Talkback thoughts

[tgs]

I'd like to ask how you people deal with talkback. I'm using an Audient Centro which is nice in that it has latching talkback mode. I hate the kind you have to hold down; was using that for so many years and it drove me nuts when band members would try to communicate between takes, and with the last desk I had pushing the talkback button would actually mute the monitors all together which was a real pain in the ass.

But there are still some things that bother me. When I activate the talkback, the interface automatically dims (to avoid howlback). The problem is that especially when I track drums, I have to crank the volume to hear what the drummer says since I only hear him through the overheads. And since I have to crank it, I currently have my dim level set up to not dim at all.

A few times I've put in a separate mic just to hear what the drummer says, but I always forgot to mute it when the drummer started playing, resulting in full blast.

Maybe that is the only way around it, but I still wanted to check how others deal with it. Has anyone come up with a smart solution for this? The ultimate thing for me would be if I could activate the drummer's talkback mic together with the control room one so it more effectively turns into a two way talkback system, but to my knowledge there's no way to set this up with my controller.

Any tips or ideas? I just want to be able to push the talkback mic, lean back in my chair and communicate. How hard can it be...

 

[if6was9]

Limit the hell out of the drummers talkback mic. That way it won't blast you out of it when he plays and it'll pick up the talking fine

 

[tgs]

I'll definitely try that, cheers!

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Yeah, always use a listen mic (trying to hear the drummer from the overheads drives me nuts and usually leads to embarrassing and awkward "come again" situations) and smash the fuck out of it. C24, for example, has a built in listen mic compressor which works great. It takes a bit to get used to always muting the listen mic when a take starts, but when you do it a couple of times, it becomes automatic. Also, if your controller of choice makes it possible, map the listen mic and talkback buttons next to each other so you can make one easy gesture to mute/unmute both

 

[AdamWathan]

Yeah, always use a listen mic (trying to hear the drummer from the overheads drives me nuts and usually leads to embarrassing and awkward "come again" situations) and smash the fuck out of it. C24, for example, has a built in listen mic compressor which works great. It takes a bit to get used to always muting the listen mic when a take starts, but when you do it a couple of times, it becomes automatic. Also, if your controller of choice makes it possible, map the listen mic and talkback buttons next to each other so you can make one easy gesture to mute/unmute both

You are a Pro Tools user are you not? You should be using the free Massey Talkback plugin on the listen mic. It automatically mutes when the transport is running or when the incoming signal is over a certain threshold (ie drummer starts playing his kit). So you only hear something when he is not playing drums and when the transport is stopped.

I don't use real talkback, I have a permanent listen mic setup in the control room and one in the live room. I use a talkback plugin just like the Massey one on both channels so that anytime the transport is stopped, communication is automatically opened both ways between the control room and live room, and as soon as I hit play or record, the talkbacks are both muted.

 

[Seth Munson]

dude, I need to get that Massey plug, didnt know there was one!
thanks Adam!

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

You are a Pro Tools user are you not? You should be using the free Massey Talkback plugin on the listen mic. It automatically mutes when the transport is running or when the incoming signal is over a certain threshold (ie drummer starts playing his kit). So you only hear something when he is not playing drums and when the transport is stopped.

I don't use real talkback, I have a permanent listen mic setup in the control room and one in the live room. I use a talkback plugin just like the Massey one on both channels so that anytime the transport is stopped, communication is automatically opened both ways between the control room and live room, and as soon as I hit play or record, the talkbacks are both muted.

I am, thanks for the tip! I very rarely track with own setup, though. Recently I've tracked in a HD2 studio with no internet access, a Cubase studio with no internet access, a PT|LE "studio" with no internet access and tomorrow I'll be working at a Nuendo studio, so I pretty much have to figure these kind of issues as I go Adapting to new and strange situations is a big part of the fun for me, although it can be stressful and lead to situations where I have to admit I'm out of ideas

 

[SawdustRecordings]

dude, I need to get that Massey plug, didnt know there was one!
thanks Adam!

Yeah I need this, too. Unfortunately there is no release for Nuendo yet! =(

 

[SawdustRecordings]

although it can be stressful and lead to situations where I have to admit I'm out of ideas

Yeah I know that! It more often leads to the "why the f*** do I hear nothing!?" - situation.
But who the hell is spending that much money for a hd2 without having some bucks left for internet acces? ;D

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Yeah I know that! It more often leads to the "why the f*** do I hear nothing!?" - situation.
But who the hell is spending that much money for a hd2 without having some bucks left for internet acces? ;D

The practice of leaving the DAW computer outside the network is as old as Internet itself is, although it's considered less critical nowadays

 

[AdamWathan]

Yeah I need this, too. Unfortunately there is no release for Nuendo yet! =(

If it's a PC Nuendo rig, download the Cockos VST FX Suite here:

http://reaper.fm/reaplugs/index.php#reajs

It includes ReaJS which is basically a wrapper for the Reaper JS plugins, and there is a JS Talkback plugin here:

http://shup.com/Shup/73960/Jonas-talkback

 

[colonel kurtz]

man, times like this make me glad i have an actual mixer for an interface

i just hit "talkback" on the onyx 1640, talk into it, and that's that. if the drummer needs to talk to me, he can either lean forward and speak into the snare mic, or yell into the OH's

 

[TheSweetener]

There's a nice little box for lazy people:
http://www.thirdfloorlab.de/products_com.php

If you already have a monitor controler with talkback included use this instead:
http://www.thirdfloorlab.de/products_s4u.php

Just bought it. Works like a charm. I just need the TB knob if I wanna say something during playback.

 

[TheSweetener]

Forgot to say. The drummers mic should go through this box:
http://www.thirdfloorlab.de/products_tb.php

If you combine both, your mic AND the drummers mic will be muted during playback.

 

[Max Morton]

Had anyone tried mounting the compact talkback mic to the drummer's headphones? Might it work fine?

Or using PZM mics on the drummer's cheeks
Or just using a trigger on his mouth.

 

[BLOODROOT]

not a fan of the band but the mix sounds fine to me. its starting to be like blabbermouth on here. everyone sux and everyone can do better blah blah blah.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

not a fan of the band but the mix sounds fine to me. its starting to be like blabbermouth on here. everyone sux and everyone can do better blah blah blah.

Lol wut?

 

[P-E]

not a fan of the band but the mix sounds fine to me. its starting to be like blabbermouth on here. everyone sux and everyone can do better blah blah blah.

 

[tgs]

man, times like this make me glad i have an actual mixer for an interface

i just hit "talkback" on the onyx 1640, talk into it, and that's that. if the drummer needs to talk to me, he can either lean forward and speak into the snare mic, or yell into the OH's

That's what I've had the drummers doing for 15 years and I'm getting a bit tired of it. Especially since I can't hear a word they're saying if there's not complete silence in the control room. I don't think it feels very professional to have to ask the drummer to yell between takes.

 

[tgs]

Think I've found a pretty good solution: put a sine note (or anything consistent) on a track, feed the signal to the side chain of a limiter on the listenback channel. I have to try it out but it seems like a good idea!

I guess I'll look into mounting a PZM in the ceiling or something for a more permanent solution as well.