No. No. No. I didn’t run sound for the iconic rock band who may or may not be knights in satan’s service. Oh no- I’m already off topic.

This blog post is going to be about one of my rules for running sound: KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID. Me. I’m the stupid one. Not you. OK? Don’t get offended.

The other night I got to use the Yamaha M7 digital console, which has tons of available plug-in, EQs, compressors, gates, FX, blah, blah and really cool blah… Instead of a standard FOH package with 8 comps, I could, if I wanted, put a compressor on every channel!

I thought I would give you a quick profile of the set up, configuration, and operation of my console for the show I did with The Elms when they opened for Peter Frampton the other night in Glenside, PA at the Keswick Theater.

Inputs (in order) and microphone:

1. Kick (Beta 52)
2. Snare (SM57)
3. Hi Hat (SM94)
4. Rack Tom (604)
5. Floor Tom (604)
6. Floor Tom (604)
7. Overhead/ Ride cymbal (SM94)
8. Bass Mic (SM57)
9. Vox AC-30 (SM57)
10. Marshall cabinet (SM57)
11. Fender Tonemaster (SM57)
12. SR Vocal (SM58)
13. Lead Vocal (SM58)
14. SL Vocal (SM58)
15. Drum Vocal (CM310)
16. Track (IMP2 D.I. box)
17. Ambient Mic (SM57)

Let me make some comments. I could have used a bottom snare mic, but I didn’t worry about it. We didn’t have all day, and we had to strike after our set as quickly as humanly possible, so I wanted to keep the inputs to a minimum. I find having a bottom snare triples the time needed to check the instrument, just due to the musicans wanting a blend of the 2 mics in their monitors, etc.

I had 2 condenser mics. Instead of 2 overheads, I just put 1 on the hats and 1 on the ride. Did I need overhead mics? NO! Trust me, I get enough cymbals in every microphone on the stage. Since I was also doing in-ear monitors for the band, I had to have hats, as this is what the band uses to keep time. This also meant I didn’t have a condenser for the ambient mic, but really, that input is less about quality, and more about ‘air’. The guys don’t like feeling sealed off from the world, so this mic helps them feel connected.

Let’s move on to the console. With all of the available comps and gates, I used only 1 of each. My kick drum was slightly gated with a slow release time. The only reason I used that, is because the drummer will keep time on the hi hats, even when he is not playing (so the band stays on time). Believe it or not, the hats can cause the air in the kick drum to move around a little and it sounds like a low rumble in the mic unless it’s gated out.

The compressor went on my lead vocal. He sings loudly and consistently, but at times he’ll shout or ad-lib a “hey!” in the song, and I’d rather keep that under control. The compressor was set at a 3.5:1 ratio, then the threshold lowered until I was just hitting it during his ‘full’ singing. When he did get louder, I would see maybe 6dB of gain reduction at the most. All I was trying to do was take the edge off; nothing more.

For FX I used a room reverb for the drums, at a 2 second decay. I added a little on the snare and toms. I used a plate reverb for the vocals at a 1.8 second decay. This just helped the vocals sit back in the mix a little. For my lead vocal, I also added a slap delay. The delay time was 175ms and a 15% feedback. This adds a great texture to the vocals and sounds a little vintage too, which is great for this rock band.

Other than that, I used a little EQ here and there to help shape the inputs, but that was the extent of my mix! When I was younger in my audio career, I spent a lot of time trying to do all of this crazy stuff like compressing 1/2 of my inputs, using 4-6 types of FX, double miking drums and bass cabs, giving the lead vocal a ‘higher quality’ mic… but I’ve found that the sound is better, the mix is cleaner, and the band is happier when you just keep is simple.