Setup
We had set up a week prior to make sure everything was set up for the assessment. With setting up we learned about mic placement, cabling, patching and a lot more on the mixing desk itself.
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With a patch board on stage, we done a one to one patch from the patch board into the desk. This made it easy to organise everything. The speakers also go into the patch board but we also had to patch them into the desk telling the desk which speakers were the main speakers, which monitor speaker was which and we put the subs into one channel to make it easier to control.
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There was a talkback input in the back of the desk therefore we had plugged a mic into it and set the output of the mic to all of the three monitors and used the talk button on the desk to talk to the band without shouting.
Mic Placement
Mic placement was very important as it was where the sound was coming from.
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For the drums we placed one on the rim of each drum. The snare, hi tom, mid tom and low tom. We had also chosen to put a mic under the hi hat as it can be quiet sometimes. For the two big symbols, we had over head mics which did not just pick up cymbals but also captured the natural sound of the drum set.
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For the amps, we had a different setup for each one. For the bass amp, we simply plugged an XLR into the output of the bass amp and plugged it in to the patch board. Whereas for the guitar amp, because the guitar amp makes a very specific sound, we put an sm57 in front of the amp to capture the amp noise as soon as it leaves the amp.
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The mic setup for the singers were simple. These mics were sm58's which had to be placed directly in front of their mouths and put on adjustable mic stands to minimise mic movement.
EQ
EQ is to refine the frequencies that come from that one mic. This helps with ringing, echo, more high or more low frequencies and much more.
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For the drums, some of the drums had this high pitch ring to them so we broke each drum down and for the ones that had a high pitch ring to them we cut out the high frequencies. For the kick drum however, We took out most high and left most of the low frequencies as the kick drum makes a lot of frequencies.
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For the bass and guitar, we done them differently. As for the bass we had taken a bit out of the lows as there was too much low frequencies and we took out high frequencies as they didn't need any. As for the guitar we took out the really high frequencies as they were ringing and increased the mid's a tiny bit.
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For the vocals, we found what frequency the feedback from the monitors was, which was 9k, and took it out to eliminate the feedback. We when made their voice a slight more clear by increasing highs a tiny bit and reducing the lows. This made the vocals sound less flat and have more variety.
Noise Gate
The noise gate does not allow sound under a certain amount of decibels pas through which was very helpful.
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We put a noise gate on the drums to eliminate the extra sounds from the band members from the drums. This helped have a clear sound from the drums to the speakers. Also this allowed the band members to speak amongst themselves without any of the audience hearing.
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For the guitar, we put a slight noise gate on it to allow the loud screeches from scratching the strings. This creates a pleasant hearing experience for the audience.
Interrelations
In this assignment, we had to do sound but we also included lights. These lights were simple led box lights with diffusion on them. We had set them to blue and magenta/pink to make a concert like experience for the audience and not just have the working lights on.
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Lighting had a great effect in making the experience greater for the audience as having a dark room with working lights on creates a bland experience whereas having colourful atmosphere makes people have a better experience.
What I could improve on
I could have improved a lot, from EQ to levels everything could have been adjusted to perfection but as we were on a short time frame, we had to do everything on the spot with the band and busk with them.
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I could have also improved by adjusting the gains for the mics as not only were they too high but the singers were also loud eliminating the need for any gain.
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Within my team, I was at the side of the desk where I could not reach some areas of the desk. I could have tried communicating with my team but the room was too loud therefore I feel like I could have helped more within my team.
Mood Board
Overall
Overall it was very good. The audience, as they were not picking out the slight details, were having a nice experience listening to the band play.
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In my opinion it went well, fixing gains and EQ on the spot was stressful but overall it went well. With everything being rushed put more stress onto not just me but everyone else as well. I learnt how to busk on the spot and how to mix on that desk. (The desk was the Allen and Heath SQ-7.)
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I do think that if I had more time to work on my skills by watching YouTube videos or by spending more time exploring the console. I also think I could have adjusted EQ for each of the band members and instruments if I had spent more time with the band then I could have done each member separately.