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April 2005 Live Sound Tip - Issue: April 2005
by Jim Yakabuski Darth Vader You Don’t Need Effects can take an average show and add all the glitz and sparkle that make a great show. If you have a nice, acoustically dead environment to mix in your choice of effects, it can make or break your mix. One of the bad habits I’ve found myself getting into over the years is checking effects returns during the day and then assuming the parameters are not going to change at all before the show. You can be pretty sure that all is okay with most effects units because you physically have to call up edit parameter pages to get in there and muck around with things, but some units have parameter adjustment wheels on the front, and they have been known to get bumped here and there which can cause some embarrassing moments. One unit in particular that I am speaking of is a certain kind of harmonizer. It has a spinning wheel on the front panel that is very easy to turn, and on one occasion I just happened to catch myself before I made a horrendous mistake. The last thing that I was editing that afternoon was the pitch of the harmonizer. Without changing that edit page, the wheel got bumped later on in the day and just before show time I happened to listen to my effects returns and catch the mistake before the show started. If I had not, the two lovely ladies who were singing backup vocals for the show would have resembled Darth Vader much more than their normal sweet-sounding southern selves. The edit wheel had spun down and the pitch dropped considerably. Another way that you can get caught is if someone, like an opening act engineer, makes adjustments to your effects during his show and forgets to tell you, or you forget to recall your program or parameters. Usually these days most opening acts get their own effects gear, but in many club situations everybody is sharing effects. Be sure to store your settings, and in those types of situations, double-check that nothing is out of whack. It’s a good habit to get into. Unfortunately, aside from the benefit that all these programmable units have given us, they can catch us once in a while because we rely too much on their stability. Add this to your pre-show checklist. And use the force! This article is excerpted from Jim Yakabuski’s book entitled Professional Sound Reinforcement Techniques. The book is published by MixBooks, an imprint ofwww.artistpro.com. You can also find the book online at www.mixbooks.com and www.musicbooksplus.com.
Equalizing the Drums - Issue: April 2005
by Tim Crich Last time we conquered microphone setup of the drums, now let’s look at equalizing those drum sounds. Equalizing drum tracks can be tricky because you don’t know how the rest of the tracks will sound until mix time. Equalization, or simply EQ, is often used in tandem with compression or limiting. Drums are often the pillars of a song, and must be sturdy enough to carry the load. Equalization and compression can bring out the natural crack and boom. When getting drum sounds, set the monitor mix at a reasonable level. If the drums sound full and clear at a lower level, imagine how great they’ll sound when the volume is turned up. Plus low drum levels delay ear fatigue. Don’t set the equalization and then leave it, but tweak the sounds with other instruments in the monitor mix. For example, if you are adding 5 kHz on the snare, check that you aren’t also adding 5 kHz on the guitar, the bass and the kick drum, or all will lose distinction. Of course, the following are for reference only, and every situation is different. No matter what your settings are, they will change when the rest of the instruments are introduced into the mix. Kick Drum Equalization Starting points might be: Snare Drum Equalization Tim Crich wrote the bestseller Assistant Engineers Handbook. He has over 20 years of experience in the recording studio, and has worked on records by Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, KISS, Billy Joel, Bryan Adams, Cher, Bon Jovi and many more. This article is excerpted with permission from his new book Recording Tips For Engineers, available through www.musicbooksplus.com. For more information, see www.aehandbook.com.
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