Saga continues!

premier1

Ok so Friday night I did the sound for the band that was there and used it as kind of a practice and abilty to hear things from an out front position rather than from behind a drum kit...I had the vocals sitting very well in there mix ! I was pleased with it after walking all around the club and listening from every angle everything was heard clearly and sat well in the mix. So I saved everything as it was for my bands gig the following night. After the 4th song it started "Hey Bill we cant hear Amie that good" What????? I was like you have to be kidding me??? They said she sounded muffeled and not really inteligable...same settings as the night before, same microphone same everything....equells same problem...so now im stumped, do I need to buy a couple more mains? will that do it? does she need one of those studio chanel pre amps? would a 500 Microphone help? or do we just look for another lead singer LOL...No seriously we all love her but this is not good anymore, someone told me my drums were to loud??? what? I wasant even mic'd? only my kick drum was mic'd...its a rock band for gods sake, not a frank sinatra tribute band...I just need to know if I buy another set of active mains if that will help and use them for vocals only..Im willing to almost set up a PA just for the vocals, maybe a small mixer powered mains and DR-PX to run it !

Dennis

premier1 wrote:

someone told me my drums were to loud??? what? I wasant even mic'd?!

So someone suggested your drums were too loud and you chose to ignore them?? Perhaps the problem is with you rather than the singer. You are a loud drummer playing on a small bar stage with everything in close proximity. You say your drums aren't mic'd but they are very well mic'd with all of the vocal mics in front of you that are cranked to "11" in an attempt to position vocals on top of the mix. The harder you push the vocals, the louder the drums get. Your loud drum volume also drives the rest of the band to play louder than necessary.

If you have to play loud, you will have to figure out how to isolate vocal mics from the drums.

Dennis

Dra

Do you have a way to record a part of the show? Live air and through the board. Live air obviously won't sound good but will give you an idea of the way the drums, inst, & singers mix in the room (like Dennis said).
If the drums are if fact bleeding through all the open mic's .... plexi-glass shield.

DRA

Gadget

From what you describe... and what we talked about earlier... you have a vocalist that doesn't project well.. which is exacerbated by the IEM's and her technique...

The kicker here is your drums are louder in her mic than she is...

Let me guess... she leaves the mic on the stand... one hand on the mic and stays back a ways from the mic...

she needs to put her lips on the microphone and SING her heart out....

I have a board recording of a group I did last week with 2 female singers and both use Shure Beta 87A and IEM's. Beta 87's are condenser mics and are VERY susceptible to noise around them. (available for you to hear if you get me your email address) Point being, I have had singers in the past that just don't have the clarity, or the projection to cut through a dense mix...

and yes, if you put yourself in a plexi cage it will help immensely...

G

premier1

I would not call myself a "loud" drummer I dont have to play "hard" I am acually quite relaxed when I play, i have a good kit lol it projects well I mean what can I say? maybe a shield is next ! of course if its me I want to help I only ignored the comment in the momment because i just wasnt thinking about the vocal mics picking it up stupid I know, I dont pruposly hit harder or do things to try and make myself louder, so while the point is well taken and yes the singer is only six to ten feet in front of me and certainly the drums bleed though etc...it is in fact a rock band, some songs you just cannot lay back to much and requier a certain energy to feel right, on quiet songs I us rods instead of sticks, I feel this is as gadget says a projection issue, he is spot on when he says the mic stays on the stand lol ! and she tends to pull back from it at times, the word projection came up at the gig acually with a few muscians saying "your singer doesnt project well, tell her she needs to eat the mic" that comment happened a few times...Rock and roll is an all out deal, its to bad because she sings well but just isnt cutting it, of course turning her up will amplify the drums even more and cause fedback nightmares! the guitars bleed in also as does bass But doesnt that happen to just about all cover bands playing in the average size club? its a visious circle, so barring playing with brushes or bare hands its very hard to lay back on a song like born to be wild or fight for your right etc..those tunes drive..I think I may take her IEMs away, maybe for her they were a bad idea, our backup vocals were heard by everyone just fine and our vocal faders are much further down than hers acording to the patrons, also our bass player sings lead on a couple songs and everyone heard him fine, this has got to boil down to technique and projection and becoming one with that mic !! oh and I turn mine off when im not singing so i dont get that bleed also.. Ya Gadget I would like to hear that..My email is nolanbill1@hotmail.com thanks !