|
Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Feedback - Nightmare!!!!
Feedback - Nightmare!!!!
Page:
1
shaneboylan
52 posts
Oct 10, 2008
11:46 AM
|
At the minute - I'm not fortunate enough to own an amp and so have to play through the PA system at gigs. does anyone have any tips on how to get the best sound out of a harp without feedback? Mostof the gigs I play, there's serious feedback problems.
----------
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window."
-Steven Wright
|
MrVerylongusername
5 posts
Oct 11, 2008
1:48 PM
|
Make sure you're settings on the board are properly set - solo the channel and with the slider at the 0dB position (usually about 2/3 the way up) adjust the gain to make sure the signal only occasionally pops into the red on the level meter.
With a bullet mic you should also be using a line channel - not a mic one. You could also use a DI box. Bullet harp mics should really be treated the same way as guitars - not vocal mics.
Make sure you are using a 1/4" guitar jack. Bullet mics are unbalanced mics with very high output. Even if your mic has an XLR connector, you should never use a standard mic cable into a mic channel. If someone switches phantom power on for a DI box or a condensor mic - it'll send 48V to your mic. That'll probably fry a crystal mic (Blues Blaster / JT30) a Green Bullet will probably survive, but it'll compromise the sound horribly - the earth on a bullet mic goes to the shell too, so think where that 48v is going to end up...
(BTW balanced vocal mics like an SM58 are completely unaffected by phantom power.)
Line inputs do not transmit phantom power. so you're safe. they'll be better equipped to handle the signal level and will most likely match the impedance level better too which will improve tone.
Cut the mid-range on the channel EQ. If you have a sweepable mid, spend some turning the freq knob to find the best frequency to reduce.
If at all possible, make sure whoever is running the desk has time at soundcheck to notch out the worst feedback frequencies on the graphic equaliser.
I can highly recommend the Behringer Feedback Destroyer - which is an active notch filter and can be very useful in catching anything that the soundguy can't get at soundcheck. I've also used a Proel feedback destroyer - I can't remember the product name. I didn't like it at all. The Behringer is a set and forget system and very easy to use in the main signal path from the desk to the amps - or as a channel insert. The Behringer Shark is also a good solution. The shark is designed to go inline - i.e. direct from your mic to the Shark and then into the desk.
Go easy on added effects - delay and reverb might sound nice, but are usually overdone and both increase the risk of feedback greatly. Listen to the natural reverb in the venue. Most of the time adding some is unnecessary.
Another useful tool is a guitarists EQ pedal. Danelectro do a very reasonable one - the Fish & Chips. Use it to notch out the mids again.
I presume you are using a bullet mic (as these are the feedback monsters. Use a very tight cup. It'll improve your tone and also reduces feedback.
I have a Planet Waves guitar cable with an off-switch built into the plug. It's great for stopping feedback in a hurry and for muting the channel when I'm not playing.
If you are playing with wedge monitors, try adjusting the EQ (treble and mids) on those too and limit the level of the harp mic to as low as you can have it and still hear it. Careful positioning of yourself relative to the wedge can make a huge difference to the likelihood of feedback.
Another old soundman's trick is to put a compressor on the wedge monitor feed. It won't stop feedback, but it will stop it reaching ear-splitting proportions!
In my band, as well as the harp, we also have anything up to three horns, all who use very sensitive mics which are right at exactly the wrong place relative to the monitors for feedback. The best thing we ever did was to ditch the wedges and go for wireless in-ear monitoring.
|
shaneboylan
54 posts
Oct 11, 2008
2:14 PM
|
Thanks Myverylongusername for such an extensive contribution.
I didn't really have feedback problems before, but i was playing a gig there with a monitor (that I was right in front of) and had to plug the Green Bullet straight into the PA system.
I intended to use a distortion pedal but that was simply too much and fed-back like hell. It was bad enough without it.
The sound guy didn;t seem to know much about harps, although he mentioned something about fitting an XLR balanced head to the bullet, but as far as I'm aware - does this not impair the 'hot' quality of the mic?
----------
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window."
-Steven Wright
|
MrVerylongusername
6 posts
Oct 11, 2008
3:39 PM
|
You can't fit a balanced lead to it, because the internals of the mic are unbalanced. Well you can actually do it, but it is pointless, and will just end up tempting you to stick it places it really shouldn't go for all the reasons I've stated before.
A Green Bullet is fitted with a jack plug, because that is the kind of high impedance input it should go into, otherwise you have an impedance mismatch which will suck your tone out.
I wouldn't use distortion pedals - or even overdrive pedals, they just squeal like pigs and the kind of fuzz they give you is better suited to guitar. They also add gain which is exactly what you shouldn't do to reduce feedback. Amp modellers (like a POD or a Digitech pedal) might be a better option to get a driven sound, because you can limit their output, so you can get a high gain tone, but actually cut what reaches the board.
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2008 3:40 PM
|
Zhin
52 posts
Oct 11, 2008
6:54 PM
|
Myverylongusename, thanks for sharing that.
What I didn't know was how that 48v button could fry certain mics. My preamp that I use has one of those and so after reading your warning I made sure that button isn't going to be pressed at all. I've hotglued a cover over the button just in case because I know I'm never gonna use a condenser mic.
|
Post a Message
|
