I had the opportunity to mix live sound for a popular 6-piece central Indiana band called The Tides last night at Wings in Anderson. What was interesting to me warranting a posting was the fact that it was the first time that I used my iPhone to provide the break music between sets. I pulled up one of my custom reggae stations on Slacker Radio and easily connected it to the board with a stereo mini plug to L/R rca cable. Surprisingly, I had never done this before and usually just use an iPod or a laptop to supply the background music. In my opinion, it was pretty cool to be able to utilize a ‘custom station’ that I had personalized over time to perfectly set the mood with the exact vibe and ultimately, this streaming method reduced the amount of “gear’ I had to bring or worry about charging, etc….
I wonder how many other sound engineers are using their smartphones like this and what their experiences are like? For my initial test, the sound quality was excellent and my AT&T 3G connection worked flawlessly!
And no disrespect intended, but now I wonder if the venue's ASCAP/BMI license would actually pay the artists I streamed for this type of usage?
