There’s a difference between ignorance and acceptance though. I’ve accepted this as the truth, but I continue to do it anyway. Increasing the gain on a guitar amp or plugin will almost always result in a perceived or actual volume boost. For that to happen, I need to start with a confession: “I have used a Gain Knob to increase volume and will likely do it again.” If were going to discuss gain, I need to approach the conversation from a place of complete transparency. Don’t worry… by the time we’re done, you’ll be a seasoned vet when it comes to gain staging and making the most out of the gain controls on everything you touch (possibly even more so than the overconfident engineers we just kicked out of the room). We’re going to go through the ups and downs of gain and how you’re probably using it wrong in your mixes. Have fun and happy mixing!įor the rest of you – stick around. You can go back to using Gain Reduction, JST Clip, or literally any other plugin with a Gain Knob free of judgment from the JST team. If you’ve already accepted this as the honest and complete truth (and you’re already a master of gain staging), this post probably isn’t for you. It is usually centered around 80 Hz and is used to enhance bass vocals, and low frequency instruments.Īlso, because low frequencies tend to go everywhere and often cause feedback, we can use this control to cut that frequency back in some inputs.I’ll say it once more for the people that left their Master Volume maxed out while messing around with their Gain… Your Gain Knob is absolutely, 100%, indisputably NOT a volume knob. The same is true of the low frequency control. The control though centered at 12 kHz will effect on most consoles, about two octaves of frequencies. What we control up at those frequencies would be mostly to add crispness to an instrument or to take the “S” sounds out of the speaking or singing voice. That frequency is, for you musicians, about F# in the ninth octave on the piano. Most high frequency controls such as this one are centered around 12,000 hertz (or “12 kHz”). If we turn the high, mid, or low knob to the left we will begin to turn down those frequencies. Let me take a shot at clearing up the confusion.įirst let’s review just what happens when we turn any of the control knobs. That fourth knob, the one for determining the frequency for the mid-range filter is what confuses many people. The bass control at home would be similar to the low frequency control on the console. To equate that to the stereo at home the High frequencies would be those controlled by your treble control, which also overlaps into the mid-range frequencies. The picture below (click to enlarge) is an example of a rather basic EQ section on a Mackie 3204 console, a common board in many churches.Īs you can see there are four separate knobs, one each for high frequencies, mid-range frequencies, and low frequencies, and one to select the center frequency for the mid control. It’s these folks, and others afraid to ask about things like the EQ section on the console, to whom this article is devoted.įirst let’s take a look at the audio console EQ section. First, where’s the bass and treble control?Īnd, what are these knobs for – the ones on the console labeled high, mid and low?”īelieve it or not, I’ve heard questions like this posed more than once by people who do sound at their churches. “You know, I’ve been doing sound here at my church for about two years now, and there are a couple of things that aren’t quite clear to me.
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