To Slate button

[blue box]

What is the function of the TO SLATE button?

 

[Marvel]

That is to route the talkback mic to one or more internal busses or auxs. You might want to read page 68 in the manual. See pic here.

 

[skier]

Just to expand a little on Marvel's response for those who are new to recording, I believe "slating" originally comes from the movie industry. The slate (with the clapper raised) is held in front of the camera by an assistant director when beginning to film a scene. He'll typically say something like "Scene 17, take 3", and will then slap the clapper down onto the slate and then move out of view of the camera. The purpose is to identify upfront what this piece of film is going to show so the editor can properly sequence the scenes of the movie when he/she is assembling it. Scenes may be filmed in any order that makes sense, saves money, takes advantage of availability of actors or the filming of all scenes in a specific location so they don't have to return later, etc. Later in the process, an editor has to assemble all of the scenes into the complete movie.

The same is true of audio. Identifying various snippets, vocals or other additions to put together a song requires the engineer to be able to identify its various pieces that have been recorded. It was particularly necessary when everything went to tape and is still especially useful for location recordings that get added to a video or a some audio product, whether a song, documentary, etc. In the case of an audio mixer, you can route a microphone to a separate track to describe it. That way, your voice describing that track goes with the recording. Since we now record to digital media, we're able to use the filename as the main descriptor, which reduces the need for slating audio in many cases. When the descriptor is placed at the end of the recording instead, that's called tail slating.

The foregoing notwithstanding, the "To Slate" button can be pressed into service in other ways you find helpful if not needed for the aforementioned purpose. For example, just as you can use the Studio button to communicate with the live room, you can use the slating button to send your voice to someone in a booth, such as the vocal booth, or any other booth where you've isolated a musician, such as the drummer (they should always be kept away from "normal" humans) . Or you can use it to converse with someone at the front door if you have a weatherproof speaker and mic there. What you do with this function is up to you, but I like the fact that our mixer provides so much flexibility that we have many options. I hope this helps.