Solo button Function

[walters]

What does the solo button function really do inside a console?

Does it Isolate the audio track? how does it Isolate it?

[cellardweller]

In higher end consoles, it initiates the EVH circuitry.
This improves the milky smooth nature of guitar solos, and really brings the creaminess out of even the most curdled of players.

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by cellardweller

In higher end consoles, it initiates the EVH circuitry.
This improves the milky smooth nature of guitar solos, and really brings the creaminess out of even the most curdled of players.

I think you're confused.

You seem to be describing the Fromage Intolerance Button?

[monty]

Does Eddie have a patent?

[Mikey likes it!]

Originally Posted by walters

What does the solo button function really do inside a console?

Nothing. It's too dark in there.

-Or-

What ever it wants to. Nobody can see it.

[Dr ZEE]

Originally Posted by The Ghost of FM

... Fromage Intolerance Button?

Is this some sort of Culturally insensitive joke referring to French people?

i'm trying to follow this tech-conversation ... and I feel like milk and cookie .... , meaning simply that I don't follow it

One thing is pretty clear for me, thou ..... and that is as following:
For every and each solo button within any given entity there always shall be and thus will be a mute one.

[BRDTS]

What does the solo button function really do inside a console?
Does it Isolate the audio track? how does it Isolate it?
-----------------------------------------------------------

As mentioned, you've got the whole concept confused.

During mixdown, at any point where a guitar solo or sax solo..or any kind of solo is coming up in the recorded song, you have to push down all the solo buttons on the console. A good engineer can push all of them down fast...in time, before the actual solo starts. The purpose of these buttons is to let the console know that an important solo is coming up...thereby routing the signal path into the cleanest circuitry that the console has. Usually the analog part where there are lots of wires. By pushing down all the solo buttons on the console, this guarantees that all your guitar/sax/harmonica/hi-hat solos are crystal clear.

Some consoles have hundreds of solo buttons and several larger studios have part time solo-pushers who help the main engineer. It's a great way to get into the biz..you might want to consider applying for this exciting job at one of your local studios.

There are also some interesting uses of mute buttons in professional recording. Some engineers have found that when needing to mute multiple tracks during mixdown, it's much more efficient to simply pull the console power plug out of the wall rather than using mute buttons. Try it...no matter what the brand, the signal to noise ratio of any console goes way way down when unplugged from the main power.

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by BRDTS

What does the solo button function really do inside a console?
Does it Isolate the audio track? how does it Isolate it?
-----------------------------------------------------------

As mentioned, you've got the whole concept confused.

During mixdown, at any point where a guitar solo or sax solo..or any kind of solo is coming up in the recorded song, you have to push down all the solo buttons on the console. A good engineer can push all of them down fast...in time, before the actual solo starts. The purpose of these buttons is to let the console know that an important solo is coming up...thereby routing the signal path into the cleanest circuitry that the console has. Usually the analog part where there are lots of wires. By pushing down all the solo buttons on the console, this guarantees that all your guitar/sax/harmonica/hi-hat solos are crystal clear.

Some consoles have hundreds of solo buttons and several larger studios have part time solo-pushers who help the main engineer. It's a great way to get into the biz..you might want to consider applying for this exciting job at one of your local studios.

There are also some interesting uses of mute buttons in professional recording. Some engineers have found that when needing to mute multiple tracks during mixdown, it's much more efficient to simply pull the console power plug out of the wall rather than using mute buttons. Try it...no matter what the brand, the signal to noise ratio of any console goes way way down when unplugged from the main power.

You're obviously cheating and plagiarizing in that I read the exact same info in the AES and NAB reference handbooks!

Cheers!

[Dr ZEE]

Originally Posted by walters

What does the solo button function really do inside a console?

Does it Isolate the audio track? how does it Isolate it?

just in case of maybe walters needs a 'serious answer' here... grrrrrrrrrrrrrr, You bone-heads, heh heh

I am no mixers-expert... But in general, if I'm not mistaken, correct me somebody if i'm or am missing something...
Solo button 'may do' this: mute all channels (in main-mix out or in monitor-out (I guess, depending on console design)), send post-fade/pan Left and Right to sepatate Stereo Solo Bus (which also may have its own level pot in 'solo section'). Also it may send pre-fade/mute/pan mono signal from the channel to PFL (pre-fade listen) mono-bus (that's if the console designed that way, so it's rather solo/PFL button) .... in this case there must be a switch in solo-section - switch between solo-stereo-bus and PFL-mono-bus.

If you really need to know 100% exactly what and how the solo button on your mixer works, then you need to look at schematics or at least at architecture-diagram(s) for your console.... there may be some specifics.

/respects

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by walters

What does the solo button function really do inside a console?

Does it Isolate the audio track? how does it Isolate it?

I'll take a short serious stab at this too.

Many mixers have a monitor section that selects what you hear on your speakers as apposed to what is going to tape.

This selection system generally consists of the stereo buss, auxiliary and effects buss.

There is also the solo buss which directly takes over what is being fed to the monitoring system and it is activated any time you press a PFL/AFL/SIP solo button or group of buttons.

Cheers!

[walters]

If i push down all 24 tracks solo buttons those it BYPASS a circuit in the console or recording DAW so its more "isolated and cystal clear sounding"?

The solo fucntion must have a different routing? to bypass a circuit?
and go straigt input the recording medium analog/digital

The solo function has different MODES what are the different solo MODES?
that engineers use?

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by walters

If i push down all 24 tracks solo buttons those it BYPASS a circuit in the console or recording DAW so its more "isolated and cystal clear sounding"?

The solo fucntion must have a different routing? to bypass a circuit?
and go straigt input the recording medium analog/digital

The solo function has different MODES what are the different solo MODES?
that engineers use?

Yes, exactly!

Why didn't I say that!

[Dr ZEE]

Originally Posted by walters

The solo fucntion must have a different routing? to bypass a circuit?
and go straigt input the recording medium analog/digital

solo or choir .... what have Ya' ... Push solo button, or push combination of buttons...what ever you do, it ain't gonna' "go straigt input the recording medium analog/digital".... maybe straight to input of recording device (analog/or digital) ... but no way straight to medium

Now, I don't know about existence of any button on any mixer the function of which would be to simply bypass a circuit per say ... heh heh, say, to get the signal isolated and cystal clear sounding.

If you need to bypass a circuit to get the signal isolated and cystal clear sounding then just bypass the mixing console in its entirety and stop messing with buttons or combinations of them

Originally Posted by walters

The solo function has different MODES what are the different solo MODES?
that engineers use?

I don't know about 'solo MODES'.... but I know there are 'solo MOODS' thou... The moodier it gets - the better it sounds.

Speaking of engineers, they do get moody too.... VERY! moody sometimes.... I know many of them use gallons of badly cooked coffee.... some smoke like an old train, some take a long night street walk.... well, stuff like that.

...so much for a 'serious tech-talk'

[walters]

press a PFL/AFL/SIP solo button

PFL mean? or stand for?
AFL mean? or stand for?
SIP mean? or stand for?

[Dr ZEE]

Originally Posted by walters

press a PFL/AFL/SIP solo button

PFL mean? or stand for?
AFL mean? or stand for?
SIP mean? or stand for?

PFL - Pre-Fade Listen (that is mono)

AFL - After Fade Listen. Now, that's i'm not sure about, but I think, depending on design/structure, it can be pre-PAN, so it will be mono (what the use of such bus could be? hmmmm... i'm not sure about it)... or it can be also past(after) PAN.... which makes it the same as what "SOLO" is(does)...or SIP

SIP - Solo-In-Place. I've read somewhere (don't remeber where), that SIP is (specifically means) when you 'solo-ing' (muting all chanels, but sending SIP(ed) only channels) to actually MAIN OUTPUT, another words - soloing DOES affect main output signal (not (or not just) monitor output).
Then I've seen at Mackie's blah-blah tech info, that SIP does not affect main output signal. Maybe it's just the way Mackie-mixers are designed? I don't know.
Some say SIP is the same as stereo-AFL, but then again, I though, that AFL could be pre- or post-PAN....
So you can call the same thing by different 'name'/term...
so, after all, I guess, that all these three-letter-shorties are just words to be used when trying to describe functionality and/or structure of any given specific consoles/mixer.... and the design can be different.

Words are words.... acronyms are acronyms... looks to me like they can be used when describing somewhat different things.

If anybody can step-up and make it perfectly clear - go right ahead, make ma' day
********

okey, since I'm a "doctor", .... here's my guess-shot:
SIP: Systemic Intellectual Paranoia.

[walters]

soloing DOES affect main output signal (not (or not just) monitor output).

How does it Affect the main output signal?
What does the soloing do to the main output signal?

[Dr ZEE]

Originally Posted by walters

soloing DOES affect main output signal (not (or not just) monitor output).

How does it Affect the main output signal?
What does the soloing do to the main output signal?

well, it depends.
For example if solo-in-place is: a prisoner is singing in a single cell, then soloing will not affect output, simply 'cos there shall not be any output - there's no way out.
**********

Now, walters, why are you asking these questions? What is your mixer/console (make/model), what exactly are you trying to do/achieve?

or is it just an abstract late Sunday-Night blah-blah ?

/later

[BRDTS]

PFL mean? or stand for?
AFL mean? or stand for?
SIP mean? or stand for?
--------------------------------

PFL..."pizza for lunch" Push this button so that your console will know you're having pizza for lunch. At the appropriate preset time, your console will remind you that it's time for lunch. A great time saver when you're in the middle of a complicated mix and may be in danger of forgetting to eat your lunch.

AFL..."apple for later". Push this button after the pfl button and your console will remind you in one hour that it's time to eat an apple. A great time saver when you're in the middle of a complicated mix and may be in danger of forgetting to eat your fruit.

SIP...abbreviation for "take a sip" or "take a drink". Push this button after the pfl and afl and your console will remind you in one hour to take a drink of your favorite beverage. A great time saver when you're in the middle of a complicated mix and may be in danger of forgetting to drink liquids.

[Mikey likes it!]

ROFLMAO!!!!!

[Dr ZEE]

Originally Posted by Dr ZEE

* walters, why are you asking these questions? What is your mixer/console (make/model), what exactly are you trying to do/achieve?

or is it just an abstract late Sunday-Night blah-blah ?

/later

see no respond to that.... so I'll take it as it was just an abstract late Sunday-Night blah-blah.

well, we had "fun". didn't we?


*******
Here I've found a 'quote' from SOS (hehehe, another three-L-shorty ), where at leas it was stated, that the confusion may come from the fact, that "... different manufacturers have different names for, and different ways of arranging these functions.".... What do Solo, PFL and AFL do? Q/A at SOS

here's the way it was 'interpreted' by Mackie's guys: http://www.mackie.com/support/FAQ/ , scroll down there...read: "...The main output signal is not affected by PFL and SIP....",

So, the interpretations of PFL/AFL/SID may vary from "manual" to "manual", depending on mixer/cosole design and ,I guess, by designer's (the interpreter's) state of consciousness as well .

For example, I can 'interpret' AFL this way:
AFL - After Fade Listen, which means that at some point of a long and awfully boring mixing session and after consumption of moderate to good amount of cheap beer - the "engineer" fades out in his fake leather office chair still with headphones on his head and keeps listening while sleeping ... After-Fade-Listen that is.

[walters]

How do i record the SOLO function?

What does the SOLO function do to the audio track does it have a extra circuit bypasses?

[Dr ZEE]

Originally Posted by walters

How do i record the SOLO function?

What does the SOLO function do to the audio track does it have a extra circuit bypasses?

Arhhhhhhhhhh. I've got it. I'm kinda' slow from time to time .... but better late than never.

To deal with the "issue" - all it takes: just bybass walters

/later..... (I mean never again )

[BRDTS]

....How do i record the SOLO function? ...
-----------------------------------------------
Solo usually only works through the monitor feed, so the best way I've found is this-

With your console hooked up to your monitor power amp in the usual way, take some speaker wire and solder a quarter inch plug (or rca plug depending on what kind of inputs go to your recorder) onto one end of the wire. Plug this into one track input of your recorder.

Then hook the other end of the speaker wire to your power amp that normally powers your monitors (you will unhook one of your monitor speakers to do this). In this hookup, you'll have one speaker wire from your receiver going to your recorder and the other speaker wire still goes to ONE of your monitors.

Now, to get the best signal level, turn your power amp up to it's highest setting. Also raise all your console sliders to all full up. Set the recorder to record the activated track. Activate all the solo buttons on your console (per the discussion earlier in this post) and start recording.

If you've hooked this up correctly, all the level indicators in your console will be pegged to their topmost levels (should be all showing red). Your recorder meters should look similar. This will then allow you to record that great 60's-70's solo-sound that we've all enjoyed on records through the years.

(by the way, these instructions are only for Walters as they involve procedures of a very advanced nature. If anyone other than Walters is thinking about trying this, please check with Ghost first for alternate opinions)

[regebro]

OK, this is getting silly. *REBOOT*

"Solo" is italian and means "alone". The SOLO button will mute all tracks, except the ones you pressed the SOLO button on.

[walters]

With your console hooked up to your monitor power amp in the usual way, take some speaker wire and solder a quarter inch plug (or rca plug depending on what kind of inputs go to your recorder) onto one end of the wire. Plug this into one track input of your recorder.
Then hook the other end of the speaker wire to your power amp that normally powers your monitors (you will unhook one of your monitor speakers to do this). In this hookup, you'll have one speaker wire from your receiver going to your recorder and the other speaker wire still goes to ONE of your monitors

Yea right thats a big feedback loop and can hurt and damage my recorder/console