Mixers/Consoles Your Opinion?

[chausman]

For a marching band I am a part of, we have several instruments miced, and I would like to use some compression (and I think a gate as well) on several of the mics, because of the "thump thump" that the vibes/marimbas make that is rather unpleasant. The school has a Mackie mixer that has a nice little cart thing, but they don't have any compressors. I have a compressor/gate I could bring, but that would be another thing to keep safe/secure/undamaged since there is no rack to mount it in. I also have a Yamaha 01V that I could take, that has onboard compressors/gates that I could also use. I would have to find a good case for it, as I haven't done that yet but I do plan on it. What would you do? Thanks.

Chase

 

[avkid]

Don't give them anything for free or they'll learn to expect it.

 

[themuzicman]

I echo what AVKid says. Never lend your personal gear out ever. If it gets broken, it's on you to fix. I'd rather fix things I broke myself than things other people broke for me.

Depending on what the "thump thump" is, a compressor may be the wrong thing to do the trick anyway. You could need a low-cut filter, or even just changing the mic position may solve the trick. Depending on the SPL situation and the microphone, that could be the diaphragm slapping against the housing.

 

[cpf]

And if you don't charge, plaster your name all over it so that whenever an administrator looks at it, they won't have any illusions as to who's providing it. It'll also reduce the chances of the school deciding (after a change in personnel, etc) that they own it and not letting you take it when you leave. As for security, well, it's your stuff so you make the choice. Whenever I bring my own equipment in I ensure it's clearly labelled and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get put away with the stuff that belongs to the building.

Ideally, the school should own the equipment instead of you bringing it in, though, so maybe hold an impromptu before/after demo with the applicable people to convince them on the virtues of it.

 

[chausman]

Depending on what the "thump thump" is,

I *think* that it is the mallets hitting the top of the vibes/marimba before the sound echoes down the tubes.

I wouldn't be lending it out, I would be bringing it with me, if you consider those different.

 

[jglodeklights]

I echo what AVKid says. Never lend your personal gear out ever. If it gets broken, it's on you to fix. I'd rather fix things I broke myself than things other people broke for me.

Depending on what the "thump thump" is, a compressor may be the wrong thing to do the trick anyway. You could need a low-cut filter, or even just changing the mic position may solve the trick. Depending on the SPL situation and the microphone, that could be the diaphragm slapping against the housing.

First of all, agree with Muzicman here. Second, agree with him and avkid. Unless you rent it to them, with at least some agreement that they will replace or repair should it be damaged, don't give someone anything for free. Check, though, depending on organizational regulations you may not be even able to "rent" it to them. Some organizations (school districts, companies or otherwise) have very strict regulations in place designed to prevent the use of personal equipment of their members and compensation for the use of them or compensation for the repair or replacement of them.

 

[jglodeklights]

I *think* that it is the mallets hitting the top of the vibes/marimba before the sound echoes down the tubes.

I wouldn't be lending it out, I would be bringing it with me, if you consider those different.

Same thing. You are effectively are "renting" this equipment to them to enhance their production value.

 

[Les]

It'll also reduce the chances of the school deciding (after a change in personnel, etc) that they own it and not letting you take it when you leave.

This CAN happen! I speak from experience. I had to provide receipts to get some of my equipment back, and some of it was second hand (no proof of purchase) so they wouldn't let me have it! I finally claimed it after yet another change in administration. Another +1 to not loaning out your equipment to the school .

Some organizations (school districts, companies or otherwise) have very strict regulations in place designed to prevent the use of personal equipment of their members and compensation for the use of them or compensation for the repair or replacement of them.

This can be true also. It is usually written in very fine print within the organization's bylaws. Same can be true for community theatres, et al (companies or otherwise).

 

[sdauditorium]

Did you try pitching it to administration/teacher/director that this is an equipment purchase that should be made and why it would increase the production value of said performance? Get an agreement etched out whereas you would provide the compressor or mixer for once performance in lieu of compensation if something were to happen to it. Then, assuming the results are good, they should see the value in purchasing their own compressor or whatnot.

On a different note, have you experimented with varying the position of the mic or even trying a different mic or EQ'ing it more? I figure you had but might as well throw it out there.

 

[chausman]

Did you try pitching it to administration/teacher/director that this is an equipment purchase that should be made and why it would increase the production value of said performance? Get an agreement etched out whereas you would provide the compressor or mixer for once performance in lieu of compensation if something were to happen to it. Then, assuming the results are good, they should see the value in purchasing their own compressor or whatnot.

On a different note, have you experimented with varying the position of the mic or even trying a different mic or EQ'ing it more? I figure you had but might as well throw it out there.

This isn't something that we would actually buy something, I just thought it might help.

I did try EQ'ing a little bit, but I'm not the best with that. I did cut a lot of the lows, but wanted to make sure. I didn't affect the sound of the instrument itself.


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[sdauditorium]

This isn't something that we would actually buy something, I just thought it might help.

I did try EQ'ing a little bit, but I'm not the best with that. I did cut a lot of the lows, but wanted to make sure. I didn't affect the sound of the instrument itself.


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Understandable, but depending on how distracting the "thump" actually is, would you rather sacrifice a bit of the tone to get rid of more of the thump? What mic are you using?

 

[chausman]

Understandable, but depending on how distracting the "thump" actually is, would you rather sacrifice a bit of the tone to get rid of more of the thump? What mic are you using?

I believe we had the Audio Technica P650R on it.

The total inventory I know about would be:
Peavey PVR1 Omni Electret -6
AKG C 535 EB
Audio Technica P650R
Audix ADX -51


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[MarshallPope]

Are you sure that the thump isn't part of the desired sound of the instrument? As a percussionist, I would be wary of pulling out any of the sound of impact. I'm not sure where your mics are positioned, but it may help more to play with that. My initial thoughts would be even with the tops of the resonator tubes but distanced a bit from the bars for vibes and xylo and near the bottom of the resonators for marimba, depending of course on the model of instrument. As always, YMMV.

 

[chausman]

Are you sure that the thump isn't part of the desired sound of the instrument? As a percussionist, I would be wary of pulling out any of the sound of impact. I'm not sure where your mics are positioned, but it may help more to play with that. My initial thoughts would be even with the tops of the resonator tubes but distanced a bit from the bars for vibes and xylo and near the bottom of the resonators for marimba, depending of course on the model of instrument. As always, YMMV.

Yes. We(I) had the mic under the bars, between the two rows of resonator tubes.

 

[themuzicman]

Due to the placement of your microphone, could the thump the the dampeners on the marimba?

Either way, because you are only using a single microphone, pull the mic out from the instrument and get some distance. Get the full body of sound from it, I have a feeling distance will fix this issue without the need for any outboard gear. If you had two or three mics, I'd keep closer proximity (high pitch over, low pitch over, and under) - but with only one mic pull it back.

Watch the pattern on the mic so that you're not going to get too much bleed from surrounding instruments, but just try different mic placement.

 

[sdauditorium]

I believe we had the Audio Technica P650R on it.

The total inventory I know about would be:
AKG C 535 EB



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That's one expensive mic to be using for marching bands...lol. I only say that because we have one and I know how expensive they are. I'd be too paranoid to be using it on an application such as that. But as long as you're careful with it and it suits the purpose...

 

[FMEng]

Mic placement for a marimba should be over the top of the instrument about 18" to 24", with the mic pointing down. The C535 would be great for this.

 

[chausman]

Mic placement for a marimba should be over the top of the instrument about 18" to 24", with the mic pointing down. The C535 would be great for this.

That's one expensive mic to be using for marching bands...lol. I only say that because we have one and I know how expensive they are. I'd be too paranoid to be using it on an application such as that. But as long as you're careful with it and it suits the purpose...

The Marimba was miced with two choir mics (I don't know make/model) below. I can see if theres a good way for us to get mics above it.

I don't know if it was that one. I think it was though...I'm just glad it was working.

 

[MarshallPope]

Just a thought, if you have access to any lavs, you may want to try clipping one to your marimba player's chest and micing it that way. That is done quite frequently for my college's pit.

 

[chausman]

Just a thought, if you have access to any lavs, you may want to try clipping one to your marimba player's chest and micing it that way. That is done quite frequently for my college's pit.

I would, but people are switching instruments, and I don't have any lavs. I'll have to remember that for later though.