ignore stereo channels on your analog board for now, because let's be honest, you ignore them anyway). Think of the configuration area below the menu bar and above the fader as your channel strip.Look in the upper left corner. It says "Ch 1". You must have Channel 1 selected. (Deep, man, deep.)
Look at the faders along the bottom. The first fader on the left is blue. Let's move to Channel 8.
- Click on the 8th fader from the left. It should turn blue.
- Look in the upper left corner. It should say "Ch 8". Congratulations!
Let's go back to Channel 1, because the beginning is a good place to start. Move your mouse over Channel 1, but don't click just yet. Look at the green text in the bottom left of the screen. Most of the controls will give you helpful hints in that box. Okay, you can click Channel 1 now.
On our analog board, one of the very first things we do is put masking tape down and assign channels. On a digital board, that doesn't work so well. One of the main reasons is that channels can move around. ("Are you suggesting [channels] migrate?" Don't worry. You'll be in control.) Instead of masking tape, double-click in that dark box above that says "Ch 1". Now type "Aaron", then press Enter. Aaron will be our main vocalist.
Great! Now let's finish setting up the channel, just like on an analog board. We'll go in the order of controls here, which may not be the same as you're used to, or the same as you'll do once you're in front of the VENUE console. But it's easier to explain.
First, take a guess at the input gain. See the "Input" section about an inch below Aaron's name? The gain knob is next to the extra-large fader, between 0 and -10dB, and just a bit to the right. See it? Well, Aaron's been singing quietly lately. Let's add some gain. Click and hold on the knob, and move your mouse up, up, up. Wait, that's a bit too far. +60dB is a bit too much. Click on the knob again, and move your mouse down. Try to dial into about +20dB. Move your mouse straight up and straight down as needed. Nicely done.
We'll take a short step to the right. See the "Bus Assign" section? That's a lot like your subgroup buttons in the analog world. We'll want Aaron on Bus 1 and Bus 6. (For now, assume we have a good reason.). Click on the buttons for 1 and 6. They should have little green lights next to them now. Festive.
Let's step right again. The big section there is labeled "Aux Sends". This is monitors and other exciting things you'd want to send an auxiliary signal to. Aaron's important. We'll put him in Aux 1 and Aux 11. Aux 1 is the band's monitor. Aux 11 is Aaron's personal monitor. Click on the Aux 1 knob and put him at about -8dB. That's about where the band wants him. Set him at about -8dB on Aux11, too. Good job.
Wait a second. Aaron wants us to know that "about -8dB" is not acceptable. He needs exactly -7.7dB. I'll wait a minute while you try to dial that in. Tough, isn't it? Yup. But try this: hold Ctrl while you click the knob and move the mouse. Ctrl-clicking gives you fine-adjustment powers. (There is also a button on the console to do the same thing with the physical knobs, I believe.)
Whew, Aaron's satisfied with his monitor. Now let's EQ him. Step to the right once again. Your basic EQ controls are the right-most column of knobs. The ones a bit to the left are "Q", which you can think of as "wideness" of the EQ effect.
Your analog board doesn't have a "Q" setting. If you don't want to worry about it for now, you can click the "ANALOG" button above the high-frequency EQ gain control. See the "Q" knobs disappear? Cool. Okay, un-set "ANALOG" for now, and let's get back to it.Before you adjust the EQ knobs, do two things. First, click the "EQ IN" button in the upper left corner of the EQ area. Now you're actually EQing. Second, look to the right. See that graph? That's your EQ graph. It'll be other sorts of graph later, but right now it's your EQ graph.
Now to EQing! Let's adjust Aaron's "Hi" EQ. By default, the frequency ("FREQ") is set at 10kHz. That's good for now. Remember what a perfectionist Aaron is? Well, he wants a 10.3dB boost at 10kHz. No more, no less. Click the dark box next to the word "GAIN", where it says "0.0 dB". Type 10.3 and ... wait! Don't hit Enter yet. Look at the graph. While you're looking at the graph, hit Enter. How's that for nifty?
Okay, Aaron's not a complete perfectionist. Now that he has his 10.3dB boost at 10kHz, he's okay with any other EQ settings you want. Watch the graph and play with your EQ settings. Now grab one of the boxes on the graph and drag it around while you watch the knobs. Double-nifty! Now, mess with the gain, Q, and frequency settings, until you're happy that Aaron will sound delightful.
Two boxes left! Well, two that I'm going to address now. Those two are related: Comp/Lim and Exp/Gate. That's your Compressor/Limiter and Expander/Gate. Each channel gets a compressor of its own.
For those of you that used compressors before, this is excellent. No more angsty decisions about where to use the few compressors you have. Compress everything, if you want! (But don't do that. Compress responsibly. Don't compress and drive.)Click on the words Comp/Lim. See how the graph changes? It's a little tough to see. Let's add the compressor in. Click the button to the left of "Comp/Lim". Now, Aaron tends to get carried away singing at anything above a whisper. So let's seriously over-compress him. [The following is for the sake of example ONLY and is a BAD idea. Don't do this for real unless you have a very good reason for it.] Crank the threshold way down to about -35dB. Now set the ratio all the way up to 100:1. Well, maybe that's a bit hard on Aaron. Dial it down a bit. Maybe 4:1. See the graph? It's nice to see what you're doing, isn't it?
Oops! We messed up! Those compressor settings are for Erin (Aaron's sister, who's a backup singer). Aaron does fine with the defaults. You remember the defaults, right? Oh. Me neither. But here's what we can do: right-click on the Comp/Lim box. Click "Reset Comp/Lim Section". Look! Defaults!
I'll skip the Expander/Gate. You know how to navigate the controls now. Plus Aaron doesn't like being gated.
Congratulations! You just set up a channel! Not only that, you've learned to navigate the Inputs section of the D-Show software.
What's next?
I plan to post a few more walkthroughs. I plan to cover at least three more major parts of the software:- Outputs
- Patching (no more patch panel!)
- Presets
Series:
- Intro and Inputs [this post]
- Outputs (and a bit more on Inputs)
- Patching
- Presets (and some Input bonus)
- Files and Organization
- ...future...
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