M7 problem or me.

Kevin Maxwell

Kevin Maxwell

Junior
Feb 6, 2011
313
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Almost every musical I do I have at least one female singer that when she pushes it for a solo gets very harsh in the high end, maybe I should call it screechy. I can usually tame it to acceptable with channel EQ.

For this past show I used a Yamaha M7CL-48 everything else in the sound system was the same as it was for the previous show except the console. The previous show I used an iLive. This time I couldn’t get the screecher (who only had a solo part in one song) under control. I am left wondering if it was the console or me. Has anyone else noticed if the M7 has a harsher high end if pushed? I didn’t notice it for any other input.
 
Re: M7 problem or me.

Did she use the same mic? Maybe she was holding it different or had an "issue" with her voice.

Was this in a different venue than before-maybe a reflection was messing with you.
 
Re: M7 problem or me.

I just finished my second musical on an M7 and don't remember the console having any erratic EQ. The compressor can get fairly crunchy when pushed.
 
Re: M7 problem or me.

The M7, like all Yamaha digital does not sound great with higher levels running through the head amp. I tend to run less input gain and more output gain on these desks.

It is not really a problem with the desk. It's just that other consoles tolerate high input levels better than the Yammies. Conversely, the Yamaha's are great for keeping detail in lower input level things like speech and dramatic theatre.

Try using dynamic 1 as a comp and switch dynamic 2 to a de-esser.
 
Re: M7 problem or me.

This was in the same space with everything the same as the previous shows I mentioned. The wireless were Shure UHFR with the Countryman E6 reduced gain mics. This was a musical with no speaking parts, Jesus Christ Superstar. I was using the 2 dynamics as 2 compressors one after the other with the first one with a milder comp setting and the second one with a more dramatic setting and a higher threshold. That part worked very well. I had a few actors that were very intense with their parts and this compression setup worked very well. My trims were safed and I had them set so they never hit distortion but were not buried in the dirt. The only issue (besides some out of control musicians in the pit, it started with the bass player and the drummer who will probably never be hired again) was this one girl. After the fact I realized I was using the type I channel EQ and I probably should have tried the type II to see if it made any difference.

I went to the Yamaha M7 training session the week following this show.
 
Re: M7 problem or me.

I forget what the meters show on the desk, but I typically keep my input channels in the green LED's. I try not to let them hit the yellow section. I'm not sure what that means in dBfs. The console works great, but if you hit the pre's too hard it can get nasty.

Sometimes I will run all my VOX channels through a stereo mix buss and multi-band comp that buss before it hits the L/R. But then I'm mostly dealing with bands instead of actors. You may not like doing this with 20 plus vocals....
 
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