Jeff, this series of videos has been so useful and informative to me. I want to thank you for posting this stuff, as it sure has "firmed up" a lot of things I always wondered about. Very clear and informative. Thanks!
These tutorials are great. I just recently volunteered to help out at our church. The problem is .. no can actually show me what is happening if I move something. I'm electronically smart; being a HAM radio operator for decades but I need more tutoring. Please keep up the good work.
That really depends on what you are eq'ing. But generally no. If you have a sound system that is yours and you use the same monitors and microphones you can get a good feel for the eq settings. Some things like acoustic guitars are prone to feeding back so you may get a setting that works well with a single guitar.
@mountebank1 --- Good information, I would like to add that you can practice eq'ing all of those speakers and sources to get the best sound. This will help you get a natural feel... and yes yes yes.,.... Hes absolutely right in saying that your ears hear best at 1,000Hz. A flat room sounds like am radio to a human.
Good explanations and instruction - appreciate the video. Sure would help if you used a tripod or better yet, get a pal to hold the camera and change angles / zoom as needed.
The house EQ will have to be adjusted for each venue. - for the record, I prefer balancing the system over having a house eq. EQ's are comb filters and if you can get away with not using them you will have better sound.
Here is my feelings on house eq's. I personally dont use them, however, that being said I have a system that is balance and doesn't need a room eq. Pink noise generators and tone generators can make a room flat, but that doesn't sound natural. An empty room will eq drastically differently than a full room which will eat up the bass and high end. Most audio meters don't have calibrated mics either and will not record flat. I have a calibrated mic for a drive-rack and its $110.
I have to say that i disagree with your comment about using a gate on a kick drum instead of a compressor. I prefer to use a compresser with a slow enough attack that it doesn't turn down the attack and a fast enough release that the gain reduction will dissapear before the next kick hit to give the kick more attack. The only time that I use a gate on a kick is to cut long decays. this will also tighten up the kick. these techniques will help give you more definition between the kick + bass.
@pizzaking425 --- I guess I should have mentioned that it depends on what kick mic you are using and the style of kick drum. Also the types of music, jazz and that type Ilike a full flurry kick with no gate, rock and roll I use more gate to give the kick for bite.
Last,,, I suggest you learn the bands on an eq, What they sound like and when something changes you can reach over and adjust that frequency. Things change too often, even by the size of the crowd, the humidity, the location of the crowd, if its a tight packed crowd or spread out. The best tool a soundguy has is his or her ears. Wear earplugs whenever you're around loud noise!!!!!!
is there a general setting for BIG venues and small venues to set the house EQ? I`m barely getting my feet wet in sound engineering. I use headphones to listen to everything when i`m adjusting the sound for that gig
I have a question, I have had a LOT of emails asking me to make a quality DVD covering all of this information. I am considering this but before I do (and spend the money to make it)- can you give a thumbs up to this comment if you honestly think you would purchase a DVD covering everything from mixers, to equipment to speaker and amp set up? Thanks, Jeff
@ChompTrax the video is "basic use" 8:1 can be used for speakers who have a tendency to get overly loud. If you would, rather than asking me to elaborate. Go ahead and post your experience with compressor use for others to see. Everyone has different uses, so its good to share. Thanks
Hi, very helpful videos. I have the same compressor that I want to use for live sound. What settings would you recommend for bass and vocal? We play country and classic rock. Also, I have noticed when we run a direct line out from my bass players amp from a send unit (his amp doesn't have a line out) there is no sound. Unplug the compressor and the sound is there any ideas on those two questions? Thanks again!
Question. I have a much smaller mixer. Behringer X2442USB. It has independent built-in compression knobs for each of the mic input channels. The knob reads from 0 to 10. The manual the mixer came with is pretty much crap. How would these one-knob compressors work? I'm assuming that it is compressing more as you get closer to 10? When messing around with a mp3 on channel one and raising the compression knob, the PFL signal is getting louder. I reduce the gain on the channel to bring it back to 0
@rjmprod as I have said before to others. I do this to help people and don't make money from the videos so I don't invest in video equipment. Thanks for watching though.
Hi Jeff.. I want to install 1 2 channel compressor/gate into 4 channels of vocal and drums. How can I hook 1 comressor into multiple channels without putting it through everything?
@PattyWhomperOFFICIAL First off, It is my office. I do live sound and do not have a studio. Second, I made these videos for free for anyone who wants to watch them. I dont make money from them and am not dropping $1000 on a camera so you can have slightly better sound. Third, if you are so good you can make your own instructional videos for people. Fourth -- Thanks for watching anyway...
I thought I just couldnt see the thumbs because it was my post.... hmmm, well maybe they can thumbs up your comment if they would like me to make a professional video of all the mixer settings and uses...
