Members GuitarDude Posted October 20, 2003 Members Share Posted October 20, 2003 Right now, I'm in a acoustic duo. I'm having a hard time really finding out how we sound because my 20ft guitar cord and the mic just can't reach to the the end of the venue so I can't really judge what the audience hears. And a simple, "That sounds good" from a non-musician doesn't cut it for me. Are monitors a good judge? Or is there another trick? Thanks! -GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GuitarDude Posted October 20, 2003 Author Members Share Posted October 20, 2003 oh by the way i run most of the sound.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members swedishcubsfan Posted October 20, 2003 Members Share Posted October 20, 2003 monitors would be a great start, but what is coming out of the monitors is not the same (even if everything is set equally) as what is coming out of the mains. There is no replacing someone you trust in the audience to hear you and tell you how you sound, but monitors will give you a pretty good clue, and will help you on stage as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted October 21, 2003 Members Share Posted October 21, 2003 Generally, you can hear what's coming back from the room if you listen carefully. It's not perfect but with experience it can be a good guide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted October 21, 2003 Members Share Posted October 21, 2003 I've done that kind of gig, even with drums. You get a decent feel for the sound with a few shows, and it's a great skill to learn. Just ask people. Most people won't be able to give a serious analysis, but they can tell if they can't hear the vocals and such. Maybe ask "can you hear everything?" instead of "how does it sound?". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J Kylez Posted October 21, 2003 Members Share Posted October 21, 2003 My band does acoustic shows with 2-5 players depending on who is available. At minimum we have a bass/guitar and myself on guitar with both of us doing vocals. The biggest is 2 guitars, bass, acoustic drums, and another vocalist. Anyway, here is my point. We only use our monitor system for these shows. 2 monitors become PA on a stick for mains. We then use another 2 to 4 wedges for us. There is only one mix. We basically mix the FOH into the monitors and it is good. This is done from the stage. It's basically a set and forget affair really. We don't even use FX on the vocals. With the drums we set the vocals appropriately on stage and then adjust the guitars accordingly as well. The drums are closest to us anyway. There aren't that many instruments so it is an easy mix. Even with four vocals it isn't a problem. We just back off a bit for backup vocals. The full mix is in our monitors so it is easy to know what is going on. It works really well for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J Kylez Posted October 21, 2003 Members Share Posted October 21, 2003 I should mention that most of the places we play in this format only hold 50-100 people. It is mostly a weeknight gig so the places are usually only half full. It actually makes a nice comfortable atmosphere and it's a lot of fun. The setup time is 30 minutes. There isn't much overhead so you can charge reasonably and make some dough too. Okay, I've rambled enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members waskelton4 Posted October 21, 2003 Members Share Posted October 21, 2003 i feel your pain.. you may want to try this... although it won't give you a true idea of what it really sounds like out there.. it'll give you a good idea as to the mix coming straight out of your FOH.. if your speakers are on sticks.. just spin the FOH over to face you and mute your monitors.. it's not perfect.. but it might help some.. we've done it before for our small acoustic shows and had some pretty good results.. will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted October 21, 2003 Members Share Posted October 21, 2003 Stick a tape recorder in a corner of the room. Just before you start playing, hit the record button. Come back on the break and flip the tape over and do it again. Try moving the recorder to different spots in the room. This method is not perfect, but it should give you an idea of your balance (Vocals too soft? Guitars too loud?) and even some idea of your tone. Of course, the better the tape recorder, the better the quality of sound reproduction. But even a cheap little boombox can help give you some ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted October 21, 2003 Members Share Posted October 21, 2003 {censored}, if you're not getting your friends to come to the show you should give up being a musician right now... Seriously, don't bother with monitors if you want to do this sort of setup. If you just hear your vocals from the FOH, things are about right. Everybody in the group has to be decent about volume levels, too. But it's really not that hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alby Posted November 11, 2003 Members Share Posted November 11, 2003 The only way to be 100% sure is to go wireless & roam! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rbts Posted November 12, 2003 Members Share Posted November 12, 2003 I would like to put my drums on auto play,and be able to go out front and actually hear what it actually sounds like. Just once. We record, but... then I have to go back to the venue, and set the full PA up for playback so that I can find out what it really sounded like, and I have to get all the people to come back, and fill up the roomn with bodies,and that is the part that alw2ays seems really hard to do for a replaying of the tape of the engagement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rbts Posted November 12, 2003 Members Share Posted November 12, 2003 I would like to put my drums on auto play,and be able to go out front and actually hear what it actually sounds like. Just once. We record, but... then I have to go back to the venue, and set the full PA up for playback so that I can find out what it really sounded like, and I have to get all the people to come back, and fill up the roomn with bodies,and that is the part that alw2ays seems really hard to do for a replaying of the tape of the engagement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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