Harman DBX 1066 - Preventing Digital Recording Overload; Gating Dry Percussive Sounds; Keyed Gating

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0REVENTINGDIGITALRECORDINGOVERLOAD
3OMEDIGITALRECORDERSANDSAMPLERSPRODUCEAUDIBLEDISTORTIONWHENTHEYEXCEEDTHEIRHEADROOMIETHE
RANGEABOVETHEIRMAXIMUMOPERATINGLEVEL4HEEFFECTIVELYENSURESTHATAUDIOINPUTDOESNOTOVERLOADA
DIGITALRECORDERS!$ANALOGTODIGITALCONVERTERS4HECANPERFORMTHISFUNCTIONQUIETLYENOUGHFORALL
DIGITALMEDIA4OUSETHESOTHATNOCHANGESINGAINOCCURUNLESSANEMERGENCYARISESWILDLYEXCESSIVE
LEVELSSET(ARD+NEEMODE/NTHE2!4)/TO'ANDTHE4(2%3(/,$TOTHEHIGHESTPERMISSIBLELEVEL
 .OTE0EAK3TOP0LUS©LIMITINGCANALSOBEUSEDTOPREVENTRAUCOUSSOUNDINGDIGITALOVERLOAD
.
'ATING$RY0ERCUSSIVE3OUNDSEG3NARE$RUM+ICK$RUM
To effectively gate percussive sounds with a high level transient, you need to set the 1066’s gate controls to
ENSURETHATTHEGATEISLESSSENSITIVETONEARBYSIGNALSTHATWOULDCAUSETHEGATETOOPENORvFALSETRIGGERv
3ETTHE%XPANDER'ATERATIOSETTINGHIGHENOUGHTOENABLETHEGATETOCLOSEABRUPTLYASTHESIGNALDECAYSBELOW
THE4(2%3(/,$
.OTE&ASTEXPANSIONOFSUSTAINEDLOWFREQUENCYSIGNALSCANRESULTINhCHATTERINGv"ECAUSETHE
is capable of extremely fast expansion, make sure the ratio is not set too high in these applications.
4HEPROPER4(2%3(/,$SETTINGWILLALSOMINIMIZEFALSETRIGGERINGANDvCHATTERINGv
4HESETYPESOFSETTINGSAREMOSTUSEFULFORTIGHTENINGUPDRUMTRACKSREMOVINGTHEhRINGvFROMSOMEDRUMSOR
gating out the leakage of one drum through another’s mic.
'ATING3OUNDS4HAT(AVE,ONGER$ECAYEG#YMBAL0IANO
4OEFFECTIVELYGATESOUNDSWHICHHAVEMOREDECAYAFTERTHEINITIALTRANSIENTSETTHE2!4)/CONTROLLOWENOUGH
to allow the gate to remain open and capture the signal’s entire envelope.
#HANGING3OUND1UALITY
The 1066’s expander/gate can effectively change the sonic character of a sound because it can reduce or other-
wise alter the quality of instrumental ambience and reverb. For example, as an instrument stops, its reverbera-
TIONLEVELWILLFALLTHROUGHTHES4(2%3(/,$SETTING)TCANNOWBEMADETODIEOUTMOREQUICKLYFASTER
THANTHENATURALDELAYOFTHESOUND%XPERIMENTWITHDIFFERENT4(2%3(/,$AND2!4)/SETTINGSTOCHANGETHE
hTAILvOFTHESOUNDA()'(2!4)/SETTINGWILLNEARLYELIMINATEREVERB
+EYED'ATING
Keyed gating, that is, controlling the gating of one signal by another, can be used to add dynamics to a sound
EGCREATINGPERFECTLYINSYNCPLAYINGANDOVERDUBBINGAMONGINDIVIDUALINSTRUMENTSORhFATTENINGvADYNAMI-
CALLYWEAKTRACK
4OCREATETWODISTINCTCHANNELSOFBASSGUITARFORYOURMIXBYSPLITTINGTHEBASSSIGNALINTOTWOCHANNELSAND
SYNCHRONIZINGONECHANNELOFBASSGUITARWITHTHEKICKDRUMSTARTBYFEEDINGONECHANNELOFBASSDIRECTLYINTO
THEMIXANDTHEOTHERINTOTHEGATES).0544HENKEYTHEGATEWITHASIGNALFROMTHEKICKDRUMCONNECTEDTO
THE3)$%#(!).).054ADJUSTCONTROLSASNEEDED4HEGATEDBASSTRACKWILLNOWOPENWITHEACHKICKADDING
punch and dynamics. This can really tighten up the tracks and add life to the mix.
Another example of keyed gating is using the drum signal to key an oscillator which is set to an appropriate fre-
QUENCYTOhTUNEvANDhPUNCHUPvTHEDRUMSOUND
.OTE&ORALLKEYEDGATINGAPPLICATIONSBEAWARETOADJUSTTHECOMPRESSORACCORDINGLYORBYPASSITBY
SETTINGTHE#OMPRESSOR2!4)/FULLYCOUNTERCLOCKWISETO
Applications