Mic feedback like crazy inspite of setup up in e-mu PatchMix

[rsher]

Hi;

I'm the guy building a system for my kids to compose mucis. They both sing and I understand that recording vocials in the same room with a sensitive mic(Rode NT1a)is inviting disaster. I want to be able to have the mic hooked up and muted inorder to avoid the mic from being droped or worse. So, what happens is that when I assign the mic to a track, this horrable feedback occures. Could it be because possability because e to e is enabled? I posted this problem at productionfourms.com where I received a reply (from a guy named Kit)who also wondered it maybe because e to e was turned on. I'm a newbe to digital(or analoge)recording but have worked with computers for a long long time (animation and video).Any ideas are greatly appreciated.


Sincerly;


rSher


.

[MarioC]

If the track is armed for recording you will get a feedback. Did you try mute ont he mic channel to see if it would stop the feed back when not in use.

[IndiQa]

Try a Peavey Feedback Ferret.

Works for our studio recording with different setups and also on the road with live shows. Never know what the "room" is going to be like.

I

[LRS]

How are you monitoring the recording? Is it through speakers in the same room? If so and they are just too loud and perhaps the gain of the microphone preamp is too high then you may experience feedback. You probably need to post more information on your recording setup and hardware to enable anyone to accurately determine the problem.

Cheers
Graham
www.lakesiderecordingstudio.co.nz

[rsher]

Thanks all for your replies;

I am in a "live" room with 20' ceelings and hard wood floors.

The mic is free standing 10' away from the wall where the speakers are positioned (the speakers, M-audio BX8a)are about 8' off the ground in a wall piece.
Speakers volume is at 50%. The EM-u "Dock" box, where the mic connects to the system has the volume at 25%, the Parch-Mix chanel strip (mixer input)is at 0db with the master slider at -9db.

I hope this info is useful and thanks again.


rSher

.

[LRS]

Hi

The "e to e" function allows for software monitoring of the incoming signal which is fed back via Tracktion through to your soundcard outputs and then on to your speakers. Perhaps your sound card (whatever it may be) also allows for monitoring. This is called hardware monitoring and is performed (usually) prior to the signal reaching your computer and is a direct feed from the input device to the outputs. If you don't actually need to monitor your input via the microphone then I would suggest turning off "e to e". Your hardware may also come with it's own mixer styled software which will display all incoming and outgoing signals. There may be a function here which will allow you to mute the incoming signal from the microphone thereby not allowing the direct feed to the outputs but without affecting the incoming signal to the computer. Of course you won't hear the signal through the speakers but chances are you probably don't need to if it is vocal or an acoustic instrument.

Make any sense?

Cheers
Graham
www.lakesiderecordingstudio.co.nz

[rsher]

Yea, it makes sense. The E-mu card has very robust routing and can become cofusing to a novice like me. The crux of the problem is that I have the mute button armed immediately before I enter Traction and select the MIC as a n input thus (somehow.. I think overriding the routing and selections.

Sincerely;


rSher
.

[rsher]

Now it appears that the MUTE button is (in fact) eliminating the feed back. Thanks again...
I'll be expermenting tonight with the
e to e feature.

[Lunch Money]

Recording even a dynamic microphone with the speakers playing the backing track is an invitation to disaster. I know you're aware of that and are simply trying to make things easier for your kids, but feedback will be a huge problem and so will the vocal track itself. Now, since it's mainly for your kids to experiment with, that's not SUCH a big deal as it would be to many of us, but it's still something to think about.

Kids are sponges. When you explain why they need to use headphones, they'll understand and will be learning how to do things the right way at the same time. Plus, they get to emulate their heroes in music videos, who are routinely seen singing with headphones on.

I was at Long and McQuade today, and they had 'utility' (ie. not really for mixdown time, but plenty fine for vocal tracking!) headphones for as little as $15 a pair. Can't beat that! And if your setup only allows for one set of headphones right now, a simple splitter will let them both hear the mix at once.

Or did I read too quickly? Are you already using headphones?

Greg

[djsubject]

disable e to e on the audio input from the mike in T2

use the direct monitering from patch mix, you can add fx to the channel after the asio send (you did add a asio send from the mike strip didint you?!!!!? )

if not then it is sending every thing back to T2 not just the mike

if your having trouble with patch mix, send me your seshion file that your using in patch mix & i will edit it for you

Subz

[rsher]

Greg;

Yea I'm using headphones.

I just want to make sure that I cna leave the MIC connected to the computer and avoid ANY chance of a horendous feedback experience. I think that the issure is with Patch Mix(e-mu) rather than Tracktion.

Thanks again;

rSher
.

[Lunch Money]

Make sure you teach the kids that the quickest way to kill feedback is to either turn off the mic or turn off the speakers.

[kenjkelly]

Hi, I have an Emu 1820.
For starters, to make things easier for myself, I right click each mixer strip and insert a "Peak Meter". That gives visability into the levels going to/from the Emu.

Now to your problem:
If you are getting feedback when not recording, it sounds to me like the MUTE button on Emu patchmix's DOCK-A or DOCK-B mixer strip is not ON. Always Mute the strips you are using for all inputs and turn the faders all the way down. Do not unmute when recording, e-e in traction will pass the signal through when recording. Make sure the AUX sends (half way down each mixer strip) are fully off. Trust me, the signal will go to Traction. You just don't want it also going, in parallel, to the output of the Emu mixer (advanced users will unmute/mute to get direct output and leave e-e off, but leave that for later).

The DOCK-A (and/or DOCK-B) strip, and any other inputs you are using (all MUTED!), should have an insert for ASIO IN x/x. (your choice on the x/x channel numbers). That is how the signals go directly to Traction. The Emu's fader and MUTE=ON has no adverse effect on sending to ASIO.

OUTPUT: you should have an Emu patchmix mixer channel labeled ASIO OUTPUT x/x. That output, selected in Traction as the Default output, can be unmuted if the mixer section of the patchmix is set up to properly output the signal to your amplifier (click "OUTPUTS" near the top right side of the mixer channel and connect the orange lines to the correct output device. Don't insert a send in the "Main Inserts" section, use the orange connections in OUTPUT). Otherwise you can leave the MUTE on and insert the proper output devices into that ASIO OUTPUT mixer channel to force where it goes.


Emu patchmix is a powerful mixer all by itself, but in this situation you don't need the mixing functions it can provide. You just need the I/O capabilities. Let Traction do the mixing.

In the Traction "Settings" page, make sure e-e is enabled for the inputs and in the Edit page make sure e-e is enabled in the master volume section.

Hope that helps,
ken