When Chris Mitchell is not out touring as the FOH engineer for Umphrey's McGee he spends his free time restoring huge analog consoles with low channel counts, no dynamics, and limited EQ. Chris finds great satisfaction from reverse engineering some unknown past engineer’s brilliant but outmoded work and re-purposing it for a second life. He enjoys resurrecting consoles that have been discarded but still have the potential to create unique, beautiful sounds.

We also discuss another article by Chris Mitchell on improving emotional conductivity. Why do we do what we do? As the producers of live music, we find ourselves in the unique position of helping create fundamental emotional connections between creators and fans. Our day job is their peak experience. The hard question is how to quantify that emotional conductivity in some way. The most important thing we can do is step away from the desk and listen. Listen with the heart of a fan and the ears of an engineer.

Episode Links:
The Days Of Rosewood & Iron: Restoring And Enhancing An Early ’80s Mixer

Chris Mitchell's Articles on ProSoundWeb


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The Signal To Noise podcast series on ProSoundWeb, hosted by Live Sound/PSW technical editor Michael Lawrence and pro audio veterans Kyle Chirnside / Chris Leonard