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Apprentice Sound Man

geoffbyrne

By geoffbyrne,
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geoffbyrne Proficient

geoffbyrne

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I've sort of fallen heir to a PA. I didn't really want it, but there you are. I can't get my bass gear & the PA into my car together - it'll need 2 runs or another car.

It consists of 2 x Carlsboro speakers (2x12, horn & tweeter), stands, a 6U short case with a 2U 300x300 power amp, a 3U Peavey Dual 31 band EQ with feedback indication & an elderly 1U Yamaha FX unit and all necessary cables. I built a connector plate into a 2U case which also handles the storage of cables & there's a couple of wedges.

It's a decent enough small PA for vox in small/medium venues.

But I haven't a clue about 'doing' sound.

Is there a 'Sound Engineering for Dummies'?

G.

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Les Rising Star

Les

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You should get something usable out of that if your just putting vox through it, BUT, watch your volume, that's not a hugely powerful vocal PA and if you have a thousand watt head and an 8 x 10 and the guitarist has a Marshall stack and neither of you know the volume knob goes both ways, your screwed.

Yamaha are currently running a PA roadshow, don't know where the other dates are but you should be able to find them online, I went to the one at PMT Manchester, it was basic but I dragged my singer rhythm guitarist along and now he understands gain ;) , so was well worth it just for that. If it's anywhere near you it would be a good place for you to start and it was free,

Les

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pete.young Veteran

pete.young

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[quote name='mr zed' timestamp='1379802297' post='2217002']
There is a cracking little book called Basic Live Sound by Paul White that is cheap and is a great read for anyone starting off. Highly recommended.

Have fun with it.
[/quote]

+1 for this, I found it a really good read and very helpful.

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mr zed Proficient

mr zed

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[quote name='Les' timestamp='1379839287' post='2217136']
You should get something usable out of that if your just putting vox through it, BUT, watch your volume, that's not a hugely powerful vocal PA and if you have a thousand watt head and an 8 x 10 and the guitarist has a Marshall stack and neither of you know the volume knob goes both ways, your screwed.

Yamaha are currently running a PA roadshow, don't know where the other dates are but you should be able to find them online, I went to the one at PMT Manchester, it was basic but I dragged my singer rhythm guitarist along and now he understands gain ;) , so was well worth it just for that. If it's anywhere near you it would be a good place for you to start and it was free,

Les
[/quote]

I also went to this in Manchester - as Les says it was basic but a great starting point if you've never been involved with live sound before. They were also giving away an instructional DVD on the night. Also the chance to win a couple of the new Yamaha powered tops which sounded pretty good.

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JTUK Veteran

JTUK

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The key to a P.A is getting the Vox over everything... as this is what people who don't know much else, focus on when they listen to a band.

If you can't hear the vox clearly, then the band is stuffed and therefore you have to set the band level to the vox.


As for carting it all about, you should share it out amongst the band.
I used to think the vocalist should own the P.A but it is too expensive and a communial use thing so
the band should own, transport and set up the P.A If anyone has too great or total role in that, they need to be compensated accordingly.

Our P.A takes about an hr to load-in and soundcheck accordingly but it is a full P.A.

Edited by JTUK
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geoffbyrne Proficient

geoffbyrne

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[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1379840571' post='2217157']
The to a P.A is getting the Vox over ebverything... as this is what people who don't know much else, focus on when they listen to a band.

If you can't hear the vox clearly, then the band is stuffed and you have to set the band level to the vox.


As for carting ot all about, you should share it out amongst the band.
I used to think the vox should won the P.A but it is tyoo expecnsive and a communial thing so
the band should own, transport and set up the P.A If anyone have too great or total role in that, they need to be compensated accordingly.

Our P.A takes about an hr to load-in and soundcheck accordingly but it is a full P.A.
[/quote]

A few beverages last night?

:D

G.

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geoffbyrne Proficient

geoffbyrne

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[quote name='Les' timestamp='1379839287' post='2217136']
You should get something usable out of that if your just putting vox through it, BUT, watch your volume, that's not a hugely powerful vocal PA and if you have a thousand watt head and an 8 x 10 and the guitarist has a Marshall stack and neither of you know the volume knob goes both ways, your screwed.

Yamaha are currently running a PA roadshow, don't know where the other dates are but you should be able to find them online, I went to the one at PMT Manchester, it was basic but I dragged my singer rhythm guitarist along and now he understands gain ;) , so was well worth it just for that. If it's anywhere near you it would be a good place for you to start and it was free,

Les
[/quote]

We're not a loud band.

Roadshow sounds interesting - but do they know where Scotland is? :)

Ahh yes they do - or did - it was in Glasgow on the 9th Sept. Missed it. Too bad, sounds like a good idea.

G.

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Count Bassy Veteran

Count Bassy

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[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1379863338' post='2217506']
Having said that a band is a communial expense, a good P.A can set a band back £5k easily enough ...and various band member can have that
tied up in their own kit...so it is not so much who owns it, but who sets it up and who carries it
[/quote]

Although if you take your time and buy second hand you can get a very reasonable PA for a lot less than that. Depends on what type of gigs you're doing. You don't need a £5K PA for the average pub gig! IMO of course!.

And a useful hint I was given was to always set up the mix before you start adding any effects, reverb and stuff (hate reverb myself).

Edited by Count Bassy
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geoffbyrne Proficient

geoffbyrne

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[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1379884099' post='2217917']
If you want some basic advice then you could try this [url="http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1591207"]http://www.ultimate-...d.php?t=1591207[/url] any questions and I'll try and answer them there.
[/quote]

Thanks for the link, Phil, I'll read it through.

G.

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KevB Mentor

KevB

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Band I'm in at the moment gigs with the most crude ancient piece of old tat you could wish for and the singer has a phobia about monitors so we don't use any. However it means he gets all the PA plus guitar and combo into a little Ford Fiesta. As said before you can get away with a lot if you are doing small pub gigs, we've been asked to turn down (including vox) occasionally so despite a small power amp it's enough. As also said before the trick is to make sure the backline (we only put vox through PA) doesn't swamp the vocals. It's not rocket science to nip out front at soundcheck and make sure there is a sensible mix. Then it's a matter of minor tweaking depending how full the venue gets once you start the set proper. I've seen bands at the other extreme playing small venues with the most ridiculous amount of kit leaving hardly any room for the band members to work in, it's all about tailoring it right for the venue.

Edited by KevB
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geoffbyrne Proficient

geoffbyrne

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I went to see a band in a pub not far from here a few months ago. It was the kind of place where you'd get about 200 folk into if you pushed them hard - think Tokyo Underground.....

Anyway, the said band miked up the drums & put the bass drum up so high that every time the drummer hit it, my seat literally rose up. There were about 60 people in that night.

Didn't stay long. It was painful. Quite a few others said the same.

G.

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