Re: noise gate

[22-Mar-1993 0848 <rost@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> 'Twas trying out some amps the other day at a music store
>and was having the usual feedback blues. A salesman who said
>he knew some harp players suggested I invest in a noise
>gate. He said it would kill the feedback - that I could wave
>the mic in front of the amp without the usual results. Does
>anyone have any experience with this? Am I being fed BS?
>Will this affect the slightly distorted tone I prefer?

You use a noise gate by plugging your mike into the gate input and the gate
output into your amplifier. The way a noise gate works is that when the input
signal drops below a certain level, it shuts off the output.  Think of it as a
circuit that turns off the mike for you when it detects no sound.

The problem with gates is that if you play in a reasonably loud band, every
time the drummer hits something, the gate will open, ditto for the bass notes,
etc. becasue the harp mike will pick up other loud sounds in the room. You can
set the threshold higher on the gate to keep the other instruments from opening
the gate, but then some of your quieter licks may not open it either! Finding
the optimal threshold is a matter of trial and error.

A gate may help you, but I would suggest renting or borrowing a few first and
trying them on a gig before laying down any cash on one.  You'll probably find
some models work better than others.

The gate will not affect your tone, however listen for increased noise (hiss)
since most gates are intended for relatively high level signals, not mike
levels.

						Brian Rost
						rost@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
						508-568-6115
						DEC, Hudson, MA

*******************************************************************************
      "Have you noticed how the hole in the ozone layer has grown
       progressively larger since rap got popular?" -Anonymous
*******************************************************************************