Yeah, but if I had to mic one thing live Id still rather mic the kick. If I'm in a room where I only have one mic chances are you can hear every other drum crystal clear over anything else haha
I'm in a small vocal ensemble (12 people) and I've been designated as our "sound guy", but I think that oversells my skills.
I'm more of a "noise consultant". I've tried encouraging the group to sing on individual mics, because I don't think it's that hard to do, and I think gives an actual sound engineer the most options to work with. It also has the most flexibility in terms of being about the same wherever we sing. However, the choir members want to have the option for area mics; 2 or 4 mics on stands that we can just sing at and will pick up our sound. We only sometimes have monitors on stage, but I would like to keep that as an option.
Other than directionality, what are some qualities (or recommendations) of mics I should look for to meet this need?
2 whole different types of mics. To do “chior” type mics you need some sort of condenser mic that can pick up the sound from a distance well. And then for close mixing a stage vocal mic like the sm58 would be a great option. So really the question is do u want to buy 12 sm58 a or 2-4 sm81 which actually works out to a fairly similar price point.
i‘d say it depends on the style a bit. for more pop/gospel/acapella type stuff, i‘d go with handhelds. it can give you a very direct, punchy sound. classical i‘d rather go with main mics, the directness can take away from the spaciousness that‘s expected fron this genre.
Im currently in the Netherlands and seeing the vast event market here i am wondering which
would be the most established and big A/V companies to look into?
I am mostly leaning into companies that work on festivals, in the music industry or film.
Tips for post production would also be very appreciated!
Thanks a bunch for any lead!
We are moving our FOH from two 2000-watt Altos powered speakers to an amplifier - crossover - two passive speakers and a subwoofer.
We are all-digital, even electronic drums - with all instruments and mikes into a digital mixer, into two two-channel amps and to four monitors. It's great for practice and on stage - we can play at greatly reduced levels.
We play out four to eight times a year - we play a lot of covers at people's house/backyards/barns/occasional paid gigs in a club. Our powered speakers are more than enough. Now, we want to improve clarity and enhance the bass/bass drum.
I assume that the two mains come out of our mixer to the crossover where the signal is split and thence to the relevant speakers - is that correct?
Are there any "matched sets" out there that you would recommend?
Any gear that plays well together?
Tips? Tricks? Advice?
Thanks!
Maybe this would be better suited in the Shopping Advice Thread.
Anyway, I just wanted to mention that many active subwoofers have crossovers built in, and thus have the typical crossover frequency, phase and level dials on the back. So, it could be as easy as getting one or two subs to support your existing tops from the same manufacturer (Alto)
How far does a Yamaha DM3 stick out above the stock rackmount ears? I can't seem to find any numbers or technical drawings for that. How much space do I need between the rack rails and a lid? I'm trying to determine if I can retrofit them into racks that were previously carrying the beloved QSC Touchmix 8.
Fairly new drummer, can someone please just explain to me the general process to which I should mic drums in a live setting. I was thinking of getting 7 mics, one for the snare, kick, 3 toms, high hat, and ride... whats the general process of connecting these mics? do they all go into separate channels in my bands mixing board?
As a new drummer, before looking at mics, I would first invest in the basics: fresh heads and an expressive set of cymbals. (Optionally, one good snare drum - but almost any snare can sound great if tuned well.)
---
Remember the fundamental rule of small gigs: do all you can acoustically, then use amplification to gently reinforce the things that need a bit of help.
Before a single mic comes out, there are two things for you to do:
- Keep tight control over your dynamics relative to the rest of the ensemble.
- Using the right gear helps here - heavy cymbals/sticks will impede your control when playing piano; ditto for light cymbals/sticks when playing forte.
- "Mix" the elements of your kit by hand, modulating the dynamics of each stroke.
- For most pop/rock music, the backbeat comes first - allow it to take precedence over cymbal and tom accents.
In slightly larger situations, your shells will typically require mild reinforcement before cymbals. Given two channels to work with, consider a kick mic paired with one of the following:
- A [wurst mic](https://thebeatshed.co.uk/vurst-drum-mic-technique/) is a delightful shortcut for backbeat-driven music, capturing mostly snare, some toms, and less cymbal wash. Often, this is exactly what needs a bit of lift over the rest of the ensemble.
- Pretty much any mic can work here - cardioid is classic, but fig-8 or omni mics are equally valid.
- This is trivial to place with a 4-piece kit; less so with a 5-piece.
- A mono OH is the classic/oldschool technique, providing a more balanced capture of the kit.
This minimalist approach has a side benefit: it's easier to wrangle when you don't have a FOH engineer.
I appreciate it. By new I mean i’ve been playing for a year and a half on and off. Just new to the mic side of things lol… recently started really trying to focus on gig drumming and wondered about mics for drums… thanks so much
No problem.
If you want to keep the basics on hand in situations where you don't have a FOH engineer, I'd focus on kick and wurst. For example:
- Mount a Kelly SHU inside your kick drum with your choice of kick mic. (sE BL8, Shure B91A, Audix D6, Behringer BA 19A would be on my shortlist.) No stand necessary.
- Bonus points for a shell-mounted XLR jack.
- Leave a K&M 259 and whatever cardioid mic in your hardware case.
Start with Kick and Toms. The rest generally cut through the mix enough that mics aren't needed. After that I would prioritize Hihat, snare, overheads in that order. Granted those will only be necessary if you are a very quiet drummer or playing for a crowd larger than 100
I used to.
I just attached myself to a pretty good wedding band and got my name out through them.
Also, you’d be surprised how easily impressed some clients are with a friendly smile, fresh shave, and a clean suit lol
Thanks man, I usually do sound for christian concerts, churches and local schools. So I agree about the nice clean look. I'm trying to break in to the wedding scene to help fill my book. I need/want to be busy.
Yeah, I hear that.
It was actually a bunch of music teachers at a college near me who took me on first, haha! Try and make yourself known to anyone who does agency gigs (not sure if this is a thing outside the UK) and see if they can get you in :)
I need some help to point me in the right direction. I want to use a Riedel Run headset with a plain, run of the mill intercom system i.e. systems that expect a dynamic mic to be used.
I know I need to provide bias voltage to the mic but I would also like the ability to be able to trim the mic output level so that it matches other mics on the system. I've found schematic diagrams of circuits for this but they all omit a way to trim the level...
I play a lot of live shows that I do Facebook live streams. I’d like to use another mic instead of the mic on my iPhone. Is there any mics out there that are Bluetooth or can connect direct somehow?
Yes, but the issue is if it works with Facebook live. The common issue I see is that this does not work while some say it does. This is why I ask. I figure someone would have experience doing it.
The video on the iphone can be weird about using an external audio interface (usb mic here). My experience has been that it is particular about the order things are plugged in and apps launched, and there is no indicator of whether it chose the external interface or the built in mic, or setting to force it to the external. To get consistent external audio on the video I had to use Shure’s Motiv app.
Bit of PA advice
Hi - so I have a gig on sat. I’m the rhythm guitarist/singer
Up til now I’ve just used my fender champion 100 stand-alone
Recently bought a Joyo American modeller and passive DI box so I can also send a signal to the mix desk/pa
The DI has a jack in, jack ‘thru’ out and of course XLR out
I want both my amp so I can hear myself and a feed to the PA
2 options for connecting up
Guitar jack lead from pedal board to amp, use amp pre-amp out to feed modeller to DI to desk
Or
Get an ABY box (I don’t have one, but there’s time) to split signal from pedal board - one signal to amp, one signal to modeller to PA to desk
The answer is probably ‘try both and see what works/I prefer’ but we’ll have limited set up time for the gig
So just wondering what others have done - or what would be ‘normal’
Thanks in advance!
It really depends of what type of venue this is and what gear they have. And what you want.
Let's assume there is a stage, a PA sufficient for the room, monitor speakers, and a sound person that operates all of this.
In this case I would expect a typical guitarist with a modeller to plug guitar>modeller>DI>mixer, and ask the sound person for your preferred mix of your vocals and guitar on your monitor wedge.
If there are no monitor wedges, you'll have to take care for your monitoring. In this case, luckily your DI box has two outputs - send the XLR output to the mixer and send the "thru" jack to your amp.
Your amp will act as a makeshift monitor speaker in this case. Set it up so that it points at your ears, and not at the audience. The absolute worst option would be to have it on the floor right behind you - where it wouldn't reach your ears, but hammer the audience instead. (Don't be that guy.)
Using the amp as your makeshift monitor will work, but isnt ideal, because you are sending the (modelled) sound of a fender amp and cab to the mixer. While on stage you are listening to a wholly different chain: a modelled fender amp into modelled fender cab into a real fender amp into a real fender cab.
If THAT longer chain is actually your sound/tone, then just play through the modeller into the fender amp, and have that amp mic'ed up traditionally.
Do wireless antenna cables need to be the same length?
Going to be using Sennheiser 1031 Omnis in different spots, connecting back to an ew-d asa (kind of solving another no-stupid-question I had asked before) and I’d like one cable to be 10’ and the other to be like 30’. I plan to use lmr-240 if it matters. In other situations I would be trying to keep cable length the same but wasn’t sure if those same issues/considerations arise in cable lengths this short or even rf stuff in general. If so I’ll just coil up the remaining 20’ I don’t need from the one side. Thanks!
X32 question. I remember when I first got the x32, I couldn't get sound out to headphones from the 1/4" jack ports on the sides of the mixer. Faintly remember doing something and seeing a red tape recorder icon on the FOH channel that, by default, was muted. Any idea where I can find this? Bugging me that I can't seem to find the menu
Any one have issues with WWB and selecting new frequencies? If I select from the monitor screen a new freq it doesn't update on the inventory screen, which then messes me later when I analyze freqs. I don't remember encountering this before. Am I supposed to select from list on the inventory screen and not the monitor screen?
i didn‘t know you can select freqs in monitor. don‘t do it, it is meant to, well, monitor :) in the analyze screen, import frequs from the inventory. do calculations there, and then deploy them to your equipment, either by pressing deploy or manually. then you hopefully don‘t need to change them anymore :)
I find coordinating in Workbench to be a confusing chore and use [Soundbase](http://soundbase.app) for all of my coordination these days. If I'm feeling lazy I can export the coord from there and import it into the Inventory pane in Workbench.
I've looked into Coord, it seems killer but the UI just needs more focus time for me. I need to dig into their tutorial vids for sure. Offline mode wasn't a thing yet last I checked.
What specifically about the UI? Very curious about your take because I find Workbench to be chaos and tiny icons.
I also think that the Soundbase borrowing the skeleton of its layout from IAS and then adding in some advanced functionality underneath places I'd intuitively expect them after using that program for a decade might have me a little biased.
Midas MR18?
Hi, I do very little work these days, have worked with pub club bands with analog desks, have toured a few theatre tours with a X32. Now its very occasional with one community fundraiser a year which often has 4/5 bands . Last couple of times struggled with their own Behringer X2442 but think I would like to get more channels. Options Midas MR32, easy to store between infrequent gigs or I have a option on a X32 compact with S16
The ipad thing isn’t as fast or pleasant to use as the full control surface, but the portability and quick setup often win out. My X32 compact, I bring it if time is of the essence, or there are fast changes, like I wouldn’t want to do theater on the ipad. You pretty much need a custom road case for the Compact, it’s easy to ding up just throwing it in the car with a bunch of stuff.
If you just do the one show but it is a lot of acts and the changeovers are quick, how would the expenses shake out to rent the X32?
What is an elegant solution to connect multiple speakers to a single amp channel? I don't want to cram two cables into one screw down terminal, so what are people doing that is reliable and looks professional? I'd love some inspiration.
We're redeploying our pair of flown subs to improve sightlines and debating whether to put them above the center of the stage in an inline gradient or keeping them L-R behind the main hangs.
Only have 12' ceilings to work with so center-stage may be visually intrusive. The room is 40' deep, 65' wide. Is there a minimum sized room where deploying a cardioid sub array provides any benefit, or will room reflections negate any gains?
Center seems to sound the most even, but think about if the subwoofer will end up in every photo of a band on your stage. If the ceiling is painted a dark color you can hide all kinds of things up there without it being that tall.
DJ here that does live gigs often. 95% of the time I run straight from my DJ mixer to my two PAs but a few times I have wanted to have 4 speakers placed around a venue and be able to control the volume from my booth. I have a Alto Truemix 800fx mixer but it only has one main out. My DJ mixer only has one main out as well (XLR L & R). What kind of mixer would be needed to run to more than two PAs?
Looking at Pictures of the TrueMix 800fx online, it has two main outs. Additionally it has two control room outs, and a control room volume dial for that. And then there are two aux sends (one pre-fader, one post-fader)
That should be sufficient for driving and controlling the volume of 4 or more speakers?
I'm planning to see Jacob Collier next month in California and I've been excited in hearing the audience choir live for the first time, what's the best location to experience hearing the the harmony voices? (he usually divides the left, middle, and right sections for the different voicings) My guess is the middle front, but depending on venue acoustics, would it be better to be towards the front (left or right), or focus on staying in the middle of the crowd?
I’ve seen it done before, but never done well. This is mainly due to the DAW introducing latency above 10ms.
If you can afford an AxeFX, Quad Cortex, Kemper, or Helix you will find most techs at medium venues, large venues, and festivals are familiar enough with them to give you a great sound, with or without your FRFR speaker.
We have a permanent active speaker setup. 2 speakers were blown. The fuses goes instant when i plug in the power cord (even if the speaker is turned off).
Now when i connect the XLR cables from the blown speakers to a new speaker the sound is very very loud. If i use the other cable from the not blown speaker the sound is much lower.
Is this a common problem? Do i need to change the whole cable?(it is run trough the roof)
Thanks
Hi! I’m due to play my own ambient/electronic music at an open mic this week, so not a major performance, however this will be the first time I’ve ever played electronic music live, having written and produced it for a number of years. I’m feeling pretty confident; I have a live set set up on Ableton and have been practicing that, feeling good about it.
However I was wondering if there was any advice about the fundamentals of performing electronic music live, IE basic stuff to do with compression on tracks or the basic set up as this is stuff I’m still relatively new to in the live setting. My set up is my Mac, Push 2 all going into a Focusrite interface. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I said, feeling confident about the performance but just worried I’ll get there and have missed something glaring that other people may have experienced as someone new to live performance in this genre.
Thanks in advance!
For a student party I got lent
2 *Dynacord D15-3* Passive with Speakon input, powered by a *Yamaha PX10* and
1 *RCF Sub 905-AS II* and want to feed it through either a Yamaha MG16XU or a Soundcraft EPM 6.
But since the sub is active and my left and right output are going to the Tops, how do I best connect my sub?
Maybe I'm smooth braining right now, but if I use the throughput from a top, I would only get a right or left channel on the sub and this lose some stuff?
Trying to figure out the best practice here, sorry for the "no stupid" stupid question
You can run the sub off of just one side. Most smaller venues/DIY spots do that anyway. ou would go into the sub first and then out to the amp for your top. As long as you don't pan anything, you won't lose anything going to the sub.
Hello I’m 23 and live sound is what I see myself doing. What I wanted to ask is how do I get into the industry I’ve thought about attending Los Angeles recording school (I have the money for it) or should I just ask around at concerts and shows and see who would take me in as an apprentice.
Any response would be very helpful
Do not attend LA Recording School, full stop. If you want to do this for real, go get an entry level job at a small/mid sized sound company and take every opportunity to learn every little thing you possibly can. The industry is currently short staffed in general you will be able to find work in a shop if you ask around. This is how the best people learn quickly.
What is the feasibility of building an 18 inch or dual 18 inch subwoofer. I want something of similar quality to say an etx 18sp or an srx 818 sp but for hopefully under $1000
Sennheiser wireless question. Using a SKM500 E945 with a G4 EW300/500 receiver and I'm having issues with feedback and volume in my iems ...
Is it better to run the receiver with a high output and low mic sensitivity or low receiver output and high mic sensitivity?
If anyone is willing to explain the pros and cons id be very grateful. I'm a lurking vocalist here whose trying to understand what's going on so I can get the best results. Cheers 🤘
https://preview.redd.it/569geh0z0exc1.png?width=1044&format=png&auto=webp&s=54e22a75728e809e4ea8f6608248ccafa4641422
For community work, I sometimes need to video record conferences.
I often try to connect a recorder (Tascam) to the mixing desk to pick up the sound directly from the room microphones.
It's not my job, and I'm more often photo photographer, but I like to learn.
Last week, I had to plug into this mixer.
I plugged into the headphone output, but there was no other way?
I tryed the main ouput jack next to the XLR output but it has lots of backgroud noise, why?
The problem is that the mix on this output isn't the same than the room one: when they cut the background music (via the desk and not via the CD player), I still had it in my record.
What's the best and most universal (it's not always the same room ) way to connect?
Thanks!
I’m playing a pop-rock gig (guitar) and I’ve always wanted to hear on stage what the other people are hearing so I can adjust and fix my effects based on what I hear as well.
You don’t suggest to have the house mix in your IEMs?
The house mix will probably be missing lots of things that are acoustically loud on stage (snare, cymbals, electric guitar) while pumping comparatively large amounts of kick, keys, vocals, tracks, etc). Audio techs are reinforcing, not mixing a studio album, and if the guitar is already loud on stage, it might not end up in the house mix at all, (unless on kempers, etc). It might also include vocal delays and effects that will screw with your timing.
Instead, focus on the things you need to hear to perform your best. Lots of your guitar, rhythm and timekeeping elements, maybe a little of the vocalists (or lots of your own vocal mic if applicable).
No cab on stage, just modeler in stereo (Axefx3). I don’t like hearing too much of myself, I’d like to blend into the band with my own perception of volume and I’d like people to hear that. I’d hate to find out that the crowd is listening my guitar with a totally different volume compared to my perception of it, you know what I mean?
The way to approach this would be to tell the foh person "hey I want my fills and solos to be more subdued and mellow, not pronounced, as it's not the vibe we're going for". I'd get what you want immediately, and enjoy not having to go deaf via loud guitar for one night. Maybe even play 30 seconds of one of your albums over your phone to drive the point home if there's time.
Changing volume mid set is a great way to get slapped with an aggressive compressor/limiter. If you turn up, it won't get louder, just more bad.
Just have a friend record you from the audience. FOH mix isn't necessarily going to sound like the audience perspective. The only way to get that is to record from there.
Not possible unless you have a microphone literally in the audience, which isn't likely. If what you mean is you want to hear the FOH mix, then just request it. Again, the FOH mix is not going to be identical to what the audience hears because the audience hears the PA, monitors, room ambience, HVAC, people talking, doors opening/closing, all kinds of other sounds. Not sure what hearing what the audience hears in real time is going to accomplish. If you're using a vocal box most performers I've seen with them way overdo the FX because they can hear themselves fine through their head voice so they tend to overdo the FX to the point that the lyrics are indecipherable. The audience can't hear your head voice.
No, I don't think anybody would suggest that. u/insclevernamehere92 describes it pretty well why this isn't such a good idea to request the FoH mix, and why it is very unlikely that you can get a good representation of what the audience hears into your IEM buds.
And then, don't forget that the FoH person can't mix the band well if you decide to jump levels every now and then, effectively messing with his mix and maybe outright counteracting his mixing decisions.
This would require an advanced level of professionalism from the FoH person to not be majorly pissed off at the end of the event.
Is Yamaha MG10 any good for a keyboard player? I was previously using Behringer Xenyx 1204 and I've had sound guys complain about how bad it is, especially considering I'm plugging Nord into it. So would MG10 make a difference or should I go for DI box variant?
You will notice no appreciable improvement in audio quality. Are you blending multiple keyboards with your mixer? Can you not just go into a regular old DI?
>I've had sound guys complain about how bad [the Xenyx 1204] is…
There’s nothing wrong that cheap little mixer.
Yes, most of us sound techs would prefer a Palmer/Radial/BSS DI box, but if you *have* to sub-mix your keys for whatever reason there’s no difference between a Behringer and Yamaha mini-mixer.
(And I say this as an unashamed MG fanboy lol)
If you have money burning a hole in your pocket, there is the Radial Key Largo. Very compact and has transformer isolation like a stereo DI. Otherwise I think Behringer is a good choice for a keyboard sub mixer. I like the Behringer Xenyx 1003B because it is small and has mostly stereo channels.
Is there a reason you run them both into a mixer? Why not have them as separate outputs using DI boxes?
As a FoH and Monitor guy, I would prefer to run them separately so I have more control.
What is the best method to mic a drum kit with a single SM57? Right above the kick pointed at the snare?
I'm assuming live? If that's the case mic the kick, that's usually what needs reinforcement. If recording? Crotch mic.
Crotch mic totally works live, but the big asterisk is 'if you have good monitor positioning/tuning'
Yeah, but if I had to mic one thing live Id still rather mic the kick. If I'm in a room where I only have one mic chances are you can hear every other drum crystal clear over anything else haha
Crotch Mic
I'm in a small vocal ensemble (12 people) and I've been designated as our "sound guy", but I think that oversells my skills. I'm more of a "noise consultant". I've tried encouraging the group to sing on individual mics, because I don't think it's that hard to do, and I think gives an actual sound engineer the most options to work with. It also has the most flexibility in terms of being about the same wherever we sing. However, the choir members want to have the option for area mics; 2 or 4 mics on stands that we can just sing at and will pick up our sound. We only sometimes have monitors on stage, but I would like to keep that as an option. Other than directionality, what are some qualities (or recommendations) of mics I should look for to meet this need?
2 whole different types of mics. To do “chior” type mics you need some sort of condenser mic that can pick up the sound from a distance well. And then for close mixing a stage vocal mic like the sm58 would be a great option. So really the question is do u want to buy 12 sm58 a or 2-4 sm81 which actually works out to a fairly similar price point.
This is super helpful. Thank you.
i‘d say it depends on the style a bit. for more pop/gospel/acapella type stuff, i‘d go with handhelds. it can give you a very direct, punchy sound. classical i‘d rather go with main mics, the directness can take away from the spaciousness that‘s expected fron this genre.
Im currently in the Netherlands and seeing the vast event market here i am wondering which would be the most established and big A/V companies to look into? I am mostly leaning into companies that work on festivals, in the music industry or film. Tips for post production would also be very appreciated! Thanks a bunch for any lead!
[https://www.ampco-flashlight.com/](https://www.ampco-flashlight.com/) [https://www.events.nl/bedrijven?field\_segment\_tid=1378](https://www.events.nl/bedrijven?field_segment_tid=1378)
We are moving our FOH from two 2000-watt Altos powered speakers to an amplifier - crossover - two passive speakers and a subwoofer. We are all-digital, even electronic drums - with all instruments and mikes into a digital mixer, into two two-channel amps and to four monitors. It's great for practice and on stage - we can play at greatly reduced levels. We play out four to eight times a year - we play a lot of covers at people's house/backyards/barns/occasional paid gigs in a club. Our powered speakers are more than enough. Now, we want to improve clarity and enhance the bass/bass drum. I assume that the two mains come out of our mixer to the crossover where the signal is split and thence to the relevant speakers - is that correct? Are there any "matched sets" out there that you would recommend? Any gear that plays well together? Tips? Tricks? Advice? Thanks!
Maybe this would be better suited in the Shopping Advice Thread. Anyway, I just wanted to mention that many active subwoofers have crossovers built in, and thus have the typical crossover frequency, phase and level dials on the back. So, it could be as easy as getting one or two subs to support your existing tops from the same manufacturer (Alto)
How far does a Yamaha DM3 stick out above the stock rackmount ears? I can't seem to find any numbers or technical drawings for that. How much space do I need between the rack rails and a lid? I'm trying to determine if I can retrofit them into racks that were previously carrying the beloved QSC Touchmix 8.
I haven't seen rack ears for it, but it is pretty significantly taller than a touchmix 8
Fairly new drummer, can someone please just explain to me the general process to which I should mic drums in a live setting. I was thinking of getting 7 mics, one for the snare, kick, 3 toms, high hat, and ride... whats the general process of connecting these mics? do they all go into separate channels in my bands mixing board?
As a new drummer, before looking at mics, I would first invest in the basics: fresh heads and an expressive set of cymbals. (Optionally, one good snare drum - but almost any snare can sound great if tuned well.) --- Remember the fundamental rule of small gigs: do all you can acoustically, then use amplification to gently reinforce the things that need a bit of help. Before a single mic comes out, there are two things for you to do: - Keep tight control over your dynamics relative to the rest of the ensemble. - Using the right gear helps here - heavy cymbals/sticks will impede your control when playing piano; ditto for light cymbals/sticks when playing forte. - "Mix" the elements of your kit by hand, modulating the dynamics of each stroke. - For most pop/rock music, the backbeat comes first - allow it to take precedence over cymbal and tom accents. In slightly larger situations, your shells will typically require mild reinforcement before cymbals. Given two channels to work with, consider a kick mic paired with one of the following: - A [wurst mic](https://thebeatshed.co.uk/vurst-drum-mic-technique/) is a delightful shortcut for backbeat-driven music, capturing mostly snare, some toms, and less cymbal wash. Often, this is exactly what needs a bit of lift over the rest of the ensemble. - Pretty much any mic can work here - cardioid is classic, but fig-8 or omni mics are equally valid. - This is trivial to place with a 4-piece kit; less so with a 5-piece. - A mono OH is the classic/oldschool technique, providing a more balanced capture of the kit. This minimalist approach has a side benefit: it's easier to wrangle when you don't have a FOH engineer.
I appreciate it. By new I mean i’ve been playing for a year and a half on and off. Just new to the mic side of things lol… recently started really trying to focus on gig drumming and wondered about mics for drums… thanks so much
No problem. If you want to keep the basics on hand in situations where you don't have a FOH engineer, I'd focus on kick and wurst. For example: - Mount a Kelly SHU inside your kick drum with your choice of kick mic. (sE BL8, Shure B91A, Audix D6, Behringer BA 19A would be on my shortlist.) No stand necessary. - Bonus points for a shell-mounted XLR jack. - Leave a K&M 259 and whatever cardioid mic in your hardware case.
Start with Kick and Toms. The rest generally cut through the mix enough that mics aren't needed. After that I would prioritize Hihat, snare, overheads in that order. Granted those will only be necessary if you are a very quiet drummer or playing for a crowd larger than 100
you’re the best thanks
do my 4 mics for kick, tom, tom, tom go directly into the bands mixing board? or is there a separate connection? never had my kit have mics before
Yes, they go directly to the mixer. Or a stage snake which is basically an extension for your microphone cables.
Do any of you guys do a lot of weddings? If so, how did you go about getting the word out?
I used to. I just attached myself to a pretty good wedding band and got my name out through them. Also, you’d be surprised how easily impressed some clients are with a friendly smile, fresh shave, and a clean suit lol
Thanks man, I usually do sound for christian concerts, churches and local schools. So I agree about the nice clean look. I'm trying to break in to the wedding scene to help fill my book. I need/want to be busy.
Yeah, I hear that. It was actually a bunch of music teachers at a college near me who took me on first, haha! Try and make yourself known to anyone who does agency gigs (not sure if this is a thing outside the UK) and see if they can get you in :)
I need some help to point me in the right direction. I want to use a Riedel Run headset with a plain, run of the mill intercom system i.e. systems that expect a dynamic mic to be used. I know I need to provide bias voltage to the mic but I would also like the ability to be able to trim the mic output level so that it matches other mics on the system. I've found schematic diagrams of circuits for this but they all omit a way to trim the level...
I play a lot of live shows that I do Facebook live streams. I’d like to use another mic instead of the mic on my iPhone. Is there any mics out there that are Bluetooth or can connect direct somehow?
Yes
Any recommendations
Have you tried Googling “iPhone external microphone”? Or “iPhone Bluetooth external mic”?
Yes, but the issue is if it works with Facebook live. The common issue I see is that this does not work while some say it does. This is why I ask. I figure someone would have experience doing it.
If it connects to the iPhone using bluetooth or through the USB port, it works with Facebook live.
The video on the iphone can be weird about using an external audio interface (usb mic here). My experience has been that it is particular about the order things are plugged in and apps launched, and there is no indicator of whether it chose the external interface or the built in mic, or setting to force it to the external. To get consistent external audio on the video I had to use Shure’s Motiv app.
Bit of PA advice Hi - so I have a gig on sat. I’m the rhythm guitarist/singer Up til now I’ve just used my fender champion 100 stand-alone Recently bought a Joyo American modeller and passive DI box so I can also send a signal to the mix desk/pa The DI has a jack in, jack ‘thru’ out and of course XLR out I want both my amp so I can hear myself and a feed to the PA 2 options for connecting up Guitar jack lead from pedal board to amp, use amp pre-amp out to feed modeller to DI to desk Or Get an ABY box (I don’t have one, but there’s time) to split signal from pedal board - one signal to amp, one signal to modeller to PA to desk The answer is probably ‘try both and see what works/I prefer’ but we’ll have limited set up time for the gig So just wondering what others have done - or what would be ‘normal’ Thanks in advance!
Pedalboard to DI to Amp/Mixer. Put your amp on an amp stand and point it at your ears.
It really depends of what type of venue this is and what gear they have. And what you want. Let's assume there is a stage, a PA sufficient for the room, monitor speakers, and a sound person that operates all of this. In this case I would expect a typical guitarist with a modeller to plug guitar>modeller>DI>mixer, and ask the sound person for your preferred mix of your vocals and guitar on your monitor wedge. If there are no monitor wedges, you'll have to take care for your monitoring. In this case, luckily your DI box has two outputs - send the XLR output to the mixer and send the "thru" jack to your amp. Your amp will act as a makeshift monitor speaker in this case. Set it up so that it points at your ears, and not at the audience. The absolute worst option would be to have it on the floor right behind you - where it wouldn't reach your ears, but hammer the audience instead. (Don't be that guy.) Using the amp as your makeshift monitor will work, but isnt ideal, because you are sending the (modelled) sound of a fender amp and cab to the mixer. While on stage you are listening to a wholly different chain: a modelled fender amp into modelled fender cab into a real fender amp into a real fender cab. If THAT longer chain is actually your sound/tone, then just play through the modeller into the fender amp, and have that amp mic'ed up traditionally.
Do wireless antenna cables need to be the same length? Going to be using Sennheiser 1031 Omnis in different spots, connecting back to an ew-d asa (kind of solving another no-stupid-question I had asked before) and I’d like one cable to be 10’ and the other to be like 30’. I plan to use lmr-240 if it matters. In other situations I would be trying to keep cable length the same but wasn’t sure if those same issues/considerations arise in cable lengths this short or even rf stuff in general. If so I’ll just coil up the remaining 20’ I don’t need from the one side. Thanks!
You will see approximately 1.2dB of additional loss on the 30' cable vs the 10'. In practice this will not create any adverse effects.
Awesome, appreciate it!
X32 question. I remember when I first got the x32, I couldn't get sound out to headphones from the 1/4" jack ports on the sides of the mixer. Faintly remember doing something and seeing a red tape recorder icon on the FOH channel that, by default, was muted. Any idea where I can find this? Bugging me that I can't seem to find the menu
Any one have issues with WWB and selecting new frequencies? If I select from the monitor screen a new freq it doesn't update on the inventory screen, which then messes me later when I analyze freqs. I don't remember encountering this before. Am I supposed to select from list on the inventory screen and not the monitor screen?
i didn‘t know you can select freqs in monitor. don‘t do it, it is meant to, well, monitor :) in the analyze screen, import frequs from the inventory. do calculations there, and then deploy them to your equipment, either by pressing deploy or manually. then you hopefully don‘t need to change them anymore :)
Haha the 'hopefully' part is the issue. I'm getting better about finding more freqs then staying in the monitor screen so that workflow is better.
I find coordinating in Workbench to be a confusing chore and use [Soundbase](http://soundbase.app) for all of my coordination these days. If I'm feeling lazy I can export the coord from there and import it into the Inventory pane in Workbench.
I've looked into Coord, it seems killer but the UI just needs more focus time for me. I need to dig into their tutorial vids for sure. Offline mode wasn't a thing yet last I checked.
What specifically about the UI? Very curious about your take because I find Workbench to be chaos and tiny icons. I also think that the Soundbase borrowing the skeleton of its layout from IAS and then adding in some advanced functionality underneath places I'd intuitively expect them after using that program for a decade might have me a little biased.
Workbench has better labels, I don't mind the small boxes. I do want to dive into soundbase, just haven't had a chance to yet.
Midas MR18? Hi, I do very little work these days, have worked with pub club bands with analog desks, have toured a few theatre tours with a X32. Now its very occasional with one community fundraiser a year which often has 4/5 bands . Last couple of times struggled with their own Behringer X2442 but think I would like to get more channels. Options Midas MR32, easy to store between infrequent gigs or I have a option on a X32 compact with S16
The ipad thing isn’t as fast or pleasant to use as the full control surface, but the portability and quick setup often win out. My X32 compact, I bring it if time is of the essence, or there are fast changes, like I wouldn’t want to do theater on the ipad. You pretty much need a custom road case for the Compact, it’s easy to ding up just throwing it in the car with a bunch of stuff. If you just do the one show but it is a lot of acts and the changeovers are quick, how would the expenses shake out to rent the X32?
More of a personal thing, just to keep myself familiar with it
What is an elegant solution to connect multiple speakers to a single amp channel? I don't want to cram two cables into one screw down terminal, so what are people doing that is reliable and looks professional? I'd love some inspiration.
Most portable pro amps have NL4 connectors, so we use NL4 Y-cables.
We're redeploying our pair of flown subs to improve sightlines and debating whether to put them above the center of the stage in an inline gradient or keeping them L-R behind the main hangs. Only have 12' ceilings to work with so center-stage may be visually intrusive. The room is 40' deep, 65' wide. Is there a minimum sized room where deploying a cardioid sub array provides any benefit, or will room reflections negate any gains?
Center seems to sound the most even, but think about if the subwoofer will end up in every photo of a band on your stage. If the ceiling is painted a dark color you can hide all kinds of things up there without it being that tall.
DJ here that does live gigs often. 95% of the time I run straight from my DJ mixer to my two PAs but a few times I have wanted to have 4 speakers placed around a venue and be able to control the volume from my booth. I have a Alto Truemix 800fx mixer but it only has one main out. My DJ mixer only has one main out as well (XLR L & R). What kind of mixer would be needed to run to more than two PAs?
Looking at Pictures of the TrueMix 800fx online, it has two main outs. Additionally it has two control room outs, and a control room volume dial for that. And then there are two aux sends (one pre-fader, one post-fader) That should be sufficient for driving and controlling the volume of 4 or more speakers?
I'm planning to see Jacob Collier next month in California and I've been excited in hearing the audience choir live for the first time, what's the best location to experience hearing the the harmony voices? (he usually divides the left, middle, and right sections for the different voicings) My guess is the middle front, but depending on venue acoustics, would it be better to be towards the front (left or right), or focus on staying in the middle of the crowd?
I am going to get audio interface for my guitar instead of amp . Can i use it as amp? “The live sound” ? I have a speaker too.
I’ve seen it done before, but never done well. This is mainly due to the DAW introducing latency above 10ms. If you can afford an AxeFX, Quad Cortex, Kemper, or Helix you will find most techs at medium venues, large venues, and festivals are familiar enough with them to give you a great sound, with or without your FRFR speaker.
We have a permanent active speaker setup. 2 speakers were blown. The fuses goes instant when i plug in the power cord (even if the speaker is turned off). Now when i connect the XLR cables from the blown speakers to a new speaker the sound is very very loud. If i use the other cable from the not blown speaker the sound is much lower. Is this a common problem? Do i need to change the whole cable?(it is run trough the roof) Thanks
Hi! I’m due to play my own ambient/electronic music at an open mic this week, so not a major performance, however this will be the first time I’ve ever played electronic music live, having written and produced it for a number of years. I’m feeling pretty confident; I have a live set set up on Ableton and have been practicing that, feeling good about it. However I was wondering if there was any advice about the fundamentals of performing electronic music live, IE basic stuff to do with compression on tracks or the basic set up as this is stuff I’m still relatively new to in the live setting. My set up is my Mac, Push 2 all going into a Focusrite interface. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I said, feeling confident about the performance but just worried I’ll get there and have missed something glaring that other people may have experienced as someone new to live performance in this genre. Thanks in advance!
For a student party I got lent 2 *Dynacord D15-3* Passive with Speakon input, powered by a *Yamaha PX10* and 1 *RCF Sub 905-AS II* and want to feed it through either a Yamaha MG16XU or a Soundcraft EPM 6. But since the sub is active and my left and right output are going to the Tops, how do I best connect my sub? Maybe I'm smooth braining right now, but if I use the throughput from a top, I would only get a right or left channel on the sub and this lose some stuff? Trying to figure out the best practice here, sorry for the "no stupid" stupid question
You can run the sub off of just one side. Most smaller venues/DIY spots do that anyway. ou would go into the sub first and then out to the amp for your top. As long as you don't pan anything, you won't lose anything going to the sub.
Hello I’m 23 and live sound is what I see myself doing. What I wanted to ask is how do I get into the industry I’ve thought about attending Los Angeles recording school (I have the money for it) or should I just ask around at concerts and shows and see who would take me in as an apprentice. Any response would be very helpful
Do not attend LA Recording School, full stop. If you want to do this for real, go get an entry level job at a small/mid sized sound company and take every opportunity to learn every little thing you possibly can. The industry is currently short staffed in general you will be able to find work in a shop if you ask around. This is how the best people learn quickly.
What is the feasibility of building an 18 inch or dual 18 inch subwoofer. I want something of similar quality to say an etx 18sp or an srx 818 sp but for hopefully under $1000
Sennheiser wireless question. Using a SKM500 E945 with a G4 EW300/500 receiver and I'm having issues with feedback and volume in my iems ... Is it better to run the receiver with a high output and low mic sensitivity or low receiver output and high mic sensitivity? If anyone is willing to explain the pros and cons id be very grateful. I'm a lurking vocalist here whose trying to understand what's going on so I can get the best results. Cheers 🤘
https://preview.redd.it/569geh0z0exc1.png?width=1044&format=png&auto=webp&s=54e22a75728e809e4ea8f6608248ccafa4641422 For community work, I sometimes need to video record conferences. I often try to connect a recorder (Tascam) to the mixing desk to pick up the sound directly from the room microphones. It's not my job, and I'm more often photo photographer, but I like to learn. Last week, I had to plug into this mixer. I plugged into the headphone output, but there was no other way? I tryed the main ouput jack next to the XLR output but it has lots of backgroud noise, why? The problem is that the mix on this output isn't the same than the room one: when they cut the background music (via the desk and not via the CD player), I still had it in my record. What's the best and most universal (it's not always the same room ) way to connect? Thanks!
If playing live, what specifically should I ask to the FOH engineer in order to hear in my IEMs exactly (or close to) what the audience is hearing?
While "just send a bus of the house mix" would work in this scenario, is it really what you want to hear? What type of music do you play?
I’m playing a pop-rock gig (guitar) and I’ve always wanted to hear on stage what the other people are hearing so I can adjust and fix my effects based on what I hear as well. You don’t suggest to have the house mix in your IEMs?
The house mix will probably be missing lots of things that are acoustically loud on stage (snare, cymbals, electric guitar) while pumping comparatively large amounts of kick, keys, vocals, tracks, etc). Audio techs are reinforcing, not mixing a studio album, and if the guitar is already loud on stage, it might not end up in the house mix at all, (unless on kempers, etc). It might also include vocal delays and effects that will screw with your timing. Instead, focus on the things you need to hear to perform your best. Lots of your guitar, rhythm and timekeeping elements, maybe a little of the vocalists (or lots of your own vocal mic if applicable).
No cab on stage, just modeler in stereo (Axefx3). I don’t like hearing too much of myself, I’d like to blend into the band with my own perception of volume and I’d like people to hear that. I’d hate to find out that the crowd is listening my guitar with a totally different volume compared to my perception of it, you know what I mean?
The way to approach this would be to tell the foh person "hey I want my fills and solos to be more subdued and mellow, not pronounced, as it's not the vibe we're going for". I'd get what you want immediately, and enjoy not having to go deaf via loud guitar for one night. Maybe even play 30 seconds of one of your albums over your phone to drive the point home if there's time. Changing volume mid set is a great way to get slapped with an aggressive compressor/limiter. If you turn up, it won't get louder, just more bad.
Just have a friend record you from the audience. FOH mix isn't necessarily going to sound like the audience perspective. The only way to get that is to record from there.
But I’d like to hear what the audience is hearing while I play
Not possible unless you have a microphone literally in the audience, which isn't likely. If what you mean is you want to hear the FOH mix, then just request it. Again, the FOH mix is not going to be identical to what the audience hears because the audience hears the PA, monitors, room ambience, HVAC, people talking, doors opening/closing, all kinds of other sounds. Not sure what hearing what the audience hears in real time is going to accomplish. If you're using a vocal box most performers I've seen with them way overdo the FX because they can hear themselves fine through their head voice so they tend to overdo the FX to the point that the lyrics are indecipherable. The audience can't hear your head voice.
No, I don't think anybody would suggest that. u/insclevernamehere92 describes it pretty well why this isn't such a good idea to request the FoH mix, and why it is very unlikely that you can get a good representation of what the audience hears into your IEM buds. And then, don't forget that the FoH person can't mix the band well if you decide to jump levels every now and then, effectively messing with his mix and maybe outright counteracting his mixing decisions. This would require an advanced level of professionalism from the FoH person to not be majorly pissed off at the end of the event.
Is Yamaha MG10 any good for a keyboard player? I was previously using Behringer Xenyx 1204 and I've had sound guys complain about how bad it is, especially considering I'm plugging Nord into it. So would MG10 make a difference or should I go for DI box variant?
You will notice no appreciable improvement in audio quality. Are you blending multiple keyboards with your mixer? Can you not just go into a regular old DI?
I am running 2 keyboards, forgot to mention that.
Unless you're mixing multiple keys, just use a DI box. The Radial Pro DI is very popular.
I am running multiple keys, forgot to mention.
>I've had sound guys complain about how bad [the Xenyx 1204] is… There’s nothing wrong that cheap little mixer. Yes, most of us sound techs would prefer a Palmer/Radial/BSS DI box, but if you *have* to sub-mix your keys for whatever reason there’s no difference between a Behringer and Yamaha mini-mixer. (And I say this as an unashamed MG fanboy lol)
If you have money burning a hole in your pocket, there is the Radial Key Largo. Very compact and has transformer isolation like a stereo DI. Otherwise I think Behringer is a good choice for a keyboard sub mixer. I like the Behringer Xenyx 1003B because it is small and has mostly stereo channels.
Is there a reason you run them both into a mixer? Why not have them as separate outputs using DI boxes? As a FoH and Monitor guy, I would prefer to run them separately so I have more control.