newimage Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 K had my first live gig with my FRFR set up (Helix to FOH/monitor L3T). Had a pretty simple set up with a few presets with snapshots (mostly Archon amp) and gotta say I was really impressed. The clean and crunch patches were so similar to my amp set up (bogner shiva 25th anniversary) bandmates were amazed. My problem came up with my lead tones. When the band was rockin and I jumped in to take over the world with my Prince like aggression the tone simply did not cut through the band--sounded great in my basement but weak on stage. All my lead patches sounded behind the music--not above it--volume was not the problem cause it was loud! Any help from you Helix Yodas for any tricks with EQ to get lead tones to cut through the mix of a loud band? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanecgriffo Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 maybe boost your mids a bit and drop the bass and adjust treble to taste , in a snapshot.. that and a volume boost somewhere after your amp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanecgriffo Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 and maybe a bit of band dynamics from the other members.. but good luck with that one 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newimage Posted February 7, 2017 Author Share Posted February 7, 2017 and maybe a bit of band dynamics from the other members.. but good luck with that one 😆 Lol-thanks brother! Wanna be a drummer in my next life... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HonestOpinion Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Big question, was your guitar sounding "weak" only on stage or in the PA as well? If it was just on stage then the answer may be as simple as where you were positioned in reference to the L3t on the stage. A similar thread to this came up a while ago. Band dynamics, setting or bumping your level high enough during solos, EQ, amp/cab and mic choice, and finding a space to 'sit' in the mix between the bass, drums, keys, and sometimes even vocals, all play into this equation. You might try fiddling with the mic choices on the Helix cabs to find one that helps you cut through better. You could try using a parametric EQ to accentuate a band or two of frequencies. Instead of using a narrow Q (as you might to find offending frequencies) try a wider Q and a significant db bump and then sweep to find the frequencies that help the guitar to cut though. Dial back the db bump on the parametric to something reasonable once you are decimating the band with your guitar hero sound. A 10 band EQ might also be used in the same fashion to bump up the frequencies that you need to cut through the mix. The best time to do this might be at rehearsal when the band is playing as that is when you are experiencing the issue. As you know, what sounds great and balanced when you are jamming by yourself and designing your presets may not cut through or sound right in a band context. Just for reference, the fundamental frequencies of the electric guitar are at about 80-1,200hz with harmonics occurring above that. The suggestion above from shanegriffo about bumping mids is probably dead on (assuming you are not getting everyone else to turn down). Try bumping the 400-500hz range but poke around to find what works best; perhaps some upper harmonics need boosting as well. Here is another thread on this topic, different opinions abounded with some good tips, hilarity ensued ;) .... http://line6.com/support/topic/23533-need-help-with-live-setting-sound-not-cutting-through/page-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunedinDragon Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 There's going to be a lot of guessing going on here without any information about how you set up the Helix for your lead patches. A little more information about that could be very useful. I would agree with two things mentioned here, placement of your monitor and mids. Generally speaking gulitar leads take the place of the vocals, and vocals tend to live in the same primary range as guitar. So a good mix rule is if the vocals are 5 or 6 db louder relative to the other instruments that's where you need to be, and most of it needs to be in the same frequency range which is primarily in the 1000 - 1800 hz range. If you don't have a lot of other instruments (for example just drums, bass and guitar), the lead also needs to feel a bit thicker to fill in the missing rhythm guitar. That may suggest using a compressor to give it more beef. More importantly, if you're all going through the FOH, why is your stage volume so loud? The simple fact is, the more controlled your stage volume is the tighter your band will sound...and the reverse is also true. The louder and more undisciplined your stage volume is the more it will sound like a glob of mush. In the long run that may be a better place to concentrate your efforts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specracer986 Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Are you turning up your guitar volume knob to do the solo's? If so, that may be part of your problem. I found when I had a fairly crunchy rhythm tone going, that turning up my guitar volume for a solo would just add mud. I now create a snapshot for solo only, which usually involves tweaking the amp settings and adding an eq block for boost. I tend to pull the amp master volume down a little to clean up the tone, and add some presences to make it cut better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erniedenov Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 maybe boost your mids a bit The first thing that came to my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbuhajla Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 You can also add a plain gain block at the end of your signal chain so you don't effect the front end of your patch. A little extra mid and gain up the entire signal chain at the end by 3dB or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newimage Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 Wow. Gotta say this is the most knowledgeable and effective forum I've been on. So much information to go over--thanks! I'm playing 2 gigs this weekend and I'm going to make some changes to my lead patches using some of these suggestions. Let u know how it goes. The part about having the band play with dynamics is really asking for too much though...😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zooey Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Not news, but less distortion helps you be heard too. I've also been experimenting with lowering bias on gainier patches, for the same reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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