I mix out of the box 100% of the time, and only use a Plate Reverb, a Demeter Spring Reverb, a TC Electronics M350 and some tape echos for ambiance.
I have always had to hit mute on the spring reverb return channels on the board in quiet passages or at the beginning and end of the song because they are pretty noisy, (think tape hiss, but not as charming).
I have a four channel Drawmer Punch Gate that I bought after I became a fan of Spoon's drum gating techniques, but only had room on my patch bay for two channels of it. Not a problem, I'm just using it for kick and snare.
Then I realized I could permanently cable up the spring reverb units in front of the remaining two channels of gating on the Drawmer and set them to kill the hiss when the signal is gone.
It works really nicely! It also helps me concentrate on things like balance, and emotional impact when mixing, rather than hitting mute on six things at once when the song is ending.
Hope this helps someone.
Respectfully,
Raymond
Taming Noisy Spring Reverb when mixing
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Cool idea. My problem with gating noisey/quiet sections like that is that the gating always sounds so abrupt, and if you're (I'm) trying to gate something like a vocal-- fuhgeddaboudit... Very hard to find the "middle ground." I've kind of given up on gates as a "fix," but I'm quite sure that's a function of operator error, rather than an issue of the technique being useable or not.
GJ
GJ
Gregg Juke
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Nocturnal Productions Music Group
Drum! Magazine Contributor
http://MightyNoStars.com
"He's about to learn the most important lesson in the music business-- 'Never trust people in the music business.' "
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Luckily the Drawmer gates have an adjustable release time. The spring decay never lasts more than 1.5 seconds. And that is enough time for the gate to close.
Does your gate snap shut? I've noticed that with some gates, but there is usually a setting for that parameter. Which one are you using?
Does your gate snap shut? I've noticed that with some gates, but there is usually a setting for that parameter. Which one are you using?
Gregg Juke wrote:Cool idea. My problem with gating noisey/quiet sections like that is that the gating always sounds so abrupt, and if you're (I'm) trying to gate something like a vocal-- fuhgeddaboudit... Very hard to find the "middle ground." I've kind of given up on gates as a "fix," but I'm quite sure that's a function of operator error, rather than an issue of the technique being useable or not.
GJ
I only use ITB gates but the key thing (no pun intended) I found was to get the gate level set as low as possible, and on gated tracks to have the source as loud as possible ...
It took me many hours to figure out how to properly gate already-recorded drums ...
(Depending on the player and how steady their levels are, sometimes it has to be done in sections as I prefer to gate before compression/limiting.)
It took me many hours to figure out how to properly gate already-recorded drums ...
(Depending on the player and how steady their levels are, sometimes it has to be done in sections as I prefer to gate before compression/limiting.)
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Sounds like you'd be best served by the "Insert strip silence" function. You familiar?
vvv wrote:I only use ITB gates but the key thing (no pun intended) I found was to get the gate level set as low as possible, and on gated tracks to have the source as loud as possible ...
It took me many hours to figure out how to properly gate already-recorded drums ...
(Depending on the player and how steady their levels are, sometimes it has to be done in sections as I prefer to gate before compression/limiting.)
Yeah, but my DAW is Cool Edit Pro 2.1, what doesn't have that.
I'm actually running on Win XP Pro with two 3.0 P-IV's and I just bought a new WD 500 Gig SATA 7200RPM with a 64mb cache to replace my OS drive, so I'll not be changing soon, and wouldn't do Pro Tools if I did but more likely Reaper.
But I'm a stay with CEP, but yeah, I wish I did have that "strip silence" thing. My gurrlfriend, too.
I'm actually running on Win XP Pro with two 3.0 P-IV's and I just bought a new WD 500 Gig SATA 7200RPM with a 64mb cache to replace my OS drive, so I'll not be changing soon, and wouldn't do Pro Tools if I did but more likely Reaper.
But I'm a stay with CEP, but yeah, I wish I did have that "strip silence" thing. My gurrlfriend, too.
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