On the CL I picked up a new habit, especially valuable for sharing gain across RIOs: after setting the analog gains to their most efficient point per the template, I always continue with digital gain. Not only with dual desks — even on a single desk, I do this with discipline. I'm prepared with the right habit, and working with digital gain — attenuation — has less effect on the sound. In truth, the whole method is that simple. "Is that all the magic?" you might ask — and I'd say absolutely yes. Remember, as you read this, the computer is running on nothing but 1s and 0s, carrying all this information with a single on/off command. What matters isn't being very artistic; it's doing the most basic thing in the most correct way. Add all the compressors, multiband processors, gates and effects you like — if you don't get the foundation right, you've already started at −10. One last note, and it's an important one: we engineers are deeply subjective. We usually choose a desk for its ease of use, its functions, and of course its sound. But in all my years I've never had a musician come off a concert and say, "the sound was great, let's use this desk from now on." Working with the same group in different rooms, what I usually hear is "great as always." The one exception: ever since I started using in-ear systems, I've watched Turkey's important musicians notice Yamaha's transparency right away.
So the choice of desk belongs to the engineer — not the artist, and not the orchestra. I hope this series shed a little light on gain, sensitivity, and harmonic contribution.
So — should the one who chooses the desk really be the engineer?
Yılmaz Yeniyol
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