Live Outboard EFX - when and how?

[Tusker]

What outboard EFX do you use for your keyboards and how? What roles does each unit play? How do you control signal paths, levels and patch changes? Do specialty devices (e.g. tube, leslie) make a difference to you?

 

Jerry

[Robert Smedberg]

For my K2500(without KDFX) I used a Digitech Studio Quad4.

The stereo output C and D from Kurz was connected to the 4 ins of Digitech.

Program change was on for Digitech so when I changed program on Kurz the Digitech followed.

The sounds/setup that had fx from Digitech was put to output C or D.

I had one setup for each song and in some cases the same sound was used on more than one song, but it had different fx.

It was connected in a loop with standard insert cables.

[RABid]

For my Nord Modular Rack I sometiems use a Line 6 Pod v2 to fatten up the sound.

 

With my Electribe R or maybe an arp running on the Nord I use a Korg Kaos pad. The control is nice for manipulating beats.

 

I just picked up a Roland SRV 30/30D reverb unit to connect to my Proteus 2000 and XL-7. Along with better reverb I hope to use the digital out from the Proteus to route to the reverb, then use the better D/A converter of the Roland when routing to the mixer.

 

Along with Sonar 2 I ordered the BBE Sonic Maximizer. It will be interresting to see how it effects my sound.

 

Robert

[Tusker]

Interesting.

 

Smedis, I have been reticent to take the plunge and organize patches by song for all instruments. Maybe I should.

 

Rabid, is the pod good for subtle analogish fattening, as opposed to the Jan Hammer guitar emulation kind of fattening?

 

Do you guys, run stereo to the front of house mix? Our soundguy wants mono (of course) since panning makes no sense. But stereo effects sound lame in mono (esp. leslie).

 

Comments?

 

Jerry

[Robert Smedberg]

Originally posted by Tusker:

Interesting.

 

Smedis, I have been reticent to take the plunge and organize patches by song for all instruments. Maybe I should.

 

Rabid, is the pod good for subtle analogish fattening, as opposed to the Jan Hammer guitar emulation kind of fattening?

 

Do you guys, run stereo to the front of house mix? Our soundguy wants mono (of course) since panning makes no sense. But stereo effects sound lame in mono (esp. leslie).

 

Comments?

 

Jerry

I always run in stereo. As you point out there are some sounds that "need" to be in stereo.

The soundguy can widen or narrow the stereo with the pan pot but normally it's fully left and wright.

If the soundguy hear a sound during the gig that is to wide, he can take a note of that, and you can reduce it to the next gig. (The same with levels.)

It's easy to do that when you have one performance/setup per song, since you only change the sound for that song only. Others are unaffected.

I think you see the advantage.

It takes some effort to set this up but in the long run you'll have it easier and easier.

[RABid]

Effects can be run in stereo if you are careful. You want to be weary of the panning of your instruments. Especially take care with piano sounds that are panned across the field. This can cause your high notes to come out one side of the room and low notes to come out the other side, giving most of the listeners an unbalanced sound. You might want to run all instruments in mono, then let stereo effects broaden the image. Be careful of over using effects. A room usually has its own reverb characteristics. Adding too many effects can muddy your sound. It may be best to stick to obvious sound manipulation such as phasing a Rhodes or echoing a lead. Avoid reverb and coursed effects unless the room and sound comes across very dry. If the room needs a touch of reverb the sound engineer can apply that to the overall mix.

 

A Pod can warm the sound of the Nord if used in moderation, but if that effect is all you are interested in it is best achieved by a real tube processor of some type.

 

Robert