I'm diving in to our new XR18 and setting it up as much as I can in advance of our next practice session (the first with the XR18). I'm not confident to take it gigging yet until I know my way around it a bit more. Assuming there might be a couple of folk on here who have one, are you aware of any handy tips / places to ask ?
Ta muchly.
Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
Chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them
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I'm personally responsible for all global warming
Comments
https://forum.musictribe.com/forumdisplay.php?113-X-AIR-General-Discussion
https://dbbaudio.com/downloads/behringer-x-air-presets-download/
The facebook group is good.
As discussed in another thread always use an external dual band router.
Play around at home so you know how to change the page you want to see - I’d spend some time getting used to using the eq and the output routing buses - should be set already in the obvious way but I once got stuck when a bus wasn’t set to correct output aux.
Next I’d move onto the effects and built in channel dynamics - I use the comps and gates sparingly if I’m mixing from stage.
Make sure you can switch effects, eq, dynamics on and off - easy to miss.
I setup my effects with a short rev, longer Rev and delay on 3 effect buses and have master mute button for those effect returns for quick on/off.
Labelling channels is handy and you can think about the layout with colour coding.
Check you can switch between the master bus and “aux” buses - I name them for the particular monitor to make it more obvious.
Rta on each output of handy to ringing out feedback before the gig.
Shout if you can’t find something.
Great bit of kit otherwise though.
- External router is essential. Once you’ve got everyone’s devices logged onto it then set the network to “not visible”.
- Two of us did an initial set up in my kitchen to check that we knew where to find things, and did an initial set up.
- We booked a village hall to set up the whole band and get channel EQs right for each mic/instrument.
- We recorded into Logic on a laptop, using pre-fader output from the mixer. We played the recording back through the PA so that we could listen together, and agree the EQs and channel volume. Then we saved the desk settings.
- We use the Aux sends for IEM monitoring. That way we’ve each got our own channel, and can control it from iPads and ‘phones.
- Each person has a different colour for their input channels, and the same colour for their Aux send.
- I EQ my monitor Aux to compensate for the frequency response of my IEMs. The others don’t bother.
- We decided to keep things simple, and not bother with compression or reverb.
- We use a snake. It’s light weight tails put less strain on the Behringer’s sockets than xlr cables would.
- If you’re using a laptop, rather than iPad, it allows you to group channels. You can then change volume of all drum channels together
There’s probably a lot more which I’ve forgotten.I was wondering if I needed to put a limiter (hard knee comp) on the aux sends for the IEMs for ear protection ? Is that overkill ?
I've got that at the moment with our analogue desk via an external rack unit but.... ? I could always still use the external unit with the XR18 - but - if I can do it internally, all the better.
I'll check out the forum mentioned in the meantime. Thanks again ! :-)
Chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them
Donald Trump needs kicking out of a helicopter
I'm personally responsible for all global warming
Reverb. We’ve got two guitarists. Both of us use reverb as part of our sound. Our singer uses it on his vocals. In each case it comes from our personal equipment, with levels and durations appropriate to the song and venue. The last thing we want is to smear another layer of reverb across the whole sound.
We’ve not found the need to do that. I understand why you would want to do it. In a pub band, without a sound man, then the volume can rise through the set as everyone gets more energetic. I’ve had problems where a compressor turns my IEM mix to mush, and I end up pulling them out.
I’m not keen on using a lot of compression on vocals - unless you have the aux split before the comp a singer can strain to get louder monitors and they can lead to a lower gain before feedback.
Personally I’d run the hpf a little higher on vocal channels - 120 but you can experiment to find the freq where it is having an impact on the vocal.
I don’t hold back with the reverbs and blend two depending on the band and the room but without a footswitch I’ll usually use a lot less if I’m playing in case I miss manually turning it off between songs (use a mute group for doing that)
Collision rock band
Chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them
Donald Trump needs kicking out of a helicopter
I'm personally responsible for all global warming
Hire a hall, set up the rig and have the drummer turn up at least an hour before everyone else. That way you two get a head start. The others hear something good as they arrive and don't hang around for boom boom time.
The object is to learn the system and get default settings rather than rehearse songs, although playing part of the set will need to take place.
Try to get everyone to feel they take away a benefit and feel positive about the investment in time and money.
At a gig we recall the settings, do a line check, then play a verse and chorus to check that we can all hear everything. If someone’s got a new amp or instrument then we might do something specific to make sure its levels and EQ are OK.
Chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them
Donald Trump needs kicking out of a helicopter
I'm personally responsible for all global warming
I have read that there are paid iPhone apps though...
Several of our band use iPhones so this might be a good time to ask if anyone can recommend an iPhone app for IEM control?
Chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them
Donald Trump needs kicking out of a helicopter
I'm personally responsible for all global warming
XAir Monitor Mixer by Eric Tetz
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/xair-monitor-mixer/id1271279395?mt=8
X Air FMP Remote by John Milner
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/x-air-fmp-remote/id1112931654?mt=8