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-- A&H Xone 3:2 mixing tricks with VCF or the LFO

A&H Xone 3:2 mixing tricks with VCF or the LFO

For Allen & Heath Xone 3:2 owners , or really anyone that reads the thread i guess:

I was wondering if anyone has any mixing tricks/technique tips that can be done with Xone 32. I am looking for ideas that can be done with the LFO (frequency oscillater), or the VCF .

I bought the Xone 32, but I am looking for ideas on how I can effectively/creatively use the VCF or LFO to spradically create outro breaks for transitioning songs....

(or even tricks to make some of my mixes sound a little different)

Any ideas would be appreciated... (there wont be any dumb ideas.)


Maybe some of your ideas will jogg something in my brain to creatively try new stuff...

Congrats on owning an A&H mixer! I want one, but I'm currently too poor to afford one.

I don't really understand the LFO, so I can't help you there, but I think understand the VCF pretty well. Basically, the VCF is like super-customizable EQ. You can set it to pass low frequencies (bass) and kill the treble (LPF), pass high frequencies (treble) and kill the bass (HPF), pass just on some particular part of the midrange (BPF), or any combination of . A side effect of the VCF that you can use to your advantage is that it boosts the frequencies right around the tuning frequency. The mild setting means the boost is pretty small, whereas the wild setting means the boost is pretty large. Furthermore, the mild setting widens the range of boosted frequencies, whereas the wild setting narrows the range.

One thing that you can do with the VCF that you probably can't do with the EQs is to turn a track into an a capella. The way you do this is by setting the VCF to BPF and tuning it to the correct frequency. Alternatively, you can remove a vocal by setting the VCF to LPF+HPF and keeping to tuned to the same frequency.

This PDF from Allen & Heath explains the VCF filters quite well. Good on you for purchasing a Xone32 I got mine a matter of weeks ago and it's fucking beautiful :*( I love experimenting with the filters!

Also..... I am wondering if anyone out there has seen a 19" rackmount kit for the XONE32. I have the the rack mount kit for my xone 32 that is manufactured by ALLen/HEATH, but It is not a 19" kit and I am looking for a kit so that I can rack mount my A&H mixer into the same box that my cd players and cdplayer controller sit in.

I dont think that Allen heath makes one for the Xone 32, so if anyone has heard of a 3 party vendor that manufacturers the kit, please reply....

thx

A few ideas to help you I hope.

Here are a few small tricks you can do with the filters.

Using the HPF with resonance turned to full.
1.
Start with the VCF turned down to 100Hz.
Turn the channel volume down a little as you start doing this trick in order to get the best effect.
At the beggining of the phrase start turning the VCF knob up slowly building as the phrase carries on. As you get to the end of the phrase just before the 1st kick of the new one return the VCF back to original status and smack the channel volume up to full again. This will give a nice punch that works well on the dance floor.
This trick is useful if you have a track that has a particularly long segment in it that doesn't seem to do much.

2.
Same settings as before.
At the beggining of the phrase hit the LPF so that you get that rumble effect and start bringing it up slowly. As you get to the end of the phrase hit the filter on/off button to punch in the track.

An alternative to how you punch in the track is to hit the HPF button as you quickly turn down the VCF knob. This should give you a high pitched swoosh just before the bass drum kicks in from the new phrase.

3.
Settings same as above except you need to use the on/off button for the EQs too.
Start mixing two tracks. Make sure that they are phrase matched or this will go to pieces. Do the EQ thing as you normally would except don't bring in the bass on the incomming track (Keep it at about 40%)and don't take the bass out of the outgoing track (just do the high pitches with the EQs). Just as you are getting close to the last bar (measure) before the incomming track really kicks off, turn the volume down slightly on the outgoing track and do a spin back whilst turning the VCF knob up so you get the spin back swooshing out. Just as the new track is kicking of hit the EQ on/off switch and let it kick in. (At this point you should have turned the volume on the outgoing track down totally.
This one has quite a lot to remember and takes some practice to get it right everytime but will be worth it.


These are just some things for you to be getting on with. There are more but when you get the general idea of these I think you will be making up your own.

Cheers
Nem

EDIT and a whoops! Sorry, thought you were talking about the Xone 62/464 for a moment then. But you should still be able to get something out of this.

Cool ... I never thought of # 3... Imma try dat out.... thanks Nem..

I like to work the lowpass filter downwards as I fade into a new track, with mild resonance... progressivly chopping off the highs of the last bar, measure, or phrase, depending on the track and how quick i want to transition. I'll turn the resonance nob up as I go down, until I get towards the real bass frequencies.. then I cut the resonance down towards the bottom end, so the outgoing bass beats aren't noticed as much.

It gives the outgoing track a nice mild "cutoff" as the new track builds in... and the downward sound is appropriate for an outgoing track. work the levels and/or eq's of both tracks to fit the mix, make things smoother.

full resonance is really *alot* of gain... I seldom go past 3oclock unless I'm looking for a really serious effect.. usually I reserve full resonance for [seriously] enhancing basslines to rock the subs.

I also like to use the high pass / band pass ganged... I'll get resonance around 3-oclock and wobble on the bassline in time with the beat or everything other beat... gives a harddance bassline and/or hoover and nice funky filtered sound.

there's so much that can be done... I also enjoy the high/low pass ganged, with low to mid resonance.. it's almost like a flanger.

and all pass (all three filters ganged) can make for some really interesting sounds, especially with a mildly high resonance setting - it allows you to bring out frequency bands without cutting out other ones.

I really wish the a&h VCF's had a width (Q factor) control - that'd be really badass.

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