Reply To: Live Sound Engineering Tutor?

[Dick Rees]

I’m currently depressed with my very basic skills as a sound engineer and after one too many gigs with ridiculous feedback coming through vocal mics the second the drummer plays anything

As has been said, you don’t have to use all the processing just because it’s there.
The highlighted section in the quote is what sets off an alarm in my head.

If your system loses stability and exceeds the GBF threshold when the drummer starts playing, you have to ask yourself why. I suspect you’ve applied some processing such as compression which may be causing a problem. And if you’re gating the mics, don’t.

Less is more.

Don’t use it unless you need it.

Understand the drawbacks attendant to the benefits of any processing. Every coin has two sides, every yin a yang.