Live band setup

Get another cab and run a line to it on the other side of the stage.

For a while my guitar player had a stereo set up. I had a pair of 4x10's. and the keyboard player had a pair of EV full range cabs. And everybody kept one stage right and one stage left. Then there were a pair of monitors on the floor in front of us.

It was the smallest and, I think, most efficient set up we had. Each side had My 4X10 with Johns' 2x12 on top of it sitting in front of the stand for Erics' EV, with the drumset in between the EV stands. Based on many backahes later I wish we had kept that system. But no, I wanted a bigger sound and had to go with a fridge-sized stack. I was stupid. The 4x10s were much lighter than the 2x15. And the powered 2x10 was as heavy as a 4x10. So to get a greater perceived low end I accepted having 50% more weight in gear to carry. Stupid, stupid Wayne.

 

Wow, I don't think my band has set up the same way twice, we just set up however we feel and somehow it works out. But what about getting a small wedge speaker and placing it facing your drummer and running it off your rig?

 

I have always setup next to the drummer. I prefer to be on the same side as the high hat and on the opposite side of the CRASH cymbal. Every band is different and I know some people have funny ideas about where each instrument should go. It is pretty much standard procedure, however for the drummer and bass player to be next to each other. jmho

 

Put your rig where you can hear it and send your signal through the monitors where everyone else can hear it too.

 

Whenever we went in for review in jazz band (high school) I was always chastised by the reviewers if I wasn't next to the drummer during our performance. So I grew up thinking that's the way it was "supposed" to be done.

Now I do it because I want my drummer's attention focused on me if he gets confused/lost. It may be egotistical or whatnot but our timing issues are disappearing pretty quickly. Besides, I've been lost hundreds of times more than he has - which means I have that much more experience in recovering before the problem gets worse.

If it makes your drummer more confident then I don't see why your leader would have a problem.

 

I want to be on the drummer's immediate left. Since I'm right handed, the neck pokes out to the left. When i was forced to set up on the drummer's right, on tight stages the head of my bass would hit his cymbals. Caused several nicks before I finally put my foot down and demanded to be on the other side.

Also, if it's a two-guitar setup, I want the rhythym to be on the other side (right) of the drummer, because his low notes can be confused for mine.

Yep, I'm a picky SOB.

 

My band usually sets up in a row. I'm usually on the left, the guitar player/singer center, and the drummer sets up sideways on the right. Works great. Having 2 cabs is really handy, too. If I need to, I face one cab towards the center of the audience and spin the other about 30 degrees towards the drummer. I've also found that putting a cab on each side helps a lot, too. I can really hear myself best with my cabs apart. It probably has to do with the fact that low end takes a bit longer to develop that the mids and highs.