This is an archive from a (still opened!) discussion started on the old Multiply Board.

Paul Svenre Wrote :

Hi! My S12 has been operational for three years soon and I after mixing a bit lately I just thought about that I'm now beginning to feel really comfortable with the console, even if I'm sure I'm far from a power user. Also thought about habits in the workflow, and got curious about yours. If you want to share them here, please do!

One thing I started to do frequently a while ago is to turn off the Automation Write Enable button (WR) on the Auto panel when trying things I'm not sure will sound nice, mostly for final touch on eq on one or more channels (bass drum and bass anyone?.. . When I'm ready tweaking I just turn on Write enable again and record the changes. Another use is when practicing difficult fader rides, just like a rehearsal mode.

Studjo Wrote :

Interesting Topic Idea Paul!
I'm far from a power user myself. I'm sure everybody has their own workflow going. I must say I'm pretty happy with my own way of working so far. I use the console like an ordinary analog console I hardly automate the eq for example but I allways have all faders automated. Aux sends get automated every once in a while. This way I can change stuff pretty fast if I don't like it anymore. I'm constantly in fader updated mode though and that global write button gets pushed a lot during the fader rides - aw man what a great console

Paul Svenre Wrote :

I do just like you Jo, automation of faders and sometimes aux but rarely eq. But when I want to adjust eq, that of course has to be written into automation. Everybody is familiar with the 'Hold' button?! And I agree with you Jo, it's a joy to work with! BTW... does anyone ever dial the eq or aux send from the individual channel instead of the shared panel?

Studjo Wrote :

IC - so I misunderstood you with the first post

Hold = write to end?

I use EQ on the channels quite a bit during the set up of a mix - I guess I just like moving up and down - but actually when a mix is progressing I move more and more to the shared panel. I got used to the 3 switch mode thing in the channels pretty fast - what I never use are the dials for the gate/comp in the channels. I do all that stuff from the shared panel (I fear too many knobs for my little brain)

Maikol Wrote :

Hey guys, hope all's well for you!

After 6 years working with our S12, I must admit I just very rarely use the automation!

As I mostly mix jazz and improvised music on it (often in little time, only 2 or 3 days to do a whole album), I seldom need any automation. Level riding is quite always done inside the pyramix (which has a great "gain per clip" fonction that I use a lot).
I pretty much use the console like a good old analog baby, only with total recall !

Also, about the channel panel VS shared panel : well, as our S12 has no channel panels (it copes 56 channels in a less than two meters width !), you guess what our habits are...

All the best!
Maikol

Paul Svenre Wrote :

A few thoughts on parallel compression... I'm doing a lot of parallel comp on drums. I usually send the individual drum channels dry both to the master bus (P1/2) and to P3/4, and then put a compressor on the latter. P3/4 is then sent to P1/2. This way the compressed drums are easily blended in with the P3/4 fader.

I always group all drum channels with a remote fader.

However there have been a few times when I've been forced to adjust all faders halfway thru the mix due to the mix output getting to hot or cold. I've also had mixes where I wanted to change the level of the drums on some parts of the song.

As soon as I do that from the drum group I will mess up the balance - the compressor feed and the balance between dry/comp will be affected, and I usually put some effort to really find the sweet spot on that one.

Now, on my most recent mix I tried a new thing to address that: Instead of sending the individual drum channels to P1/2 I send them to Bus 1/2 (in stereo) together with the compressed P3/4. I reserved two channels (called them Drum sum L & R) on the console beside the drum channels for convenience, and patched Bus 1/2 (via patch bay) to those two channels, which finally was sent to P1/2. I also put the drum sum channels in ISOLATE.

I think it worked fine but would be interested if you have some thoughts here. Any other suggestions?

Studjo Wrote :

Seems to work just fine Paul - my own workflow regarding parallel drum compression: I have a drum bus (1/2) and a drum squash bus (3/4) both of those go into the drum master chain ...
you see it's more or less the same as your workflow but I don't use 2 channels for the drum master chain. I got at least 4 stereo master pairs with different processing (I'm a Michael Brauer fan right now) but those masters have no faders they're all calibrated to a "sound" - actually the sounds are: SSL, "wide bus", 1178 grit, Distressor with Avalon bus and the last one is the Harrison bus of course ... I know it sounds strange but it works for that John Mayer sound pretty nicely and that's all I want