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Suggestions on feedback issues

K

Kevinmach

Dec 7, 2008
248
0
#1
A drummer friend of my mine and my brother (guitarist) have put together a small garage band that was dedicated to Rush covers.

By default, I was elected to provide vocals, which we weren't in a huge hurry to add since the music itself was challenging enough.

My gear is by no means professional, far from it. The speakers and mic we are using are solid, but the 4-channel PA head is far from professional quality. I run my bass and keyboards through it, and it actually sounds decent, especially considering we have no plans to ever leave the basement.

The other day, just for fun, I decided to plug the mic into the PA when it was just me and the drummer, to start getting used to singing and playing bass.

The feedback being caused by the mic when I sang was pretty brutal. So much so, that after about 15 minutes of me adjusting instrument levels, moving the mic further from the PA/around the room, etc- the drummer started to look bored, and I scrapped it for another day.

Without having to go into a ton of detail, can some of you guys throw out some basic suggestions on how to reduce or eliminate this?

I have no vocal effects processor at the moment. It was dry, except for the reverb supplied by the PA. I wondering if this might help.

Just looking for easy stuff to try and to educate myself on this process, I am not expecting any single to suggestion to eliminate it, I am expecting that it will be a combination of things.
 
#3
Question: Can other instruments be the source of the feedback within the mic as well (in other words, the mic picking up the guitar, drums, etc and being played through the PA)?

Ideally, I'd like to play around with this on my own time so I am not wasting everyone's time, but aside from adjusting the mics volume (which I am assuming WILL change the dynamic and could cause feedback), I am concerned that I will try a suggestion like yours, get it just perfect-only to have it all my efforts go to hell when my friends come over and there are 2 or 3 other instruments blaring.
 
#4
There's about a million variables here but try lowering the input gain of the mic and increasing the channel output. Try not to boost any EQ frequencies for the microphone channel either. If it sounds muddy try cutting the lows out of the microphone. Also I think this is common knowledge but I will repeat it anyway: The microphone should never be pointed toward a speaker. Try turning the reverb down or off.

If your basement has a bunch of flat reflective surfaces this will probably always be a nightmare for you.
 
#5
If your basement has a bunch of flat reflective surfaces this will probably always be a nightmare for you.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips, and yes, I was also considering this possibility.

I am a bachelor, so we just put the gear in my living room, which is quite large-500 square feet or so- but it's covered in hard wood. Not just the floors, but the walls and ceilings too (more or less a log cabin room). It doesn't sound bad with just music, but I am sure it's ultra reflective and figure that it might be part of the problem.

I will be moving to a new home soon that has a finished basement, and if that is the problem (or part of it), hopefully that will go a long ways towards resolving it.
 
#8
I cannot believe how much bad information is out there. Beta 58 is one of the worst feedback offenders. Probably the worst shure product avaiable. I have no idea what the idea was behind this mic, but it wasn't from listening to any audio pros out there. Beta57 is 10 times the mic for gain before feedback. YMMV.
 
#10
You know, my first thought is...try turning, adding some soft furnishing/rugs and the mike volume down until it doesn't feedback. If the vocal levels are too low, cut the volume for everyone else.

This should fix feedback every time and save your ears as well
 
#11
For just a quick fix, the feedback eliminators work.
They set themselves up by sending out clicks and listening for feedback.
When they find it, they assign a notch filter to quiet it.
They turn up the gain, and repeat several times. Only takes a minute in all.

If you see all the notch filters deploying then you've got a mess. And better look at room treatment.

You may not like the sound after all the notches deploy, but it may be fine for rehearsal just to hear yourself.

Or switch to In Ear Monitoring, or just a bunch of headphones. When you play live hire a sound engineer and PA.
 

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