Monday, January 4, 2010

Enhanced Sound for Music Gigs

By Lance Winslow

I've been to a lot of live gigs lately, small bands playing in little pubs, and I've seen the identical scene every time. The fold back is on verge of feedback nonetheless the singer desires more, the whole mess is painfully loud and screeching, and also the band are looking nervous because there are far more people walking out than there are walking in. The space in front of the stage is a sonic void that no-one wants to pass through, let alone stand in. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what is wrong: IT'S ALL TOO LOUD.

What is the matter with musicians and small public address systems is it too hard to perceive that a box containing two fifteen inches. drivers and a horn isn't any match for two quad boxes, a bass amp, and a drum kit at full blast. Obviously, musicians do not understand the fundamental principles of excellent live sound. So, I now present "Four Steps to Better Sound through Little public address systems".

Step 1: Garbage in, garbage out

This is so blatantly obvious, I am unable to believe I'm writing it. If you sound sort of a wisp on stage then you'll sound like an amplified wisp through a public address systems. On the other hand, if you sound smart on stage, a sensible engineer will build you sound nice - and you will blow away the other bands that also sound like wisp. So how do you sound sensible on stage?

Step 2: Play balanced

Sounding good on stage begins by sounding good in the rehearsal room. Next time you're in practice, move into the middle of the band and take a careful listen. Could you hear all the instruments clearly? Is anyone instrument dominating the others? Will it sound sort of a outlined musical event, or sonic mush? If it's sonic mush, you've got got to do something concerning it.

Step 3: Play soft

With all the instrument amplifiers all the way down to zero, start playing a song. Listen to the drums. Change the extent of the PA thus that the vocals are in a good balance with the drums. Take it slow to induce it right, because the vocals and the drums are your points of reference. Now, start turning up the bass amp until it sounds balanced with the drums and vocals. Add the other instruments, one at a time, turning their amps up slowly until they match into the right balance within the room. If an instrument drowns out the vocals or drums, it's too loud. By now, you should be able to hear a much better balance of the band, and the PA system will not seem like a useless piece of howling wisp.

Step 4: Learn to love it

I understand what you are thinking now: "my amp is not giving me the correct tone", or "I can not get enough sustain", or any of a zillion different excuses for turning your amp up. Bad luck. The fact is that if you would like to sound sensible through a little public address system, this can be your only option. There are solutions to most of those complaints that do not need turning up the amplifier.

Now that you have got your volume settings and instrument layout sorted, use the same settings and layout once you play live (however turn the vocalist around to face the audience, after all!). Keep your amps playing to yourselves, and let the PA play to the audience. You will get abundant better live sound, and you may have far less issues with fold back. If the venue's PA is particularly little, work with the sound engineer. You will should repeat these steps throughout sound check.

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