John Wicker.com

Making Music has a great article that explains the basic controls and functionality of a mixing board. The details get fairly technical without getting too far over your head (well my head, anyways), and I found there were a few pieces of the mixer puzzle that I had a little backwards.

For instance, I had always thought of the trim and volume knobs as being a kind of “big stick/little stick” combo where the trim knob made large adjustments and the volume was a fine control. After reading, I’m thinking completely differently. A volume fader all the way down will be silent no matter what the trim knob is set to. But if your trim knob is at the max adjustment, the volume fader will start pushing that channel into the mix much more quickly than a channel with a very tight trim. With the volume faders maxed on both channels, they’ll be equally loud, but at medium volumes the channel with the wide open trim will sound much louder.

The net result is the same either way, until you find yourself trying to push two channels to max volume and wondering why they’re both the same volume.

Understanding your gear takes a little time, but it’s always worth the investment.

I’ve played with a lot of different people and in a lot of different places over the last few years, and it seems like there are some common practices that people follow when they’re playing out. It kind of sounds strange to think of rock and roll having a set of rules, but if you want to play with someone more than once, and especially if you’re going to be playing with them a whole lot, here are some tips for getting along, getting paid, and getting asked back to play again.

Be on time
Nobody likes to worry about whether or not you’re going to show up. Walking in at the last possible minute can lead to ulcers, gnashed teeth, and excessive sweating.

Life can sometimes intrude, so if you’re going to be late for some unavoidable reason, pick up the phone and let people know what’s going on.

Bring Spares
Whatever you play, bring back up parts. Strings, reeds, picks, cables, straps, cords, power cables, drum heads– they can and will crap out on you at the worst possible time. Have something handy to replace them if you can.

If you can, bring along a backup instrument, and make sure it’s on hand and ready to be played if at all possible. It’s much better to grab your backup axe than to cut a set short so you can change strings. Some will say that you should be able to carry on when strings break, and you should. Other times having the spare will be the only thing that will save the show– if your keyboard stops working it isn’t like you can whip out a screwdriver and a soldering iron and fix it between sets.

Be sure that you’ve got whatever tools you’ll need to make quick fixes as well. A spare set of strings or a drum head is useless if you can’t get your fancy floyd rose unlocked or if you left your drum key on the desk by the front door.

Share
If somebody is hurting for something they forgot or something that just quit on them, and you happen to have one on hand, don’t laugh at them for being unprepared. At least now until after the show, that is. Throw them a spare cable and get the show moving again– and if it’s not an expendable item or a throw away (I’m looking at guitar strings and picks here) then be sure you get it back at the end of the night.

Work Out the Money Before You Get Paid
Work out who is going to get paid what before you arrive at the show. Most bands do an equal split, but some don’t. If someone provides all the equipment they might get two shares. An equal share might be set aside against expenses– rental gear, recording, merchandise and so on. There might be an agent’s cut or there might be an extra taste for the person who brought in the gig. You might be coming in as a last-minute replacement expecting a full cut only to find out you’re getting something entirely different.

Figure out all of this stuff before the money gets handed out. Nothing can kill the buzz of a great show faster than arguing over money.

Help Load In and Set Up
It has been my experience that drummers need the most time to set up, followed by keyboard players, guitarists, bass players, and finally the singer. Of course, we’re not mentioning that someone has to set up the PA gear, or that you might be playing more than one instrument or playing and singing.

Drummers usually have to carry the most gear, but it’s usually bulky but not super heavy. Bass players have the heaviest amps on the face of the planet. Guitarists might have a guitar or two, plus amps and effects. They get off with stuff that’s mostly light, but you have to be careful carrying it around because you don’t want to break the neck off of your Les Paul. Keyboard players tend to have delicate electronics and they usually don’t have the good sense to buy a hard shelled case for it.

And whoever handles the sound? Mixers, power amps, monitors, sub-woofers, mains, multiple 50 and 100 foot cables. And don’t forget the lighting rig, if you have one.

So you’re all set up and ready for the sound check? Great! What about everyone else? A lot of people are kind of callous about helping someone else out, but when it comes down to it, you’re all gonna sound like shit if the sound guy didn’t have enough time to get everything set up and skipped the sound check.

Offer to carry stuff, run cables, set up lights and mic stands, tape up set lists, whatever you can do. Even if you’re not physically capable of lifting heavy stuff, running cables from mics, monitors, speakers, and so on can still be a big help. There are always a million things to do, but many hands make light work. My last band could load in and be ready for sound check in 45 minutes, with every bit of the gear I talked about. When I played Rupp arena last month, it took more like two hours because we didn’t know each other well enough to have a system down.

Look for more tips in the next article in the series.

So I had been going back and forth between buying a power amp or a powered mixer. I was leaning towards going the power amp route, and I had a rehearsal coming up and needed PA gear. I got in high gear and started doing research. Just to cover my bases, I went ahead and called Carvin about a RX1200, but it turned out that they were out of stock. I wound up renting a Yorkville AP 800 from the Doo Wop Shop in Louisville. Yorkville’s products are well made and highly regarded, and I had considered buying the amp I rented from them. But after I heard the amp paired with my speakers, I wasn’t totally satisfied.

As it turns out, the AP800 outputs 200 watts at 8 ohms, and the PR 15’s are rated at 8 ohms. I didn’t know exactly why I didn’t like the combination, but I wasn’t thrilled with what I heard. I ran the rehearsal with the Yorkville, dodged some farm animals (more on that some other time), and got on down the road.

I hit Far Out Music again but the knowledgeable expert who had helped me out back in August had left, probably to become the sound man for a major touring band. The guys that were there were very helpful but they readily admitted their expertise was not with live sound gear. I didn’t have clear choices presented to me and I still had questions that were unanswered. On top of that, the options there were more expensive than I remembered– either there was a new model with a higher price tag, or the last quote I had gotten had a better discount. Either way, I left without making a purchase.

I was running out of ideas, but I was still determined. Soon enough, I was back in Indianapolis for work, and I headed out for Sam Ash. I was not familiar with Sam Ash before I started working in Indy– Guitar Center I had heard about, but Sam Ash was an unknown. Jason introduced me to this magical place shortly after I started the job up here. Sam Ash is a really big damn music store, and I had spoken with a guy there a couple of weeks back. He had given me a quote on a full set of equipment, including a Furman Power Conditioner, a Samson power amp, and a SKB 6 slot rack case to protect it all with. With my experience with the Yorkville amp, I wanted to hear all of the components together before I dropped coin. Once again, my original salesman wasn’t there, but after some major discussions (which I’ll detail in yet another post), we hooked up the amp in question with a PR 15. And I hated it.

No, hate is too strong a word. I didn’t like it, and it turned out that the fact that my original salesman wasn’t there was a GOOD thing. The department manager who wound up helping me out knew his shit. And his audio gear, too. The reason that the sound wasn’t great, and the reason why the Yorkville didn’t sound as good as I had hoped, was because both of those amps were underpowered compared to the PR15’s, which are rated at 400 watts. I don’t remember what the Samson amp was putting out at 8 ohms, but the Yorkville was throwing out 200 watts at 8 ohms.  Much discussion ensued.

I heard a lot of theories thrown back and forth, and things like “voice cones” and “throw distance” and a bunch of other stuff that I’m not qualified to repeat or smart enough to remember. Long story short, though- I got a Samson PG3800 amp, which puts out about 570 Watts at 8 ohms if I recall correctly. I also got the road case, the power conditioner, and 100 feet of speaker cable. And I’m really happy with the gear that I bought.

So I’ve now got 15 inch mains and around 600 Watts of sound to pump through them. I still need monitors and subs, but this is a bare minimum. My first band played every show we ever did with 12 inch mains and something like 200 Watts. It ain’t perfect but it’s a good start.

So what have I learned? What advice can I give you? When you’re gonna make a purchase, look at the money involved, take your time, and do your research. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, even if you know they’re stupid. Because after all, would you rather sound stupid in a music store, or while you’re standing up on stage?

P.S.- I’ve been trying to scrape time together to get this post written for more than a few days, and it has proven to be more difficult than I expected. I’ve had other posts that I wanted to make, but I told you guys I’d discuss my PA gear next time, and I don’t like to break promises. So lesson learned– don’t promise what the next post is gonna be about 😉

I’ve been studying various options for PA gear and after saving up cash since around August 2008, last week I finally went ahead and made some purchases. This has been a really tough decision and I’m just hoping I made the right choices. Here’s why I bought what I bought.

I went back and forth on what I was going to buy, bouncing between buying an all-in-one powered mixer or a power amp and mixer. Back in August, I set out to get some advice and wound up talking to a very knowledgeable guy at Far Out Music in Jeffersonville/Clarksville Indiana. He asked me a lot of questions and pushed me toward buying a power amp because it provided the most flexibility– I could start out with the mixer I already had and then trade up for a bigger one as my needs grew. He also pointed me towards a set of speakers that both sounded good and were light (Peavey PR-15s). I managed to pick up a set of those back in October.

Why the light speakers? At that point, I was angling myself towards a series of solo shows and I had to have equipment that I could easily cart in and out on my own. The Peaveys sounded great and are practically weightless. I feel like they were a good deal at $199 each, and I’m pretty happy with them thus far.

As time wore on, I became a little disillusioned with the idea of buying a power amp and a separate mixer. Going that route meant that I also needed to buy a road case for the amp and that the overall setup time for the PA would be more time consuming– it may not seem like a big deal but running cables from the mixer to the power amp is just one more step in a long process.

The last band I played in had used a Carvin RX1200 for sound, and everything worked very well. It’s a powered mixer that provides four distinct channels running at 300 watts, along with 12 input channels, digital signal processing, and an integrated and very sturdy case to house the unit. Having heard this unit in action, I knew what it was capable of, and that was a very reassuring thought.

The downside is that the Carvin costs $699, and the more I thought of only having 12 inputs the more I realized that wasn’t really enough. If I run mics for the drum kit, that’s at least 5 separate channels (kick, snare, two toms and an omni-directional mic for the cymbals and floor toms). Add in instruments (bass, keys, two guitars) and vocal mics and you’re looking at 11 channels already. If we have three people singing, or if we need to add a sixth mic to the drums, or if we have another instrument in the mix, or if someone needs a stereo signal from their instrument, I’m suddenly using all 12 channels.

That was a lot of possible problems, and in the last band I was in we routinely ran all the drums into a separate mixer and then into the Carvin when we played out, so the possibility of running out of mixer channels was not just a hypothetical situation for me.

So the closer I came to buying PA gear, the more I was leaning towards separate components. More on what I bought will show up in my next post.