taylord Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Hi all, Just after a bit of advice from the 'more experienced than my self' folk! Have got our school production of Annie coming up and have recently purchased a digital desk (Soundcraft SI Impact). Our current PA in the school hall consists of a pair of ceiling hung Mackie tops, 2 pairs of JBL control 1 satellites running down either side, and a pair of wharfedale subs. This is all controlled by a DBX driverack 260. I have the pair of wharfedale tops that came with subs as a PA (subs have built in crossovers) so I was after some advice as to if it would be worth running that as a complete PA from a MTX send and then using the rest of the in house system as normal (minus subs)?? I have the DBX tuned for use with or without subs. Would this cause more problems than it's worth? Would the extra tops give me much more reinforcement or just increase the chances of feedback? Most performers will have radio mic's. I have a few PZM's dotted around the stage too. Also, with regards to compressing vocals for the radio mics, where's a good place to start? I've never really ventured into compression on individual mics before. Many thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart91 Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 You could use the installed system for vocals and run the band or backing music through the portable PA. This will give you a bit more headroom and possibly better clarity on the vocals. Just simply drive each PA from subgroups on the mixer. If you just ran all the speakers from a single mix, you will get all sorts of phase issues and it will not sound particularly coherent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacethebase Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Hello Chap What you could look in to doing is using the old Warfdale tops as delays further down the room to take the pressure of the Mackies. I would use Phase Time Alignment to work out the delay between the two box's then add about 5-10ms on top of the Mackies and Warfdales to help you fight feedback a bit further down the line. The tip with using loads of lapels is EQ them right and don't run your gain structure too hot. Personally when operating theatre shows I send all my Lapels (If I have to use them) to a VCA and stick a compressor over that gently, Dont get in the habbit of going in hot on the gain only to bring it back with compression, there is alot to be said for letting your vocals breath. Try and get the school to invest in some decent headset mics rather than lapels if budget will allow at all. You could use the JBL's purely for SFX and play back. Best of luck and enjoy :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackerr Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Personally when operating theatre shows I send all my Lapels (If I have to use them) to a VCA and stick a compressor over that gently, How's that work out for you? ;-) Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exalted Wombat Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Feedback problems mostly went away when we got our radio mics close to the performer's mouth, either taped to the cheek or on a headset. But we can bring them back quite easily by using compression as a substitute for mixing! Do your job on the soundboard, both with the faders and the mutes. You shouldn't need compression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Do your job on the soundboard, both with the faders and the mutes. You shouldn't need compression. Don't agree with that... a bit of compression is very useful to catch actors who make sudden drastic changes in volume so they don't blow the audience away before you have chance to reach the fader. It should only be set to compress shouty bits though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taylord Posted February 28, 2017 Author Share Posted February 28, 2017 Where do you all stand on using compression to boost parts of songs where the kids have to go falsetto they lack the power and go quiet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Where do you all stand on using compression to boost parts of songs where the kids have to go falsetto they lack the power and go quiet?Compression makes things quieter, not louder. That's a job for a finger on a fader ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Compression makes things quieter, not louder. That's a job for a finger on a fader ;) Exactly. In an ideal world your compressor will sit there doing nothing. You use them (on vocals at any rate) because they are faster to pull the 'fader' down than you are when someone goes OTT on their volume or when someone thumps/drops a mic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taylord Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 Cheers chaps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackerr Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Where do you all stand on using compression to boost parts of songs where the kids have to go falsetto they lack the power and go quiet?Compression makes things quieter, not louder. That's a job for a finger on a fader ;) This, and when you have a compressor with multiple signals going through it when one signal gets loud they all get their gain reduced, not just the loud one. Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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