What's needed for a gig?

TheBassBetween · #1 09-29-2007, 03:55 PM

Hey there,

I'm in high school and my little jam band was offered to do a concert for the school in the spring. Problem is, none of us have ever performed live like this in a venue. What is needed in order to make our gig sound *near* amateur? I'm talking about for the whole band-- guitar, bass, piano, vocals and trumpet. I'm new to band management, and I tried looking for some article explaining what equipment and stuff I would need to really play a solid gig.

I'd appreciate any tips, or even a link to an article with the information in it. Thanks.

Funkus Barfucal · #2 09-29-2007, 04:04 PM

First of all, my guess is that you want to sound "semi-pro" vs "near" amateur. Are you trying to do a concert or something like a live jukebox dance band? Either way, I'd go with a sound company that is experienced in handeling this vs trying to hodgepodge some equipment together. That way you can concentrate on playing and not having to deal with all of the other logistics involved.

Just my .002 worth.

stuonbass · #3 09-29-2007, 05:25 PM

I agree with previous reply. Hire a sound man to provide a PA, mic's, and run sound at the show. If you are doing this gratis (for free), go to the sound guys for the drama/theatrical club at the school and try do do the show in the shool auditorium with "house sound". These kids will be able to run the system but probably not acustomed to live band "sound production" so a dress rehearsal is recommended.

Jimbob Jones · #4 09-29-2007, 05:37 PM

If the worst comes to the worst, you can hire amps and mics. Also, you can quite a nice vocal sound from an acoustic guitar amp, and they usually have a microphone input as well.

Dave Muscato · #5 09-29-2007, 06:56 PM

In the Spring? You've got plenty of time to figure this out.

My advice is to play out in the meantime and learn as you go. By Spring, you could have 20 shows under your belt. Start at some open mics to get used to playing on stage and working in front of a crowd, maybe. Offer to intern for a week at a local club to learn the ropes. You'll figure it out.

Good luck, congrats on your first gig!

- Dave

TheBassBetween · #6 09-29-2007, 07:14 PM

Thanks for all the replies guys.

While we're trying to hire a sound guy, if worst comes to worst we need to be able to rig a system up ourselves. We have a simple PA system, consisting of two large speakers and a fairly good mixing board.

Should we mic the amps into the PA system? Is it ok to mic smaller amps and boost the volume? Can the vocalist's mic go directly into the mixing board?

Ricky Daion · #7 09-29-2007, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBassBetween

Thanks for all the replies guys.

While we're trying to hire a sound guy, if worst comes to worst we need to be able to rig a system up ourselves. We have a simple PA system, consisting of two large speakers and a fairly good mixing board.

Should we mic the amps into the PA system? Is it ok to mic smaller amps and boost the volume? Can the vocalist's mic go directly into the mixing board?

You should mike the guitars and kick drum and if possible the snare(an overhead mike could cover the snare and toms). The vocalist should also have a monitor unless you can configure the PA in such a way that he/she can hear themselves. The bass amp should have a direct out to the board if the pa can handle the bottom end. Good luck.

Jim Powers · #8 09-29-2007, 09:33 PM

Everything should go to the board (amps mic'd or line-out) so the sound man can balance the sound coming from the stage. This is the essence for a good sounding show; on the stage you cannot tell what it sounds like to the audience. Make sure you pick a sound man you trust that knows and loves good quality sound, not one of your buddies who'll crank it. And if he tells you to turn it down, listen to him. Since you'll be using your equipment, you should do a dress rehersal or two with the sound man and some friends to give honest feedback on the sound. This means tape out an area in your practice room the size of the stage and set up just like the show with every piece of equipment, cable, connectors, mic's, the works, and play the whole show. Plan it down to making sure the equipment will fit in your cars, and walk down the stage in advance - no surprizes. The earlier suggestion to play out or intern if you can is a great one; there is no substitute for the experience. Also, someone needs to be the lead for starts and stops, giving cues to the group, this is often the guitarist. Make sure this is understood and practiced in rehersal, its critical. You're going to have a great time!

TheBassBetween · #9 09-29-2007, 11:59 PM

What about monitors? Should we get some big ass monitors hooked up to the PA, or do you think a very amateur band can manage without monitors?

Ricky Daion · #10 09-30-2007, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBassBetween

What about monitors? Should we get some big ass monitors hooked up to the PA, or do you think a very amateur band can manage without monitors?

As I stated previously you should have at least one monitor for the singer. More would be better. If amplification is a problem rent some powered ones.

Dave Muscato · #11 09-30-2007, 12:13 AM

You will need some kind of monitoring, especially for the vocals, but even with smaller gigs, the drummer still needs to hear the bassist, the bassist still needs to hear the drummer, guitarist, etc.

You might even see if you can find a local band that will let you help roadie in exchange for teaching you a little bit about running sound and how sound systems work. This stuff is hard to explain but easy to demonstrate. I'll see if I can find something on the internet that explains it, but you really need to just watch & learn. I highly recommend open mics for this purpose.

Dave Muscato · #12 09-30-2007, 12:15 AM

This seems like a good start:

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip...241/Setup.html

Really, though... go to a smaller club in the early evening and offer to buy a drink or two for the soundguy in exchange for him giving you a 10-minute run-down on how it works. Or, pretty much any band will be happy to show you how to set up & run a sound system at their next gig if you help them carry stuff and sell CDs for them during the show... We certainly would! Running sound is something you have to learn hands-on. There are certainly things you can learn by reading... this is going to more intensive than you want, I think, but this is *the* book when it comes to running sound:

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Reinforc.../dp/0881889008

Good luck,

Funkus Barfucal · #13 09-30-2007, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Muscato

This seems like a good start:

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip...241/Setup.html

Really, though... go to a smaller club in the early evening and offer to buy a drink or two for the soundguy in exchange for him giving you a 10-minute run-down on how it works. Or, pretty much any band will be happy to show you how to set up & run a sound system at their next gig if you help them carry stuff and sell CDs for them during the show... We certainly would! Running sound is something you have to learn hands-on. There are certainly things you can learn by reading... this is going to more intensive than you want, I think, but this is *the* book when it comes to running sound:

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Reinforc.../dp/0881889008

Good luck,

I checked out the first link and as you can see, it can get very complicated pretty quickly. Once again, I am going to have to suggest that you see if you can get some help from a sound company or at least someone who has actually run sound before. IF you want this event to be a success, you're gonna need the help.

Maybe, you can find someone here, off of TB, to help. If you are up here in my neck of the woods, Boise, Idaho, I'd gladly help. If not, maybe someone will volunteer to assist you with the basics.

PM me if needed.

Scott