Members SmattyG Posted July 28, 2003 Members Share Posted July 28, 2003 We've been playing gigs lately with another band who brings the PA... I do the sound for everyone, and while their playing (the other band), they only use 1 mic, and there are no problems. We can get it up pretty loud, and it sounds good... When we play however, there are big problems. I'm using 2 vocal mics, 1 SM57 for the hand-drum, and 2 acoustic guitars all plugged in. I'm not sure what kind of PA it is, but once all of this stuff is plugged in, it seems like we can't get it all loud enough without clipping? The other thing, is that the master meters on the amp don't show it as clipping, so I'm assuming that it's the individual preams that are doing this. The outcome, is that we have a lot of trouble getting the level of the acoustic guitars up loud enough, but once they are at a reasonable level (and beleive me, we're not that loud AT ALL), it is really tough to get the vocals up above them. It's been the same venue every time, and venues don't get much smaller than this one. It's probably a max capacity of 50 people, so if this P.A. can't handle it, I'm confused. I'm really sorry that I can't tell you what kind of PA it is, I keep forgetting to look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy Tune Posted July 29, 2003 Members Share Posted July 29, 2003 Is is clipping on the guitar input channels? Try a DI box for them if they are clipping or pad the channels (if you have a pad on the mixer). Use your 75 or 80 HZ cuts for everything except the bass drum and the bass. This stops mic bleed. Are there onboard effects on the mixer? Look to see if there are effects returns on the mixer. If so, lower the faders a little and see if you can get more out of the board before it clips. If you do, keep lowering it until you get some good levels. The only other thing to do is to set she level of everything around what you can get out of the system vocally. There's one problem with musicians running a mixer. In the beginning, we want everyone to hear us. So we run it way to loud. In a 50 seat venue, less is more. Just a few suggestions off of the top of my head. Hope that at least one of these suggestions work for you. More info would help though. What kind of Power amp? What kind of board? Speakers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RickJ Posted July 29, 2003 Members Share Posted July 29, 2003 What you've described sounds like a mismatch between the mixer and the amp. If the mixer's clipping and the amp isn't, it means the mixer doesn't have enough output to properly drive the amp. Insert a line driver or EQ (or something else that will boost the signal) between the mixer and amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SmattyG Posted July 29, 2003 Author Members Share Posted July 29, 2003 Well, it is acctually a combo mixer/pa type amp. Similar to the mackie 808, just a lot less powerful. I will try some of those suggestions. Question, what do you mean by "The only other thing to do is to set the level of everything around what you can get out of the system vocally."? Also, as for the less is more thing, i understand this, but we do have to be able to get just slightly above conversation level... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted July 29, 2003 Members Share Posted July 29, 2003 Originally posted by SmattyG Well, it is acctually a combo mixer/pa type amp. Similar to the mackie 808, just a lot less powerful.I will try some of those suggestions. Question, what do you mean by "The only other thing to do is to set the level of everything around what you can get out of the system vocally."?Also, as for the less is more thing, i understand this, but we do have to be able to get just slightly above conversation level... What model mixer is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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