Beginner question, I know... Mixers into power amps...

[oFlyinDutchmano]

Guitar player here, really, really new to setting up live sound that isn't my guitar going into my board into my amp. So I'm starting a band that will be using samples and a click track, the method I was told was easiest was to make the click track and samples, put the WAV files on a media player, run a stereo Y cable 1/8" to 2 1/4"s into a mixer by the drummer. From that smaller mixer he controls the media player to start the songs, feeds the click into his in ears and sends the samples to front of house. Here's the thing, right now FOH is me and I don't know what I'm doing.

 

In the space we have a Peavey PVI8500 PA, it's a mixer and power amp combo, 8 inputs (the kind that take XLR and 1/4") and a line out and a monitor mix out. There's also a line out and monitor out on the front that from what I gather from the manual is meant to bypass the Peavey power amp and instead being able to send a mix to a different power amp... Anyway, so the drummer bring his mixer, what kind of cable do I run from his mixer to the main PA mixer and where do I plug it into? Am I simply treating the signal from his mixer like an instrument and putting it in one of the inputs?

 

I know, really simple stuff but wanna make sure I know what I'm doing

[Mogwix]

Am I simply treating the signal from his mixer like an instrument and putting it in one of the inputs?

yes.

[oFlyinDutchmano]

I'm sure different mixers call all the ins and outs different things, but what would I be looking for on the drummer's mixer to plug the cable between the two? Would there be something labeled channel out or the like?

[wesg]

You'll need two different outputs from the mixer -- one with and one without the click, presumably.

 

The drummer will probably also be using headphones. So he'll want the "headphones" jack on the mixer, which is typically tied to the main outs when no solo/PFL/AFL/etc buttons are pressed. (Note that this probably won't be loud enough, maybe this is a good way to tame your drummer )

 

So, you still need to get the backing track out to the main board. The easiest way to do this is to plug Aux 1 send into your main board. If you are plugging into a microphone input, make sure that the input's pad button (often labelled 20dB) is pressed. Turn the Aux 1 master send knob up to around noon on the drummer's board, and the aux 1 knob on the channel strip with the backing track also to noon. Turn all other aux 1 knobs all the way left.

 

One problem you are likely to face is that the drummer is not going to be able to hear the vocalists with his headphones on.

 

Note that with a more mature setup, you would not need to do this. My band uses a Mackie Onyx 24-4 mixer, and we have enough aux sends that the drummer has his own monitor mix. In my case, I would simply feed the two signals into separate channels, route the click track to the drummer only, and that would be it. The minute you start cobbling stuff together is the minute complexity goes exponential, setup time goes way up, and gig failures become more likely.

 

I know money is scarce everywhere, but if you want to do this right with low barrier to entry from a knowledge POV, you should be shopping for a good used analog mixer IMO. Two important criteria for you will be number of inputs and number of aux sends. You need at least as many aux sends as you want monitor mixes, plus at least one (preferably two) for effects.

 

Wes

[oFlyinDutchmano]

You'll need two different outputs from the mixer -- one with and one without the click, presumably.

 

The drummer will probably also be using headphones. So he'll want the "headphones" jack on the mixer, which is typically tied to the main outs when no solo/PFL/AFL/etc buttons are pressed. (Note that this probably won't be loud enough, maybe this is a good way to tame your drummer )

 

So, you still need to get the backing track out to the main board. The easiest way to do this is to plug Aux 1 send into your main board. If you are plugging into a microphone input, make sure that the input's pad button (often labelled 20dB) is pressed. Turn the Aux 1 master send knob up to around noon on the drummer's board, and the aux 1 knob on the channel strip with the backing track also to noon. Turn all other aux 1 knobs all the way left.

 

One problem you are likely to face is that the drummer is not going to be able to hear the vocalists with his headphones on.

 

Note that with a more mature setup, you would not need to do this. My band uses a Mackie Onyx 24-4 mixer, and we have enough aux sends that the drummer has his own monitor mix. In my case, I would simply feed the two signals into separate channels, route the click track to the drummer only, and that would be it. The minute you start cobbling stuff together is the minute complexity goes exponential, setup time goes way up, and gig failures become more likely.

 

I know money is scarce everywhere, but if you want to do this right with low barrier to entry from a knowledge POV, you should be shopping for a good used analog mixer IMO. Two important criteria for you will be number of inputs and number of aux sends. You need at least as many aux sends as you want monitor mixes, plus at least one (preferably two) for effects.

 

Wes

Wow, thanks for such in depth info... So that first part I got from watching videos about setting up clicks/samples.

 

Going from his mixer to the main mixer/amp, so the Peavey we have while it does have the instrument/XLR 2-in-1 inputs it does not have any pads, which is annoying, which means we'll need a DI, but that's alright.

 

With our setup right now the drummer doesn't want to hear the vocalist or anything really at all through his monitor, just the click or the original track. With that in mind his in ears plugging into his little mixer, click panned one way, samples panned the other, then having that send to the main mixer should be enough, right?

[wesg]

Post model numbers - somebody here may be familiar with the gear and have specific advice.

 

I'm sorry to hear that your drummer doesn't think he needs to hear the rest of the band. It's always better, musically, to have musicians playing with each other than at each other.

 

Wes