Awesome video! It took me years to learn a lot of these basic things and I put plenty of wear on my equipment because of basic mistakes that can be easily avoided. I have two more SUPER simple tips for new folks in the live audio world to add. 1. SHOW UP EARLY!!! My dad who did mobile DJing for 25 plus years would always say "if you think it will take you two hours to set up, plan for 3" multiply the time you expect setup to take by 1.5 2. Make securing cable your LAST step. I can't tell you how many times I've made adjustments to microphone placement, monitors positioning, or even moved my main speakers a couple feet to accommodate for a larger audience and ended up tearing tape lines or cable ramp up and redoing them. Its also a very import step for liability purposes, so it you make it a point to have securing cables be your last step you won't forget it.
Thank you so much for this video, it’s such a life saver. Believe it or not I’ve managed to go 30 years as a pro musician without the need or knowledge of one end of a desk from the other (metaphorically speaking) and next Tuesday I start a job where the only person responsible for the set up etc is me. I’m going to put this video on repeat between now and then. Thanks so much!
Hello Kyle, I am a singer musician Dj for over 40 years and still at 54 years old learning about sound 😉 I have seen a few video clips on properly setting your sound and by far you really do explain this very very well indeed, now live music has returned once again I have been looking into buying a new speaker system and really with the choice thats available it's an absolute minefield of confusion due to the marketing propaganda each audio company goes on with, Kyle you being a sound engineer and how great you can bring your tutorial across to us musicians and singers, and Djs, well let's concentrate more on singers and musicians, Right now I own the Dynacord Powermax 5 pa system which has played many venues big and small for the past 13 years and still today going strong, connected to Dynacord Cms 1000 desk, lately I bought 2 yamaha stagepas 1ks out of watching many videos on how great they are, yeah there ok for small pubs, but still I end up setting up my Powermax 5 next time I'm performing in that small venue, so really yamaha stagepas 1ks are not all that great, I'm looking now at selling them and possibly going for the Evolve 50, or Bose F1 812 and F1 Subs , but I'm not forking out big money Less I know that what I'm buying will surpass the old Faithfull Powermax 5, sorry for going on here, but I'm sure a lot of musicians out there want answered too to this, every speaker audio review seems to only really cater for Djs, we need someone to be completely honest and know what their talking about, and really a qualified sound engineer with full in dept reviews would make it a lot lot easier to buy right, I've have only come across this video clip now and have subscribed and look forward to viewing more of your you tube videos, perhaps you do already reviews on PA and speaker systems?
I'd say messing around with stuff after watching vids like this....will really propel you into greatness. I didn't know about the feedback part, but it's exactly what I did to fix it. I turned some mid's down around 4-600 and cut the low end out up to 200. There is a nice clear signal without any effort by the vocalist. Put some in-ears in, and you're easy saililn. Even without, you're good, just better hope you have good timing.
I have been a live and studio engineer (with a sound engineering degree) for over 40 years. This young man is sharing a LOT of great info about sound. Every time I hire a new sound tech for my Music Shoppe sound company, it takes me about 6 months to train them, though they receive an education they can use for the rest of their lives. Sadly, most "sound engineers" are not "real" trained sound engineers, that had to study all the math and everything else I studied in college. Most sound people learned to run sound working in a music store, or with a band. There is SO much to learn for a good sound engineer, and this makes ALL the difference between mediocre or OK sound, and having great sound. Here are a few more tips for you all. As Kyle mentioned, always "flesh out" the sound system set up, to know where you are going to place the speakers, monitors, and microphones, before you begin running cables. I always start with my power ex cords, using 12 gauge ex cords, and I use a circuit tester to make sure the outlets are wired properly, with no open or reversed grounds,,,,etc. Using bad power can easily damage your equipment! The I run the main XLR signal cables fro my rack to my mains, subs and AUX monitors, using thick 16 gauge XLR cables. The I run a 30 foot 8 channel snake near the drums, for the drum mics, bass and guitar amps., and vocals on the other side of the stage. I always make sure that my XLR main, AUX monitor cables, and snake are a few inches away from my power cables, to help keep any possible 60 cycle hum from power from getting into my XLR cables. For clubs, and most indoor venues, I always turn my speakers in towards the dance floor a little 'caddy corner," so the loudest sound is on the dance floor, and so that the sound is not bouncing back to the stage from the rear wall (at about 50% when it bounces back). This helps so that you won't have bartenders and servers complaining about the volume being to loud, helps stop the possible feedback of the sound bouncing from the back wall (like a cur ball on a pool table), and also allows people that are not dancing to hear themselves talk, and still hear the music as well. You will also want to have the horns in your main speakers to be at about 6 and a half to 7 feet above the the floor, so that high end and clarity will throw to the back of the room. If you have your horns to low, your PA will sound "muffley" because the bodies in from of the PA will "absorb" all that high end and clarity. The subs are a different story, because bass is "non directional," and will be pretty much heard all over, having much wider sound waves that the shorter frequencies coming from the horns. I always set up my mixer and rack on the side of the stage, because after I do a full sound check (walking out front a few times during the sound check to check the levels and mix) , everything is set and mixed, and all I am basically doing is turning solos up and down, turning the fader up a little more for each person that sing lead (and bringing the other vocalists faders down a bit, so that their harmonies do not "bury" the lead vocalist), and changing effects such as shorter or longer delays (such as a "rockabilly" or Stray Cats type of quick delay, or a longer Led Zeppelin or Journey type delay with 3 trailing repeats). I always have a good set of headphones set up, and can always listen to whats going on out front, by soloing out any channel, any AUX mix, or the 4 sub mixes on my Mackie mixer. The other really good thing about running sound from the side of the stage, is that it's very easy for me to hear the monitor mixes, and for the musicians to communicate to me if they want any small changes. Also, I use 31 band EQ's right after the L-R outputs on my mixer, and before my crossover that separates the frequencies from my main speakers to my subwoofers, and usually set the low crossover point to about 80 HZ. I also use a separate EQ for each monitor mix. I use JBL PRX 635 1500 watt 3 way speakers for my mains, and QSC KW 181 subs for my low end (I have 10 of each, for smaller or larger shows), and all QSC and JBL 1000 watt powered monitors (I have 16 of these for smaller or larger shows), and Mackie VLZ 4 mixers (24 and 32 channel), as well as Allen & Heath Mix Wizard mixers (16 channel). Also, I run my QSC K12 stage monitors on tri pod stands on the front sides of the stage , like side fills, instead of on the floor. I set up an AUX 1 and Aux 2 mix for Left and Right, and those monitors easily throw 15 feet, and FILL the stage with vocals at ear level, instead of the monitor being in front of the singer on the floor. When you have a monitor on the floor, about 50% of the sound is "wasted," just hitting the singer in the belly or chest, because your ears are on the side of your head NOT on the front of your face. Also, when a lead singer walks away from that monitor, the monitor becomes almost non existent to them, which is why so many singer get sore throats! I learned this monitor technique from Todd Rundgren almost 35 years ago, and it has served me very well. It's always wonderful when a singer comes up to me and tells me that they heard everything they were singing, all over the stage, without getting a sore throat! When I do the AUX L-R mixes, I place the lead singers mics at equal volumes in both mixes, and place the guitarist, keyboardist, or bassist vocals on either side of the stage, just a tad louder than the persons vocals from the other side of the stage, This way the lead singers always hear them selves well, and the musicians that are singing on each side of the stage hear themselves well, as well as the other harmony parts. If I do a larger concert, I will tap another monitor off each AUX 1-2 mix, and place it on the floor near the subs, on the front of the stage, caddy corner to help fill the stage a little more. For even larger concerts, I will also place another set of monitors from the AUX 1-2 mixes on the floor in front of the singers at the middle of the stage front. I never have to turn up those monitors very loud, they are simply a little "extra stage fill." When I do very large concerts, I will also tap another set of QSC K12 monitors on tri-pods, about 5 feet behind the first set that are near the front sides of the stage. Because of the way I set up my monitors, I am able to do very large concerts with only 4 AUX mixes (AUX 3 is usually for brass players, also at ear level on a tri-pod stand, and AUX 4 for drummers at ear level on drum cases, making sure the monitor is not bleeding into a vocal mic, or any drum mics), and no one EVER complains that they can't hear the monitors well...... Peace! 🎃
@@AudioUniversity You're welcome Kyle! Any good and practical knowledge for musicians and sound technicians, will all help to make the music world a much better, more pleasurable, and better sounding world! ..... Peace! 🎃
@@keithclark486 Ha ha! That's just one of the downfalls to being a professor of Sound Engineering, and also a professor of Music Theory and orchestration.. Haha! 😃
Mixer/amp or amplifier to speaker connection should NOT be done using shielded microphone cables. These will create resistance to the output signals and they will get hot. In this video the set up is using powered speakers, the amplifiers are built into the speakers rather than the mixer or as a stand alone item. 👍🇬🇧
Very good setup instructions. I would recommend sound engineers to watch this video over and over again. Wonderful!!! Go to 5:31 for Step 6 to understand the order of adjusting the knobs.
Whenever I have to mix multiple channels together, I set the gain on every channel so that the individual average level of every channel hover around 0 dB on the level meters with PFL engaged, then use the channel faders to adjust the channels level respective to eachother and finally adjust the master output so the overall level of the mix to peak the last amber leds on the level meters. This provides the best signal to noise ratio and allows me to use the entire dynamic range of the mixing console.
Thank you dear Kyle for sharing some very intricate and immensely useful information wrt Sound management in the music industry, Much appreciated!! Am still learning. Always looking forward to your informative videos.
Your gain-staging is a bit mixed up in my opinion. You certainly shouldn't be doing it with the faders up. Do a pre-fader gain stage and use the meter to check you'r not going higher than amber. Then you can bring your fader up for the mix level, and not touch the gain again.
Well, it seems that you prefer using your eyes to do a gain stage... I think it is prefereable using the ears, so you should do the gain stage with fader at 0 dB, so you can hear the sound you're amplifying while doing a visual check on the meters
I'm not sure about the exact part of the original video hear that you're talking about oh, but I can tell you this. There is a little difference two doing your game staging live, and doing it in a recording studio. When I am checking the input attenuation on each and every channel of my mixer at a live performance, I will only have the channel fader up a small amount. I we'll ask the vocalist, musician, drummer Etc, to give me a very loud signal to ensure that there is no clipping on any channel at the input stage. That way I know that I am sending a clean signal on every channel of the mixer to the main output volume faders, that are feeding my front-of-house system. When you do this, you don't have to constantly monitor your input attenuation on each Channel for the rest of the entire performance. The only thing you will really have to do, is to make sure the sum of all the Channel faders is not any higher then Unity on your main output faders going to your front of house. If you do this and make sure you are not over driving your amplifier or powered speakers, you should have a clean mix out front. Though as a recording studio engineer, I always started every recording session buy running a 1K test tone into my recording console to check and make sure that each fader level at Unity was giving the exact same reading on each Vu meter for every channel on the recording console. That is very important for continuity when doing recording sessions oh, and also helps you keep that continuity with each upcoming recording session. After I do the channel fader and Vu meter test, that is when I began to test the input attenuation levels of each track I am going to record. You can do this for a recording studio, because you were only doing one or two, or a few tracks at a time. You can adjust your input attenuation on each Channel as you are testing for recording, and make any adjustments that are needed before you record. You don't have the luxury of doing this with a huge live mix where everything is coming into the mixer and out to the front-of-house mix all at the same time. 😃
That's how I was taught - basically that the gain control's job is to trim the input to achieve the best signal to noise ratio, SNR, without distortion. This trimmed signal is then the best quality to pass into that mixer channel and any pre-fader signals are routed with the best SNR as well - and don't change when you move the fader. But, hey, I'll give anything a go, and will try it this way, it wouldn't be the first time in music history that ears beat the text book!
Great tutorial.Im a experienced.. Road musician And I can't emphasis this enough, to younger musicians. The fundamentals of a great sound starts Here m
If you place the mixer or DJ's booth behind the speakers, you will not able to monitor the sound that comes out from FOH, you cannot here it if it still sound good or not... Coz there's are different kinds of voices of each people while on the microphone 😊
You can also do it that way. I will use the PFL first if I'm concerned with the audience hearing the sound check. If there is no audience, I usually skip that step (but there is no right or wrong way to do it.).
@@AudioUniversity This is the second video I've seen where you're adusting gain for volume instead of signal strength. Most of the other instructional videos I've seen use the gain adjustment and PFL to ensure a good solid signal which doesn't clip and not as a voume control which the sliders (mains) or aux sends (monitors) provide.
I’m not adjusting the gain like this though out the performance. I just get the signal to about the right level with the preamp initially and then mix with faders. Sometimes there is not a meter in your mixer, so you’re forced to use your ears to determine the correct gain setting based on the output of the system. If your amplifier is set to the appropriate level, this will ensure max signal to noise ratio while maintaining adware headroom.
@@AudioUniversity I do not know a mixer without any metering, even if it is only a clip-led (let it clip and then turn the knob one clock down e.g. 12 o'clock to 11 o'clock).
Good stuff, but it would be nice if you could do a video like this for people that play guitar and sing using a microphone. People that do that aren’t going to be checking the sound levels on the PA system using Spotify on their phone or computer, etc. 🤔🧡
Thanks! I would say the same principles and steps apply to any live sound setup. Playing music through the system isn’t necessary, it’s just a way to optimize the levels and gain structure. What is gain structure? Watch this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TCBHysRV4vs.html What type of PA system are you using?
3:57 "a line input device that could be a smartphone, laptop or something like that... ". Me, being old school, would have said "a keyboard, digital piano or something like that".. 😉 But, this is a good video for those that are unexperienced! 👍
Please guide a volume set for best clarity speech by gooseneck mic in podium We use directly to amplifier and use 100V speakers system The amplifier having 1.Mic volume knob 2.Master volume knob 3.Base knob 4.Treble knob Mic have 7.5mv/pa and 20-18000hz 1000 ohm specification Am using 200W rms amplifier Please suggest for speech with good volume and clear
Hi, I appreciate your content and especially how easy is to understand your videos. Am new and starting to get gigs as a live audio engineer and I was wondering what the process is before you even start working with a venue, band, or client who hires your service? Do you guys hand out a form? or contract? and what are the most important questions or requirements you write in your contract or form? It would be great if you guys could make a video about this subject!
The first thing I do when checking out a new venue is scope out the power available. How many outlets, how many circuits, where is the breaker box, then I meter each outlet for voltage and use a three light tester to ensure outlets are wired properly with correct ground.
I have questions about even more basic info - I am a singer that amplifies only my sound with one speaker but want to add a monitor and have no mixer - and don't quite understand what I see on the back of both powered speakers......!
If your speakers have an “In” and an “Out”, you can daisy chain them together. It would look like this… Microphone > 1st Speaker > 2nd Speaker If the speakers do not have outs, you’ll need a mixer.
I have a set with a Yamaha mixer with two tops and two subs,if I want to run my two subs and control them separately,how should I plug them?Thank you for the good work.
Can you explain why you use à TRS Jack/XLR connector and not a TS Jack/XLR connector in the case of the main output of the audio mixer are in Jack The TS Jack is not more appropriate ? Because of it's two mono channel, and we want connect a speaker so i think speaker cable with TS connector Thank you for you answer Sorry for my bad english I watch you from French caribbean island
Hi Kyle, thanks a lot your videos and sharing. It's helping me a lot! How to connect XLR output from mixer to portable speaker just has RCA input? It will get noise right? So how to eliminate that noise? Thanks in advance.
3:17 Hello! I need you help 🙏🏼. I just bought a Yamaha Portable PA System with Bluetooth Stagepas 400BT. The console and the speakers only have 1/4 inputs, which specific cable do you recommend me to use? A 1/4 TS speaker cable? And I only have 1 monitor speaker, should I use a TS speaker cable or TRS speaker cable? And should I connect it to the left or right input in my console? Thank you very much! 🙏🏼
Question what is the best way in a live set up for audience speakers in setting up the volume level for all instruments when there is no mixer person and I want my volume to be even
The best you can do without a mixing engineer is to get a rough mix before the show (listening from the audience area). The reason mixing engineers are hired is because the mix changes from song to song, and even changes within a given song.
Question. (I’m new) we need the analog mixer on the side of the stage at most gigs we do. How do I sound check from the side of the stage behind the PA speakers? Thanks Mike.
If possible, you’ll need to go listen to what the audience is hearing. Then you can go make adjustments accordingly. It’s not perfect, but sadly it is a very common setup.
Hi I’m mark again. So I connect Microphone 🎤 go in to DBX 386 preamp and out put preamp go in to interface behringer 404 md and out put behringer go in to mixer so that way wrong or right please help thank you 🙏
Out of curiosity. I always plug our iPad (Left channel click, right channel Tracks). We never run it off a power supply and the mixer is always close to the iPad. Is there any need for the DI box if the distance isn't a factor? Thanks!
If you’re not sure which eq settings to use, I would recommend not using any EQ. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right, then you can try to fix it with EQ.
Queation please. Lets say i m lead singer and i do not want to hear alot of guitar on my monitor which is connected to aux 1. If i turn down the guitar will that affect the volume on aux 2 out speaker monitor ?
If you use the aux 1 knob on the guitar channel, it will not affect aux 2. However, if you use the microphone preamp on the guitar channel, it will affect all auxes.
I recommend using the aux sends for stage monitors because the main outputs will usually be used for the main speakers. Even if you have a dedicated console for only the stage monitors, using an aux send (or a matrix) for each individual stage monitor gives you control over which input signals get routed to which monitors.
I wish I had found this channel 2 years ago. I had to learn by trial and error, which results in a lot of error. I continually ran into 1 of 2 problems with the people I consulted with: 1. They had a static setup (same configuration week after week, year after year) and had only memorized steps without a conceptual understanding of audio principles, or 2. They had a good understanding of audio principles, but talked over my head or tried to teach me too much at one time. Anyway, thanks for this. My brain is very linear and if I don't understand the alphabet, it's futile to try to teach me how to read. Once I grasp the basic concept of a system, the details are much easier to grasp. This video alone is going to help me tremendously. I can apply this knowledge to my 2 years of fumbling and bumbling and maybe be a decent sound rookie now.
Glad to hear this is helpful, Steve! Thanks for watching and commenting. I agree - it’s important to build the concepts together in a way that makes sense, instead of dumping everything all at one time.
I have questions about even more basic info - I am a singer that amplifies only my sound with one speaker but want to add a monitor and have no mixer - and don't quite understand what I see on the back of both powered speakers......!
By doing this it gets a god volume out of the mic. You are correct about the sensitivity, but he’s getting started by doing that. Then during the event he’ll mix with the faders!
That’s exactly right, Cade. Oskar, the faders will be used to mix. If your overall gain staging is set up properly, setting the levels as you described should give a good starting level for each input with the faders near unity. You can then tweak the mix with the faders.
I work as a professional live sound engineer for about 25 years and was curious about that video. A thing, that doesn't make sense in my experience is the gaining her. I would highly recommend NOT to use the gain to create a mix and not keeping a close look on the meter. That can lead to big trouble during the show, especially when you're doing house and monitoring through one desk. I use gain to adjust headamp-sensitivty, not meant to be touched during the gig after leveling (only in case of a need). The levels on analog-consoles (e.g. -6 to 0 dB) are different from a digtital-console (-18 dB to -12 dB dbFS). But set up right, I user faders to do the mix, because it is much easier to handle and for most of al this is what they're made for. At last a proper gain is the base of your mix. The second point is here to check inputs with all outputs set to 0dB to the system can result into a very short to no show. If there is something wrong on stage and an instrument boosts suddenly up to +20 dB or more (I had this several times) to the open system can really damage more than switching on in the wrong order. Always check the signal PFL via headphone before sending it to speakers. I met several guys doing gain-mixing and sent themselves to hell and back. Correcting a wrong gain-structure during the show is a pain in the a.. for everyone taking part.
I agree with you, first the approximate project of sounding the hall is evaluated, then the sound reinforcement system for the hall is installed. At the same time, the modes of its operation and coverage areas are probed. Then a system for capturing sounds and signal control, a control sound of the proscenium, etc. is installed. After that, the microphone setup rehearsal begins. This is where the modes are adjusted and the microphone string is prevented, the processing effects are adjusted for the performer, etc. The last operation is the correction for filling the hall and fixing the settings. Cover locks and guards should help you.
In Kyle’s other videos he recommends setting gain with meters but I think I get what he’s saying here. I’m not that experienced but have found that it has been easy to overboost gain if just depending on meter reading. That is, I’ve had to bring the faders way down to compensate for what seemed like a reasonable gain reading ( his recommended minus 12 dB max). As I’m still climbing a steep learning curve, I’m open to trying various methods to get a workable live setup.
@@johnb4871 I saw a lot of people wondering so here is a fast recap. Each time you double sound (electrically, not accousticly) you gain +3dB (+6 accousticly). Your master can NEVER peak over 0dB, anywhere. Basic setup is to have around -18dB on each channel as then you can have 64 channels and be at 0 (2 chan -15, 4chan -12, 8chan -9, 16chan -6, 32 chan -3 and 64chan 0). Ofc you never have 64 chan at -18 together wich gives you well enough margin to be safe. Faders sensivity isnt linear so you want your faders close to 0 to have the best sensitivity (not sure its the right term but look at the numbers next to them you'll understand :D). Most "serious" console pre amps are based on this, not sure where the idea of having higher gain means best lvl/noise ratio comes from. Most serious analog amp work best at max level (on the amp) so you will have to adapt your send lvl(s) from the console. For less professional stuff you will have to listen to your system and find the best ratio between pre amp/console/amp lvls. Use headphones to listen to your pre amps and your ears for your amps, console should be pretty transparent so use your master(s) to adjust.
Pro tip #1: Guitar players always want to use the XLR output on their amp instead of a DI box to get the tone of the amp and the FX in the mains. Some amps are wired with pre-master volume XLR outs but some are post-master. Make sure they can’t (or won’t) mess with the front of house signal by constantly fiddling with their amp volume. Otherwise you will have to keep trimming the channel constantly. If they need FX and amp in the mains, using a mic on the cabinet may be the best way. Pro tip #2: Choose the weirdest or most obscure song possible to test the PA. Ideally, this is a song you know extremely well and tests the full range of frequency and dynamics, but that nobody else has ever heard of before. Bonus points for choosing a song from a genre that is extremely bizarre or out of style. Use this song before every gig for the rest of your life. If anyone in the band ever asks why you use that song, give them a totally made up, but very complicated sounding answer full of engineer jargon. This will be your trademark, and will give you instant credibility as an engineer, because it will make you seem eccentric and mysterious to musicians.
For the best control on Tip #1, use their DI to go to the desk and run a dedicated mix return just for that instrument. That way, you get what you need and WHEN (not if...) the guitarist keeps on turning themselves up, ruining your stage balance, you can drop their return signal. They may give you filthy looks, but hopefully the overall performance from the band, who can now all hear themselves properly, will over-ride that! ;) Works well for bass players too, and you can even add a bit of compression or chorus to their return if they're low on effects.
@chrisharper80, I am laughing at Pro tip 2 because I used the same tactic except I was explaining interest rate risk management. By the time I finished giving them a couple of sentences of technical gobbledygook (that didn't even have to be accurate), they would usually just nod like they understood what I said and walk away. Or if they asked me to predict what interest rates would be doing in the near term, I would just say, "I think they will go up unless they go down, but they could stay at this level."
@@pvanb291 Great tip! To add to that, if a bass player suspects that you are backing off their return signal, the best approach is to flatly deny it, then suggest that the large audience is probably dampening low frequencies, then drop in the completely irrelevant fact that the wavelength of a 100 Hz wave is approximately 3.4 meters (depending on ambient temperature and barometric pressure, of course!), then immediately change the subject to the current drink special for the evening.
@@Maydoggie Exactly! The success of this strategy depends entirely on the confidence with which you make your claims. The added benefit of doing this intentionally during the sound check is that you have absolutely no reason to mislead anyone. Even if they suspect you are pulling their leg, they will find it quirky and endearing rather than dishonest. 😀
Hello. I don't know if you do international services. My church of about 50,000 capacity here in Africa needs a professional sound engineer to help us set up the speakers so that everybody in the hall could hear well. I am waiting to hear from you sir
As someone who used to do a fair amount of small music festival work, I used a system of organization to keep everything straight for quick band changeovers. (average about 10 minutes) Using a 16 channel board was common so 5 inputs across the front of the stage for vocals and misc, 5 inputs mid stage for instruments, and another 5 inputs for a drum kit. #16 was for FOH talk-back via monitors. Each XLR cable got a masking tape "flag" with the input number, so you didn't have to follow it back to the snake to see where it was. From the FOH position you could easily count (left to right) what channel people were using. (1-5 was front of stage, etc... 6-10 was instruments... 11-15 was drums) you could easily swap a mic for a DI and keep the channel assignment. If you needed to change things more you can push vocal channels #4 and #5 to the instrument row and keep a group together on the board. (congas, bells, maracas, horns, etc) Basically straight back and keep the count in order. (swapping left and right always tangles things) Another handy tip was to pull the whole board down between acts... except for mic #1. This was for an MC who wants to talk between acts, you just tell them to look for #1, which is always live. (or whatever number you assign) This allows you to move stuff or pull inputs on stage without constantly having to worry about pops and clicks. After a changeover, the stage tech gives his "thumbs up" to the FOH, then all levels go back to a mid-point, which is close enough to start mixing on the fly. Again, average changeover in under 10 minutes. Hint: pull mics away from drums and walk away while he sets up, then push everything back when he's done... especially if the drummer is a lefty!
Good shit buddy....been looking for a video to show my guys in my band. This is gunna help the other guys get up to speed about how proper set up and leveling can make or break a performance of any sort.
Good video, but a lot of assumptions. Like you're assuming powered speakers will be used, rather than a separate power amp and that the system will not include a sub. In which case, there'll another power amp with a crossover, or speaker management system. I guess you're just pitching this at novice engineers running a very small system. In which case, fair call.
Yes, Peter. You’re right. It’s a tough line to walk between “comprehensive” and “accessible”. I have other videos on those more advanced topics, but wanted to keep this video simple for beginners who would be most likely to search for this video.
Tons of thanks from me!!! I've made mistakes for a year!! at fitness instructor I always try to boost every channel main, music , mic too high (over 0 db) I just understand that have to adjust to 0 db on every channel and always get a limit sound on amplifier every time that so very annoyed!!! I really love you!!!
What if I want to use sub speakers for the live event? And you only made an example of a mixer with inbuilt amplifier and equalizer, what if they are all separate?
You sound young and strong now. You will get older and weaker and your eqt. list always gets larger and heavier. Think about it before you acquire a bunch of older used gear.
how did you get the clear sound to the video from the speakers, I'm trying to stream from our speakers and microphone from our school assemblies but also in the mixer for our live streams
I am having a question, I have a focusrite 2i2 and Shure SM81 LC microphone can I use it for a live hall concert if yes what about the effects such as reverb etc? Also is it beneficial to connect a mixer with focusrite 2i2 interface in the concert?
Hi. Some useful points again. Great section on placement, cable running, etc. I was under the impression we should *always* use a DI box between a computer and the mixer - especially since a computer is NOT a line level device. Something to do with voltage differences and the fact that the 3.5mm to jack/rca was meant for 'hi-fi' stereos and not mixing desks. Just because it *can* fit and has an adapter, doesn't mean we can *use* it. Also, if you're using a computer or other device with a 3.5mm plug you should have the output volume no higher than 80-90%. This part may be related to the point that we 'shouldn't' use 3.5 to twins. Connecting devices to a mixer when it is ON is *only* OK if the mixer has a MUTE. Otherwise we should always plug in and turn on in the order of Devices/Wireless mics, mixer, speakers. Also, you didn't mention it here, maybe you have another video on how to turn it off, but we need to turn off in the reverse order.
Quick noob question. Should the kick, ground tom, and bass guitar output come out of the subwoofer only or a combination of the front house speakers and the subwoofers?
Typically they will come out of both the subwoofer and the main speakers. Here’s a video that will help explain why: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GLnrysQ1Erg.html
@@AudioUniversity Thank you so much. I have always thought that the those should just come out of the sub exclusively. I was worried I might damage our main house speakers if I did let them come out from those. Thank you very much. This is such a great learning for me. 🙏
Hi, vilskymortv. For small to medium events, I would recommend a pair of powered speakers, sometimes called active speakers. Check out this video to learn more: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ltMPK8gN3X0.html
I’d probably recommend a portable speaker with a microphone level input, such as the speaker in this video. You can just connect a dynamic mic directly in with an XLR cable.
Thanks For the great advice. I've got a simple system to set up in a hotel using its own FOH amps and hidden speakers. And both of my awesome audio engineer buddies will be out of town.. Your advice is really appreciated. Liked and subbed.
When setting up microphones and gain, do I move the fader to unity, then trim until I get the volume out of the speaker? Your video seems unclear on this. Please advise. I am noob and your vids are awesome.
Hello my name mark. I need your help. So my mixer main out put 1/4 only I use cable trs adapter out put mixer to in put equalizer and out put equalizer go to power speaker 🔊. So I set up that way is right or wrong. Please help. Thank you
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