Great job as always, Alan. Thanks again for your advice on Patreon for my church setup!

Cool! Thanks!

Thank you very much!

Thanks!

This video talks a lot about vocal techniques: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pbZkpseh0NGymI0.html I generally like to use a plate on vocals unless I'm specifically emulating a recording that used a hall, or dark reverb. In either case (hall or other dark reverb), I'll probably go for a Hall for that big, dark reverb. Maybe even making it darker than the normal preset with a LPF on it. But for most modern stuff I tend to like a plate with a fair amount of HPF applied. My baseline is probably a 20-30ms pre-delay and 1.5sec decay. For faster songs I tend to go with less decay and maybe a quicker pre-delay so might be more like 20ms and 1.2sec at something really uptempo (or when I don't want it overly wet). For a ballad, just the opposite... might be 70ms range pre-delay and 2 sec or so decay. 2.2sec... something like that. As for delay, it kind of depends. I don't always use a delay unless the song/genre calls for it. If it's more of an answer back delay, it's usually 330ms-500ms range with limited repeats. 1 repeat basically... unless the song specifically use trailing repeats. Delay time based on song tempo. If it's more of a slapback or doubling effect then it's WAY less than 330ms. Around 50-100ms. And just blended in to get the effect. I also tend to use a LPF on the delay so the delay isn't as bright as the original signal. As for EQ... I almost always use 100Hz for a low cut/HPF baseline. Unless I'm working with a gifted bass singer, there's just no need in anything below that generally. For a female voice that could be even higher. And for most male voices, I can probably slide that higher as well. But you can't really go wrong to at least do that 100Hz HPF baseline as a starting point. Especially for a male. And I'd say 150 is pretty safe for most females. If I'm going to boost anything on a vocal is probably going to be hi mids... like 2K-4K range depending on voice. And then maybe a hi shelf EQ at 10K. And we're talking just maybe 3-4dB if it happens at all. Some singers are going to be sibilant enough as it is, so no need to emphasize that. But for rock, pop, and modern country, that hi mid boost and/or high end rise can help the vocals ride about the guitars in the mix. Some mics, some singers, might be fine with just the HPF... or just the HPF and a little high shelf rise and not need the 'bite' at 2k-4K. Especially if it's not a guitar dominated band with guitars, snare, and cymbals occupying a lot of mid-high space on their own. If I think a vocal needs 'fattened'... sounds thin... the first thing I'm going to do is make sure I have boosted any high mids or highs and am causing it myself with that EQ. Reducing high mids and highs has the same effect (if it was graphed) as raising the lows... when you look at it or think about it in balance. Of course sometimes, the genre and voice will still 'need' that mid bite or high end air, so removing them doesn't fix the problem. And cutting somewhere else doesn't help. In that case, I'd look to raise something in the low mids to fatten the voice. 160-400Hz range. That's really the low end range that will matter on a voice. Boosting below that is going to be mud and you end up boosting a LOT at say 60Hz to amount to what is really more of a noticeable difference at 150Hz when the slop starts bringing that in. But at that point, you've boosted a ton at the center point of 60Hz, which just wasn't needed and can now be causing low end rumble or even low end feedback. 400Hz might be getting to a point it can make a voice boxy... so tread carefully. And try and limit boosting to a few dB if you do it at all. Always try and cut first and take away what the voice DOESN'T need, because if you can keep it closer to flat, that's going to be the most natural response. But, still... sometimes (most probably) you're looking to layer the voice on top of other things, like midrangey guitars and cracking snares. So I tend to treat the voice differently in those cases versus maybe what I'd do in a laidback musical genre.

I just realized you said IEM mixes... I'd probably go with a Hall reverb for that... but shorten it to a 20ms-30ms pre-delay and 1.5 sec decay. If you have a low and/or high multiplier, I'd set those on 1. Set the HPF up around 300Hz. Set the LPF around 4K. Resist the urge to dial too much in. Just enough the vocals start getting some extra 'life'. If it gets too wet, the singers will start extending their notes and playing too much with the reverb tail... without even realizing they're doing it. You might even find that a longer decay, but less reverb might work well... Like a 2 sec decay... but even less overall reverb.

@@AlanHamiltonAudio Thank you for the detailed reply, I really appreciate it. I've tested a little and it helped a lot! Also watched the video you suggested. Great work, keep it up!

Thanks!

Thank you!

Hey Hunter!

Thanks for watching!

just split the input of the mic on the XR18 to 2 different channels, gain/EQ to whatever is needed for flute/voice, mute/unmute the proper channel.. and if you forget to do so (or can't do it in time before he stats speaking), you'll still have sound output from the mic.

They specified the one mic in total for flute and speaking. Otherwise I would've given them a dedicated speaking mic. I always bring spare mics and stands so the option was there for them if they'd wanted to change that even day of show.

And yeah, there's usually no issue with something like the flute EQ needing to be WAY different than what I could use (or getaway with) for a speaking mic. They're pretty straight forward. Especially when the goal is to 'reproduce' and not 'produce'. It would be different if it was a vocal mic with vastly different gain needs, the potential for extra EQ, and compression 'needing' to be applied that would be counter-productive for the flute. I did compromise on what I'd normally use for a flute mic's HPF, but that really isn't a problem in a case like this. It wasn't going to hurt the flute to have a lower HPF on the mic. And stage wash and level needs in this venue (or lack of needs) meant this mic didn't need to be so hot to ruin/hurt the mix compromising like that. But for speaking in between the songs... it just needed to sound clear and natural. And of course, not feedback. I'm not even sure I would've done anything different for the speaking mic if I could've had a dedicated speaking mic for him. And these guys were pros and the mic was gained properly, so he could speak into it and just use distance to get what he wanted out of the mic. Technically, I guess the same was true of the flute. It's all a matter of a comfortable stage position, setting the gain around that, and the talent working the mic properly.

I try to keep the cable runs consistent and run them where they have to go, but also have those consistent, dedicated cable paths where they are all together (and cables drop out where they need to for the source). So that's typically a DS run and an US run. That's not always taking the "as the crow flies' path and shortest distance, but it's cleaner for me to keep the cables together like that... and cleaner for the musicians onstage. And 90deg turns for those cables and cable path to follow the edges of the stage or stage area. These days, there are some relatively inexpensive small cable ramps and not just the larger expensive ones. They're ultimately cheaper than gaffer's tape and quicker too. I probably should've used one for this gig at what turned out to be the musician entrance/exit point of the stage. Although, many times a rubber backed small carpet works too for smaller cables.

I upload these scenes I use in the videos, plus there are folders of channel presets, on the Patreon page. And written tutorials there too. I don't have any posted besides those since they are perks for the members. www.patreon.com/AlanHamiltonAudio

Yes, although I would've have to run one extra line since there were five total inputs (I ran the house MC mic (6th input (as a homerun anyway))... But the bass was close to the position of the XR so that would've worked fine. The caveat would be the 8ch subsnake gave me redundancy if they'd thrown a curveball at me needing an extra channel(s) for something. But I like the Cat5e/Ethernet XLR audio snakes. I have several that get used all the time. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fL1mlpeDtLfGfJc.html

For this one it was post EQ, but normally I'd do pre-EQ for mons from FOH. But being jazz, EQ was going to be really light anyway, and monitors and house needs would be similar enough that I didn't worry about any issues from post-EQ monitors from FOH.

@@AlanHamiltonAudio Thanks !

LOL! Yes.... Or the 17 piece orchestra is opening for the 12 piece band that was booked into the broom closet! I always get a chuckle out of the people that would book a pretty simple headlining act. A solo or duo act. And they'd expect production to be a lot cheaper because of that... but they'd hire 1-2 opening acts that might not have riders, but were bringing the kitchen sink! "Well, yeah, the headliner might only be requiring one monitor mix and 3 lines, but that 12 piece band from the HS you booked are going to NEED way MORE than that whether they have a rider or not..."

@@AlanHamiltonAudio exactly