The Grand Master fader is known for causing many headaches and needless calls to support lines. Because it is rarely used, it can often be easily forgotten and lead to quite a panic when the desk does not behave as expected simply because the Grand Master was not at 100 percent. Programmers and operators need to be aware of the Grand Master level at all times and ensure that it is properly set. It usually affects everything with intensity on your console. So if it is down, then your smoke machines may not work, backstage work lights may black out, video might be black, and much more. In addition, some LED lights that have only RGB or RGBW control will remain on when the Grand Master is turned down. This is because the console is treating them as color parameters and not intensities. Always think about this before grabbing the Grand Master to execute a blackout on stage.
-Brad Schiller, from Feeding the Machines, Sept. 2017 page 73
