
Phil Hornung
Ninety-nine percent of the time we were mixing on digital consoles and using line arrays, which usually resulted in a very accurate-sounding mix. But with a band as dynamic as this, it can be tricky to keep things under control. I usually set the [XTA DP324 SiDD digital dynamics] compressor at around 1.7:1 and set the threshold so that there is nearly always 1 to 2 dB of gain reduction throughout the louder parts of the show. This helps to absorb big impulses from the vocal and snare drum, neither of which is heavily compressed at the input stage. Then I’ll set the limiter threshold 2 to 3 dB above that to fully stop anything from really getting too loud. And I also use the second- and third-harmonics generators to warm things up a bit.