Behringer Wing: Add a Channel Without Re-Patching Everything
You set up three vocal mics, then a speaking mic, then the band, and now you need a fourth vocal mic right next to the other three. On an old analog board that means unplugging cables and moving everything down. On the Behringer Wing you don’t have to: patch the new mic into any open channel, then slide it into place on whichever layer you mix from. Here’s exactly how I do it.
What you need
- A Behringer Wing. I’m on the full size console.
- A free input somewhere: a local input on the console or a spare patch point on your stage box. Mine is a Behringer S32; here’s how I set up the Wing with an S32.
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My whole console setup is in my Wing front-of-house kit.
The scenario: no open channel next to your vocals
On my Wing the first three channels are band vocalists, then a speaking mic, then the band: acoustic guitars, electric guitar, bass, keys, and some track channels. I like that order and the flow of it.
Maybe you put channel one as a vocal mic, channel two as a vocal mic, channel three as a vocal mic, and then started your band. There aren’t any channels left between vocal mic three and your acoustic guitar. Now you need a fourth vocal mic, and you want it sitting next to the others.
The old way: move everything down
On an old analog board you’d unplug all the cables and move everything down to get them back in order. Even on some digital consoles you end up digitally re-patching every channel down the line. You can do that on the Wing too, if you really need your channels in exact order, but you don’t have to.
On the Wing, a channel can live on any channel number, and then you reorder them on the surface any way you want.
Step 1: Patch the new mic into any open channel
- Find an open channel. Mine happened to be channel 23.
- Go to that channel and patch in the new mic. I plugged mine into Local 9, so Local 9 is the source.
- Go back home and give it a name: Vocal 4.
Right now Vocal 4 is in channel 23, on the second layer in the third slot, nowhere near the other vocal mics. That’s fine. The next step moves it on the surface without touching the patch.
One thing worth knowing: by default the Wing ties a channel’s name and icon to the source, not the fader. So the name follows the source wherever you move it. I explain what that setting does in what “Link Customization to Source” actually does.
Step 2 (option 1): Put it on your user layer
This is how I mix. User layers don’t have to be in channel order.
- Go to user layer 1.
- Press View, then Config on the screen.
- The top of the screen shows all your options for channels. The bottom is your channel strip, the layer as it is now.
- Remove what you don’t want in that spot. I took the speaking mic out of the fourth slot.
- Find channel 23 (labeled Vocal 4) in the top section and drag it into that fourth slot.
Now the layer reads channels one, two, three and 23, side by side, with Vocal 4 right next to the other vocals.
Step 2 (option 2): Rearrange the 1–12 layer itself
You might not realize you can do the same thing on the channels 1–12 layer. Those don’t have to stay in order either.
- Go to the channels 1–12 layer.
- Press View, then Config.
- Find a spot for the new channel. I took out the pastor’s mic.
- Drag Vocal 4 into that slot.
On any layer you can rearrange the channels and keep all your vocal mics together.
Why this works: patch anywhere, arrange anywhere
Put the new mic on any patch point on the snake and any real channel on the board, then move the channels around on any of your layers. Layers aren’t limited to channels either: you can put anything on any layer and mix channels with buses, matrices and mains. I walk through that in linking layers and navigating the Wing.
FAQ
Do I have to re-patch my band to add a mic next to my vocals?
No. Patch the new mic into any open channel, then use View > Config on the layer you mix from to drag that channel next to your vocals. The patch never changes.
Does the channel name move with it?
By default the name and icon are tied to the source, not the fader, so when you move it around the board the name follows it. Details in my Link Customization to Source video.
Should I mix from the channel layers or the user layers?
When I run the board, I use my user one and two layers, and I organize them the way I want them. You can see my real layout in my real-world Wing layout walkthrough, and how to build your own in customizing every layer on the Wing.
Can I patch the new mic to a spare input on the stage box instead of the console?
Yes. You can put it on any patch point on the snake and any real channel on the board. I also have a full walkthrough of user patching on the Wing.
Related tutorials
- Build your own layout on the Wing: customize every layer and every position.
- Link layers and navigate the Wing: put anything on any layer.
- What “Link Customization to Source” does: why names follow sources.
- User patching on the Wing: what user patches are and how I use them.
- My real-world Wing layout: how I actually lay out the board at church.
Gear I use for this
- Behringer Wing (full size): the console in this video.
- Behringer S32: my stage box, so a new mic can go on any spare input on the snake.
Everything else I recommend is on my product recommendations page.
Got a question I didn’t cover? Ask me in the chat here on the site, or leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to help.
