So, for our last installment of "Cool Live Sound Tricks," we discussed how to set up an echo/reverb chamber at a live venue for another reverb option when mixing. 

This week, we are going the opposite direction. 

Some of you love recording and invariably have collected some great sounding plugins you use on a constant basis to get the mix you want.  Some of you may not know that it is very easy to incorporate them in a live setting. 

For this particular tutorial, we are going to be using VST plugins for 2 reasons:

1.  You can find them super cheap (or free) in numerous places on the web.
2.  Finding a host that will work live is super easy and quick because there's allot of development around the VST format in that area.

Step 1:  You'll Need the Following Supplies -
            a.  A mixing console (this is a given).
            b.  An audio interface
            c.  A computer
            d.  VST Plugins
            e.  A program called VST Host.

Here is a list I came up with a while back that lists some of my favorite free VST plugins.  If you look around on KVR, you can find even more cool stuff!

Make sure your drums are tuned well.  

My Opinion: If your drums are tuned well, you won't need any type of muting on the toms nor snare.  This is highly subjective I realize - both according to what the musician wants and what the song my dictate.

Use a pillow for your kick drum.  Yes, the kind you lay on.  Nice and fluffy. Forget about those goofy little oblong overpriced pads that fly up every time you smack the kick drum.

Know the difference in tone between these two scenarios: 

​Or this (2 positions compared):

Learn the difference in microphone types, and the voices they can lend to your set.

The least amount of microphones on a set is advisable.

Learn about phase, polarity, and different stereo mic'ing techniques for drum overheads.

One overhead condenser microphone over the right shoulder of the drummer, pointing at the toms, is a great way to mic a set if you don't have many microphones to work with.

The old "rule":  Anything with a head, use a dynamic microphone.

Point your overhead mics at the toms rather than the cymbals.  Don't worry, your cymbals will be heard!  So will your snare.

Learn that EQ is your last resort.  Equalization is to fix a problem.  It's not supposed to be "the given."  Oooooh, alright!  With that said: A boost around 7khz can bring out more snare or cymbal "sizzle."  200hz'ish range is warmth. 50hz is the low warm boom.  80hz is the low punch.  100hz is the thud.  Around 400hz in a kick drum is mud, while in a bass guitar, it's note definition. 

Plate verbs can be cool for snare drums.

Sending your drums to a sub-bus, and then using compression on that bus can add some glue to a set.  Same can be said with using the same verb on a sub-bus as well.

Make the drums as realistic sounding as possible, not as big sounding as possible - unless of course you are mixing metal.  All click and no tone!  Rah, Rah Raaaaaah!!!  Yeeeaaaahhhh!  Yeaaaaaah!  <----  you gotta have a ton of "yeaaahhhhhs" in a metal song.  Each drum should sound as plastic as possible with HUGE kick drums and a click sound every time the drummer hits a drum. Ha!!!!

Don't use compression for your overheads, or use very little with light ratios (unless of course you are going for that really squishy thing).  2:1, compressing not more than 3-4 db as an example.

Never play around with Low-Pass filters for your kick.  Let it bleed...just like in real life.

If recording, feel free to take off the front resonant head off the kick drum, and then place a heavy quilt over the front of it after you have found a good mic position inside the drum.  After that, you may have to adjust the mic to get the perfect tone.  For more attack, move the mic closer to the beater head (or change the beater type), for more boom - move it further away from the beater head.  

Allot of times, a better tone in a kick drum can be found with the mic closer to the inside of the shell rather than in the very middle of the drum.  

Learn about the vibrational modes of a circular membrane (as mentioned above).  

Gates are a plague.  Never use a gate.....ever.  Let your drums ring.  How would you like it if someone cut off the last part of every one of your words in an important conversation?  Ha!  

Compression: slower attacks to let the initial transient through will add a degree of "punch" to a drum.  Start around 15-20ms.  Adjust to taste.  

​Hard Knees for bass instruments, soft knees for treble/mid instruments - like cymbals or a snare...

Ok I'm tired...Much love everyone!

Did you know that your church (or other facility) may have an extra reverb processor you didn't know about?  Yup.  It very likely has been there the whole time under your nose, and you didn't even realize it.

Back in the 1950's & 60's, recording studios didn't have digital reverb effects processors.  Instead, to get reverb on a track, they'd use something called an echo chamber.  Basically, an echo chamber is comprised of a reverberant room with a speaker and a microphone. A lot of times, the verb in an echo chamber can sound really awesome.  That is part of what made some of the older recordings so pleasant to listen to.     

Well guess what, you can do the same thing too in a live setting.  You may say, "How is this possible?"  Well it is very simple actually.  Check the facility.  Find out if there is an old abandoned hallway, or perhaps a reverberant bathroom that is no longer used anymore.  You may also have a stairwell or perhaps a long hallway near the console or stage area.  The perfect DIY echo chamber will be a space that will not be used, and where you can pump an audio feed from a console channel to it, and it won't disturb anyone.   

From there, find an unused Aux channel, and feed that to a powered speaker or an amplifier that will be powering a speaker to your verby room.  This speaker typically fires on the far side of a DIY echo chamber.  Now place a condenser microphone on the other side of the room where the reverb you hear sounds the most pleasant.  Listen for a sweet spot in the room where the verb sounds the best.  Place the microphone(s) in that spot, and feed that signal back into an empty channel on your console.  This will be your natural reverb channel, and behaves just like any other reverb/echo return on your console.  

If the room is too verby, you can tame that with some type of absorbent material - like couch cushions, a mattress, an old blanket, etc etc etc.  You can also "tune" the reverb return on your console by using a channel EQ or a High-Pass filter.  The reverb from your DIY echo chamber may sound awesome though just as it is.  Let your ears be your guide on this.  It may take some experimentation to get what you like, but with enough patience, you'll get it.

If you really know what you are doing, you could use a delay unit to get some pre-delay going as well.  Using the 60,000/BPM equation, you can also time this pre-delay to the tempo of the song.    

Speaker:  Find a decent sounding speaker.  It can be an unused stage monitor. Powered speakers are the easiest to use because you don't need a separate amplifier, but use whatever you have that sounds good.  Experiment with speaker placement.  You can try firing directly into a wall, or perhaps coming from a corner.    ​

Microphone(s): An omni microphone is usually preferred, but any type of condenser mic will work.  If it's a cardioid, you can try pointing the microphone towards a wall with the back of the microphone facing the speaker.  Some folks prefer ribbon microphones, and they definitely impart a different tone to a reverb.  Use a stand to experiment with different heights and angles.  Note: Don't forget to enact phantom power if it is a condenser mic you are using.  If it is a typical ribbon microphone, make sure the phantom power is turned off so that you don't fry the ribbon.  

How Loud:  It doesn't have to be loud.  Anywhere from the 60-80db range will be plenty loud enough to get what you need from your DIY echo chamber.