Substitute for PA for rehearsal space

[rpjazzguitar]

What I don't know about sound reinforcement would fill a book about sound reinforcement, and, somehow, I have a feeling I'm missing something. I'm setting up a band room in my home. This is for rehearsals and jams. Usually it will be drumset, keyboard, guitar, bass and a horn or two. Playing jazz. I don't like playing loud, meaning the average drummer's volume is too much for me, but I'll have to cope. Room is about 20 by 15.

 

I'd like to have a mic for vocals. I have a Sennheiser 609, which should be okay. But, I don't have anything for amplifying the vocals. Not loud, but enough to be heard like an unamplified horn.

 

I will never need it for a gig (the singer can bring his or her own gear as far as I'm concerned) and I don't need it to be very loud. I have a couple of old home stereo receivers lying around (maybe 50 watts per channel). Also, some ADS 810 home stereo speakers, which, back when, were pretty good.

 

I'm not sure how to plug the mic into a home receiver, but I assume I need something like a small mixer, which I'm happy to buy.

 

Is there any reason that this wouldn't work?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Rick

[nchangin]

Yes, home audio and pro "pa" audio don't like to mix, not that you can't do it, but wrong tool for the wrong job. Kinda like using a jigsaw in place of a chainsaw to cut down a tree, sure the jigsaw will work, but wrong tool for wrong job.

Are you planning on doing a lot of vocal work or minimal vocal work? If you are singing and want effects I'd suggest a small format mixer (such as a ZED 10FX) and a personal monitor speaker that is powered, one example would be EV ZLX12P or something similar by Yamaha and/or QSC (brand name) or other reputable company. If you are not doing a lot of singing and don't need vocal effects, get one of these powered speakers and run the mic direct into them (yes they are designed for this)

 

 

[Audiopile]

I'm of the opinion that it may serve a purpose for the practice room environment to mimic the performance environment... at least concerning the aspects where practicing is with an intent to improve the performance delivery. If improving mic technique is one of those things that could use practice, the suitable tool for the practice job will likely require some semblance to the suitable tool for the performance job.

[Gregidon]

Do not plug a mic into the home stereo receiver / speakers. I have personal experience with destroying both doing this. They are not rated for the harsher types of signals that live audio equipment encounters.

[Shaster]

I would refrain from using home stereo equipment unless your project is not at all serious - or your fourteen years old, which was the last time I used home stereo equipment for PA. Note that even at fourteen, I purchased a gigging PA a few months after attempting to use the home stereo stuff.

 

As Mark (Aidiopile) has stated, you should practice with equipment that bears some relationship to the equipment you will be using live. Either go out and get a powered speaker (EV, Yamaha, RCF, Yorkville, JBL....) with an industry standard mic like a Shure SM58 OR have the singer bring the PA.

 

What you're attempting to do is like a guitar player rehearsing a show with four strings because he can't afford the other two. My opinion of course.

[Pro Sound Guy]

Home audio loudspeakers in general will put out on average of 88db of pink noise measured from 1 meter away with 1 watt power.

A pro audiio loudspeaker with that same 1 watt will put out on average 98db.

10 db is HUGE in output.

Save your home stereo gear and look at craigslist and pickup a powered mixer with some pro audio loudspeakers for your rehearsal space.

[Craig Vecchione]

A single 12" powered speaker (the E-V ZLX12P recommendation was good) is all you'll need for the vocals and possibly one more channel of something if needed. A small mixer will help if you wind up needing more inputs at some future time.

 

The drums are where you'll have issues. Consider any and all means of getting them quieter....rods instead of sticks, mesh heads and pickups into a small amp, etc.

 

Rehearsal is for hearing each other, learning the song arrangements, finding then correcting mistakes, and playing tight. This requires very little volume and much discipline. It's also what separates the good bands from the ones that go nowhere.

[Vito Corleone]

Depends how loud you rehearse, for one thing. We have a small PA (mixer through powered cabinets) that we run vocals, bass and e-drums through, but my keyboards and guitar rig are run through the studio monitors I have hooked up to my computer. (Yamaha HS50Ms and a powered Sony subwoofer.) They work great for that. But our rehearsal volume is very low---so low that vocal mics are almost superfluous.

[rpjazzguitar]

Thanks to all who replied. You talked me out of the home stereo idea.

 

I like the powered speaker with small mixer approach. Or a powered mixer with passive speakers which might be better because I could also use it to listen to music in stereo.

 

And, I couldn't agree more with the idea of low rehearsal volume, which is what made me consider the home stereo thing in the first place.

 

As far as limiting the drum volume, I have a drumset, and I'm thinking of not setting up the bass drum and maybe not the cymbals either. Frankly, for a lot of the music I play all I really want to hear is a shaker (or some other soft 16th note pulse in 2/4) and a brush on a snare drum. Hi hat is okay too. Most likely, most drummers won't want to play like that, but I'd prefer drummerless to painful volume.