Guitar gig questions...

[Yknurd]

There is some good advice here but I would like to be more direct.  Not to be derogatory but in an effort to be as explicit as possible.

Your amp alone is probably more than adequate for small clubs.

Larger venues I would mike the amp so that it will be routed through the PA.

Routing through the PA has a side benefit.  Since the PA will be doing the pushing for volume you don't have to turn your amp up to 11 just to be heard.  This allows you to adjust the settings just how you like it.

Most tube amps sound better when they are cranked.  There is a sweet spot sometimes, and maybe it's between 8 and 9 instead of at 10.  But with the PA you can adjust your amp until it sounds good and then adjust the volume at the PA board.



Interesting story to make the point:  Eric Clapton and Duane Allman recording Layla.

Producer Tom Dowd recorded Clapton and Allman sitting facing each other while they both played through 15W amps, a Fender Princeton I believe and I forgot what the other one was.

If either of them had coughed, that take would have been ruined.  Or farted too loudly.  Ruined.

[SkyRock]

Place a SM-47 in front of your amp and turn your volume to the setting that gives you the best sound when it's just you and the amp.  Then let the PA guy control your overall out front.

[Xasthur]

Originally posted by SkyRock
Place a SM-47 in front of your amp and turn your volume to the setting that gives you the best sound when it's just you and the amp.  Then let the PA guy control your overall out front.

This is what I use when recording and a similar set-up is used when performing live. I use the house microphones set up in the same fashion... depending on the mics being used.

Shure SM 57 microphone pointed at the centre of one of the speakers on an angle (not directly at it).

My amp rig is a Laney VH 100R tube amp through a Marshall cab (which, basically, is loud enough to not mic at all in smaller venues). I run my guitars through a BOSS ME-50 effects pedal.

Basically, most people only ever plug bass into the PA. This is called 'DI'. You run a mic lead out of the DI jack in the back of your bass amp.

My band has used this to great success in the past, as the guitars are quite harsh and abrasive... DI'ing the bass maintains the clairty of the signal from the amp.


For your situation the microphone is the way to do, definitely not DI.

You'll get away with playing your amp at it's 'sweet spot' as far as volume goes (provided that is not overly quiet) and the PA will provide the volume.

[SkyRock]

Originally posted by Xasthur
This is what I use when recording and a similar set-up is used when performing live. I use the house microphones set up in the same fashion... depending on the mics being used.

Shure SM 57 microphone pointed at the centre of one of the speakers on an angle (not directly at it).

My amp rig is a Laney VH 100R tube amp through a Marshall cab (which, basically, is loud enough to not mic at all in smaller venues). I run my guitars through a BOSS ME-50 effects pedal.

Basically, most people only ever plug bass into the PA. This is called 'DI'. You run a mic lead out of the DI jack in the back of your bass amp.

My band has used this to great success in the past, as the guitars are quite harsh and abrasive... DI'ing the bass maintains the clairty of the signal from the amp.


For your situation the microphone is the way to do, definitely not DI.

You'll get away with playing your amp at it's 'sweet spot' as far as volume goes (provided that is not overly quiet) and the PA will provide the volume.

my bad, I meant to say SM57.  Doh!!!  Yes this is standard way to amplify guitar amp for larger rooms and anything that is too big for your amp by itself.  not to mention a great way to get teh best sound out of your amp, so as to not have to turn it up real loud.

[lasersailor184]

Originally posted by DiabloTX
Frontman and a Fender Squire?

You're braver than I thought.

While I am brave, it's not courage that drives it.  It's poorness.


I will have time to do a sound test.

[Thruster]

Oops forgot,

Get the amp off the floor. Amp stand, milk crates.... whatever, the closer to waist high the better.

[lasersailor184]

Why?

[Golfer]

Because if it isn't  the sound bounces into the floor and gets mushed (very technical music term)  killing the quality.  gwt it off the floor and it projects better than on the ground.

[scottydawg]

Originally posted by Golfer
Because if it isn't  the sound bounces into the floor and gets mushed (very technical music term)  killing the quality.  gwt it off the floor and it projects better than on the ground.

Not to mention that subharmonics from the amp cabinet can travel through the floor and into the mic stand, creating a boominess you probably don't want.

[Thruster]

Why?

Mostly so you can hear it. There are some acoustic advantages, decoupling is one but from what I gather you have a fairly small amp and are doing loud material. If the P.A.'s what I imagine you won't be wandering far from it.

And if your doing punk the tendency is to move around a lot. If it's up higher it stands a lesser chance of getting stepped on or kicked.

[lasersailor184]

So, the sound system worked amazing.  I first tried to play only using my amp, but it didn't sound like I wanted / how I was used to.

So the sound technician was really nice and helped me get a Microphone set up on the speaker itself.  This worked to play a nice sound throughout the PA system.


But I botched it somewhat.  Every time the adrenaline just screws with me.  Any suggestions for this?  More Practice?  Smaller Venues?  Booze?

[sluggish]

Originally posted by Thruster
Mostly so you can hear it. There are some acoustic advantages, decoupling is one but from what I gather you have a fairly small amp and are doing loud material. If the P.A.'s what I imagine you won't be wandering far from it.

And if your doing punk the tendency is to move around a lot. If it's up higher it stands a lesser chance of getting stepped on or kicked.

This is my gig rig (behind my partner Logan).  Amp stand gets the amp off the floor and de-coupled from the stage.  Gets the sound pointed right at my head.  To prevent bleed-through to other mics you want to keep the volume as low as possible.  You do this by de-coupling the amp from the stage and pointing it directly at your head.  I use an SM-57 slung over the top of the amp through the handle.  Using the Shure as a side address gives it a warm but not boomy sound that I like.  This amp is a 60 watt Line6 Flextone II.  I have used it to play for crowds in excess of 7,000.  A big misconception is that you need a bigger amp to play a bigger room/crowd-not so.  With a good PA system, your amp needs only to be loud enough to be heard on stage (even then it can be routed through the monitors).

The only way to get past the adrenaline screw-ups is by playing in front of people - a lot.  And the day you're not nervous anymore is the day to pack it in.

[lasersailor184]

It's not so much nervousness.  I have no problem with public speaking, or doing anything in front of a large crowd.  It's the adrenaline rush.  It makes it hard to focus, to remember what I should be doing.


For example, I skipped an entire verse!  What the ****?!  I literally watched myself skip an entire verse, yet my conscious mind couldn't do anything to stop it.

Maybe it is nerves, but it's not the nerves I'm used to.

[sluggish]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
It's not so much nervousness.  I have no problem with public speaking, or doing anything in front of a large crowd.  It's the adrenaline rush.  It makes it hard to focus, to remember what I should be doing.


For example, I skipped an entire verse!  What the ****?!  I literally watched myself skip an entire verse, yet my conscious mind couldn't do anything to stop it.

Maybe it is nerves, but it's not the nerves I'm used to.

I never said you were nervous.  I said you should be...

[Thruster]

Every time the adrenaline just screws with me. Any suggestions for this? More Practice? Smaller Venues? Booze?

" Excuse me sir, but do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?"