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[breathe]

I want an ambient mic in my performance room that is highly compressed so I can always choose to hear artists talking (at a comfortable volume for them to me, which I in turn can speak back to them on a speaker in the performance room.  Can someone tell me how this was done in ye olde days?

Nicholas

[Seb Riou]

I think in the "old days", there was always one or more REALLY good condenser mic nearby any player, so that hearing him talk shouldn't be a problem, without the need for any compression. Every studio had big studio monitors in the recording area, for talk or play-back.

That is, I guess, still relevant.

[tom eaton]

SMPTE from the rolling tape machine ducks the room talk mic, which is heavily compressed anyway and feeds a spare input to the board.  

If you wanted your control room talk mic to open up between takes you could either also use SMPTE to duck it, though you wouldn't be able to be rolling and talk to the artists... best thing might be a latching footswitch for your talk mic.  ProCo makes a little box called the "Sign Off" which is a latching mic-level footswitch in a box with xlr in and out.  Throw it under the console and just remember to kick it off before rolling!

t

[el duderino]

breathe wrote on Fri, 17 December 2010 22:48

I want an ambient mic in my performance room that is highly compressed so I can always choose to hear artists talking (at a comfortable volume for them to me, which I in turn can speak back to them on a speaker in the performance room.  Can someone tell me how this was done in ye olde days? Nicholas

the smpte trick to automatically open communication aside, it's just like what you said you needed.

some consoles had buttons for a studio mic or listen mic which was usually hung from the ceiling in the live room, connected to the console and went through some type of compression in the console. you in turn would have buttons for the talkback (which was a mic built into the board) where you could have it stay open or only be on when you pressed the button. and producers often had a remote for themselves.

if you didnt have that option, you set up a mic in the live room and it was the TB. add a compressor if you need one. set up another mic in the control room and its your talkback for speakers or headphones. yea you need to know how to route it but you should know that anyway. same shit different budget.

[Tom L]

I've been using the SMPTE > compressor bit and it works quite well.  The only drag (for me) is when you're not in play or record and you want to hear only the instrument mics.  If the performers are rehearsing a part or tweaking their sound, you hear it blaring through the talkback chain.  So you still need some type of manual mute/override capability.

...or am I missing something?

Thinking about it now, I wonder if I could use a monitor output to key the compressor instead.  That way, whether rolling or not, if the room sound goes above a set threshold, it mutes the TB.

[zakco]

http://www.smassey.com/plugin.html

The "talkback" utility might be useful...

I haven't tried it myself, but looks interesting.

[Bubba#$%Kron]

Just have them wave their plaid flannel shirts is morse code>>!!!

[Tim Halligan]

Or you could simply remove the barrier of the glass by getting off your lazy ass and walking into the studio.

Just a thought.

Cheers,
Tim

[Fletcher]

Tim Halligan wrote on Mon, 20 December 2010 23:39

Or you could simply remove the barrier of the glass by getting off your lazy ass and walking into the studio.

Very impractical between takes - and could also disturb the overall "flow" and "vibe" during a session.

When I have had the extra tracks I usually like to "print" the talkback mics as well as just have them open in the CR.  The "ducking with SMPTE" trick is an excellent one -- when I have used it I have found it is best to employ that trick on the return to the desk after it goes to the machine.

If I have multiple talkback mics going I can also identify who the hell is talking to me by which meter is highest during the communication -- very helpful little piece of information if you don't know the voices of all the players!!

FWIW - I have mostly used "left over dynamic mics" for the talkback thing rather than condensers [etc.] -- also, I've found that [especially with guitar players] if you set the "talkback" mic up last they will usually gravitate to a spot in the room where you get a rather balanced representation of everything that is going on in the room [especially in "no headphone" situations - so by setting the "talkback" mics up at those spots, and recording them, you [or at least I] can often get really good / balanced "room" tracks besides the "room" mics you've set up for the session.

Hope this is of some assistance.

Peace.