Members Reddog1 Posted March 17, 2010 Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 My band was approached to play an American Cancer Society relay (people come in the staduim and walk the track all night long). I was asking various questions and they said the band would be hooked up to the high school football stadium sound system. Exactly how will they do this? I didn't ask the lady yet in the email because she is part of the group throwing it, she probably has no idea on the details. Would we plug into the mixer xlr out just like we were going to our own amps and speakers, but we'll be going to the staduim sound instead? Could we still have control over our own mix on our board? At this point I would assume I would have to mic every drum also. I'm sure some of you have dealt with this before, what am I getting into? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reddog1 Posted March 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 Oops, I meant speakers in the title, not peakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members samkokajko Posted March 17, 2010 Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 You'll have to get more information but I would not feel confident at all on this one. Chances are pretty good that no one with any tech knowledge has looked at this possibility, someone saw speakers and decided you could do this. If it is true though I would doubt the quality to be all that great for amplifying a band, I would plan on just setting up like it was any other outdoor gig. If you are in the center of the track you may need more speakers to try to cover all 360 degrees, it all depends on their expectations of how it will send. You could plug into their system and if it sounds awful you could set up your speakers (which you need to bring no matter what) and be the savior of the day. If you don't have subs don't mic kick or bass, if you use their system I would mic the drums with a single overhead and if you add bass make sure to put a HPF on it and really cut the low end. The stadium horns in a public address system are NOT going to give you much low end and you don't want to be the one who blows up this rig. Actually on second thought, I'd probably steer away from using their speakers altogether for fear of damaging them, this just plain isn't what they are designed to do. If they want you to use them, insist they get someone to run it who can take the heat if it gets damaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hibbasc1 Posted March 17, 2010 Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 I would certainly look into what the sound system in the stadium is. You do not want to get there and find out the system is an "annoucement" paging horn system. Regardless of how good your band is, playing through such a system will do you no favors. Make come calls or a site visit in advance so you know what you are dealing with. If the system is as I described above, be prepared with your own PA system (and enough of it). If you don't sound good through their stadium system, unfortunately very few people will equate that with the stadium sound system. But you also may be surprised - if they have a full-range system with proper amplfication and some DSP - good for you (and good luck!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted March 17, 2010 Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 Oops, I meant speakers in the title, not peakers.Actually with the usual crappy stadium system you pro'lly got it right the first time . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted March 17, 2010 Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 Agreed with above. Stadium horns ain't gonna cut it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reddog1 Posted March 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 This school has money, but I would assume they just have the usual stadium horns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted March 17, 2010 Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 Set up your normal PA and use the normal levels. That will be the best bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted March 17, 2010 Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 It will sound very bad out of those stadium horns. They are made for voice and occasional compressed playback. No subs means no lows. It would sound like a bad transistor radio. Rent an adequate system or just use what you have and don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members srp72ee Posted March 17, 2010 Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 Most HS stadium sound systems are fine for announcing who did what, and the singing of the National Anthem. Beyond that I wouldn't expect anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted March 17, 2010 CMS Author Share Posted March 17, 2010 This isn't a big deal. Use your usual setup, and have a separate feed to the stadium system. You can simply split your main mixer output. I'd advise getting a 1:1 isolation transformer to protect your system from whatever accidents might occur in the stadium system, but otherwise that's all you need. Anyone in the area of the band can hear it at 'concert' levels, and the ret of the stadium gets what it gets. It won't sound good through stadium horns, but it'll cover the stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted March 17, 2010 Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 ...and use in ears if you can because the echo might make things interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1proaudio Posted March 17, 2010 Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 We did this a couple of years ago for a all night breast cancer walk started at 6pm went till 9 am the next morning. we were only booked to be apart of the pre walk festivities. Stage on the 50 yd line playing to one side of the bleachers. Everybody loved it. So much they wanted us to stay all night doing a set every 3-4 hrs. With iPod between sets. We had a good sounding system with us but now need to cover the full running track that circles the football field and are limited to what we had with us. We had 2 subs 2 tops per side we simply split it up and put 1 sub 1 top pointing out from each corner. It worked great and everyone loved it. I recruited someone from the charity to do iPod duty and was able to go nap or do whatever between live sets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mogwix Posted March 17, 2010 Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 Bring your rig and use it, don't bother with the stadium PA. Depending on how the field's audio system is laid out, and where your stage and PA will be, chances are there'll be incredible amounts of delay coming from different sources (your PA + field's PA = multiple arrival times). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted March 17, 2010 Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 Typical HS stadium speakers is not going to be a very pleasing experience, and it's likely that there is nowhere near enough headroom for your band. Probably not even close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reddog1 Posted March 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2010 We did this a couple of years ago for a all night breast cancer walk started at 6pm went till 9 am the next morning. we were only booked to be apart of the pre walk festivities. Stage on the 50 yd line playing to one side of the bleachers. Everybody loved it. So much they wanted us to stay all night doing a set every 3-4 hrs. With iPod between sets. We had a good sounding system with us but now need to cover the full running track that circles the football field and are limited to what we had with us. We had 2 subs 2 tops per side we simply split it up and put 1 sub 1 top pointing out from each corner. It worked great and everyone loved it. I recruited someone from the charity to do iPod duty and was able to go nap or do whatever between live sets. This is exactly what we are doing, and I have another set of subs and tops to borrow (with power). If we are on the 50 and need to get to the other side, maybe I'll try what you did. I think we will be fine, they said we didn't have to use the stadium pa. So with what we have and what we are going to borrow, I think we will be ok. I think there is a car show and the whole shot, so not everyone will want to hear us like we are in an arena. Thanks for your input everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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