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14-11-2005, 13:19
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#1 (permalink) |
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PA help
okay, i was wondering if anyone could give me a simple lowdown on how to set up a PA system for a small venue...ie. minimum requirements, set-up, wiring. please?
nothing too complicated though, just a PA for starters guide...or a site if you know something useful. thanks. |
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14-11-2005, 16:05
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#4 (permalink) |
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Absolute minimum? Yeah, what Van-Hell said.
Whats the deal, is this a one off thing or are you in the market for a system for yourself? What type of band, how loud do you play? What do you hope to achieve? Is there a budget? Sounds to me like you'd be better off hiring in the meantime. |
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14-11-2005, 20:35
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#6 (permalink) |
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Always get a much more powerful PA than you need!!! When we were young and clueless (ie. 12!) we thought as our amps were 100watts then the PA should be aswell. This is a good way to blow a vocal PA at a soundcheck....a 300 watt PA at least (with capable speakers!!!) is recommended, although prefer an 800 watt!!! This means the vocals can potentially be the loudest thing, which is what is usually desired, it also means if the drummer hits like a pussy you can back him up with a kick and/or snare mic. Don't bother with micing amps and Di'ing the bass if its a small setup, these things are usually loud enough....a monitor or two may be a useful thing, especially if the vocal speakers are gonna be way out front (you would normall put the vocals out in front of the band to avoid feedback, and to make that shitty 50 watt carlsboro PA be heard!!) You can get powered monitors, or run a seperate power amp off your mixer and hang some passive monitors off it. We always used active monirors (well..monitor)
As for equipment, go for a powered mixer, very simple to set up. Plug speakers in to the correct sockets, plug in mics, turn on, adjust the volume, if it has a master EQ, ram the volume until you get feedback then try working out which frequency is causing the trouble. Don't count on the volume being at full whack though, get it where you can take down the master volume and eliminate the rest of the feedback, else you'll be scooping out a complete frequency range, and probably the frequency the human voice makes!  As for monitors, most powered mixers will have a MONITOR out. This usually is just the same signal as would be going to your speakers, although some better models may have a seperate control for how much of each channel goes to the monitror. Experiment until eveyrone is happy. Reverb/effects...always nice but not always necessary, if its a small mixer (100-300w) reverb probably isn't going to be heard anyway and I personally always find you lose some headroom when applying it. I always think delay sounds better live, although some singers hate it. If your mixer has an internal effects, try it, else..forget it. Forget the spring reverbs aswell...unless the band want to pick up and drop the PA to make the springs rattle for a certain effect  Set and forget usually works best. Go for a "club-style" mixer...(the ones that look like a guitar head) chuck it in the back somewhere convenient enough to get to change in emergency (feedback, no vocals) but not somehwere where the singer will keep changing every setting every 2 seconds. For a vocal PA, theres really no need for someone to be operating a mixing board!!! It berates me to see this!! "Great sound last night!" "Thanks man, but my index finger is sore from riding that one fader the whole night...." Set and forget!!! Its not wembley. Its not rocket science. If you can set up a guitar amp and head, you can set up a vocal PA and speakers. Get the speakers up high, preferably on fixed stands (5 beer crates may look cool but come on....) Head level with the audience is the idea. Listen from the very back of the venue, and every other possible place, and strike the right balance. Guitar amps and bass amps can be turned down, but drummers can't, so if you have Keith Moon or animal on the drums, you're gonna have to crank up those amps! If you have Ringo jnr on drums, you'll be safe with 10 watt practice amps and parking cones for the mics.....Last edited by Keilan 303; 14-11-2005 at 20:39. |
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14-11-2005, 20:50
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#7 (permalink) | |
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Quote:
__________________
The Lorelei |
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15-11-2005, 10:02
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#9 (permalink) |
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thanks that's some good advice.
basically, i'll do what is in my powers (and budget) to see if i can rent out 62 Shiprow, re-vamp it and get some kick ass bands. physically, it's still in good shape, but it looks absolutely awful. it hasn't really been looked after properly in the last few years. some things need to be stripped out and replaced completely, like the ceiling fans which don't actually work. i'm aiming to take out a loan for about £10000-£12000 and make an offer. it's really not much, as i would only be trying to rent it for a few months and see if it is taking off at all. so i will either have to buy a PA system including a mixing desk and a lighting rig. it's pretty ambitious. i can't guarantee anything, and there are plenty of odds to fight against, but the plan is to make it completely different from all other aberdeen venues. so any advice would be well appreciated, i need to find out as much as i can. i've also been asking round, and bands such as Kill Kenada and The Murder Of Rosa Luxemburg would be quite willing to play. but one question, would YOU go and see a band play even if the venue has no alcohol, or is it all about the booze? i know that the most money is made from bevarages, but i want to take a different approach... oh, and if i don't get the chance to make anything out of it, it will become a Gay Bar  Last edited by pop-notmyface; 15-11-2005 at 10:04. |
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15-11-2005, 12:02
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Now the beer / no beer question!!!! Personally I go to gigs and don't drink 'cos I'm usually driving, so a venue with no beer wouldn't really affect me........BUT......I would think that you would need something else on offer to attract the general public. I would guess that the people who attend gigs by the majority of local bands could be broken down into several areas: 10% - band friends and followers who know the band 20% - other musicians looking to rip off riffs (!!!) or people who are interested in hearing new groups 70% - people who go out to socialise and have a beer and the band are a really just a bonus for them The chances are that a lot of people would visit the venue for a short while to see whats happening etc. but would probably move on to a more traditional "beer and a band" venue unless the band were extremely good / popular. Just my ramblings, Mike |
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