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The New Bands Guide to Getting the Best From Their Live Sound

When you are a new band, playing live is nerve wracking enough without having to worry about the front of house sound. Surely it’s enough to be concerned about whether your finely crafted and highly practised material will stand up to public scrutiny, or if you’ll make a tube of yourself by falling off the stage in front of the gathered mass of friends and family. Very important things both, but there are a number of simple things you can do to help yourselves and the sound engineer ensure you have the best possible sound coming through the PA. With that sorted you can worry less about the sound and more about whether you look like a tool in your new skinny jeans and winkle pickers.

First and most importantly arrive on time, en masse and fully equipped for your sound check. The sound check is as important as the live performance as this is the time the sound engineer will tune the PA system to get the best from your performance. He will tweak the system to suit your style of music, vocals and tone as well as familiarise himself with your set-up and any requirements you may have that are slightly out of the ordinary. It’s no good showing to your first gig five minutes before you are due to go on with an unexpected twelve piece choir and full brass section and expect the engineer to accommodate them and get them sounding their best. No doubt he will do his best, but the sound may not be as good as it could be and your performance may suffer as a result.

Arriving on time will allow you to have a relaxed and thorough sound check, to solve any little problems that might come up and for you to familiarise yourselves with the venue and stage layout.

Discuss your sound and how you want to come across to the audience with the sound engineer during your soundcheck. More than likely he will have never have heard you before and so will not know what sort of mix you require, so cannot be expected to magically guess what you want to sound like. You may not be able to get the exact sound your after due to limitations in the PA, poor acoustics in the venue or any number of reasons. But if you are on time, polite and constructive when addressing the engineer he will do his best to get you sounding as good as is possible with the equipment available to him and will more than likely look forward to working with you again.

Another tip is to consider your on-stage amplification purely as monitoring for yourselves and only turn them up loud enough for you to comfortably hear them. You may be used to winding your amps up to eleven in the practice studio, but doing that during a live performance can cause a number of problems. Firstly the sound engineer will have mic’ed the amps up and as such will be controlling they’re sound through the PA. The louder you have your amps on stage, the lower he has to have them through the PA and the less control he has over the overall sound mix, so you have a slightly messy and disjointed sound out front. Secondly, you will have on-stage monitoring so you can hear you vocals, as such the louder you have your amps, the louder the monitors have to be for you to hear yourselves. This increases the risk of feedback and can result in a slightly messy and disjointed sound on stage. So overall that’s a slightly messy and disjointed sound out front and on-stage and with everybody struggling to hear what’s going on everywhere. Not good. Trust the engineer to make the most of your sound out front and leave the volume dial on your amps alone. One way of improve your ability to monitor your amps is by sticking them on crates so they are closer to your ears and not pointing directly at your legs.

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The tone of your amps can also prove to be problematic. Excessive treble will carry through the PA and result in a nasty jangly sound. This excessive top end is not always noticed by bands as by the time the sound has reached them from the amp it is ok, but bear in mind the position of the instrument mic. If you listen to your amp from the proximity of the mic, you’ll be surprised by how much more treble is evident. Adjust the settings on the amp from the position of the mic to get the best sound through the PA system.

Bad microphone technique is a common issue and can have a derogatory effect on the production of your vocals. Dynamic unidirectional vocal microphones of the type predominantly used for live vocals have a very specific area in which they pick up sound, usually within a couple of inches of the mic head. This design feature is to reduce the likelihood of other noises being picked up from around the stage helping to produce a cleaner sound and reduced chance of feedback. To get the optimum sound from the mic, try and keep within a couple of inches of the head, sing clearly and don’t move your head excessively when singing. This way, a fairly consistent signal will be picked up by the mic and your vocal won’t appear to be fading in and out. Also, try not to cup your hand over the mic head or hold the mic’ upside down as this will more than likely cause feedback.

Positioning yourself correctly on the stage can have a positive impact on your sound. More than likely you’ll have been trapped three feet apart from each other in a sweaty, rehearsal studio for weeks previously, so when faced with a nice, big stage, the temptation to get as far away from each other as possible is understandable. But try and stay compact on stage, particularly if you are only a small band, as this will not only help you hear each others amps better for monitoring purposes but will also prevent you looking and sounding disjointed and appear more of a cohesive unit.

Lastly, there are certain items that you should always remember as although the engineer may be able to help supply you with them, do not expect him to. There may be a time when he cannot and that may leave you in a pickle.

• Drum mat – a vital addition to your drummer’s gear. Without it the kit will make its way slowly across the stage and into the audience. Lack of a mat usually results in the extensive use of the sound guy’s vital and surprisingly expensive gaffer tape to secure the kick drum.

• Electrical adaptors – ensure you have sufficient extension reels and adaptors to support all you gear. The engineer may only have enough to cover the PA equipment so, again if you really have to plug in all fourteen of you effects pedals make sure you have sufficient power supplies to do so.

• Audio cables and adaptors – make sure you have enough guitar leads (including spares in case of breakdown), as again the engineer may not carry spares. Also if you are plugging in keyboards, click tracks or decks have the correct leads or adaptors to plug them into the PA – usually either ¼ inch jacks or XLR.

• To be nice to the engineer – He will have been there four hours before you mucking around with cables and lugging heavy equipment around to make you sound half decent and will be there two hours after you’ve disappeared down the pub to muck around with cables and lug heavy equipment around, so be nice.

Professional PA hire companies such as Audiorent.co.uk have highly experienced, professional and approachable engineers who will be more than happy to discuss any aspect of your set-up or performance. It is the engineer’s job to get the best from your music and ensure that the audience can focus on your performance rather than any anomalies in the sound, so if you follow the simple tips given above the chances of that are greatly increased.

If you need any information about the hire of PA equipment for your bands live performances or any aspect of PA, lighting, backline or AV hire in Nottingham and throughout the UK, contact Audiorent.co.uk on contact@audiorent.co.uk or call us on 07951164194.

Source: ArticlesBase.com

Does Size Matter In A Car Sound System

When it comes to auto sound systems, one question seems to be repeated often-is bigger better? The honest answer to that is not by a long shot. There are many excellent quality sound systems that will not require the backseat and your first-born in order to enjoy wonderful quality of sound and music as you drive along on your daily commute. One thing that is important to remember is that dynamite does in fact come in small packages. The same can be true of a good quality sound system for your car, truck, or SUV.

You can elect to have the full range sound package. This package, if not custom installed by the dealer can take up a great deal of real estate within your car, truck, or SUV. If you own a compact car, these types of speakers and this particular type of sound system is definitely not recommended. The first reason it is unattractive is that it will most likely require either the vast majority of your trunk or take out your back seat. I for one like being able to cart around friends, relatives, and/or children-my back seat isn’t up for grabs. I also prefer the continuity of a factory-installed system that takes up none of the premium living space within the interior of my SUV.

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I am personally biased towards the wonderful sound quality of the Bose sound system and speakers. The quality of sound with this particular system is excellent and any true music lover will tell you that good quality of sound is better by far than a louder sound. This is not to say that the Bose sound system will be the perfect choice for everyone to use as his or her auto sound system only that it is my first choice as a music lover.

I prefer a softer sound that has good quality to a louder sound of the substandard or even average quality on any day. The problem with most ‘big’ sound systems and speakers is that they often sound hollow or tinny rather than full and robust. A good auto sound system will provide the best possible sound within the confines of the least possible space. You will probably find that you don’t need to sacrifice your backseat in order to hold the speakers and while the Bose sound system for automobiles does cost more than some sound systems, it won’t require a second mortgage on your home in order to afford. There are actually times in life when you get what you pay for.

The important thing to remember is that you do not have to have the most expensive, the best known, or even the biggest sound system in order to have a wonderful quality sound system in your automobile. You will not even have to have a Bose sound system in order to have a sound system that is not only excellent quality but also excellent sound. You do not need to pay an arm and a leg or any other appendages in order to have a good sound on your daily commute to work.

Music is all around us, at work, at home, on television shows. Music sets moods, sets tones, and kills moods on occasion. It only makes sense that you have good quality equipment upon which to play the music that so greatly enhances and enriches your life. If you are in the market for an auto sound system it only makes sense to listen to several before deciding on the one that will work best with your musical tastes and your desire for your vehicle sound system. Don’t be misled by commission minded sales associated that think you need the latest, greatest, and most expensive toy on the market. Find a system that sounds good to you and go with that system. You do not have to go for a better sound if you find a sound you like that should be enough.

Source: ArticlesBase.com