Scott's PA System Tutorial: Tips and Tricks

Part 1


Visit the PA tutorial's Message Board to find more useful tips.




This section of the tutorial is loaded with useful tidbits of information that may or may not represent "normal" methods of doing things. Where PA systems are concerned, there is often more than one way to set things up, and this section may explore some less mainstream options. Nevertheless, every tip or trick listed is useable and will sometimes even be advantageous. Some of the tips have come to me through e-mail from knowledgeable soundmen, and others are simply little helpful hints that pop into my own head from time to time. The tips are listed in chronological order based on the time they were written or the time they were received whichever is appropriate .






Tip submitted by M. Schertz in April of 1999
mschertz@mail.farmwagon.com

  From our experience we have come to the conclusion that you should pitch all your band's repair tools and purchase a roll of duct tape and a roll of electrical tape.  It works I swear!
If ya can't duct it, F*** it!! Thats our motto!  


{Soundude note: Although I agree that duct tape is the ultimate on-the-spot repair tool, I'm not sure I could bring myself to throw away everything in my handy-dandy tool kit. I'd especially want to hang on to an old kitchen steak knife, a flashlight that's small enough to fit into my mouth, a sharpie pen, and a really long roll of tie wire.}




Tips submitted in February of 1999 by Brandon Arender
sum1ssoulmate@webtv.net

When running sound off stage it is a good idea to walk around a bit and hear the mix from different parts of the room. This is especially important when an audience is in front of the PA, and you are behind the audience. The human body has the tendency to absorb many frequencies. Therefore you may be kicking up the highs from your position and killing the people in the front row.

Also,if you dont have peak,VU, or clip meters in your system,try plugging your ears(tightly) with your fingers(or whatever else you may want to stick in there),and putting your head as close to the speaker as possible. This will reveal clipping or distortion you might not have heard otherwise  I dicovered one of my horns clipping to the point of coming on and off,using this method.




Tip submitted in February of 1999 by Brandon Arender
sum1ssoulmate@webtv.net

Some speakers have internal speaker protection which uses a small light-bulb to absorb peak wattage. This can be a very scary thing to discover at a show. I once had a singer run out of the room screaming when he saw his monitor light up. (he was under the influence of chemicals and thought the monitor was possesed by demons)If this happens,try not to over-react,just turn the output gain down. And get the singer back on stage!




Tip submitted in February of 1999 by Sounddude
bassist@spydee.net

Never set drinks anywhere where they can easily spill onto your soundboard or any other essential equipment. Spills are almost inevitable, and whether it's beer, milk, or even water, it can do heavy and expensive damage to your stuff once it gets inside. Also, I can attest from personal experience that cat urine can cause you to have to make an expensive trip to the repair shop. I've heard other people relate similar experiences involving pets and body fluids, so I don't think I'm being alarmist when I say it might be a good idea to store your equipment somewhere where the cat, the dog, and even the drunk guy looking for the bathroom can't get to it.
However, if something does get spilled inside a piece of equipment, unplug it immediately, and don't turn it back on until it's had several days to dry. If you're lucky, once it's all dried out, everything will work fine. If you turn it on when it's still wet you will almost certainly fry some of the internal parts.




Tip submitted in February of 1999 by Sounddude
bassist@spydee.net

When a cable goes bad, one of the worse things you can do is replace it with a good one on the stage and then throw it (the bad cable) back into the gig bag without first marking it in some way. It won't magically repair itself while it's in there, and it will definitely come back to haunt you if you aren't careful. I personally prefer to cut one end off the darn thing so that I'm not tempted to try to use it the next time I'm setting up. After it goes bad, you basically have two options. You can either take it home and try to repair it, which may or may not work out too well, or you can spring for the money to buy a new one. I heartily recommend the latter.




Tip submitted anonynmously in October of 1988

Our Band uses just a small, powered 8 channel mixer.  However, we get a great sound by using its stereo capabilities to send the Right side to the mains speakers and the left to a 2-15 sub cabinet.  We have an eq for both L&R and turn the treble up for the Mains and Down for the Sub. It is a great way to use a stereo amp as a crossover type thing. 

{Soundude note: When using the above tip, it's best (and safest) if your main (mid/high) speaker cabinets are full range with internal crossovers. Horns in speaker cabinets without internal crossovers could be accidentally damaged if the EQ isn't adjusted just right.}




Tip submitted in May of 1998 by Craig Stepp (The Soundman)
Craig knows his stuff and is available to answer PA questions. See his website by clicking here

". . . you can use L&R [main sliders] in a sub-group fashion (L for instruments, R for vox, for example) and then sum the output and have a single fader to raise all the vocals independantly of the instrument mix, and vice versa. This can be a big help if you get a great instrument mix, and then want to lower it in relationship to the vox, without having to re-mix the entire section.  




Tip submitted in May of 1998 by Craig Stepp (The Soundman)
Craig knows his stuff and is available to answer PA questions. See his website by clicking here

If your in a small venue, the live sound of the band typically provides the listener with more spacial information than a listener would get on his home stereo. Home is a good place for stereo because you can sit in the *hot spot* and get a reasonable representation of a live performance, or a nice panorama of a studio created performance.  In a larger venue, the seating arrangement usually prohibits most of the audience from being able to enjoy a stereo mix.  People sitting on the left side of the auditorium would not hear anything panned hard right, which can be particularly annoying if you're using stereo FX!




Yet another tip submitted in March of 1998 by Sounddude
bassist@spydee.net

One way you might be able to save some cash on an EQ is to use one designed for a home stereo system. They are basically the same thing. They just have a different kind of connection on the back. All you have to do is buy some RCA to 1/4" adapters to connect the EQ to everything else. Then use it just like you would one of those expensive music store equalizers. Believe it or not, the system I am using right now is hooked into an Emerson equalizer that was made to be used on a stereo. As a matter of fact, I robbed it right out of my stereo system in my living room....It's true. I swear............




Another tip submitted in March of 1998 by Sounddude
bassist@spydee.net

Just an observation...
You'll know you've been running sound for a particular band too long when you can identify each member's vocal mic by smell alone.




Tip submitted in March of 1998 by Sounddude
bassist@spydee.net

At gigs where you are running sound from the stage, it is probably good idea to ask someone in the audience how it sounds. Make sure you trust them, and always try to find a second opinion. It's also important to remember who you are asking. For instance, if you are talking to the singer's wife (girlfriend, mother, personal groupie) and she tells you that she can't hear the singer well enough, it might just be that her opinion is a little biased. Don't make any drastic changes based on her opinion alone. Also, someone will inevitably tell you that you are too loud or too quiet. Listen to them with a cautious ear, but remember that the owner or manager of the club should decide how loud it should be. Ask him. In the end, it's his business that will be effected by your volume.




Tip submitted in February of 1998 by P. Falso
pfalso@clarityconnect.com

Just a little trick I use for running multiple effects processors from one send...
If you loop the effects back into a mic channel you can control the outputs independent of each other.  This will give you more control and allows you to add say more delay by moving the slider instead of those little nobs they use on them.  Just be sure to note that the effects send on your loop-back channel(s) must be set to 0 to avoid feed back.




I'd be glad to include any simple, helpful, and to-the-point tips anyone out there might have. Funny would be cool too. Just mail me at the address below.

PA Home Setting it up Running Sound Words to Know


Any suggestions? Comments? Mail me at Bassist@Spydee.net.

Feel free to post any questions you might have on the PA Tutorial's Message Board.



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