Hi Guys
Apart from DJ usage of Ducking (Automatically turning the music down when talking), what could I use it for with a live rock band please?
Thanks
I use it at church to duck the FX when a vocalist is speaking (so when I boost the level for the loop etc)
Maybe drop the iPod level when they keyboard kicks in?
I update to firmware 1.7 and find out that ducking a channel is an new feature. Is is obvious that this effect is very useful to decrease the volume of the music at the moment a speaker starts to talk.
Are there any other scenarios, especially when mixing music, where ducking is a very useful tool. I search the internet but haven’t find any other use yet.
Light ducking on the bass channel (side chained to the snare) can give some added separation in your mix. Depends on the song though.
Just don’t let the bass player know. 
Just don’t let the bass player know.
he he he
Just don’t let the bass player know
Why not let the bass player know? Thats lost on me I’m afraid.
I still can’t think of a use for it with a live band apart from maybe sidechaining the kick to the bass guitar.
But is that even possible with the QU16 set up?
Yes - the ducker is sidechained.
Telling the bass player is just asking for abuse - no-one likes to be turned down (even if you explain it as a volume boost when the snare isn’t playing…
More and more I am hearing of and seeing situations where musicians are dictating to engineers. It has gotten much worse since everyone now thinks they are music mixers. Didn’t used to be that way. Everyone did their job and left everyone else alone. Now everyone is an expert on sound. In some cases it has gotten bad. I was visiting a church last week to evaluate for some FOH upgrades. I asked the engineer why the lead guitar was so loud. Too loud. Guitarist happens to be the Pastor. He said the Pastor told him to not touch the fader. He would adjust his level from the stage. I told him to turn it down. He wouldn’t. Was afraid he might get in trouble. I told him that was ridiculous. Pastor is just trying to be the star. I would never agree to that.
My point is it is a touchy area. Most players think the engineers don’t know what they are doing. In many cases especially in churches they don’t but nevertheless people need to stick to their job. Let others do theirs.
you’re totally right, George! Experienced some similar situations, like parents which are not bound to stage while their kids are playing. …easy to have multiple assisting “experts” around…
My band does a lot of weddings so the ducking feature is nice for announcements. That said, I found it an odd addition that they spent a lot of time on for such a specific thing that will really only get used to duck announcements. With the limited amount of adjustments and practical application for live mixing (ducking bass on kick hits for hip-hop or dance for example), I just don’t get it.
I would much rather of seen additional effects and processing - like a multi-band compressor or high pass filters on the aux sends, which is a curious omission. Or how about a variable slope on the HPFs.
You’re not aware of how this massively benefits a conference application then?
Hardly massively IME. For conferencing and panel discussion broadcast I use auto-mix at most and downward expansion at the least.
I’ve asked often for a downward expansion option on the gates. It makes total sense in that it addresses any and ALL channels while ducking is pretty much a one-trick pony to deal with channel>channel or channel>group issues…quite limited in scope compared to expansion or auto-mix.
I’m very disappointed to see engineering time spent on limited application “pop” techniques when there are more basic and effective options which could and should be implemented.
[/rant]
My band does a lot of weddings so the ducking feature is nice for announcements. That said, I found it an odd addition that they spent a lot of time on for such a specific thing that will really only get used to duck announcements. With the limited amount of adjustments and practical application for live mixing (ducking bass on kick hits for hip-hop or dance for example), I just don’t get it.I would much rather of seen additional effects and processing – like a multi-band compressor or high pass filters on the aux sends, which is a curious omission. Or how about a variable slope on the HPFs.
What this guy said +1
multiband compressor YES!!!
and while they’re at it a de-esser that actually works lke a DBX 902.
I would be in heaven.
Ducking probably added to benefit the raft of qu-pacs that are now heading for installs…in those scenarios an essential feature.
Can the Ducking be used to turn off effects on a singers vocal mic when being spoken through by a client?
Coffee. Ducker works from a triggered level from the key source. How would it know the difference in singing and talking other than level? In fact the singing would be louder which would trigger it sooner.
I mean if I could operate it turning an effect off and on either by a foot switch/pedal or by walking over to the QU16 and physically turning it on (Thus not having to go through multiple pages/button pushes/fader moves to turn off effects during speeches on shared mics)?
Just have the fx sends on a mute group then access via soft key ?