• From: Detroit
  • Registered: 2006-06-02
  • Posts: 5,807

Topic: Clean PA setup

Hello all

I know this is more of a guitar thread, but I'd like to pick your brains on PA stuff.
If you have a setup that works awesome let me know. PA head, speakers, and monitors, etc.

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping. cool
  • Registered: 2008-11-05
  • Posts: 190

Re: Clean PA setup

What's the real question...?

"Music Washes Away From The Soul, The Dust Of Everyday Life"
  • From: Detroit
  • Registered: 2006-06-02
  • Posts: 5,807

Re: Clean PA setup

Well,

there are some mic and PA setups where it feels like I have to sing louder and harder... and eventually my voice gets fried only after a couple songs. Yet, when I play out or with other PA equipment, simply talking in the mic is loud enough to cut through the band and I can actually hear myself.  I'm just looking for what the magic formula is... lol

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping. cool
  • From: Pittsburgh
  • Registered: 2008-05-22
  • Posts: 261

Re: Clean PA setup

I'm not sure of the question.  Soundsystems differ form one to the next.  Some gigs I have a killer monitor mix where everything sounds great and my vocals cut through well with an evn balanced EQ.  Some venues/systems the monitors are so horrible that I only want my vocal in the mix and even then I can't hear.  It's all in the system and components.  Nice amps, console, speakers and a good engineer and you should be fine.  A Shure Vocalmaster and you're screwed.

DannyG's Website

  • Registered: 2008-10-02
  • Posts: 373

Re: Clean PA setup

How many watts is your PA, we have about 600 Watts for the practice PA and I can tell you its just Ok when we play quiet as a full band it has effects and all that crap and to be honest I wish we would of bought everything seperate. We have used it live for a couple of gigs and it was impossiable to hear the vocals. Getting some selfpowered monitors would do the trick we don't have any. Most of the places we play have a sound system and a guy running the board.

As for mixing going to depend on the room and the mics your running. And if you have cheap mics you will have a hard time getting heard in the mix or sound tinny if you know what I mean. Sometimes if you cut the highs a little you can get a hair more volume before the point of feed back.

Using the PA is a science that I am still trying to work out.

  • From: Detroit
  • Registered: 2006-06-02
  • Posts: 5,807

Re: Clean PA setup

Gotcha!

I'm using a 300 watt Yamaha PA head with 2 matching speakers.
We wanted a monitor, but heard there wouldn't be enough wattage to drive one, so we got a self-powered Behringer speaker to point at us for the monitor. We use SM 58's for all of our vocals, and don't mic any amps.

It works just OK, but I'd like something that works beautfully. And somehow, PA stuff isn't as fun to play with as guitar stuff!  lol

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping. cool
  • From: Farmington, CT
  • Registered: 2010-04-23
  • Posts: 64

Re: Clean PA setup

NPB_EST.1979 wrote:

Well,

there are some mic and PA setups where it feels like I have to sing louder and harder... and eventually my voice gets fried only after a couple songs. Yet, when I play out or with other PA equipment, simply talking in the mic is loud enough to cut through the band and I can actually hear myself.  I'm just looking for what the magic formula is... lol

I hate to oversimplify this, but it sounds like your issue is monitors. As I'm sure you know, what you hear is rarely the same as what's heard out front. It's imperative to be able to hear yourself on stage though. I'm a singer too and I always ask for the vocals to be cranked in my monitors. If not, I have the same problem as you - oversinging and sounding like Marge's sisters on The Simpsons. Start at the source - the monitors. Get your mix where you like it before you start. If the rest of the band doesn't like it, tell them to sing for a night, set, or even a couple songs and see how they like it.

"Another song, another mile." - The Black Crowes

JPrzech's Website

  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2008-10-26
  • Posts: 2,926

Re: Clean PA setup

When we started all we had was a 2 channel Behringer power mixer that was 400 watts per channel.  That was enough for our monitors but our mains by its self would distort.  Our mains (which I can't think of what they are) handles 750 watt into 8 ohms with 2000 watts peak.  So we needed more power to get those speakers sound good and to be able to use the monitors as well.  Our solution was a 2 ch. 580 watts at 8ohms crown power amp.  We are using it in with the behringer to power everything and we now have a mic on everything and everyones got a vocal mic as well.  We found these old shure vocal mixers that take 4 mics and mixes it down to one channel so we are conserving space on our board with 2 of those.  We also just purchased a 16 ch. snake with the hopes of expanding in the future to a 16 ch. mixing board.  Our solution was there is 7 of us and we all chip in a $100 or so what ever when we decided we need something.  Thats when it pays to play in bands with people older then you because they most of the time have good jobs that pay good money.

AD3THREE's Website

  • Registered: 2008-10-02
  • Posts: 373

Re: Clean PA setup

You need more power AD3Three is on the right track. Try and get an amp to power your mains and use the Yamaha to power the monitors. I have a 600 Watt yamaha PA head and I don't think its enough it has two amps that you can split sending 200 Watts power to the monitors and 400 to the mains but it sounds bad that way not enough power to the mains. We have JBLs that can take 500Watts each and peak at 1000Watts so they aren't getting pushed very hard. So try and get a little more power if I need a pa to take to gigs I would have about 1200 watts, sounds like a lot but you can always turn down the master, but a low wattage PA will never get louder, just distort.

Couple other things monitor mix is important try and get good monitors take time to learn how to use them and set them up so you can hear. My brother in Law invested in wireless in ear monitors very pricey but he sounds 10 better when he sings now. But learning how to get the best monitor mix with what you got will go far.

A few mixing tips that might help. If your PA or Mixer has a gain knob on each channel use this as a Master volume for that Channel then Adjust the fader, set the gain as high as it will go then you will have more room on the fader. If you have an EQ set it fat and sing through that adjust the Freq that you feel need to be more present and pull back some of the others.
Reverb! Just a touch to much and you will feedback like crazy, a lot of singers over do the reverb and then complain there not loud enough pull it down and add it to taste.

One last thing think of PA stuff like you would guitar gear, better more efficent speakers are going to sound better. YOu want CLEAN head room so high watts. If on a budget Carvin makes good gear some of the Peavey stuff is good and Yamaha even some of the Behringer mixers are good, becarefull with there speakers I have heard a lot of them sound muddy and tinny. I would spend a few $$$ on monitors and watts the rest is just gravey after that.

Hope that helps.
Hope that helps.