running sound as a player,recommend easy comps and exciters

[FOURTHTUNZ]

Hey guys, I've been a studio guy for over 20 years and may end up running sound for my band, again!
I've never used much processing for live gigs, as a player never had much time to set them up and try them, only had a 3 piece before.
Got a 4 piece now, keys, bass, Git and drummer.

I like it to sound good but with minimal setup as I'd like to concentrate on
the performance, so set and forget it is what I need.
Going to mic the kick and snare, direct bass, direct keys, mic the mesa boogie. 2 singers.

I do have a symetrix 425 stereo comp. I also have a focusrite (voicemaster?)
channel. Is any of this worth bringing along? I have a lexicon for fx mpx-1.

So comps: for bass, both vox and stereo buss, good idea?
What about an exciter/sub harmonic enhancer?
Thanks!

[M4-10]

I do sound often enough from the stage, but only at small venues with guitar, double bass, violin, and 2 vocals. Even that is pretty tricky and I definitely want to sit out the first song so I can move out into the room, listen, and tweak.

For an act like you describe doing sound from the stage is a bad idea. Get a cheap sound guy. Train him if you have to.

I wouldn't recommend "set and forget" on a compressor except maybe the bass comp. Too many variables night to night for the vocals and stereo bus.

[FOURTHTUNZ]

Originally Posted by M4-10

I do sound often enough from the stage, but only at small venues with guitar, double bass, violin, and 2 vocals. Even that is pretty tricky and I definitely want to sit out the first song so I can move out into the room, listen, and tweak.

For an act like you describe doing sound from the stage is a bad idea. Get a cheap sound guy. Train him if you have to.

I wouldn't recommend "set and forget" on a compressor except maybe the bass comp. Too many variables night to night for the vocals and stereo bus.

You are right, and as soon as I can I will get a warm body to fill in!
I've mixed sound for the last bunch of years for my 3 piece but only occasionally used a comp on my vocal and tried one on the stereo buss,
seemed to work ok but I get ya.
I'd like to get a few more comps and some kind of maximizer for when we get someone. I might try a distressor just for fun, that's a pretty forgiving piece of kit? I've never used one at a live gig so we'll see how it does at practice first.
I was going to go direct out on the Bass amp
and maybe just patch in a comp right at the amp?
Thanks for the help!

[M4-10]

The distressor is awesome, easy to use, and a huge studio asset. Equally easy to use, but much cheaper is the FMR Really Nice Compressor or a DBX 160A for a live vocal bus compressor. I'd say for small venue live work they're just as good as more expensive gear. I use the RNC all the time live, and dial up higher ratio (4:1 or 6:1) and faster release (0.2-0.3 s), and hit it a bit harder than I would for studio work. I like clear vocals and it's good to get above the live noise floor. Putting the compressor on the vocal bus instead of as a channel insert prevents feedback and pushes harder during harmonies.

Does your amp have a line out, or is it a thru? If the signal is line level after the amp then the compressor could be placed there. I know as a sound guy I'd want the bass compressor with the mixer.

[FOURTHTUNZ]

Originally Posted by M4-10

The distressor is awesome, easy to use, and a huge studio asset. Equally easy to use, but much cheaper is the FMR Really Nice Compressor or a DBX 160A for a live vocal bus compressor. I'd say for small venue live work they're just as good as more expensive gear. I use the RNC all the time live, and dial up higher ratio (4:1 or 6:1) and faster release (0.2-0.3 s), and hit it a bit harder than I would for studio work. I like clear vocals and it's good to get above the live noise floor. Putting the compressor on the vocal bus instead of as a channel insert prevents feedback and pushes harder during harmonies.

Does your amp have a line out, or is it a thru? If the signal is line level after the amp then the compressor could be placed there. I know as a sound guy I'd want the bass compressor with the mixer.

Sorry for the late reply!
I ended up using a focusrite vocalmaster rack for the female vocalist and
my symetrix 425 on my vox and the drummers vox.
The carvin we are using doesn't have a buss, never thought of running vox through a bus, we'd have to get another mixer tho.
No comp on the bass yet, we're kind of, not that good!
so I haven't worried about that kind of thing.
I've been using my jbl eons as monitors and I'd like to get some real monitors to see if that will help on feedback, I'll start a new thread.
Thanks for the advice, I've always wanted to try the Rnc comps.

[GZsound]

I have been running sound on stage for a four or five piece rock and roll band with guitar, drums, keys, bass, sax and three vocals for the last thirty five years or so.

I suggest a compressor on the bass and perhaps the bass drum. I used an inexpensive DBX 160 compressor plugged into inserts on the mixer.

I can see no reason why you need microphone preamps in addition to your board mic preamps. In a live setting the difference in quality between typical mixer pre's and even botique pre's cannot be discerned and exciters are a waste of time if you have decent 31 band EQ on the mains.

I used a footswitch with an LED light in it to tell me when my EFX were engaged. (I had to build it myself since I couldn't find a commercial source)

That way I had EFX during songs, but shut them off when talking or between songs. EFX were run with MIDI from the keyboard so they changed with different songs.

I rarely ever had anyone suggest we get a sound man. Simply record your live performances as often as you can for reference, and make sure everyone understands they are responsible for turning up for leads and down for rhythm. It saved us a lot of money over the years.