# Basic gig speaker setup



## will r yum

Okay, here's yet again a maybe noob thread.

So I'm just wondering what a basic gig setup would be. And when I mean basic, i mean basic. I'm talking somewhat small sized rooms that could fit a few hundred people.

I'm thinking 2 PA speakers, 3 stage monitors, a subwoofer running to 3 different amplifiers:

2 PA speakers > amplifier #1

3 stage monitors > amplifier #2

subwoofer > amplifier #3

then run the amps into a crossover.
then i'm thinking 3 mics for vocals, 5 mics for drums, 2 mics for guitar amp, 2 mics for bass amp. then run everything to a 12/16 channel mixer.

Does anyone have any different ideas?


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## Milkman

will r yum said:


> Okay, here's yet again a maybe noob thread.
> 
> So I'm just wondering what a basic gig setup would be. And when I mean basic, i mean basic. I'm talking somewhat small sized rooms that could fit a few hundred people.
> 
> I'm thinking 2 PA speakers, 3 stage monitors, a subwoofer running to 3 different amplifiers:
> 
> 2 PA speakers > amplifier #1
> 
> 3 stage monitors > amplifier #2
> 
> subwoofer > amplifier #3
> 
> then run the amps into a crossover.
> then i'm thinking 3 mics for vocals, 5 mics for drums, 2 mics for guitar amp, 2 mics for bass amp. then run everything to a 12/16 channel mixer.
> 
> Does anyone have any different ideas?




There are lots of ways to run a system like that.

Depending on the board and how many auxiliaries it has, you can probably do without a crossover (run your main cabinets full range).

I like running the sub(s) via one of the aux sends. That way you can dial the subs in on the appropriate instruments and leave things like vocals, and guitars out of the subs or barely in them.


Then you use one additional aux send to run your monitors.

As for mics it depends on the size of the drum kit. If you're going to mic the kit I like one* in *the kick and one on the snare, hi hats, and each tom.


Bass guitar is better with a DI in my opinion, so that would save you a couple of mics.

One mic on each guitar amp and voice of course.

Good luck.


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## will r yum

Thank you, I'm not running a show or anything. I've just bought two PA speakers and an amp so I'm soon going to be buying a mixer and some stage monitors. So once I have them all I was wondering how someone would go about setting up.

As for the mic'ing the drum kit, do you do any overheads?


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## Milkman

will r yum said:


> Thank you, I'm not running a show or anything. I've just bought two PA speakers and an amp so I'm soon going to be buying a mixer and some stage monitors. So once I have them all I was wondering how someone would go about setting up.
> 
> As for the mic'ing the drum kit, do you do any overheads?


I don't use overheads for gigs. They can be handy for studio work but I find them more of a nuisance than a help for live shows.


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## will r yum

A nuisance to set up without being in the way or they just don't really help the sound?


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## Milkman

will r yum said:


> A nuisance to set up without being in the way or they just don't really help the sound?


They add noise and I already hear more cymbals than I like from most drummers.

The close mics on each drum and on the hats are perfect for me.


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## david henman

...good for you for going the subwoofer route.

i wish i had done that.

-dh


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## Greg Ellis

I am not in any way a sound guy, but... I unexpectedly found myself doing it at a small outdoor show this past Saturday night.

I guess the original sound guy had disappeared during the torrential rain, assuming the event was canceled or something. He never came back. 

I came in with some friends, just expecting to hang out and drink beer and watch them play. As the situation became clear, my buddy said "well, maybe Greg can run the sound" and I said, "Uh... sure, I guess could try?"

Front of the house was just a pair of Yorkvilles (NX600's maybe?) with a 15" plus a horn in each one. We ran those single-amped, mono, from a 750 or 800 watt power amp.

And there were three monitors on the stage (2 for the singers, one for the drummer) running mono off a separate 500 watt amp.

We only put the vocal mics and the drums into the PA - the guitar amps and the bass amp were all stage volume.

Luckily, the folks in the band all had nice amps and were playing at reasonable and well-balanced volumes. IIRC, they had a 50 watt Boogie combo, a Hotrod Deluxe and an old Randall head into an Ampeg 4x10 cab for the bass. It was relatively easy to get the vocals and the drums up to meet their level, and it sounded great (to me, anyway - got some nice comments from the crowd too).

The first drummer had his own set of four mics - bass drum, snare, and two overheads. The overheads were just nasty - feedback-prone and screechy no matter what I did with them. I had them almost zeroed through the whole show. The mic that was clipped onto the snare was great - I could hear the high hat through that one too, and after a bit of tweaking that channel was really handy in the mix. The bass drum mic was just ok - it took a long while to get a good sound out of that. Probably I just didn't know what I was doing, but I think that adding subs would have helped a lot there.

When the first band was done, that drummer took his mics away, and we had to make do with a pair of sm57's - one on the bass drum and one positioned to catch the top of the snare and the high hat. Surprisingly, that was pretty much enough. I would have liked to have one more mic somewhere between the ride cymbal and the floor tom - that would have helped a lot.

The second band ran their amps a lot louder, so I had to push up the mains and re-balance the mix. Their guitar amps were very trebbly to my ears - one guitarist was running a SpiderValve stack, and the other guy had a boogie with a bunch of digital effects. It sounded great from about 100 feet back, but up closer it seemed pretty tinny to my ears. I couldn't really do much with that - we were out of microphones. The vocals and drums sounded good to me, although it was tough to make out the ride cymbal and the lower toms.

I had a lot of fun doing it - a real learning experience and a great night of music.


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## Greg Ellis

Here's a pic of the stage at that show, during setup. Not sure which model speakers they are, but they sure sounded great. The only thing missing was a gut-busting THUMP. I guess you need subs for that? The bass rig sounded great, just couldn't really find a good sound for the bass drum.


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