Andrew Fletcher

Andrew Fletcher
FOH / PA Mixer

What does an FOH / PA mixer do when it comes to TV?

On television, the FOH / PA mixer mixes the sound for the audience attending the show, as opposed to mixing the sound for the broadcast, which is done by the broadcast mixer. I usually mix all elements of the show including the musical acts, the dialog for award presentations, artist introductions and speeches, along with tracking audio and video playback.

The job entails making sure that the audience can hear all aspects of the show without impacting the quality of the television broadcast. As there are microphones placed in the room to pick up the audience reaction for television, I have to be very mindful of levels and EQ so that I do not make the broadcast sound “hollow” or “roomy.” The Waves WNS and C6 plugins are especially helpful in this matter.

What projects are you currently working on?

The Voice, Latin GRAMMY® Awards, AMPAS Governors Awards, American Music Awards, NASCAR Awards, American Giving Awards, Top Gear.

What consoles do you use?

PM5D on the Latin Grammys, PM1D on all the others except for Top Gear, where I used an M7CL.

What are your favorite Waves plugins?

I’m using the WNS on all my dialog busses and have also been experimenting inserting them on inputs as well. I’m also using the C6 and Renaissance DeEsser on my dialog busses.

What are some of the advantages of Waves plugins?

Greater sound quality control when mixing many different presenters who share a microphone over the course of a show. There are usually two Schoeps podium stands on stage, which all the presenters will talk from. Some will stand far away and some will shout directly into the mic. The C6 is especially good at smoothing the two extremes out and the WNS takes out all the background noise.

What do you see as your main goal for the audience?

To give them a well-balanced and intelligible mix whilst preserving the quality of the broadcast mix that is being transmitted to air.

What are some of the benefits of Waves MultiRack and its low latency processing?

I love having access to multiple racks of processing in such a small package; the set up is so easy.
Dealing with dialog low latency is very important. If the presenters hear themselves coming back through the PA with a delay, it can be very off putting and cause them to speak slower.

Do you use redundant server?

No, but I do set up the SoundGrid® to be non destructive, i.e., I will EQ on the console, so if I lose the SoundGrid I can just pop out the insert and I have my audio back.