Live Sound "BASICS", basic being the key word, need help!

so you never thought to look those words up in wiki?

Quite obviously, live sound engineering involves knowledge of electronics. Sorry. You're just gonna have to learn. But you don't need to learn it all just yet.

But really mate it's not rocket science.

I mixed my own and others bands without ever reading a book on it.

If you look at the whole mixing desk,it looks daunting, but look at each channel and you realise every channel is the same, learn one you learn em all.

Pretty simple,you plug your mics and DI into a stage box,from which the multicore runs into the back of the mixer,one cable for each channel. Every channel is basically the same,some have different routing.
Start with one channel, turn the gain up til it clips, or feeds back or screeches, then turn it down a tad. Rinse and repeat for each channel.
Then work on the EQ for each channel. Then the panning and individual volumes.
Each channel has a monitor send,where you send the signal for on-stage foldback if used. This would be the case in a small pub with a small PA, that's what I'm used to.

This is very very basic and simplified, but you get the drift?

Books might be giving you TOO much technical terminology you may not need yet.

Google live sound mixing. Just read the basics at first.

Go to the Live Sound section here, I'm sure it's all there for you.

Hope this helped a bit. I may be wrong on some of what I said,it's been 15 years since I mixed, and usually in small pubs, so that's my knowledge base,not very good lol.

 

You might be able to find some You tube videos that will help.

 

I use the product manuals as my first line of defense...IOW, I can get stuff up and running.

Let me know what you've got (via PM , this thread, or other) and we can piece things together. Somewhere along the line, you'll smack your head a la V-8 and say "...oh, now I get it!".

Riis

 

Here's a link for you ... http://www.bhphotovideo.com/FrameWork/Product_Resources/Yamaha-Live-Sound-Guide.pdf

I'd also suggest you buy a copy of Yamaha's "Sound Reinforcement Handbook" ... http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Reinforcement-Handbook-Gary-Davis/dp/0881889008

 

The Yamaha book mentioned previously is a great book. It does start off with some terms and definitions, but you can skip around to get the connection info you need.

As you move along, you'll want to go back and catch up on some of those terms and definitions. They will come in handy as you move along and run into the various issues that knowing that info will help you to solve.

 

Can one link multiple active speakers without a mixer?

 

Sure...but feeding them a signal from what? Keep in mind that what you're linking / chaining together are actually onboard power amps. Not to be confused with "daisy chaining" which more commonly refers to two passive speaker components tied to a single power amp by means of of a pass-thru speaker cable.

Riis

 

My band is using a single active speaker for vocals, which is no enough. Can one link multiple having the source be a mic?

 

Now I follow ya! I don't see why this wouldn't work. Just link with balanced XLR cables.

BTW, which powered enclosures are you using?

Riis

 

LOL. What do you mean? What I used to amplified the bass?

 

Let me re-phrase: what active speakers are you using?

Riis

 

Something very similar to this. Dunno the brand or type. I read 800w, but they sound so low.

 

Could be the limitations of the speaker or mis-adjustment of the input trim / gain, etc. Anybody have a manual?

Riis

 

Are you running any sort of mixer or preamp before the speaker? Most active speakers internal preamps don't do a great job with mics plugged straight in. Yes, you can link most active speakers IF they have the jacks for it (not all do, and the one in the pic supplied appears NOT to) ... and it IS called daisy-chaining. I have an old pair of Peavey PR12P (not the newer D model) that don't have a "link" or "pass thru" jack, so I can't with those, either.

It's hard for anyone to give you any good advice because we (and you) don't know what you're currently running. I'd need to know your signal chain from the mic/instrument to the speaker ... every brand and model. That can be simple or complex ... we just don't know.

 

The first thing you have to conquer is your attitude. If you are reading through this stuff with a voice in your head yelling at you "THERE'S NO WAY I CAN EVER UNDERSTAND THIS STUFF!!", then you will never understand this stuff. You CAN understand it, it's just a matter of having an organized approach. It may be slow going at first, the same as it was when you first started playing whatever was the first instrument you learned, but same as then, if you approach it with a self defeating attitude you are dooming yourself to failure.

Whatever you are trying to read, whenever you encounter a term you don't know, stop and look it up. Then read and reread the problematic passage until you get the gist of it before you move on. It WILL get easier as you get more and more acquainted with the vocabulary. Have you ever made a snowman? The hardest part of rolling a snowball is getting it started; once it is round and heavy, all you have to do is roll it around.

I hear your frustration; I have felt it myself, many times. The only way past it is through it, and your attitude will determine whether you succeed or fail.

 

No.

Oh, so if I understand right, the speaker have the capacity of 800w, but the internal amp/preamp is not strong enough?

Nonetheless, thank you very much. If will try to find the right info soon.

 

Maybe ... depends on the equipment (mics, speaker). But that would be my first guess based on what we know so far. Powered speakers are usually used with some sort of preamp; either a standalone preamp, or a mixing board. Either produce a "line-level" signal to the speaker. A line level signal is much hotter that the passive signal produced by a microphone, and gives the speakers amps something to work with.

This document from Yamaha might give you some insight ... http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/Documents/News/SR_AppliGuide10NA.pdf

 

Most of the powered speakers I have worked with are not designed to accept a mic/instrument level (~-60dB) signal even though they have XLR (balanced) inputs. They expect to see a line level (~0dB) signal. If that is the case with the one you are trying to use, if you plug a mic in and turn it all the way up, it will produce sound but at a very low volume.

 

I see. So maybe it will be a better investment to buy a mixing board than a second amp like I was planning.
So any cheap mixing board will do or do I need one that specifically matches my amp.

Thank you.