We already use our smartphones for everything these days, so why not put it to work to help us mix our sound? That's a question Upscale Technology hopes to answer with its new Uptune app. Available for iPhone and Android devices, Uptune claims to make mixing your band possible without help from another person. It also promises to eliminate all the walking between the mixer and the audience location during soundcheck as we dial in a mix.
What's it all about?
Uptune actually requires two smartphones. One stays at the mixer, informing you of the changes you need to make to your mix to balance instrument or vocal levels. The second phone works like a remote set of ears, and you place this phone in the audience position. Uptune in the audience position uses the phone's microphone to measure the volume of the sound, which it reports back to the phone at the mix position. By measuring and adjusting the volume of each input, one at a time, you should be able to achieve an equal balance of instruments and voices in the mix.
Uptune actually requires two smartphones. One stays at the mixer ... the second phone works like a remote set of ears....
Uptune adds a few extra layers to the process by allowing you to create a band and add musicians and vocalists. As you do this, you pull from a library of typical instruments and add performers' names. Performer roles include "lead" or "back," which apparently tell Uptune to cheat the level of that input up or down based on its prominence in the mix. You can duplicate and rename band members, and one person can have multiple instruments assigned.
Once the band is created and the two phones are linked and positioned, performers play one at a time. Looking at a virtual mixer display on the mix position phone, you then adjust the level of the channel at the mixer until the visual level indicator sits in the right range. When everyone plays together, the mix should (in theory) be fairly well-balanced.
At its essence, Uptune is a remote sound pressure level (SPL) meter.
At its essence, Uptune is a remote sound pressure level (SPL) meter. It's like having someone with good ears in the audience position giving you the thumbs-up or thumbs-down during soundcheck. Uptune can't discern levels with everyone playing, however, as a person is able to do. How well does this one-by-one level check translate to the actual mix? How does the lead/back status affect balance? How does Uptune handle instruments with different primary frequency ranges? These are questions we look forward to answering.
Who's it for?
Uptune is designed for folks who don't have a digital mixer with an app for remote control with a tablet or smartphone. It's rendered double-unnecessary by digital mixers with a recorder attached and "virtual soundcheck" capabilities. Uptune's target market appears to be weekend warriors and bar bands using old-school analog mixers. Luckily for Upscale Technology, there are still quite a few folks that match that description.
Uptune is a high-tech tool for old-school mixers.
Uptune is a high-tech tool for old-school mixers. It promises to be "your virtual soundman" with the capability to "balance the levels of all your instruments in less than 10 minutes." Is it capable of such a feat? Is an app like this even necessary in an age of digital mixers and remote mixing apps? We look forward to testing Uptune to find out.
