Sound For A Live Gig

[Peter Russell]

good recommendation - another excellent read for people into mixing is LIVE SOUND MIXING by DUNCAN R FRY. published by Roztralia Publications, ISBN number 0 646 11235 X. No disrespect meant, as I classify myself amongst this group, but it really is "sound mixing for dummies", very clear on all aspects. (I got my copy through the PLASA bookshop)

This is a great practical book about sound written by someone who has been doing it for years. Also the idiots guide to fuse replacement that it contains is very funny as well.

On a side note the "tales from the road" section of his website is well worth a look.

Peter

[Matt]

or you could just have the stereotypical view of stacked marshall amps????

 

personally I think they look ok, but only a few are used. on a live gig, possibly like your talking would suggest exactly what these guys are talking about, re-enforcing the sound with an extra set of speakers, if the bands amps can go loud enough I'd use them, but if they cant, use the desk.

 

I think the situation regarding the di box is that if you have an amp, and it hasn't got a line out etc..., then you would place a high spl mic infront of the amp, and connect it to the di box, which in turn would be connected to the desk. (anyone enlighten me if that is true)

 

dan, if you pm me, I'l give you my colleagues mobile and you can ask him, he has a degree in this sort of stuff :>

[Big Dave]

Normally, you would DI bass guitar direct from amp but Lead guitar has it's amp mic'd and that goes straight to the desk - well thats the way I've always done it anyway

[themadhippy]

then you would place a high spl mic infront of the amp, and connect it to the di box, which in turn would be connected to the desk.

ay? why use a di box the signal is already balanced and at mic level,and em sorry but all youll get if you mike up the amp is a bit of hum and posssible fan noise,much better to mic up the speaker cab

[Pete Alcock]

Daniel,

 

Before you get the catalogues out, decide, or ask your mate, what needs to go through the PA. If you're playing a small pub, you may get away without mic-ing drums, possibly lead and bass too.

 

If, as I suspect, your mate doesn't have much of a budget to play with (nothing wrong in that, nor do I), then he could usefully look at Behringer's web site.

 

Hang on, I'll just put my flame suit on... Right.

 

Their powered speakers, monitor wedges and powered boxes all give remarkable performance full stop. At the price you can buy them for they are nothing short of extraordinary. I've seen them used at some fairly major shows by real talent, and whilst they wouldn't stand up to real touring use on the road, for pubs and clubs they'd be spot-on. Remember speaker stands unless you're planning to use subs with poles.

 

You could also do worse than a Behringer powered mixer, or if you've got an eye to future expansion and possibly need more inputs, their desks are easily as good as soundcraft Spirits and the like.

 

I would tell your mate to get decent named mics though (you can't really go wrong with a couple of Shure SM58s and 57s - well worth spending £70 or 80 each on). Lastly tell him not to skimp on cables, especially speaker cable if you use unpowered speakers. Broadly the thicker the better for speakers. Get good mic leads too - nothing worse than a gig being ruined by a cheap mic lead going intermittent just because someone stood on the plug.

 

If you want more help, mail me off-list with how many are in the band and the size of the gigs, and I'll try to help. These days you don't have to spend a fortune to get a good sound. You just have to take reasonable care with the gear when transporting it, and take time to really figure out how to set it up and use it well.

 

Good luck,

 

Pete.

 

Behringer main page

[James]

Pete I know you have your flame proof suit on so I won't say anything to you but I will speak to Daniel

 

Daniel -

 

Pete has advised you that

Behringer.... desks are easily as good as soundcraft Spirits and the like.

 

Now I don't know where Pete is coming from here -he may have vast amounts of experience in this field - I can only speak from my experiance - which says that IF your mate goes for a behringer desk then there is a proportianaly higher chance that it will fail and need to be sent back for repair - And if so it will take a long time to be repaired. I have had a behringer distributer advise me not to buy one - but spend the same amount of money on a different produce beccause they can't cope with the hassle of the number that come back.

 

However Behringer do produce some stuff that is more reliable. A lot of outboard gets used in non rider rigs - Their DiGITAL desk is fairly well lauded as an original and useful product - especialy now the software update for surround panning is out. However I hear less recomendations for their analouge desks, mics, amps or PA.

 

If your mate wants cheep PA - then he could do no worse than to pick up a couple of powered EV clones from one of the many manafacturers who make them - the passive 300W clones are about £130 each - with the powered ones £230. These will go with any simple desk - mackie - spirit or behringer (I've mentioned who I would avoid here) - A lot of these cheep ones now come with a single FX generator built in.

 

And yes the SM58 and SM57 mics will do you no wrong - though if he is starting out with a small rig - can I suggest that he looks at getting just a set of Beta57's to start with - these sound realy nice on vocals and then can be used on instruments as they progress and develop.

 

As I was advocating active speakers I don't know why I'm saying this but I do think you can make a hige saving on speaker cables by just buying 2.5mm PVC coated mains cable for a fraction of the price - and I defy anyone to tell the difference.

 

Good Luck,

 

Sorry Pete- I am not getting at you personaly - it's just that Behringer desks are in my experiance not their better products.

[Brian]

And if so it will take a long time to be repaired

 

Although most failure on desks are things like pots and switches which are very easy to get hold of from the Behringer repair centre and replace yourself.