What's on your master chain?

SB-SIX · 2013-07-24T05:30:45.000Z

Do you use any external compressors/limiters/eqs while jamming/doing live PA? Curious what you guys think of this.

Tarekith · 2013-07-24T14:04:57.000Z

Nothing here, straight from the OT into the PA.

the_dreammer · 2013-07-24T17:18:17.000Z

In the studio yes… what i use, depends on which studio and whats available…

whatever i am doing outside the studio… nope… dont like to carry stuff around… verry happy i got clever enough using the octatrack that i dont need it… (hooray, very pleased about this)

SB-SIX · 2013-07-24T20:41:04.000Z

The reason for asking is that i find my jams a little behind in quality compared to my productions in a daw. In a daw, i use an eq on almost every channel and i know ozone very well. I was hoping to get about the same quality in my jams, maybe by adding at least a compressor like the fmr really nice compressor. But i guess not many people do so? Would it not improve live jams significantly?

the_dreammer · 2013-07-24T20:59:38.000Z

""SB-SIX"":

The reason for asking is that i find my jams a little behind in quality compared to my productions in a daw. But i guess not many people do so? Would it not improve live jams significantly?

I cheat a bit on the octatrack, using daw prepared samples…
before that, i used the master-fx of my recorder…
before that… i had a more roland-based setup with a big mixer and all that.
yeah, your right… it can enhance your sound allot… it did wonders on what i did on the roland-based setup… but…
that was allot of gear… such a big complicated pile… that i never figured out how to gig with it… (had so much fun in my studio though)

now i am old… i just want to gig a bit in the local pub… just because “i missed out” when i was young… and well… its just more fun for me to keep it simple and easy breesy… i dont want to be impressive or “the best out there” i just want to be a little bit rock and roll in my “old age”
Hence, i am very happy i can just cheat with my daw and still sound crispy.
but yes, if you dont mind taking heaps of gear with ya… i am sure you can get it more banging without “cheating”

some forum-members put out excellent recordings of their gigs. most of them claimed not to use big output masterchains… so its not necesarry, (but i am not that skilled)

Jon9 · 2013-07-25T04:15:27.000Z

"""SB-SIX""":

Do you use any external compressors/limiters/eqs while jamming/doing live PA?

No, I don’t either and for good reason but the exception to the rule is EQ. Inserting a Limiter on the Master Bus is a no, no, there are better ways of rising the Master volume. Compression on the Master Bus will kill your dynamic range and left the noise floor for little gain. However compression is great for adding thump to kick and snare on their respective channels. And EQ on the Master Bus perhaps should be view as not a boost but rather a subtraction, pulling down those booming frequencies. However most PA’s have on-board EQ for room correction.

SB-SIX · 2013-07-25T04:39:15.000Z

Ok cool thanks for the info! So most of you prepare entire drumloops in a daw and then use it in the octa? I think thats actually a good idea to get that quality back.

0BSRVR · 2013-07-25T07:38:17.000Z

Nothing on the out. Lots of analog sauce on the way in though. Your working backwards if your trying to beef up the output, in my opinion. I have a dbx 166xl on the output of my MD/KP3 before it hits my mixer, then a Drawmer MX60 for high synths, and an Avalon U5 on the output of a Moog slim phatty for bass. This beefs up all signals before hitting a dangerous music dbox which then hits the OT inputs.

SB-SIX · 2013-07-25T10:11:30.000Z

""0BSRVR"":

Nothing on the out. Lots of analog sauce on the way in though. Your working backwards if your trying to beef up the output, in my opinion. I have a dbx 166xl on the output of my MD/KP3 before it hits my mixer, then a Drawmer MX60 for high synths, and an Avalon U5 on the output of a Moog slim phatty for bass. This beefs up all signals before hitting a dangerous music dbox which then hits the OT inputs.

Ok cool… I don’t think i have problems on the way in. I think it’s mainly the drums I do inside the octatrack with single hit percussion samples. It sounds nice, but not as good as using a DAW because you can enhance each sample it more detail with reverbs/eq/compressors/other fx.

Molotov · 2013-07-25T18:36:18.000Z

I only really use the OT for live stuff and I (often gratuitously) always use the limiter in rms mode on the output, this is mainly to make sure I have a consistent level, I also run a tempest through OT inputs so again this makes sure everything is the same volume.

Not something I’d do making tracks at home, but it’s an easy way to get everything beefed up in a live situation

Here’s an example recording of such setup, with no external processors:

http://snd.sc/172Ij3l

NisseJ · 2013-07-25T20:29:07.000Z

"""Molotov""":

Here’s an example recording of such setup, with no external processors:

http://snd.sc/172Ij3l

Fantastic set. Really nice one!

SB-SIX · 2013-07-25T21:03:11.000Z

"""Molotov""":

I only really use the OT for live stuff and I (often gratuitously) always use the limiter in rms mode on the output, this is mainly to make sure I have a consistent level, I also run a tempest through OT inputs so again this makes sure everything is the same volume.

Not something I’d do making tracks at home, but it’s an easy way to get everything beefed up in a live situation

Here’s an example recording of such setup, with no external processors:

http://snd.sc/172Ij3l

Yeah thats a nice set! Some parts are quite distorted though, but thats part of the genre i guess. I have a tempest too, did most of the drums come from the tempest? I tend to use it for synthsounds mainly because the drums are often lacking imho, but this sounded pretty good! You beefed them up with distortion on the ot?

Tarekith · 2013-07-26T00:23:18.000Z

Nothing on the outputs of this one either:

Live at Sequential Circus 11

SB-SIX · 2013-07-26T10:52:07.000Z

"""Tarekith""":

Nothing on the outputs of this one either:

Live at Sequential Circus 11

Sounds great! Did you use loops for the drums or are they sequenced on the OT with single hits?

Tarekith · 2013-07-26T14:05:27.000Z

Drums are from the MD actually, the OT handles the synths and bass lines.

0BSRVR · 2013-07-26T19:33:26.000Z

""SB-SIX"":

Ok cool… I don’t think i have problems on the way in. I think it’s mainly the drums I do inside the octatrack with single hit percussion samples. It sounds nice, but not as good as using a DAW because you can enhance each sample it more detail with reverbs/eq/compressors/other fx.

You can do all that in the OT too. Use single tracks to load up your individual one shots. Use your 2 FX block to beef up your individual sounds, add FX, Verb, whatever. Then resample the main output and bounce all your individual one shot drum tracks down to one stereo track on the OT. Now you should have more available tracks to add to your one stereo drum track file. The OT is a DAW.

Skab · 2013-07-27T00:20:56.000Z

If I’m playing a small venue with a shitty PA, I’ll take along a Sonic Maximizer (I know so many people hate that box, but it has its uses). In larger venues, you need to BTSGAB (buy the sound guy a beer)