Each and every sound engineer has their own tricks to help make their mix sound the best. Whether it be a specific EQ for an instrument or voice, a specific mic or placement or using all of the above and effects at their disposal for the best optimization.

The base of every mix with a drum kit are both the kick drum and base guitar...if the specific genre of music allows. I have found a priceless tool that is built into the Digidesign series of consoles that allows you to make your kick drum sound the best it can...all with the help of some Plug-Ins that the console has built in.

First and foremost, proper mic placement within the kick drum is always the first step in obtaining a good overall mix. I would always recommend double mic'ing the kick if you have the necessary equipment. Secondly, proper EQ and compression (Smack compressor is my favorite for vocals and kick) on the channel will allow your kick drum to "pop" and not sound like a soggy noodle. Third...the Digidesign consoles have a built in "Signal Generator" within the Plug-Ins that ship by default with the board. Place this Plug-In on the Direct-Input of an unused channel at about 50Hz. Add a gate to that, and key it to the kick drum channel. Configure the gate accordingly, and mix the key and the drum together for a solid and impactful "kick" impact for your mix.

Again, Digi always amazes me with their top of the line products. I love their stuff. What tips can you share for others to use? Would love to hear them. If you have any questions with this process, send me questions. I love this stuff, so maybe we can learn something together. Hope you find this useful.

-Ken

Labels: art, audio, digidesign, drums, effects, enginnering, foh, front of house, kick, mix, mix down, multi-track, music, oscillator, plugins, profile, protools, sc48, venue

Last night, I had the opportunity to go to my instructors church. I
was under the assumption that he was going to simply show us around
the reinforcement systems they had on campus. It turned out that was
just a little bit of what we were able to do there.

In fact, they have an entire system and staging they have to setup for
the Sunday overflow and childrens services they have on Sunday! I was
able to assist in this process. I must say, it was a great experience!
Vince is using a DigiDesign FOH console in that venue. I must say,
looking at that control surface for the first time may throw a person
into a confused state, but once you take a minute or two to sit down
and play with the control surface, it really makes sense.

This experience made me think of the first time I did a show on a
Yamaha digital console at my previous church. It was just
installed...the installtion was the finest part! I knew how to use the
system, and made it through the dress rehearsals just fine. I was
scared to death though...I was scar3d that somethingwpuld happen
during the service that I could not correct, but could if the same
thing happened on an analog console! The show turned out fine, and by
the end of it I was fairly confident with my abilities with that desk.

Digital consoles are wonderful. In some scenarios, I prefer them over
analog systems. Many people tend to be scared of them, but in reality
you can do exactly the same thing on a digital system that you can on
an analog. Most of the time it is even easier. There is criteria that
make up a good or bad digital console, and that is a factor you have
to figure when going out to make the purchase.

Ken Miller, Jr.
Sent from my iPhone.
Web: www.kintmiller.com
Moblog: www.kintmiller.mobi

Labels: analog, audio, church, control surface, digidesign, digital, foh, future, upgrade