Pastor Microphone Channel Processing - Behringer X32

I focus on three things when setting up my Pastor microphone channel; clarity, contained dynamics, and reduction of bleed. In this video I will show you the way I set up the low cut, EQ, compressor, gate, and DeEsser to process a pastor microphone.
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If you want to read more, visit my website at www.drewbrashler.com
Link to DeEsser article: drewbrashler.com/2016/behring...
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:13 Pastor Microphone Suggestion
03:10 Pastor Microphone Low Cut
05:10 Pastor Microphone EQ
06:13 Make your Pastor Microphone Feedback before service
08:03 Pastor Microphone Compression
13:53 Pastor Microphone Gate
17:09 Pastor Microphone Common Mistake
19:05 Pastor Microphone Gate Tip
21:04 Pastor Microphone DeEsser

[@fgrondon]

I love how you are getting us all to hear the Gospel while we learn how to make our sound better.

[@RobotMowerTricks]

A lot of sound engineers say "don't do this" but they rarely are set up to let us listen to the 'wrong' way of doing it. I appreciate you having the samples so I can instantly grasp the sounds/changes we don't want and what we do want.

[@DrewBrashler]

Absolutely! Glad it was helpful!

[@theberndog]

There are alot of "youtuber" video people who try to make videos. But you sir are professional, clear, and a great communicator. Thank you for being no-nonsense and just a solid source of information!

[@ciscoortiz8114]

It’s interesting how we as engineers have different ways of doing things. Good information here to learn how to get the best results, it’s all trial and error and we have to take into account different factors when using this information e.g. mic ,console, room ,speakers . Very intuitive video!

[@LaT1NaS0]

Really enjoying these videos, learning a lot through them.

[@femiogunyemi8215]

Thank so so much Drew. What a lovely great lecture

[@ericmartin1538]

Thank you for your content. These are great videos, with lots of detail. I'm getting ready to start using a Behringer X Air XR16 (+ X Touch) for our worship band. The X Air App is similar enough that I can glean from you things no one else is covering for mixing. Thanks again.

[@stevebyrum2718]

This is a great tutorial, thanks for this. We actually have this board and are using it for a play that will use several channels, and I learned a lot from this, because this is great for any "spoken word" situation. So much you find online is music-based, which I had some experience with. Trying to configure a good setup for an actor in a play is very different.

[@Gavddotcodotuk]

10/10 vid, thanks! Shared it with the rest of my church’s tech team as you’re so much clearer and more knowledgeable than me! Thanks!

[@danielcolfer4671]

Drew is simply the best.

[@mikemoore6151]

I appreciate your thoroughness! Nice demonstration too. It’s good to hear A/B with different processing properly set. However, gating has bitten me in the past when I forget to turn it off and a volunteer followed me the next week who didn’t know how to set it. A little tweak to the input gain can cause a lot of trouble in that case. So now, I only use gating to solve specific problems and always turn it off before I leave.

[@cimbilitem]

This was exactly what I experienced this past Sunday..it is always challenge to get the lapel to work just as the handheld without feeding back....thanks for the video

[@franks4973]

Thank you for the simple explanation.

[@ekokoprecious9355]

We have a church capacity of about 5000 so my pastor loves to yous the mic

[@michaelanderson4265]

Great information!

[@rednewtproductions8904]

Nice and clear explanation.

[@emmanuelvelazquez6534]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and being a blessing to many. Could you do a tutorial on how to equalizer a lapel microphone for pastor?

[@jimpemberton]

Good list of stuff. It's a good list whether you run a Behringer or not. Something else I do is run a parallel compressor on the pastor. The way I do this is to set up a primary channel with normal compression. Then I set up a duplicate channel with extreme compression. The I raise the level of the second channel under the primary channel such that when the pastor is quiet his level is raised up. What this allows is for the channel to be compressed from the bottom instead of the top. This works because the second channel is additive. The primary channel carries the transients for when the pastor is soft, but the total volume is increased. You have to be careful because if you raise the second channel too much it can sound bad or even feed back. I run these in the room, but I also provide both channels to the streaming console so that the tech there can narrow the level toward the top of the broadcast range without clipping.

[@soundengineer4907]

Thank you for this useful information,I like your explanations on every video you do,your videos are amazing ☺️😉,can you please do a video of how to EQ live drums, guitar and keyboard?😊

[@tuned4u]

Excellent!

[@jweaks]

Thanks for the walkthrough. Our preacher is a woman, so would've loved to see how you would eq that differently.

[@joshfrierdich4729]

Hey Drew, just found your channel and it is super helpful. We just added room mics at my church, so would be interested in a room mic video.

[@ericjacobs1422]

Was wondering if you could do a review on the Allen & Heath Avantis console. Really enjoy your content.

[@nyochat12]

excellent video, the preachings sounds interesting... would u do a video explaining how to do parallel compression on drums? also which efx do u recomend on LR? thanks bro!!!

[@Dave_The_Beatmaker]

Amazing Information, Thank you very much! May I ask where I can find that Pastor's Sermon? It sounded pretty solid :)

[@christopherallencomer5738]

thanks, God bless

[@ploveman]

Great video on Pastor mics. You mentioned crowd mics, would love to see a video on that if it doesn't exist yet.

[@promisenwokocha9469]

You always have it done for me. You are a genius. My pastor likes his voice to be bassy. What's your advice sir or best equalization for him? Thanks a million

[@edewaal97]

If you want a more bass heavy sound, have him use a mic that is close to his mouth, best is a handheld or something that is used in radio stations. Also take a look at multiband compression (don't know if the x32 can do that), that will help a bunch to make it sound nice. Ask yourself (and him) however if it is beneficial for the rest of the congregation. A bass heavy voice is harder to still sound clear.

[@joeyolive4453]

Greetings, I am just getting familiar with your channel and appreciate you and your content SO MUCH! If I could get my Pastor's headset (like the one you're wearing) to sound as good as yours does in your videos would be SO APPRECIATED!!!

[@waynebody2913]

Great content Drew, am learning a ton for how to improve our setup. Any tips on how to reduce the loud "P"opping pee speaker?

[@nickloss2377]

High-Pass filter, aka Low-Cut. The plosives are being accentuated because of unnecessary energy in the lower frequencies ('Plosives' that's the term for the blast of low-end sound when someone speaks too loudly or too close to the mic when they say words beginning with P's and T's).. just like this guy does, add a low-cut around 100-150Hz.. really this should be done for any vocal mic. if you're working on a mixer that doesn't have a parametric EQ or even access to a graphic EQ, just dial back on the Bass/Low dial on the EQ.

[@donaldpalm4582]

Could you provide a cheat sheet with these settings for the Pastor's mic?

[@edewaal97]

All things you use should be there to fix a problem. In my opinion the gate creates way more problems than it fixes. It makes it sound very unnatural. I never use it on a mic for speech. If there is a constant hum (airco i.e.) the hum gets louder in the moment there is speech, that makes it more annoying then if it's constant. I rarely use a gate on vocals, just in the odd example where the mic is used for a background vocal which is also playing drums or something, where there is a lot of sound bleed. Same with EQ, if you shelf everything below 600, you reduce a lot of fundamental from his voice. In my experience you need some cut an octave around 200 and some small cut between 500 and 600. If you cut to much it will sound like he has his nose closed. Another tip is to use a graphic equalizer to cut the frequencies that feed back, it makes it easier in my opinion.

[@wuschelkoppbw]

I would be interested in how you would work with the Filter in the compressor. Our pastor has a very deep voice and I put the filter over 600 Hz already (peak mode and Q set to 2), but he still sounds like he talks with a bucked over the head. (head-mic)

[@ekokoprecious9355]

I work in the studio in our church we have a chest microphone with mark of Balila we have some diffulty in setting in setting it

[@ekokoprecious9355]

Pls if you can make video on how to set up a chest mic or a wireless headphones mic on behringer x32

[@almirdesouza1]

Hello, It's possible you explain about auxiliar output, I need make more output to my music phones, it is possible use the output 13 and 14 ? Thank you for your help!

[@acefullking]

Great video, do you have a video like this for Wing?

[@acefullking]

How do you record the service to playback thru the mixer to test it later, as I see in the video? Is the recording feature a default built-in feature for X32? Our church uses the old Soundcraft impact, doesn't look like it has recording feature.

[@DrKnox75]

Any advice on setting up a sequencer when the board is in one room and the amps are at least 75ft away?

[@charlestiang1044]

Hi, great video! Can I ask, in the section where you mention about finding out which frequency the pastor feedbacks, how do we identify which frequency the feedback is coming from?

[@theberndog]

if you have a digital board like he has, it has an "RTA" in his EQ settings. That lets you see the frequencies coming through the channel. In the video you can see the RTA working when he plays the pastor talking. Using that visual tool lets you see what frequencies are loudest and it really helps with feedback because it helps you see what specific frequency that is feeding back. Hope that helps.

[@ariabuniadi6409]

Please make a video about how to create a new scene

[@bokelleher]

Why the 0.2 Hold time for compression Drew? Saw you did the same on the Sub Mix compression video.

[@Glorybound1313]

We're in a weird scenario where our pastor only wants a lapel mic, had a deeper voice, and his preaching volume varies a ton during the sermon. I've been struggling with getting the volume clean and balanced.

[@original_pokey8896]

My pastor also sings with his mic so all set it for preaching and then lower the fader for singing. Prolly not the best way. I’m thinking of using snippets to change…. Oh on that…. Any chance you could do a video a midi control into the x32. Thanks. Always learning from your videos.

[@cjpojo]

You could just route the pastor mic through 2 "parallel" channels (if you have room), one for preaching, one for singing. Then apply the right EQ/comp/gate for each channel. You just have to make sure at least one channel is muted at all times, or it will probably sound awful. You can use channel mutes, DCAs, or mute groups to accomplish that. I think that is the quickest way to switch without using scenes/snippets.

Hi, how much would be the ACCENT on the WING gate please?

[@isaacapeti6214]

Please, I have been having trouble with my pastor’s mic cos he always like holding the hand of the mic and it keep giving feedback. Please any idea to help me out

[@88omarz]

Listening to this I noticed words were missing. Would that be a result of the threshold needing to be decreased?

[@rwalkenhorst]

I thought the purpose of a compressor was twofold: knock down the very loud parts and boost the very soft parts. If you never apply any makeup gain, aren't you missing out on the latter?

[@sousaguiar]

What mic are you using in this video?

[@MichaelGarcia03]

isn’t makeup gain supposed to be for to bring up the level of quieter parts?

[@miguelangelhernandez8804]

Hello, I need some help, we just bought the Shure WL183 lavalier microphone but I’m getting a lot of problem trying to set up on the x32, to much feedback, help me to do the best settings for that type of microphone 🙏

[@Pkay-xx7bf]

Is it possible to have no white noise? Or how can you minimize it?

[@officialjoke23]

Hello sir please my x32 mixer can not record for a long time.its stopped my itself.please help me out

[@SOPA823]

How are you playing sound out of it? Is it from a past recording ? And can you use any recording to fix the microphones ? I’m relatively new to the mixer. Thank you

[@davidhunt6508]

I believe he's using a USB thumb drive to playback. It's inputted at the top of his board to the left of the board's screen, attached to his key ring.

[@krusader0243]

So my pastor wears a headset mic and our church has been having an issue with his mic echoing. He sits just behind the speakers. Any help?

[@ekokoprecious9355]

Hello sir thanks so much for your videos i have learnt a lot. I just have a preoccupation. My name is Ebenezer am from Cameroon in Africa

[@RobotMowerTricks]

This is great. i don't know the term for it but when you blew out a lot of air your microphone would "pow" - is there a good way to avcoid that for pastors? Thanks!

[@DrewBrashler]

I call them a Plosive or Plosives. The best way is to get the microphone out of the direct path of the air coming out of their mouth. Sometimes this is harder than you think, but typically micing to the side of the mouth is best.

[@RobotMowerTricks]

@@DrewBrashler thanks! I guess it's just a balancing act. We have two pastors and not enough budget for 2 headsets. I like the idea of a shorter mic, but all the goods ones put it out in front of the mouth, i assume it sounds best the more forward it is.

[@phatcat_slimcat]

my pastors headset mic occasionally cuts out even when we have fresh batteries in his battery pack, it is a headset with a wire. any ideas why this may happen or if there are settings on our x32 that may fix this

[@ayoung8901]

not sure this will be your problem, but we had an issue like this, we had our wireless transmitter at our soundboard, we ended up moving it to a closet off of the stage and now we have no problems. all depends on where that transmitter sits. Interestingly it started after 2020. Good luck!

[@sgriffin760]

Make sure all wires are not loose. Also make sure no antennas are touching and check all wire less mics and make sure the frequency’s are not any where near each other. It could also be the wire just being old or loose

[@edewaal97]

First check what others have said. If you are using rechargeable batteries, make sure they offer enough power, over time they will degrade. I have had problems with cheap ones. I haven't had any issues with Ikea Laddas and Eneloops.

[@sgriffin760]

Let me get this straight. Your playing through the thumb drive of pastor talking and adjusting the eq correct?

[@jackiem1013]

Same question! Wondering how to eq after a service.

[@sgriffin760]

@@jackiem1013 I’m going to record my pastor on Sunday and I’ll get back to you

[@nyochat12]

he is playing from USB

[@sgriffin760]

@@nyochat12 it’s a daw recording drew just made a video on it

[@Drummer4life016]

The problem I'm having is that my pastor is also the worship leader, and we only have one mic for him to use. So it seems like I can't really set anything up right for one instance (gain, gate, compression) because it just makes the other sound worse; ex, setting the gain for when he's speaking makes him way too loud when he starts to sing. Any suggestions?

[@DrewBrashler]

I would create two channels for that single mic, use one for speaking processing, and then the other for singing. You can have the same preamp/input for the 2nd channel by using the routing in the Preamp/Config tab of the channel.

[@Drummer4life016]

@DrewBrashler But how would you set the gain for those two channels? Because they share the gain, dynamics, etc. correct? If I gainstage while he's speaking, he's way too loud when he sings and vice-versa. Regardless of me giving him two channels. It would just allow me to eq each scenario independently, right?

[@joshuastromer9572]

Best thing for a pastor mic is the mute. ;)

[@RealAlphaDrum]

24:18 irony :D

[@marshall409]

These videos are awesome. I feel like sometimes you're a little too loud compared to the sample playback...I wanna crank it up and listen carefully and then when you talk it's blaring. Thank you for the amazing resource nonetheless.

[@martijnvanderwal3129]

Our pastor is often ‘beat-boxing’ into his headworn microphone. A windscreen helps to eliminate this, but I don’t like the looks of it. Any tips and tricks on that? What model are you using in this video?

[@lanphanh]

Hi Drew, I see the wall tiles in your back. Is it good to install for my studio? Will it does good for sound canceling and absorbing? I intend to buy and install it for my studio room. Thanks in advance!