It’s Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. Your outdoor gig falls prey to cloudy skies. A string breaks. You can’t find the cable for the lead singer’s mic. No one knows the words or the chord changes to the song you wrote. The guitar player is fighting with his girlfriend.
We can’t help you with all of these problems, but we do have suggestions for getting the sound right, avoiding danger when you’re playing out and stocking an emergency kit. As for forgetting the words or playing the wrong chord, our best advice is: don’t stop and don’t panic. Chances are your audience is enjoying the music and didn’t even notice.
What IS Good Sound?
Ever think about what good sounds really means? You’re probably thinking good material, excellent musicianship and the right equipment, but it’s really a little more basic than that,
Most problems in live performance are directly related to fidelity, intelligibility and loudness. If one or more of these basic measures of sound quality isn’t right, your audience can’t really hear the music you’ve worked so hard to perfect. Let’s look at them, one by one.
Fidelity
Is it true? This is mostly determined by the overall frequency response of the sound arriving at the listener’s ear. It must have sufficient frequency range and uniformity to product realistic and accurate speech and music. All parts of the audio chain contribute to it: a limitation in any individual component will limit the fidelity of the entire system.
Intelligibility
Is it understandable? This is a function of the overall signal-to-noise ratio and the direct-to-reverberant sound ratio at the listener’s ear. All this means is that the "signal" - which is the desired sound from the sound system - must be at least 20 decibels louder than the noise and reverberation level at the listener's ear to be intelligible.
What makes a room “live” or “dead”? Here’s where direct-to-reverberant ratios comes in. It’s determined by the acoustics of the room and the direction of the loudspeakers. Reverberation time is the length of time that a sound persists even after the sound source has stopped. A high level or reverberant sound interferes with the intelligibility of the sound since your audience won’t be able to determine where one sound stopped and another started. On the other hand, a very low level of reverberant sound can create a lifeless acoustic environment; a “dead” room.
Loudness
Most musicians find this concept the easiest to understand and apply: optimum volume levels must be achieved without unwanted distortion or feedback. A sound system used by a rock and roll band demands that attention be paid to Potential Acoustic Gain; in other words, the amount of amplification that can be delivered before feedback occurs. The position of microphones and loudspeakers – as well as room acoustics – all play a role.
Now that you understand the components of good sound, it’s time to move on to another building block of live performance: the sound check.
The real purpose of a sound check is to make tone, volume and balance adjustments to the technical set-up of your sound system. More often than not, there isn’t a lot of time available for sound checks (unless you’re a huge touring act and in that case, you’ll have a battalion of sound engineers to help you). Here are some quick tips for making the most of the time you have.
You’ll want to:
1. Set up your sound system and make sure everything is working properly
2. Double-check all connections and inputs
3. Play short segments of a variety of tunes in your set
4. Sing into the mic and listen to the monitors
5. If at all possible, record the sound check and listen to the recording.
6. Make adjustments with the understanding that an empty room will sound different when the audience is present
While understanding the differences between mic, instrument and speaker cables aren’t quite as seductive as checking out the features of a new effects pedal or electronic keyboard, these are essential links in the audio chain. Getting a grip on the basics and learning a couple of tried-and-true techniques from the pros will make sure you’re wired for sound.
First of all, let’s look at the basic set-up of a typical PA system. It will help you understand the different types of cables and how they differ. Just click on the cable type – microphone, instrument or speaker – for the real nitty gritty.
Just about everyone agrees that the old-school “elbow-wrap” method spells death to cords and cables. Not only does it put stress on the metal strands inside, twisted cables are harder to set up and rewrap later on.
When everyone in your band uses this method, you’ll experience fewer cord and cable hassles – plus you’ll be extending the life of your gear.
Remember – what you hear onstage is not what the audience hears. A good sound engineer can help you achieve a sound that’s right for the band, the space and the audience. A sound engineer also frees you to concentrate on the music.
Most sound engineers started out as music fans and band friends. It’s a learned skill. And if you’re not at the stage in your musical career where you have your own crew or access to the venue’s, here are some things to think about:
What does the sound engineer do?
The sound engineer is responsible for making sure all the audio gear – from mics to mixers, amplifiers, speakers, cables and signal processors – is balanced to deliver great sound on the dance or concert floor.
What skills does an engineer need?
Probably the most important is hearing and listening. This not only means the ability to isolate and differentiate sounds, but the ability to process and interpret opinions of band members to achieve the group’s audio objectives. That being said, there’s a technical component – he or she needs to understand the gear, individual knobs, sliders and controls – and what adjustments to make the entire system work together. Again, most everyone starts this learning process by doing.
How does the sound guy fit into the band?
The sound guy is a member of the band. (Don’t forget: he or she may be helpful as a roadie, too.) He’ll be at your rehearsals. He’ll be at your sound checks. He’ll be at the gig. As such, your sound engineer deserves a percentage of the take – whether it’s a flat fee or a percentage of the door – just like anyone else in the band.
How can we learn more about live sound reinforcement?
Some say this is where art and technology meet, but you and your sound engineer don’t need advanced degrees to get basic information you can apply right now.
Here are some of our favorites:
1. www.shure.com - Our K-Base has a ton of useful information, much of it in the form of musician-friendly answers to specific customer questions
2. Mic Techniques for Live Sound Reinforcement (Shure) Available as a PDF on www.shure.com
3. Sound Reinforcement Handbook (Yamaha) Available at music and bookstores everywhere. Amazon, too.
4. prosoundweb.com
5. guitarnoise.com
6. And of course, your local music store
Your Shure dealer is a great source of information and someone you’ll want to develop a relationship with over the years anyhow. In addition to keeping you up-to-date on hot new gear and tips on getting the most from it, most local music stores have perfectly good used PA systems, repair services and rentals, and they offer you a hands-on experience you can’t get over the net or in the pages of a manual.
While the Beatles were among the first to incorporate the screeching sound of guitar feedback into their music (notably “I Feel Fine”), PA feedback is something that most musicians prefer to avoid. We’ve covered these basics in the past, but they bear repeating.
Audio feedback is caused by a "looped signal", that is, a signal that travels in a continuous loop. One of the most common feedback situations is shown here: a microphone feeds a signal into a sound system, which then amplifies and outputs the signal from a speaker, which is picked up again by the microphone.
Here are some suggestions:
• Change the position of the microphone and/or speaker so that the speaker output isn't feeding directly into the mic. Keep speakers further forward (i.e. closer to the audience) than microphones.
• Use a directional microphone.
• Speak or sing close to the microphone.
• Turn microphones off when not in use.
• Equalize the signal, lowering the frequencies causing the feedback.
• Lower the speaker output, so the mic doesn't pick it up.
• Avoid aiming speakers directly at reflective surfaces such as walls.
• Use personal monitors instead of speaker monitors.
Frequency Interference
The popularity of wireless technology continues to grow on a daily basis. Unfortunately, this growth includes many other forms of wireless technology besides microphones and personal monitors, including cell phones, paging systems and TV stations. As the available radio frequency spectrum becomes more crowded, pay close attention to the frequencies you choose.
The UHF band is larger and allows more systems to operate at the same time.
The VHF band is smaller so fewer systems can be used at the same time.
What you need to know about frequency selection.
Most wireless microphones share the same frequencies used by TV stations, both VHF and UHF. Since TV stations are much more powerful than wireless microphones, you have to avoid local TV channels. You can usually find unused TV channels in any given city, but those “open” frequencies are different in each city.
When you’re playing in a band, stuff happens. A guitar cord shorts out. A fuse blows. A pick disappears.
When it happens in the middle of a practice, it’s no big deal. But when you’re in the middle of a gig, it can bring your show to a grinding halt.
With a little advanced planning, however, you can be ready for most of the little problems that unexpectedly arise. A word to the wise: bring along an “emergency case” full of little things that can save your show in the event of an unforeseen problem.
Every band has unique needs. But there are a few “universal” spare parts that no band should be without:
• Extra guitar cords (2 or 3)
• Extra power (extension) cords (2 or 3)
• Extra power strips
• Extra (fresh) batteries for wireless gear
• Duct tape
• Extra guitar strings
• Flash light
• Screw drivers (Phillips head and slot-type)
• Extra fuses
• Extra guitar strap
• A small rug (to place under drums on a slippery floor)
• Adjustable wrench
• Extra guitar picks
The name of the game is “be prepared”. And with an emergency kit full of these basic spare parts, you can be sure that the show will go on.
You’ve heard the stories.
In 1965, Keith Richards was knocked unconscious by the force of a bad connection. Former Yardbird Keith Relf reportedly cashed it in while plugging in his electric guitar in 1976.
Despite these incidents, microphones and electric instruments in general are not particularly dangerous -- provided you take some basic precautions. For starters, never defeat the safety ground. That third prong on your PA plug may be an inconvenient nuisance, but it’s there for a reason and breaking it off is not recommended. If you use an adapter, proper installation requires removing the screw in the center of the outlet wall plate, plugging in the adapter and replacing the screw, having first passed it through the green grounding tab on the adapter. If a live wire should accidentally come into contact with the grounded amplifier chassis, the current will be conducted safely to ground through the ground wire (instead of through you). Next, check cables periodically for wear and tear and replace them as needed.
Microphone shocks are usually caused by a faulty guitar amplifier that is leaking AC current onto its chassis. Your guitar cable connects to the guitar amp chassis. Your guitar strings are connected to the guitar cable. When your hands are on the strings, you body is connected to leading AC current via the strings, the cable, and the guitar amp chassis. When your lips touch the metal mic grille (which is connected to AC ground via its own cable), you complete the circuit with the leaking AC current flowing through your wet lips to the mic grille.
Have a competent guitar amp technician check your guitar amp for AC current leaking onto the amp chassis. Take this very seriously! If the AC current leakage gets worse, you could burn your lips or suffer a dangerous electrical shock. Also, we suggest you check the maker of your guitar amplifier.
The important thing to remember is that your gear, like all electrical devices, is dangerous to use in wet conditions, when exposed wires are present, or when normal safety features are defeated (as in the case of the third prong). Take the usual precautions and you’ll be rocking to a ripe old age.
Armed and Ready
So there you have it. Rock-solid advice on everything from cable-wrapping and recruiting a sound guy to avoiding the twin demons of feedback and frequency interference. And it’s just a start.
Understanding a few audio basics and keeping your gear and accessories in good condition will go a long way toward avoiding technical problems onstage. And as for those inevitable band fights for creative control, we can only suggest patience, tolerance and understanding. The fact is, whoever owns the PA is probably going to win.
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