Event Production troubleshooting & thoughts on the Roland M-400

This week I got a call from a local event production company (Creative Visions) that came up short handed because of multiple events scheduled in a perfect storm.  They needed an A1 sound guy, and since I know the guys there, they called me to ask if I could help.  I was glad to because they have been a big help to us at Colonial, and to me personally when I've been stuck and needed a quick answer, and it was a chance to kick the tires on the little Roland M-400 digital mixer.   


The event was an installation ceremony of the new Chancellor at North Carolina State University GO PACK!.  (By the way, did you know that the chancellor of a university gets a 5 foot tall MACE as a symbol of the power of the position!  So medieval and cool!)
I also really wanted to do this since everyone in my family (except me) went to NC State.  I was the black sheep and went to bible college.

3 things I learned from this event I wanted to share:

1.  Event Production pros are extremely efficient at troubleshooting.  They would also be the first to tell you that to do troubleshooting, you have to have a neatly organized and well stocked tool box.

2.  They have a unique sense of humor.  A really bizarre mix of tech geek and artsy humor.  I like it.

3.  I really like the Roland M-400.  Now, I'm very familiar with the Avid Venue consoles.  We have a big D-Show with a Pro Tools HD rig tethered to it that I get to mix on each week at Colonial, and I absolutely love it.  Its my favorite.  I'm also pretty familiar with the Yamaha digital consoles (M7, LS9, O1V96, PM5).  I was a little concerned about this event because I've never laid a hand on the console before.  So, I walked in totally green on the console.  It is hands down the easiest console I've ever used.  Very versatile.  I worked on it for about 20 hours this week through setup, rehearsals and the actual (epic) event.  So, I would highly recommend this console to any church shopping for a console in the target budget range of the Yamaha LS9 to M7.  I plan to do a more "in depth" review of my experience operating that console, because I just am not aware of many other unsolicited reviews of this cool console.  I'll try to get to that sometime this week.