Amplifiers: Pro vs. Consumer
If you are in the market for amplifiers, you have two broad categories to choose from: professional amplifiers or home (consumer) amplifiers. Before you can select which amp is best for you, you need to analyze your needs and preferences. To paint the situation with a broad stroke, we can say pro amps are generally great for sound reinforcement (they project sound over an extensive area), come with a lot more features and are durable. However, let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of each type:
Choosing a Stage Monitor
It’s imperative to have an onstage monitor to enable you to hear your own voice and music as well as your band mates when playing a live show. This is important for various reasons, including a nice reminder where you were in the song for those rare occasions when your mind drifts off. Regardless of the quality of the PA system, which is geared to provide great sound to the audience, you will not get a good idea of how you sound if you rely solely on it. There are a few keys to look at when choosing a stage monitoring system.
Small Venue Systems
Music magazines, like Live Sound International or FOH (Front of House), often feature articles highlighting the latest in sound systems, but it seems a majority of these articles are catered towards large, up-scale budgets and locations. It’s always fascinating to read about what these bigger venues are doing and how quickly technology is progressing. However, many sound people work in hundreds of small venues throughout the US. If your band plays gigs in small venues or if you operate sound systems in small venues, your sound dynamics radically differ from the larger sites. You have to adapt your skills to the characteristics of small venues to achieve sound success.
How to Pick the Perfect DJ System
There used to be a time when DJs had to lug heavy loads of vinyl records to their parties, used turntables and were spinning dance records. The advent of cassettes, CDs and then MP3 players revolutionized the DJing world. DJs now have virtual turntables on their laptops and instead of hauling around 70-pound speakers they can get better sound quality with smaller speakers half the weight. Throughout the digital evolution, one item has remained constant and that is the purpose of DJs.
Where to start with EQ
Patience and Practice, if you want to learn to use EQ and adjust EQ in a venue for a live concert or a recording, are the two attributes you absolutely need. If you lack these, we suggest you develop them in a hurry otherwise your sound will be an earful. Anyone working in audio absolutely needs to develop this fundamental skill, yet many people struggle with EQ. We have put together a few general tips to get you started or to fine-tune your EQing abilities.
Tips to Successfully Record a Rehearsal
Recording your rehearsals is an integral part of trying to improve your performance skills. You need recordings so you can listen to them later and break down the tape to see what you are doing well, what needs tweaking and what is just not working and needs to be really improved upon. There are many factors to consider when recording a rehearsal. It’s much easier if you are a lone musician and gets more complicated if you are band with guitarists, drummers and more.
Plan and Deliver a Successful Gig
Gigs are not easy to come by and when you do get the opportunity, you want to ensure it goes extremely well, as a good product is the best form of marketing. If you can impress the crowd, those people will talk about you and your chances of success will trend upwards. Here are a few tips to help you have a good show:
Gig Etiquette: Sound Engineer's Guide to a successful gig
The first consideration when preparing for a live gig is having the correct setup for the task at hand for a smooth running gig. It is important to get a rundown of what you are going to need for almost any gig. You would rather have too much than not enough. Remember, every gig is different and equipment will vary but the following is what you will need for every gig:
US Built Audio: An Ocean of Difference
Americans are still reeling from the latest economic crisis to hit our country in fall 2008. Although experts keep stating we have moved beyond the recession, we can still see its lingering effects in our communities. At the peak of the economic downturn, there were a lot of lost jobs along with families losing their homes and this is a situation no one would like to have repeated in the future.
The Challenges of Outdoor Sound
Road Trip – Doing Your First Tour
Landing your first tour can be exciting, but it can also be fairly stressful if you don’t know what to expect. There is a lot to consider, including equipment hauling, transportation, and even communicating with different venues. One of the first things you should do is consider what issues will arise. The more you tour, the easier it will get and you will become accustomed to what the demands of being on the road are. In an effort to ensure you are well prepared, here are some tips that will help you survive your first tour and get you well on the way to becoming a professional at touring.
The Benefit of Bi-Amping and 4-pin Speaker Cables
In the days of hardware based electronic crossovers, it was necessary to send your bi-amp signals to separate power amps and then connect to your speaker's high frequency and low frequency drivers with separate cables or a custom wired cable. This made for a larger truck pack having more cables per speaker and a greater number of connection points between the board, crossover, power amps and speakers.