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From: JWald on 26 Jun 2010 00:54
Gentlemen,
I want to compress my kick drum on tomorrows gig using a Behringer MDX4600.
http://www.behringer.com/EN/downloads/pdf/MDX1600_P0177_M_EN.pdf
However, I don't understand enough to use it, much less to it's fullest.
Can someone please give me a down and dirty basic setting that will help be
get a decent kick drum sound? Should I insert it, or run it through an aux?
I also thought I would try a touch of compression on the vocals as well. Any
basic vocal settings to help me get more than I'm getting now? Thanks.
--
J Wald
--
"Can't do it Sally"
Tom Hagen
Godfather I
----


From: Sylvain Robitaille on 26 Jun 2010 01:25
JWald wrote:

> I want to compress my kick drum on tomorrows gig ... However, I don't
> understand enough to use it, much less to it's fullest.

I'll give you the best advice anyone can give you about using a
compressor: the most important control it has is the bypass switch.
Honestly, if you don't know how to use it, you're probably best off not
trying to learn on a gig.

Learn in your rehearsal space, not in front of an audience.

Before applying compression to any instrument, identify why you want to
compress it in the first place. Any aspect that you can fix at the
source (such as better mic selection and placement on your kick drum,
and helping the singer improve his/her mic technique, for the examples
you've listed) will sound better fixed that way than with electronics
(especially if you're still learning how to use the electronics).

There are no "one-size-fits-all" settings for such things. What sounds
good to one might not be anywhere near what you're intending to
accomplish.

I hope I've helped ...

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sylvain Robitaille syl(a)encs.concordia.ca

Systems analyst / AITS Concordia University
Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science Montreal, Quebec, Canada
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Denny Strauser on 26 Jun 2010 02:13
JWald wrote:
> Gentlemen,
> I want to compress my kick drum on tomorrows gig using a Behringer MDX4600.
> http://www.behringer.com/EN/downloads/pdf/MDX1600_P0177_M_EN.pdf
> However, I don't understand enough to use it, much less to it's fullest.
> Can someone please give me a down and dirty basic setting that will help be
> get a decent kick drum sound? Should I insert it, or run it through an aux?
> I also thought I would try a touch of compression on the vocals as well. Any
> basic vocal settings to help me get more than I'm getting now? Thanks.

There are a few schools of thought on compression. I prefer to only use
compression for speaker protection or clamping down on extreme dynamic
range. Some sound engineers use it to maximize impact & squash the mix,
much like the days of vinyl recordings.

If you just want to keep the kick out front in the mix, no matter how
loud the drummer plays, set the threshold at a level that the comp kicks
in at a modest level, & use a high ratio. If you want only to protect
the speakers, use a high threshold & high ratio. If you just want to
modest compress the kick, use a low threshold & low ratio.

You will have to experiment with settings. Every drummer plays
differently. And most drummers play differently on different nights.

With vocals, I usually just try to take out the extreme volumes, which
means a high threshold with a high ratio. Soft knee & hard knee are a
variable you'll have to experiment with.

If musicians are consistent, night to night, I would use modest
settings. If their dynamics vary wildly, I'd use extreme compression.

But, that said, using more compression makes feedback problems more of a
concern.

- Denny
From: Steve M on 26 Jun 2010 06:28
"JWald" wrote:
> I want to compress my kick drum

Why?

> However, I don't understand enough to use it,

Best not to, then.

> I also thought I would try a touch of compression on the vocals as well.

Again, why?

--
Steve McQ


From: Ty Ford on 26 Jun 2010 10:32
On Sat, 26 Jun 2010 00:54:08 -0400, JWald wrote
(in article <i0415n02op6(a)enews1.newsguy.com>):

> Gentlemen,
> I want to compress my kick drum on tomorrows gig using a Behringer MDX4600.
> http://www.behringer.com/EN/downloads/pdf/MDX1600_P0177_M_EN.pdf
> However, I don't understand enough to use it, much less to it's fullest.
> Can someone please give me a down and dirty basic setting that will help be
> get a decent kick drum sound? Should I insert it, or run it through an aux?
> I also thought I would try a touch of compression on the vocals as well. Any
> basic vocal settings to help me get more than I'm getting now? Thanks.
> --
> J Wald
> --
> "Can't do it Sally"
> Tom Hagen
> Godfather I
> ----
>
>

Why do you want to compress your kick drum?

Regards,

Ty Ford


--Audio Equipment Reviews Audio Production Services
Acting and Voiceover Demos http://www.tyford.com
Guitar player?:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWaPRHMGhGA

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