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MULTIGATE PRO XR4400
The high sound pressure levels of the individual instruments lead to crosstalk in adjacent microphones.
Frequency cancellations and a non-defined sound (comb filter effect) are the result. It has proven wise to use
a separate microphone for each drum instrument and to gate each microphone channel.
Insert the BEHRINGER MULTIGATE PRO into the recording channel of the snare drum, for example, and
adjust the device so that it responds only to hits on the snare drum. Each single microphone should be
optimally positioned before, and the threshold of the respective channel should be set so that the drum sound
can be separated cleanly, just as if the instrument were played alone.
6.3.2 Reducing crosstalk in stage microphones
The MULTIGATE PRO can be used in a variety of live/stage and multimicrophone applications: a moderately
set expander can effectively suppress background noise, or the noise build-up that is typically produced by
compressors as well as crosstalk between microphones, etc. without causing other unwanted side effects.
Typically, an expander can be used to process vocal tracks. Particularly when using a compressor, the
distance between singer and microphone is of crucial importance: As the distance increases, more and more
disturbing background noise is picked up. You should therefore use the expander function to fade out
unwanted interference noise inaudibly during signal pauses.
In live situations you can eliminate bleeding, for instance, from drum to piano tracks, or clean your recordings
from other acoustic pollution.
If you do not have enough microphones (or MULTIGATE PRO!) to record each instrument separately, try
forming so-called subgroups: comprise the snare and middle toms, side toms, kick drum and cymbals in one
group using the subgroup facilities on your mixing console.
The goal is to position the groups microphones and to adjust the expander so that with each hit on a specific
instrument only one microphone opens, thus transmitting only one specific instrument, while the remaining
microphones remain muted.
6.3.3 Reducing feedback in stage microphones
As soon as a singer sings into his/her microphone, background noise is masked and thus not perceived.
During signal pauses, however, the microphone picks up the noise from PA and monitor speakers, which can
lead to torturing feedback.
By inserting the MULTIGATE PRO into the vocal channel and by adjusting it to mute the microphone when it
is not in use, you can reduce the risk of feedback in this particular channel.
Basically, this configuration should be used for all stage microphones.
7. SPECIFICATIONS