This wiki page details the technical setup for our NMP concert between the Science Library and RITMO at UIO on Tuesday 22 November 2022.

The NMP portable kits were used in both locations. The full documentation for these kits can be found here.

Science Library

Science Library team consisted of Alex, Aysima and Joseph on the technical side and Emin and Nino as the performers. Alex was responsible for audio while Aysima was responsible for the video setup and Lola setup. Joseph was responsible for the youtube streaming during the concert as we were streamed live in youtube.

Emin was playing electro-drums and ney while Nino was singing and playing guitar and piano.

LOLA Video Setup

• One Monitor was used as the main control monitor for the computer we run Lola
• One display was connected to the HDMI ports on LOLA PC and placed in front of the performers so that they can see the other musicians
• Projector was connected to the HDMI port on LOLA PC and video of the performers in RITMO was streamed in the main stage for the audience.

Audio Routing & Setup

As this was the "front of house" node for the performance, the audio routing at the Science Library was necessarily extensive. Audio sources included stereo lines from the e-drums, electric piano and effected Ney flute, mono signals for lead vocal and the DI guitar, as well as two separate stereo feeds from LOLA carrying each of the remote performers. The latter meant that the FOH technician had level control over each of the remote sources separately. The main feed from the FOH mixing desk was patched into the Science Library's PA system which also fed the livestream. Masoud's signal from LOLA was also sent to a pair of monitors on stage to create an "extended stereo" playback for the acousmatic "tape" improvisation. Two monitor mixes were also made from the FOH desk. One a standard fold back mix sent to a wedge monitor on-stage and one sending a mix of the local sound sources back through LOLA a stereo signal for the remote performers to monitor.

RITMO

The RITMO team consisted of Kristian and Jack on the technical side and Masoud and Fabien as the performers. Kristian was responsible for the audio while Jack was responsible for the video and network.

Masoud sung and performed a Max/MSP patch through a laptop, while Fabian played the bass guitar and the no-input mixing board with effect pedals.

Stage Plot

Unfortunately we have no picture of the mixing board setup, however the text below describes the specific audio routing.

Audio Routing & Setup

Masoud (vocals & laptop/Max patch)

• A stereo mini jack out to dual mono line input cable was used to connect Masoud's laptop to the mixer on channels 2 & 3.
• The SM58 vocal microphone was connected via XLR to channel 4.
• Channels 2-4 were sent to Group 1-2 and out to the LOLA PC via inputs 1-2 on the ADAT converter.

Fabian (bass guitar & no-input mixing board)

• The bass guitar was plugged directly into Fabian's Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface via jack cable.
• The no-input mixing board was routed mono into the audio interface.
• The mono output from the audio interface was routed into channel 1 on the mixer.
• Channel 1 was sent to Group 3-4 and out to the LOLA PC via inputs 3-4 on the ADAT converter.

Monitoring and Talkback

• We used one set of monitoring headphones for each performer from the headphone amplifier in the LOLA kit.
• We also connected a pair of Genelec monitors to the XLR stereo outs on the mixer.
• Kristian also had his own monitoring headphones from the phones output of the mixer.
• We used an SM58 as a Talkback Mic which was send to the Master Stereo for communication between sites. Despite that, we also relied on the trusty method of phoning each other.

LOLA Video Setup

• Two displays were connected to the HDMI ports on LOLA PC's GPU:
  • Monitor included with the LOLA kit was used as the main control monitor
  • TV screen from RITMO MoCap lab used as the display for the perfomers. They could see both their own and the Science Library's LOLA feeds on the screen.

Livestreaming the Concert

The initial plan for the livestream of the concert along with the rest of the event was to have one Canon XF105 camera for video and a stereo mix coming from the lola kit in the science library for audio, routed to Iosif's computer, running OBS and streaming to RITMO's YouTube channel with a pre-show slide & background music.

However, we were granted the permission to use the science library's streaming room instead, which provided access to the multiple mounted cameras in the room managed by a multifunctional easy-to-use controller allowing us to maneuver and zoom in and out with them, and an Elgato Stream Deck XL. All of these additional tools/equipment that we ended up having in our disposal made the stream far more interesting and enjoyable for the viewers offering a variety of angles/shots that we were able to easily toggle between and tweak constantly throught the event.

Recap & Reflections

After two successful concerts with which we are very happy we can say that practice makes perfect. Knowing your gear, especially the NMP kits, and different setup possibilities beforehand is extremely vital to the workflow and problem solving capability.

Tips & Troubleshooting

• In order to connect between the Science Library and RITMO, we found that the Science Library LOLA PC must be set to Automatic IP Assignment in the computer's ethernet settings. This is in contrast to the specific manually assigned IP address used when connecting at other locations and on other LOLA machines, for example connecting between the Portal and the Videoroom.
• By default the portable LOLA kits are routed to send and receive only 2 channels over the network. These channels are routed through Aux 1-2 on the mixer. To send 4 channels over the network, one can instead cable the Groups on the mixer to the first 4 channels on the ADAT converter. We used this approach in sending the RITMO audio to the Science Library team. It allowed the Science Library to mix the RITMO performers separately, allowing for more flexibility in terms of the FOH mix.
• The RITMO team experienced issues with headphone mixes from the headphone amp only sounding in one ear, despite all the necessary cables in the signal chain being stereo. We fixed this by toggling the mono/stereo switches on the headphone amp to Mono. However, this is not an ideal fix and we will continue to look for a full solution to this issue.
• Due to the Science Library being in use by other students for all of our setup time, the performers were never able to have a full-volume rehearsal on location before the concert. As a result, the levels received at RITMO from the Science Library were higher during the concert than in the rehearsals, This resulted in some audible distortion in the monitor mix in RITMO. This did not effect the sound front-of-house, but was nonetheless an unforeseen difficulty during the concert. We fixed this issue by simply turning down the received audio in TotalMix on the LOLA PC.
• Do not rely solely on your streaming service for recording the concert. Record the mix separately. We do not have a complete audio recording since YouTube unexpectedly cut certain channels. This could have been avoided in hindsight.