Members Alpione Posted June 1, 2012 Members Share Posted June 1, 2012 Hey all... I've been playing in an acoustic duo for the past 18 months or so but am starting to do some solo stuff. How does everyone go about soundchecking, setting levels, eq, etc by yourself? I'm used to having another person I trust to go out and listen to it. I'm about to do a country club party and don't want to ask some random guy in a black tie to tell me if the vocals are too high in the mix. Thanks. Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members daklander Posted June 1, 2012 Members Share Posted June 1, 2012 What's the size and layout of the joint you're playing Adam? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted June 1, 2012 Members Share Posted June 1, 2012 I use a Bose system and it's pretty consistent from show to show HOWEVER... I have a few things that I've always done to make sure I get the best possible mix. (sound guys- all of this originally hinged on proper gain staging of course) I'm sure that I've actually planned it this way, but last night during a gig my mind was wandering and I noticed something cool. Everything from my preamp on my guitar, to my loop station, to the gain on my board, to the fader on the board, are all set at exact unity gain. The only thing that is different is the main overall volume. Now of course if you looked closely you'd see that my vocal may have been perfectly set to "0" but the guitar was a little bit less. Obviously that's my "mix" right there. The nice thing about this is that it's easy to set up and slightly modify every night. It's funny because almost everything including "EQ" section of my board is almost flat as well. On the other end of things simply turn your speaker on a stick around and sound check yourself that way. Then simply turn the speaker around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alpione Posted June 2, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 2, 2012 What's the size and layout of the joint you're playing Adam? Haven't seen it, but I'm told it's a patio area outside. Yeah - I've been using the "turn the speaker around" method. Just figure there's got to be more to it than that. Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members herbie d Posted June 2, 2012 Members Share Posted June 2, 2012 What, is it two guitars, two vocals? When I do a duo, I usually use an up-right bass player. I get him to set the level on my guitar and voice. (I sing the majority of the material.) He'll walk around the area to make sure of coverage, volume, and mix. Then he comes to join me. I can usually hear his bass fine from behind the pa speakers, and adjust it to fit, then I set his vocal mike similar to mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted June 2, 2012 Members Share Posted June 2, 2012 What, is it two guitars, two vocals? When I do a duo, I usually use an up-right bass player. I get him to set the level on my guitar and voice. (I sing the majority of the material.) He'll walk around the area to make sure of coverage, volume, and mix. Then he comes to join me. I can usually hear his bass fine from behind the pa speakers, and adjust it to fit, then I set his vocal mike similar to mine. When doing duo ot trio, that's pretty much how I do it, myself. When in doubt, I'll ask someone "out there" if everything sounds balanced, but, after all these years, I generally get right from the get-go. Solo gigs, I adjust EQ and voice/instrument ratio levels w/ one speaker facing me at a low volume, then turn it up to where it works at that particular venue (some places want it louder, some want it softer, I get more repeat business when venue management is smiling). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve mac Posted June 2, 2012 Members Share Posted June 2, 2012 I use my looper and play about 20 seconds worth then go out and have a listen, works for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted June 2, 2012 Members Share Posted June 2, 2012 headphones help. Or have the mic out front for soundcheck and then bring it back to stage when everything is set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members daklander Posted June 2, 2012 Members Share Posted June 2, 2012 .......Solo gigs, I adjust EQ and voice/instrument ratio levels w/ one speaker facing me at a low volume, then turn it up to where it works at that particular venue (some places want it louder, some want it softer, I get more repeat business when venue management is smiling). Pretty much that^^^^^. Once you have the levels where you want them, and they sound good, make notes of the settings as well as the venue layout.When you play a similar gig you'll have the base setting ready to go and may only need a bit of a tweak here and there.Something to keep in mind is the number of people. Depending on the venue, as the numbers of people ebb and flow the sound requirements may change a bit and if it's outdoors the wind, it's direction, the time of day & etc can also make some tweaks necessary. Nothing is set in stone when it comes to gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members herbie d Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 Yea... ya know, I use one of about 3 systems when I play, and I've gotten kind of used to what they sound like from behind verses what they sound like in front. I still like to use a sound man when I can, then just remove myself from any of that worry. Ah... "turn up the monitor please". Or when I get told, "it's too loud", I just point at the sound guy and say," talk to him". When doing duo ot trio, that's pretty much how I do it, myself. When in doubt, I'll ask someone "out there" if everything sounds balanced, but, after all these years, I generally get right from the get-go.Solo gigs, I adjust EQ and voice/instrument ratio levels w/ one speaker facing me at a low volume, then turn it up to where it works at that particular venue (some places want it louder, some want it softer, I get more repeat business when venue management is smiling). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Ellis Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 Turning a speaker towards yourself and then turning it back towards the audience completely changes the sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Turning a speaker towards yourself and then turning it back towards the audience completely changes the sound. Turn it down while pointing at you, turn it up when pointing at the audience, then re-check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members daklander Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Turning a speaker towards yourself and then turning it back towards the audience completely changes the sound. It's much like learning your studio monitors. Experience makes the difference as to how the sound translates and it's not volume you're looking for, it's vox vs other levels. Then, once you've turned the loudspeakers back around you work on volume and again experience with the gear and various venues will help you out so you don't over power the venue, which is, IMHO, the biggest mistake a solo act can make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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