[sdiy] OT: Live Sound advice needed

[Byron G. Jacquot]

>I know we could be doing any number of things wrong, so instead of asking
>"whats wrong" I will instead ask those of you with live PA experience:
>How do _you_ usually handle setting up for a live PA?

If you can spec the system beforehand, and have your demands met (this is
done in a contract called a "technical rider"), then you need to ask for
separate monitor feeds for each person, with appropriate speakers & amps on
each of them (it's not uncommon to spec the power of the monitor system by
the capacity of the venue).  The amps and speakers should be separate from
the main system, the mixing can be done at the front of house desk, or on a
special monitor board.  It can help to have an engineer who does nothing but
mix the stage monitors, too...

But that's often a luxury...

So some practical advice as well:

Set up at the gig as you do at home.  Place yourselves where you can see &
hear everything you need.  Large acts often tour with their own rugs, with
the placement for everything marked out in tape.

If you have your own amps & speakers on stage, and you're using them for
monitoring, try to agree on levels for them in soundcheck, and stick to them
at the gig.  They shouldn't be too different from rehearsal.  Many bands
turn their shows into "volume wars," where they just keep turning up & up,
sounding like garbage, and overwhelming the front-of-house mix...and this
isn't just a problem with inexperienced guys, either.  Large acts do it as well.

You might consider the gear you're listening to.  A set of headphones, or
small monitor speaker pointed directly at your head can help immensely.
Sealed headphones can block out some of the cruddy room sound, and the
coiled cord is becoming chic again ;>

A $.25 pair of foam earplugs can make a world of difference, too.  They seem
to cut our some of the boom & rumble, and make the higher frequencies more
intelligible.  Be sure to use them at practice, before the gig, too, because
the first time you use them it's like putting on a spacesuit...the world
seems an awfully long way away.

Get to know your soundguys, and communicate your needs to them.  If you are
actually running everything onstage by yourselves, then bringing a friend
who can move around the room to listen & help adjust things can be valuable.

>Do you do anything with compression before the amp?

Many people will run peak limiters on the amp, to keep from cooking things.
I might use compression on choice instruments (voice), but not on a whole
live mix, if I can help it.  It does counterintuitive things to levels.

I hate straining to sing or play just a little but louder, only having no
apparent effect because my monitor's being compressed, making me try even
harder...

If you don't have any more headroom, then you might try to find different
solutions.

>How would you recommend EQing at the gig(or at home for that matter)? Is
>there a specific tool like a frequency gen/analyzer that works well? Maybe a
>DIY project?

I find that I use less and less EQ as I get older.  I try to get the sound I
want from every instrument before I begin to mix, though some attention to
problem areas never hurts.  I'll use the 80/100Hz highpass filters on
anything that won't have much content down there, to help keep things from
rumbling too much.  Often a little attention to the mid-bands (maybe 500 Hz
to 5kHz) helps keep things from becoming too abrasive...often notching out
one instrument to make room for another.

Graphic EQ is for cutting out frequencies that feedback...a surgical tool,
more than an artistic one.

Again, I'll stress having a dialogue with the folks who are running the
sound.  Learn what they expect from you, and let them know how they can help
you.  Also be prepared to compromise on some points...often a good mix is as
much a result of everyone's people skills as it is their technical ones!
Buy 'em a beer (or if it's a greuling, all-day festival gig, bring 'em a
sandwich) if they make your night run a little smoother.

I hope some of the above is useful!

Byron Jacquot