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Out of the garage - help needed!

NeilGB

NeilGB

Supporting Member
Apr 28, 2012
822
1,576
SF Bay Area - East Bay
#1
We are about to head out of the garage and start playing gigs and I am hoping some of you can help with some pointers and links to good sources of information for how to create a good sounding PA. Turns out I know a lot about bass and guitar gear but very little about PA's!

Currently I have some Electrovoice 2 way cabinets (old!) a QSC power amp, a couple of mics and a small Allen & Heath mixer.

We are a 5 piece (bass, drums, vocals (female with a big frequency and dynamic range), gtr, gtr/keyboards). We do not play loud and expect to play bars and clubs that hold 200 - 300 tops.

I am hoping for a hi fi sounding rig with smooth bass, no boxy mids and sweet treble. I doubt we will have a sound person available.

Other considerations will be ease of set/up tear down and getting the system balanced.

Any help greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Neil
 
#3
Do you know to operate your existing gear...I mean, with any degree of fluency? If not, you may want to try hooking up with a sound guy, possibly from another performing band, for some concentrated tutoring. You'll end up with a working knowledge of how gear functions / interacts with each other and some idea of the addt'l gear required to perform the basics. You're on the right track and may be able to get this project rolling without spending the anticipated 10K on new equipment. Well, that's how I pulled it off.

Riis
 
#4
Learn how to properly use PFL to set gain on your console. Be aware of the gain structure throughout your system to help it run as efficiently and cleanly as possible. I'd start with that lesson Ndebele then learn about EQ. Look at the Mackie console manuals. They have a lot of info that is relevant to gear by any manufacturer. Their manuals are easy to follow and actually display bit of humor as well. Good luck and remember you NEVER stop learning.
 
#7
Take a peek through live sound and read console manuals. As pflash mentioned, Mackie manuals are well-written.

However, if possible, I'd suggest finding a well-respected engineer who you could be a "go-fer" for, a mentorship of sorts.
Gaining mixing experience through hands-on learning, in a real-world environment, is very valuable. I know that I learned more from a few weeks of an internship than I did reading countless "Idiot's Guide to Mixing" books or whatever.
That said however, reading and understanding gear manuals is a big help.
To truly understand what's going on, you should familiarize yourself with your gear by scouring the manual.
 
#8
We ran our own sound for about 6 months. Then left it to the professionals. We have a couple guys that will do it for 150-200 bucks. It's worth it in the long run. Good luck. I will say if you do it yourself.... Get familiar with gain structure. :)
 

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