Hey guys - I've been trying to use vocal effects on stage for a year and every time I run into massive feedback issues so I've had to go completely "clean", which doesn't match my sound at all. Here's the deal:
I'm in an electronic band that uses Ableton and soft synths for EVERYTHING, including the live show. I need to create an effect that sounds similar to the one I use in our song "The Highest Cost" for the vocal lead (you can listen to it here: http://www.myspace.com/sonofrust. It's basically bandpassed filtered, highly compressed, and slightly distorted.
So, I know that any effect that boosts a signal live is going to cause feedback problems, so does ANYBODY know how to use the ableton compressor / any kind of distorted bandpassed sounding plug in thing to get a sound that's similar to that without having to worry about constant shrieking feedback on stage? If you're in a band and doing any kind of effect that's similar live, how do YOU do it??
I have purchased and use in-ear monitors on stage so the stage monitors are always off, but this doesn't seem to matter. We go directly from the Ableton Live effects chain to a single quarter-inch phono out on our firewire box to an RCA pigtail to the house mixing board. Is there a better way I should be doing that?
Your help would be GREATLY appreciated. Our live show sounds almost nothing like our albums because of this problem and I get the impression people are let down.
Thanks!!
- justin
Son of Rust
Help with processing vocal fx in a live setting...
Hmm I don't know but usually what causes feedback on stage is either noise and/or some frequency that is amplified by how the room is made. So I'd think this'll depend on what room you do your show in, so you might have to change this depending on the room. I used to do this before I went fully digital, I'd hook up my mics / PA system, then (at decently high volume though not enough to do kill people around) you boost slightly a frequency on the track that has the mic in, with a thin Q to be precise and you just move around the frequency. This should trigger the feedback, usually somewhere in the mids though it depends on the room, so basically this will tell you which frequency causes the feedback. The trick is then to cut this frequency a bit (instead of boosting it). Some rooms tend to be boomy and will feed on low mids, other are more metallic are will feed on higher mids. Obviously you do this during sound checks, not during your show 
You need monitors close to your mic though for this to happen, sometimes I'd even put the mic in front or close to the monitor's speaker. Also be aware that different mics have different frequency response so this is something you usually need to do for each different mic.
Perhaps what you can do is use this technique (boost a frequency and move this frequency around until you trigger a feedback) and do an EQ cut which then you can asign to some midi controller know which you can easily tweak during your sound check.
Another idea is to use a noise reduction (I know hardware effects rack often have this, don't know about software / Live). Typically feedback can also be caused by some noise (room, electrical, etc) that gets amplified and then you have a loop, because the noise is always present so this builds on itself. The noise reduction will help kill this initial noise. But that's a last recourse...
Another thing about noise, make sure you don't set the compression trigger too low. You don't want the noise to be compressed / amplified, otherwise you'll run into the noise feedback I've described above.
Anywho, I'm no expert, especially not with Live. And it's been a while I did shows (though I'm getting back there), back when computers weren't part of a typical rig. Hope this helps...
You need monitors close to your mic though for this to happen, sometimes I'd even put the mic in front or close to the monitor's speaker. Also be aware that different mics have different frequency response so this is something you usually need to do for each different mic.Perhaps what you can do is use this technique (boost a frequency and move this frequency around until you trigger a feedback) and do an EQ cut which then you can asign to some midi controller know which you can easily tweak during your sound check.
Another idea is to use a noise reduction (I know hardware effects rack often have this, don't know about software / Live). Typically feedback can also be caused by some noise (room, electrical, etc) that gets amplified and then you have a loop, because the noise is always present so this builds on itself. The noise reduction will help kill this initial noise. But that's a last recourse...
Another thing about noise, make sure you don't set the compression trigger too low. You don't want the noise to be compressed / amplified, otherwise you'll run into the noise feedback I've described above.
Anywho, I'm no expert, especially not with Live. And it's been a while I did shows (though I'm getting back there), back when computers weren't part of a typical rig. Hope this helps...