Eventech Academy’s Inaugural Monitor Mixing Summit a Grand Success
Ashish Saksena explains his Monitor Mixing Strategies for Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy and Challenges of Mixing Monitors from FOH for KK
The recently concluded Monitor Mixing Summit 2019 by EvenTech Academy, an initiative by Warren Dsouza’s SOUND.COM, witnessed enthusiastic participation from the live sound industry in India as 190 delegates from across India congregated at the Dublin Square, Phoenix Market City, Kurla, Mumbai on 6 August, 2019.
The aim of the Summit was to fill up a void for audio education in the live sound realm. The initiative delivered much-needed learning and training for busy audio technicians jumping from gig to gig, who would have otherwise found it difficult to enroll in fulltime courses to learn and stay up to date with ever evolving technology.
“I wanted to do something with education in India and I wanted to be in a completely neutral zone. I didn’t want any involvement of SOUND.COM or Warren Dsouza, which is how I started EvenTech Academy, which is for the engineers and by the engineers and everybody is as much a stakeholder as much as I am,” said Warren D’souza – Founder of EventTech Academy.
“Monitor Mixing” was the chosen topic for this first Summit by EventTech Academy. The full-day programme commenced at 9:30 AM sharp and went on until 7:30 in the evening, followed by a meet-and-greet over snacks and drinks.
All the topics covered by the speakers varied from basics, to applications to advanced techniques in Monitor Mixing.
(l-r) Fali Damania, Santana Davis, Vinay Agarwal, Daryl Sheldon, Alaap Gosher, Divya Kumar and Neeti Mohan discuss day-to-day challenges of concert monitoring and sound production quality for an Artiste on stage
The day started with delegates with body packs all glued to the various Applications workshop, kick-started by Fali Damania with a session on The Architecture & Design of a Great Monitor Sound.
“I think it’s an excellent initiative because everyone is in search of knowledge and information. All the information we are giving you here is real life and ready to use in the field,” said Fali Damania.
This session was followed by a session by Ashish Saksena, who let delegates in on his Monitor Mixing Strategies for Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy while also elaborating on Challenges of Mixing Monitors from FOH for KK.
The morning sessions, before delegates dispersed for a short lunch break concluded with Bruce Rodericks’ session which provided inputs on Workflow of Prepping & Patching Monitor-world as well as a Festival Monitor Mixing Dossier.
Post lunch, James Baker from Avid Technologies addressed the audience. Foldback around the Globe and In Kim Wilde & Chic Ears was the focus for this session.
Mark Thomas & Raghu Ramankutty from SOUND.COM took to the stage to unfold how they Share & Split Monitor Duties over 32 Busses for AR & Band. Mark Thomas also elaborated on the aspect of Mixing Monitors for AR Rahman.
Vanshaj Sharma of Hi-Tech Audio Systems, along with moderator for the day – Fali Damania concluded the applications workshops with a peek into the world of 3D In-Ear Mixing and Monitoring using state-of-the-art solutions by Klang Technologies.
The programme concluded with two panel discussions boasting of all the speakers as well as other stalwarts from the audio, events and music industry. These panel discussions provided the delegates an opportunity to interact with the panelists and get answers to their queries.
The first panel discussion on ‘The Art & Science of Monitor Mixing’ moderated by Fali Damania included speakers Sameer Kriplani, Kuber Sharma, Mark Thomas, Bruce Rodricks, Ashish Saksena and James Baker.
Panel discussion on ‘The Art & Science of Monitor Mixing’ (l-r) Fali Damania, Ashish Saksena, Sameer Kriplani, Mark Thomas, Kuber Sharma, James Baker and Bruce Rodricks
This closing panel discussion for the day comprised of an elite panel of Artistes - Neeti Mohan and Divya Kumar, Artiste Manager - Alaap Gosher, Event Manager - Daryl Sheldon, Production Manager – Vinay Agarwal, Audio Rental Company Owner – Santana Davis and Sound Engineer – Fali Damania, discussing day to day challenges of concert monitoring, logistics & production behind the scenes as well as the all-important aspect of Sound Production Quality for an Artiste on stage.
Each registered delegate also received a Certificate of Achievement post the event.
Summit witnessed enthusiastic participation from 190 delegates attending the event
The Event was supported by PALM technology magazine, official media partners for the event. Translation partners - Translation India, accomplished live translation of the entire Summit in Hindi. The translation booth at the event was a major advantage for those who were more comfortable in Hindi.
“I think the Summit has been an overwhelming success and we have a rollercoaster plan for the future,” concluded Warren.