Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - How to "reproduce" studio vocal sound live

manganeech · 24th March 2010

This is my approach for small to medium clubs with no separate monitor board.

Something that helps me a huge amount is to isolate the monitor and Front Of House Vox somewhat. What I mean by this is to run into a (quality) board preamp (or outboard if you have it) on VOX channel 1. I then patch the pre EQ Direct Out from VOX 1 into the line in of the next channel on the board (we'll call it VOX 1b).

Now I deselect the Main Mix channel routing button on VOX 1 so it can no longer be heard in FOH. This channel is now used only to adjust pre amp gain and to feed the monitors.

VOX 1b is sent only to the main mix and not the monitors.

Now I have the flexibility to EQ the monitors and FOH vocals independently.

To get bigger vocals in this set up I often insert a dbx 160x on VOX 1b , roll off some lows, and add a little high shelf (if the channel EQ is not too rancid). I often use two aux effect sends:
1.) to add a bit of delay (30-60ms), small room, or plate to build up the vocals. I often go for a brighter sound for this send so as not to create mud.
2.) to a warmer large hall reverb with between 1.7sec and 3.4sec decay (depending on musical style). This reverb is used to smooth out the sound and is usually barely audible.

The beauty of this system is that none of what I do to this channel (Vox 1b) affects what is going on on stage. Compression in the monitors is a surefire way to get feedback and encourage sloppy mic technique. I like the singer to hear exactly what she is putting into the mic in her monitors.

You can also EQ Vox 1 to suit the singers taste/hearing or deal with problem freqs. without effecting the FOH.

-
Something to remember if you are new to small stage sound is that you are not mixing one sound system, you are blending two sound systems (FOH and Monitors).

The crowd will be hearing a lot of lows and low mids directly off the back of the monitor boxes - so you may need to roll more of those freqs out of the vocals in the mains to clear up muddiness. Also, loud monitors will reflect off of the back wall and come back into the house delayed by approximately 2x the depth of the stage at 1 ms per foot. (~24ms for a 12 foot deep stage) from the mains. If you get really lucky that delay fattens up your vocals without needing additional processing! Fat f**king chance. Mostly this is just an out of phase mess. Your best bet is to beg, seduce and threaten the band into turning down so that you can actually hear the mains over the stage volume.

Good luck. Stage and studio are two different beasts.

24th March 2010	#25
manganeech Gear interested Joined: Apr 2009 Location: Bisbee, AZ Posts: 25	This is my approach for small to medium clubs with no separate monitor board. Something that helps me a huge amount is to isolate the monitor and Front Of House Vox somewhat. What I mean by this is to run into a (quality) board preamp (or outboard if you have it) on VOX channel 1. I then patch the pre EQ Direct Out from VOX 1 into the line in of the next channel on the board (we'll call it VOX 1b). Now I deselect the Main Mix channel routing button on VOX 1 so it can no longer be heard in FOH. This channel is now used only to adjust pre amp gain and to feed the monitors. VOX 1b is sent only to the main mix and not the monitors. Now I have the flexibility to EQ the monitors and FOH vocals independently. To get bigger vocals in this set up I often insert a dbx 160x on VOX 1b , roll off some lows, and add a little high shelf (if the channel EQ is not too rancid). I often use two aux effect sends: 1.) to add a bit of delay (30-60ms), small room, or plate to build up the vocals. I often go for a brighter sound for this send so as not to create mud. 2.) to a warmer large hall reverb with between 1.7sec and 3.4sec decay (depending on musical style). This reverb is used to smooth out the sound and is usually barely audible. The beauty of this system is that none of what I do to this channel (Vox 1b) affects what is going on on stage. Compression in the monitors is a surefire way to get feedback and encourage sloppy mic technique. I like the singer to hear exactly what she is putting into the mic in her monitors. You can also EQ Vox 1 to suit the singers taste/hearing or deal with problem freqs. without effecting the FOH. - Something to remember if you are new to small stage sound is that you are not mixing one sound system, you are blending two sound systems (FOH and Monitors). The crowd will be hearing a lot of lows and low mids directly off the back of the monitor boxes - so you may need to roll more of those freqs out of the vocals in the mains to clear up muddiness. Also, loud monitors will reflect off of the back wall and come back into the house delayed by approximately 2x the depth of the stage at 1 ms per foot. (~24ms for a 12 foot deep stage) from the mains. If you get really lucky that delay fattens up your vocals without needing additional processing! Fat f**king chance. Mostly this is just an out of phase mess. Your best bet is to beg, seduce and threaten the band into turning down so that you can actually hear the mains over the stage volume. Good luck. Stage and studio are two different beasts.