Great tips! I've started cutting exact octaves of the fundamental instead of using "known" problem areas. It gets rid of the overtones very precisely. For those that aren't aware, just double the fundamental frequency and you are 1 octave up. If you then double the resulting frequency again, you are two octaves up. It works darn good for live and studio! Cheers!
Virtual soundcheck question: our church has a half-live stage still. We do have a bass and guitar amps on stage, and our drums are shielded but obviously not silent - everything is either DI'd or mic'd however. Does working with a virtual soundcheck like this have any real merits in that scenario? I cant set levels that way, of course, but for EQ etc? It was a huge help with our live stream mix, but that's a whole different animal.
Great question! Though the mix won't translate perfectly between VSC and a sound-reinforcement mix, it still can help you dial in the things that don't change, like the tones for your other instruments and vocals, as well as hearing exactly what your drum microphones are picking up.
@@guitardweeb That is precisely my setup as well. 4 piece rock band, all on in-ears, everything mic'd or DI, no floor monitors. As James mentioned, you can dial in the tones for sure, but the overall mix/blend itself, you cannot, BUT you can get a really good starting point and then just adjust the faders as needed! Also if volume is an issue you can try side-washing the stage with the amps, that's what we do. I have a 100W Marshall and a 4x12 with a closed back, but when you side wash it it's extremely directional and can be 90-100db on stage and barely audible over people chatting, out in the audience. Can I ask, which drums are the offending ones that require a shield? Because for us, it is ALWAYS the snare drum, and I've devised a trick called the "snare skirt" that we use in small/tricky rooms. It's basically a black towel that hangs from the bottom head to nearly the floor, just to curb that projection of the bottom snare head skipping off the floor and tearing someone's face off in the front row, and it works AMAZINGLY. (I just sort of wedged it between the edge of the bottom hoop and the snare stand at first, until I put a couple grommets in it now I clip it to the lugs) It WILL sound a big more dull, but that's sort of the point! As it'll also be about half as loud from the audience perspective, and it's open to the back, so to the drummer it barely changes the sensation at all. And if it's cymbals, I would honestly recommend some smaller hi hats (13s are quieter than 15s for example) and sometimes cheaper cymbals have much shorter decay, so they'll crash and then get out of the way instead of a beautiful Paiste that rings for 3 whole measures! Hopefully that helps in some way, if you have any questions please ask, I love talking about this stuff and I've learned a lot of tricks over 10 years of playing more than 1,000 live shows!
@JeremyDeWallMusic the whole kit is shielded just because it's a church setup and a super live room. Zero treatment (although I keep asking lol). We aren't running super loud on stage. I'm running a 5w tube amp haha.
@@guitardweeb Ah. I understand the thought for getting a shield but honestly sometimes they do more harm than good because they don't dampen anything they just redirect it. I'd seriously reccommend trying the snare skirt trick! And also, In that case, If possible I would recommend a extra large drum rug and an extra squishy one, that will tame the floor reflections. And what I do for "treating" the back wall is I went to Walmart and bought a black Comforter blanket, and then strung a piece of wire through it with a loop and that hangs from our light bar, or a grid of a false ceiling. That's the "curtain" behind the drums. That's ALWAYS there. No matter what. Also a quick hack is if you have padded cases for drums or pedals etc, just line them up along the back wall, it's better than nothing! I know getting it treated is a nice idea but as you've learned, don't hold your breath. If you want it to happen you're gonna have to do it yourself!
Hi James, thanks for giving your time to help. I am a drummer and play edrums, in particular a Roland TD27kv2 kit. That said, it has introduced me to the field of mixing, EQ and compression. The drum module has its own mixing components, hence I have to work closer with the sound engineer (I’m in a small covers band) to cut some of the unwanted frequencies before he gets them. I would like to know when you have worked with eKits what drum module EQ (and possible compression) recommendations you suggest to the drummer? Obviously, I can follow your desk EQ recommendations as a guide but I was wondering if you were faced with mixing an eKit what your go-to suggestions straight-off to the drummer would be. For context my drum module EQ has low shelf, mids with an adjustable Qvalue and high shelf. I play a five piece kit, BD, snare, hi-tom, mid-tom, low-tom, hi-hat, crash 1 & 2 and ride. Typically, edrum module sounds are mixed for headphones which is why it’s different using a kit live. Cheers Doug.
I have an X-air XR18 Kick, snare, 3 x Toms, 2 x Overheads, pad. 2 x Vocals, 2 x guitars, acoustic, bass Would love to see how you set-up Eq, gate, compress, apply effects etc ..
Hey man did you grab his guide? It will help you which each drum and especially the frequencies then when you see each frequency you will hear where you want it.
it is perfectly. There are many settings online for acoustic drums. But we have electronic ones, that is, the stereo signal goes, not separately to the plates and so on. Could someone share the settings for electric drums? so that the lows are powerful and the rest sounds pleasant.
We ran our Roland TD30 on a stereo mix for years. I liked a HPF up to around 40hz depending on the room with a fairly aggressive roll off if you have the ability to adjust it. Bump somewhere around 60-80hz to accent the kick drum with out stomping on your bass player. Cut in the 200-300hz for muddiness. Personally I like a boost in the 800hz area to get more snare attack but definitely sweep the range until you find where the snare really starts to pop. Just use caution because it could make things start to sound harsh. In highs either I am cutting problem frequencies depending on the room or maybe a small wide boost in the 5k for just a touch of shimmer. If available I used a light LPF or high shelf shape with just a little bit of cut from 13k up if I needed to tame some cymbals. Again depends on your room and source sample. Compressor to your taste. I like a 5:1 ratio with a 1.85 - 2ms attack with a fairly quick release just to catch big transients and glue things together byt that is going to be really reliant on your drummer and how consitent they hit. Good luck!
Snareweights are a game changer. Every drummer AND soundguy needs some of those around. Throw away all your rings and gels and the wallet trick or anything, and use snareweight. Seriously, they're crazy effective AND versatile!
Great tips! I've started cutting exact octaves of the fundamental instead of using "known" problem areas. It gets rid of the overtones very precisely. For those that aren't aware, just double the fundamental frequency and you are 1 octave up. If you then double the resulting frequency again, you are two octaves up. It works darn good for live and studio! Cheers!
Virtual soundcheck question: our church has a half-live stage still. We do have a bass and guitar amps on stage, and our drums are shielded but obviously not silent - everything is either DI'd or mic'd however. Does working with a virtual soundcheck like this have any real merits in that scenario? I cant set levels that way, of course, but for EQ etc? It was a huge help with our live stream mix, but that's a whole different animal.
Great question! Though the mix won't translate perfectly between VSC and a sound-reinforcement mix, it still can help you dial in the things that don't change, like the tones for your other instruments and vocals, as well as hearing exactly what your drum microphones are picking up.
@@AttawayAudio appreciate the insight. That's my next endeavor.
@@guitardweeb That is precisely my setup as well. 4 piece rock band, all on in-ears, everything mic'd or DI, no floor monitors. As James mentioned, you can dial in the tones for sure, but the overall mix/blend itself, you cannot, BUT you can get a really good starting point and then just adjust the faders as needed! Also if volume is an issue you can try side-washing the stage with the amps, that's what we do. I have a 100W Marshall and a 4x12 with a closed back, but when you side wash it it's extremely directional and can be 90-100db on stage and barely audible over people chatting, out in the audience.
Can I ask, which drums are the offending ones that require a shield? Because for us, it is ALWAYS the snare drum, and I've devised a trick called the "snare skirt" that we use in small/tricky rooms. It's basically a black towel that hangs from the bottom head to nearly the floor, just to curb that projection of the bottom snare head skipping off the floor and tearing someone's face off in the front row, and it works AMAZINGLY. (I just sort of wedged it between the edge of the bottom hoop and the snare stand at first, until I put a couple grommets in it now I clip it to the lugs) It WILL sound a big more dull, but that's sort of the point! As it'll also be about half as loud from the audience perspective, and it's open to the back, so to the drummer it barely changes the sensation at all. And if it's cymbals, I would honestly recommend some smaller hi hats (13s are quieter than 15s for example) and sometimes cheaper cymbals have much shorter decay, so they'll crash and then get out of the way instead of a beautiful Paiste that rings for 3 whole measures! Hopefully that helps in some way, if you have any questions please ask, I love talking about this stuff and I've learned a lot of tricks over 10 years of playing more than 1,000 live shows!
@JeremyDeWallMusic the whole kit is shielded just because it's a church setup and a super live room. Zero treatment (although I keep asking lol). We aren't running super loud on stage. I'm running a 5w tube amp haha.
@@guitardweeb Ah. I understand the thought for getting a shield but honestly sometimes they do more harm than good because they don't dampen anything they just redirect it. I'd seriously reccommend trying the snare skirt trick! And also, In that case, If possible I would recommend a extra large drum rug and an extra squishy one, that will tame the floor reflections. And what I do for "treating" the back wall is I went to Walmart and bought a black Comforter blanket, and then strung a piece of wire through it with a loop and that hangs from our light bar, or a grid of a false ceiling. That's the "curtain" behind the drums. That's ALWAYS there. No matter what. Also a quick hack is if you have padded cases for drums or pedals etc, just line them up along the back wall, it's better than nothing!
I know getting it treated is a nice idea but as you've learned, don't hold your breath. If you want it to happen you're gonna have to do it yourself!
Hi James, thanks for giving your time to help. I am a drummer and play edrums, in particular a Roland TD27kv2 kit. That said, it has introduced me to the field of mixing, EQ and compression. The drum module has its own mixing components, hence I have to work closer with the sound engineer (I’m in a small covers band) to cut some of the unwanted frequencies before he gets them.
I would like to know when you have worked with eKits what drum module EQ (and possible compression) recommendations you suggest to the drummer? Obviously, I can follow your desk EQ recommendations as a guide but I was wondering if you were faced with mixing an eKit what your go-to suggestions straight-off to the drummer would be. For context my drum module EQ has low shelf, mids with an adjustable Qvalue and high shelf. I play a five piece kit, BD, snare, hi-tom, mid-tom, low-tom, hi-hat, crash 1 & 2 and ride. Typically, edrum module sounds are mixed for headphones which is why it’s different using a kit live. Cheers Doug.
SQ series mixers please! We run the SQ6 specifically but any of the three drive the same. Great video! You're always a big help!
I have an X-air XR18
Kick, snare, 3 x Toms, 2 x Overheads, pad.
2 x Vocals, 2 x guitars, acoustic, bass
Would love to see how you set-up Eq, gate, compress, apply effects etc ..
Hey man did you grab his guide? It will help you which each drum and especially the frequencies then when you see each frequency you will hear where you want it.
This was really helpful and adds a lot of punch i do have the same board
_great video. please how can we get a live drum stems from practice_
Currently using the Beringer Wing
Brother, any advice for EQ on digital drums
I've tried this guys tips and they are around the ball park. Just need fine tuning to suit the room / PA ruclips.net/video/UlT067YUsj8/видео.html
Digico S31 with Waves Soundgrid Server
i have a berhinger xr 18
Onyx mackie pls with an gate insert on the kick
HI James, I use a Soundcraft UI24 for small setups and the old GLD80 at church, we are currently looking for a replacement
I'm running a Peavey unity DR16
Hello yes, I am using a Zoom L-20 board for just E-Drums. 8 Direct ins and a stereo mix in
We are using yamaha mgp 24x
we are using allen and Heath sq5
Behringer Wing please
I couldn’t help but notice that your input source is analog and not any of the digital sources.
How do you do that and what gear do I need to do that?
I have a Cymatic Audio uTrack24 hard disk recorder with analog outputs so I can demo gear as if the inputs were from mics.
it is perfectly. There are many settings online for acoustic drums. But we have electronic ones, that is, the stereo signal goes, not separately to the plates and so on. Could someone share the settings for electric drums? so that the lows are powerful and the rest sounds pleasant.
We ran our Roland TD30 on a stereo mix for years. I liked a HPF up to around 40hz depending on the room with a fairly aggressive roll off if you have the ability to adjust it. Bump somewhere around 60-80hz to accent the kick drum with out stomping on your bass player. Cut in the 200-300hz for muddiness. Personally I like a boost in the 800hz area to get more snare attack but definitely sweep the range until you find where the snare really starts to pop. Just use caution because it could make things start to sound harsh. In highs either I am cutting problem frequencies depending on the room or maybe a small wide boost in the 5k for just a touch of shimmer. If available I used a light LPF or high shelf shape with just a little bit of cut from 13k up if I needed to tame some cymbals. Again depends on your room and source sample. Compressor to your taste. I like a 5:1 ratio with a 1.85 - 2ms attack with a fairly quick release just to catch big transients and glue things together byt that is going to be really reliant on your drummer and how consitent they hit. Good luck!
Timely video... I use studio live 32sx
Using soundcraft Vi4
Yamaha TF3
Midas m32
I’ll second the Alan and Heath Dlive
Yamaha MGP32x
Midas M32R!
Allen and Heath dLive
Yamaha TF1 for one service and a Yamaha CL5 for the other
Soundcraft Si Impact + insert 6CH Waves SuperRack Performer
Behringer Wing
Behringer wing
Persons 32sx
DiGiCo Quantum 225
I'll ask Santa
AH SQ5
Snareweights are a game changer. Every drummer AND soundguy needs some of those around. Throw away all your rings and gels and the wallet trick or anything, and use snareweight. Seriously, they're crazy effective AND versatile!
Presonus 64S, so close enough...
M7cl
Yamaha TF5