How do you adapt your sound to the amplifying system?

matheo · Post by **matheo** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 8:54 am

A question to people who play live in bars/pubs and other small places...

When I play live, I currently plug my sound card directly to the mix table and then to the amplifier. Thus, depending on the amplifying system, in some cases I have a very good sound, in other a I obtain a beautifull mess mess (too much medium, no dynamic...etc...).

Thus, I'm to insert something between the mix table and the laptop in order to adapt my sound to the room without changing all the preset of all the LIVE sessions I use for each concert...

So...I need help to understand what I first need to do that...
What is your experience on this point?
Do you use an equalizer? Which type?
Do you use a compressor/limiter?

Thanks for your help...

supster · Post by **supster** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 8:57 am

matheo wrote:A question to people who play live in bars/pubs and other small places...

When I play live, I currently plug my sound card directly to the mix table and then to the amplifier. Thus, depending on the amplifying system, in some cases I have a very good sound, in other a I obtain a beautifull mess mess (too much medium, no dynamic...etc...).

Thus, I'm to insert something between the mix table and the laptop in order to adapt my sound to the room without changing all the preset of all the LIVE sessions I use for each concert...

So...I need help to understand what I first need to do that...
What is your experience on this point?
Do you use an equalizer? Which type?
Do you use a compressor/limiter?

Thanks for your help...

Just put an EQ 4 on the master out of all of your sets. Roll off the sub-bass is a good start. Then do a soundcheck before ... adjust to fit.

Save pre-sets in the EQ 4. That way you can recall favorite setups ..

ulidjan · Post by **ulidjan** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:31 am

if you have a multiple out soundcard:

use one channel for kick,
one for bass,
one or two for snare / hihat / perc etc
one or two for synth etc

depends on your setup or style...

you mix the whole in the analog mixer.

it sound better than a stereo mix froom laptop
and you can use the eq´s of the mixer for adjusting
the mix for the space you are playing in.

especially important for kick and bass.

otherwise often it sound like like a "soup"

best

u

Vercengetorex · Post by **Vercengetorex** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:45 am

On the hardware side of things, I would highly reccomend FMR Audio's RNC (Really Nice Compressor). This thing is f**king incredible! I will be getting mine later this holiday season, however I have had the chance to use them extensively while tracking and mixing a couple of bands, and even installed one in the local radio station I work at (YES! I am using this as a BROADCAST COMPRESSOR!).

Just to slip off topic breifly, compression is way over used in modern music and it really bothers me to listen to recording and or mastering engineers work where they have wanted to "maximize" the perceived volume of a mix (or whole album; see "Jagged Little Pill") and so they just squash a mix till it can "be loud" over FM broadcast without setting off corporate stations poorly configured broadcast limiters. Anyway, I digress. The point is, this style of "loudness maximizing" sounds like fkn shite!

You will not hear this compressor. I guarantee it. This will allow you to CONTROL your dynamic range, and keep below the awful brickwall limiter found on most any soundsystem.

Go visit http://www.fmraudio.com and do a little reading.
Do a bit of research on the rest of the web.
Find out where you can go tweak on of these bad boys.

The best part here is the pricetag: $199

UNDER 200$ BUCKS, and I would reach for this thing before ANYTHING by Focusrite, Avalon, or DBX in a heartbeat.

matheo · Post by **matheo** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 12:04 pm

Thanks a lot for your help!

In fact I don't want to put an EQ4 on the master of each set, because if during the show I have to change something I will have to do it for all the sets to be played... and I have already so many things to manage live... so it is not very easy to change the EQ before to start each set if needed...

Thanks for the compressor reference Vercengetorex, I will have a look on it.

Concerning a good hardware equalizer, does anybody have an idea of number of bands required? Any reference?

Cheers

spiderprod · Post by **spiderprod** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 1:45 pm

i use some hardware gear for the sound .i use a dbx compressor & a behringer ultrafex pro for sound enhancement .
i recomend the ultrafex ,it just make the soud so bright.

borg · Post by **borg** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 1:49 pm

the best would be to have a pink noise generator, omnidirectional mic, frequency analyzer, and a 31 bands stereo eq. run the pink noise through the eq (flat) and see what the freq analyzer says. tune the eq until all your bands are level.
then do a soundcheck with your gear (of course running through the eq) and slightly adapt if needed.

klarks are great, but expensive. behringer has the eq/analyzer combo for the folks on a budget.

matheo · Post by **matheo** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 1:57 pm

Great!

Thanks again

minimal · Post by **minimal** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:36 pm

matheo wrote: Concerning a good hardware equalizer, does anybody have an idea of number of bands required? Any reference?
Cheers

I would suggest to you the TripleC from TC Electronic, a multiband/envelope compressor.
recently the price dropped down and there also is the stereo version.
Working with multiband compression gives you lots of control over the sound.
You can patch it between your comp and the mixer or in the mixer's main inserts if it has one.

all the best and stay groovy

tomperson · Post by **tomperson** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 11:53 am

Borg, what's the name of that Behringer combo???

borg · Post by **borg** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:30 pm

http://www.behringer.com/DSP8024/index.cfm?lang=ENG
a mic to go with this unit:
http://www.behringer.com/ECM8000/index.cfm?lang=ENG

How do you adapt your sound to the amplifying system?

How do you adapt your sound to the amplifying system?

Re: How do you adapt your sound to the amplifying system?

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