There are some concerns with doing this kind of thing live:
In a bigger venue, the house system will already be doing some amount of processing: EQ, cross-overs, and perhaps stereo control. Some systems are even mono in the bass, if not the whole thing. While sure, they are set up to already take a “properly mastered” signal - I’d be hesitant to do try to do that “on the fly” as I send it to them. Send them your signal, and let the sound engineer who is very familiar with the house, do what is needed.
In other contexts, I could see using a M/S eq like the one I used above (the rightmost one), but I’d still have some caution: You probably don’t have the time to A/B compare mono to stereo back and forth to tune that EQ. Even if you did, the stereo field in a typical small venue is pretty varied with listening location. This means that I’d be skeptical of doing this tuning from the performance position (which is likely where the controls are). So, unless you have a lot of time, and a mixer with a tablet remote - and the ability to walk around the venue while tuning… I think I’d as likely do harm as good.
For live performance, I think a better approach is
- Keep your low bass mono, or mostly so.
- Be ready to alter the reverbs based on how the room is responding - esp. during the show as the space fills with people.
While you certainly can go from live session to released recording… I don’t think you can approach what you get with post-session work.
I’ve make about 50 or so session recordings a year. I usually record each performer as a separate stereo pair. (These are electronic performers, not acoustic.) Soume amount of mixing is required for even just for a quick “raw mix” to send back to the performers: You are always much more forgiving in the moment in the room than when listening on speakers or headphones.
When producing some of these recordings into release tracks, that final mastering stage significantly improves the sound, and is specific to each track. I don’t think I could achieve that live. Part of it is the lack of time to A/B and tweak in the space - But a bigger part of it is being in the head space of critical listening vs. performing.
The only part of monodeck (which looks luscious!) that seems to pertain is the final EQ stage. This is a graphic eq (though rendered with knobs, not sliders). It allows for broader sculpting of the sound, not really a fine “mastering” EQ.
I have a similar thing on my live chain: A three band parametric shelving EQ. This allows me to make somewhat major adjustments to the feel of a section on the fly. My experience in using it is that it is for those times you don’t mind being heavy handed - because in the moment, tiny adjustments are just lost - again, you aren’t in the headspace to do that kind of work.
