Key Filtering For A Tom Mic Gate - Alesis CLX440 Reference Manual

applications • chapter 5

Key Filtering for a Tom Mic gate

It is often useful to filter the input before it is detected. It keeps
other sounds from crossing the threshold and opening the gate.
For this example, we will gate a floor tom mic. When the floor
tom channel is constantly open, we hear too much of the rest of
the kit. This effects the definition and imaging of the drum kit
recording. The solution is to gate the floor tom and pan it hard
right. However, when we try this, the snare drum is loud
enough that it occasionally opens the floor tom gate. This means
we need to filter the signal before it reaches the detector.
1. Plug the
equalizer, such as the Alesis PEQ-450.
2. Plug the EQ output into a mixer input for now so that you
can hear the effects of the EQ.
3. A floor tom has a lower resonant frequency than a snare
drum. Use the EQ filters to cut all frequencies except for the
resonant frequency of the floor tom. This is probably around
250Hz.
Don't worry if this signal sounds ugly. This is not what the
finished result will sound like. This filter is simply helping the
detector ignore the snare drum.
4. Plug the output of the EQ into the
panel of the CLX-440.
5. Press the
CLX-440.
The gate should now only open when the floor tom is hit, and
should ignore the snare drum hits.
Tip: You can compress the signal in addition to gating it. Try adding
a bit of punchy compression to the drum tracks.
48
of the CLX-440 into the input of an
DIRECT OUT
button for the channel you are using on the
KEY
input on the rear
KEY
CLX-440 Reference Manual