Live outboard essentials

[Schneider]

A friend of mine is throwing me some live work on a few tours he is managing this year, taking an arsenal of 57's 58's etc just in case, but im also considering taking some outboard gear:

so far i was thinking:

[generic furman power distro]
[ dbx 160x ] for bass
[ ?? stereo comp ] for vocal group
[ ?? stereo comp ] for drum group
[ Drawmer DS201 ] for kick/snare
[ Drawmer DS201 ] for toms



any advice on what stereo comps i should take on the road? I like my 160x but ive heard bad things about the newer stereo dbx models!

hope this is the right area to post and thanks in advance!

[slaphappygarry]

Dynamics - Square ONE, Klark Teknik

8 channels. good value. high quality.

I would be happy using these on drums, bass, vox etc...

Whatever. Bread and butter.

[Schneider]

Looks good! I never thought id say this but i think it has MORE features than i need!

definitely will consider it thankyou.

any 1U stereo comps that are staples of the live industry?

[DannyL]

Bring a UPS!!!

I like the DBX 1066, 2 channels, 1 ru, adjustable attack/release, very good little comp. Any gate that you bring should have some sort eq control ala the Drawmer DS201, a great sounding gate, very usable.

Though, if I am multitracking, I use compression or more commonly limiting, for safety reasons only, and do no processing at all to the tracks. I also do not use any processing in my monitor mix, so I can hear any problems that might otherwise be masked. If I am mixing live to surround, stereo or mono, I use all sorts of processing.

Danny

[jasonraboin]

BSS 404 would give you 4 great and simple comps in one rack space.

[noamraz]

The 404 - though simple, It has de-esser for each channel.

+1

[Jim vanBergen]

drawmer DL241, great dual comp with limiter and gate. Perfect for snare & kick channels if you don't need a lot of gate control (like freq-specific threshold).

Drawmer & BSS are some of the best units out there in solid state for rock touring.

[mixedupsteve]

I know a guy on tour right now and he's carrying
-1 BSS DPR404
-1 BSS DPR504
-1 TC Electronic D2
-1 TC Electronic M3000

Most venues will have some outboard available but he can get by with this.
Do you know what consoles you'll be using?

[Roland]

Originally Posted by Schneider

A friend of mine is throwing me some live work on a few tours he is managing this year, taking an arsenal of 57's 58's etc just in case, but im also considering taking some outboard gear:

so far i was thinking:

[generic furman power distro]
[ dbx 160x ] for bass
[ ?? stereo comp ] for vocal group
[ ?? stereo comp ] for drum group
[ Drawmer DS201 ] for kick/snare
[ Drawmer DS201 ] for toms



any advice on what stereo comps i should take on the road? I like my 160x but ive heard bad things about the newer stereo dbx models!

hope this is the right area to post and thanks in advance!

It really depends on what the gear that is supplied is. For arguments sake, if he's already supply a fist full of 57's, 58's, not much point in you taking more, however, depending on the work, other mic's might make a real difference. Again, with the console, depending on what is supplied, if it's digital, almost certainly the gates onboard will do a better job than outboard, yet you may feel you can benefit from external compressors, however, if it's an analogue board, you may want to bring a favorite reverb/delay unit as well as compressors and gates.

Regards


Roland

[Murton]

When touring on another PA not our own I usually take my entire mix kit minus some of the big things like LDC's.

Audix D6
Beta 57A's
Beta 56A's
Couple of DI's
Overheads is I expect a large venue.
Stage Ninja mic clips. These things are the most versatile mic clips ever. Great for amps, kick and snare and toms.

If analogue I would take a few stereo comps depending on the desk.

Kick, snare, vocals and maybe master output so maybe four stereo comps. Maybe a stereo reverb and delay if I'm feeling active.

Also, I've seen some aswesome radial phase units being used by a touring engineer, they were pretty nifty. Also a multiband comp jsut for his lead vocals.

Oh yeah, a few spare leads, enough to cover what I bring atleast. Cannot stand using horrible mic leads.

[jasonraboin]

For mics, I generally bring along anything that I DON'T want to be a 57 or 58. I assume that all venues will have a bunch of those. I also lean towards things that go into the monitors. Helps with consistency. I wouldn't bother bringing along overhead mics. I would also recommend carrying a couple of di's. I use Radial JDI's. They are bulletproof and sound great.

[Schneider]

Originally Posted by Roland

It really depends on what the gear that is supplied is. For arguments sake, if he's already supply a fist full of 57's, 58's, not much point in you taking more, however, depending on the work, other mic's might make a real difference.

Thanks Roland, I will be also be taking a Beta91 for kick duty, and i am now considering investing in some DI's (the Radial JDI's do look nice). Taking some reverb units is also a good idea and its something i need to look more into.

Im pretty set of taking my Drawmer DS201's, and the 160x as i already use them alot, what sort of stereo comps are you guys traveling with? (thanks for the DL241 already)

PS. the BSS stuff looks great, particularly the 404, but unfortunately it just isn't in my budget right now!

[IDOAUDIO]

my 8 space rack I take on tour right now, just for comfort when we do 'club dates' has the following:

Furman PL plus power
empirical labs distressor (vocal)
empirical labs distressor (vocal)
DBX 1046 quad comp (Bass Di, Bass Mic, Gtr L, Gtr R)
Drawmer 201 (kick, Sn top)
Drawmer 201 (rack, floor)
TC M One xl (vocal verb /delay)
TC M One xl (toms)

i usually can find a verb in house for snare. Not the best gear, but stuff I can aford to replace if stolen on tour. For a higher level tour, I carry a 16 space rack with slightly better gear. (TC M5000 2290 and 2 more E.L. distressors mainly)

This covers my butt on most shows, and if I need to share a desk with other acts, I have my own dedicated stuff. I will say, I have left it on the bus more and more as of late. If I do multi band dates in a club, we advance a Digidesign profile or if I have to, a yamaha PM5d-rh

[burnhard]

I do usually bring some good alround condensers
but that's it for mics...57/58s are usually there
Most Clubs don't have good compression (with deessing)
And Not enough fx...
I bring an API 2500 for the Bus And uln8 for what is Not covered or Even conversion for m7s...
Fx is my Laptop And mainstage or Logic

[Jim vanBergen]

The original post was all about comps, but the thread title is outboard essentials. Got me thinking about the must-haves in my touring rig I thought I might share on this holiday weekend!

-All my own key band mics. Always. Requires the least amount of space and provides the greatest consistency.

-Additional quality condenser mics (rock band? maybe medium quality- AKG, Beyer, Senns, Neumanns) couple of LDCs, several extra SDC's for IEM mix, several more for audience response for possible live to 2 mix or multi-track, two shotgun mics, +2 lavs.

-high quality DI boxes for Bass & Ac Gtrs, and a few spares.

-I always bring at least 2-4 high quality mic pre's with DI on the front just in case- have used them for lead vox, bass di, violin, lead horn, and sometimes for an ambient record from FOH.

-2 channel recorder. Could be rack mounted, a handheld unit. or a laptop interface.

-all main compression( ie, kick/snare on Drawmer 241, bass on Purple MC70 or Langevin DVC, Vox on Distressor or DVC, keys on an RNC or RNLA. I also bring an SSL G-comp for buss or records (glue!) and a spare ART NLA and set of RNLAs & RNCs for any other mixes I might need. Sometimes I will bring a Summit or Valvotronics tube comp for a special vox or instrument.

-because I do a lot of TV and records, I like to carry a DA so I can route multiple mixes to multiple locations. Backstage feeds, pgm feeds, record feeds, IEM feeds, etc. Never know when you need it, and it comes in handy ALL the time, like when the local sound company adds a set of delay towers at the last second, I have an extra set of outputs in my rack patched into an RNC for a small amount of squish to keep the levels right in the far seating areas.

-my own effects units, for example, my rack has an SPX990, a Lex PCM70, a TC D2 delay and an Eventide 3000SE, with my custom settings and the classics presets available, quick & ready- way faster than anyone can recall and tweak on a page on a digital console, unless you're using plug-ins on your own Digi desk, which are by far the fastest of all.

-Power: I agree with Danny that a UPS is key, but I don't keep one in my rack because of the weight. I find they are a MUST have for digital mixing consoles and recorders. But in my racks I choose to use SurgEx products instead of Furman (SurgEx don't use MOVs and are far superior IMO) and directly in line following, a cheap ART 4x4 power light units that show voltage and amperage draw as well as providing rack lighting and a power strip.

-EQ: I carry a Meyer CP-10 parametric EQ and a Summit EQP-200B just in case. The CP-10 is a neutral, killer EQ with zero phase shift that solves all kinds of problems- narrow notch filters, smooth phase-shift free HP or LP filters, great emergency monitor EQ or great buss EQ if the 1/3 octave EQ provided locally blows. Of course, you have to know how to use a parametric EQ...
The Summit is a "color" tube EQ that is great on record buss or as an insert for drum, bass, or key buss, and has sometimes become my 2-buss EQ for a straight up jazz act when the line array is too bright/in your face compared to others off a digital mixing console's preset mix.

Hope this helps!

[c.gymer]

I always find that decent reverb/delay units are sorely lacking in most venues so if you can it might be worth bringing something along. Other than that everyone else has pointed you in the right direction. Good luck!

[Walling1]

Here's what I usually carry for live dates, but it varies per gig:

BSS 402
BSS 404
BSS 504
TC D2
TC M2000
Metric Halo Mobile IO 2882

I also like to carry a DSP for system control, usually something like a Meyer Galileo. I haven't actually bought one of my own yet - I haven't found that one perfect DSP for personal use. The Galileo 408 comes damn close, but it won't fit in a rack that fits in a Pelican for fly dates. Gah!

I'm also looking into getting the Waves Multirack, largely for the Dorrough meters, and maybe verbs so I can lose the M2000.

[Andrew AE]

Originally Posted by Walling1

Here's what I usually carry for live dates, but it varies per gig:

BSS 402
BSS 404
BSS 504
TC D2
TC M2000
Metric Halo Mobile IO 2882

I also like to carry a DSP for system control, usually something like a Meyer Galileo. I haven't actually bought one of my own yet - I haven't found that one perfect DSP for personal use. The Galileo 408 comes damn close, but it won't fit in a rack that fits in a Pelican for fly dates. Gah!

I'm also looking into getting the Waves Multirack, largely for the Dorrough meters, and maybe verbs so I can lose the M2000.

i got multirack and love being able to have multiple verbs going. might be the best part about it.