Members monthlymixcd Posted December 15, 2014 Members Share Posted December 15, 2014 Our guitarist donated an Alesis 3630 2-ch Compressor/Limiter/Gate rack unit to me this weekend for our outboard FX rack. Is it any good?... and where should I use it with our live 12-piece band w/ horn section? I'm thinking on the snare drum, but where else? FWIW - We use PRX mains with very little EQ, have 4 vocalists w/ 7 monitor mixes overall, one aux send to a Lexicon MX200 for vocal FX, and typically do minimal micing on the drum kit... kick, snare, and one OH indoors... Kick, snare, hat, 2 OH, and 3 toms outdoors. Horn section consists of 2 Trumpets, Sax/Flute, and TBone and we also have a violin and mandolin in the mix as well. Any suggestions would be appreciated... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted December 15, 2014 Members Share Posted December 15, 2014 I have always wondered if a good gate would be useful on solo mics in horn bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted December 15, 2014 Members Share Posted December 15, 2014 Possibly inserted on a particularly problematic channel, they are passable but not a go to comp by any stretch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members witesol Posted December 16, 2014 Members Share Posted December 16, 2014 sounds like a cool band. who gives you the most broad dynamic issues that might could use some subtle smoothing? do you have and use sub masters on your mix, like all vocals, drums or horn section? I rarely use one on snare drum, especially on a gig size where PRX mains would be enough. I always use a comp on kick drum and lead vocal. if the bass amp is really small, sometimes on a bass amp. You could submix your horn section to a sub master and comp it. That keeps it off the mon mix too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted December 16, 2014 Members Share Posted December 16, 2014 Ah, the infamous "Dirty Thirty". If you don't know where to use it, it's best to leave it disconnected and just use it for the pretty lights . I didn't see keyboards listed in your band but that's a good place for a limiter and gate. I usually gate the kick also "as needed". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted December 16, 2014 Members Share Posted December 16, 2014 Not my go to comp either. Snare would be ok. No vocals or kick though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members monthlymixcd Posted December 16, 2014 Author Members Share Posted December 16, 2014 We have keys, too... i always forget to list, but they're on almost every song except when that guy gets bored and picks up his trumpet to help out with the Chicago tunes or plays acoustic on some country stuff. Many in our band are music teachers and/or multi-instrumentalists... "everybody move one chair to the left!" Thanks for all the suggestions! The electric violin is really not uniform in volume across its range, so that might be a good spot to use that "dirty 30". Our sax/flute uses the same gooseneck condenser for both and the flute is never close enough to it, but I'm afraid the comp would just make feedback more likely there. I'm working on a headset mic for her to use with with the flute. I do like the idea of comping the horns as a group and keeping the effect out of their Mon mix... thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted December 22, 2014 Members Share Posted December 22, 2014 We have keys' date=' too... i always forget to list, but they're on almost every song except when that guy gets bored and picks up his trumpet to help out with the Chicago tunes or plays acoustic on some country stuff. Many in our band are music teachers and/or multi-instrumentalists... "everybody move one chair to the left!" Thanks for all the suggestions! The electric violin is really not uniform in volume across its range, so that might be a good spot to use that "dirty 30". Our sax/flute uses the same gooseneck condenser for both and the flute is never close enough to it, but I'm afraid the comp would just make feedback more likely there. I'm working on a headset mic for her to use with with the flute. I do like the idea of comping the horns as a group and keeping the effect out of their Mon mix... thanks![/quote'] I'd think it might cause a feedback issue with the violin as well. Comps aren't great at fixing scale inconsistencies (more like EQ) unless you use it as a multiband (which burns both channels ( sidechained)) AND two board channels. IMO not worth the hassle. Possibly you need an impedance match to make the violin sound more even (don't know what it is - just a quick guess). Unless you're volume is REALLY controlled, I don't ever recommend using a comp for anything that folds back. Just my .02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members monthlymixcd Posted December 22, 2014 Author Members Share Posted December 22, 2014 Excellent point. The violinist uses an electric violin AND in-ears, but she's also in the monitor mix for the horns that flank her... so feedback might still be an issue. I have a '66 Fender XII and I'd never use it without a compressor on it. It's just so much less... 12-stringy without it. Not sure how to approach the violinist about the issue... probably just the nature of the beast. The lower two strings just roar while the upper two purr. Might be her technique, but I seriously doubt it. I have a mono 31-band EQ that I might throw on her channel to see if I can dial it in any better. The 4 band EQs on our GB4 just aren't enough. Maybe I'll just use the Alesis as a space filler and watch the pretty lights as suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted December 23, 2014 Members Share Posted December 23, 2014 I'd adjust the pickup and get the source sounding right before patching holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted December 24, 2014 Members Share Posted December 24, 2014 FWIW, one band I play with has a flute player that uses a regular singing headset mic. I don't know how he positions it, but it works great. Wes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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