performance amps?

M

momentum

New member
hi guys, lol. i have o lvls coming up, and then after that i have a short performance coming up with my friend's for my school's prom night, and we need amps lol. i havent asked them about amps, but since i dunno anything about what we may need, i decided to ask here first, so i dun sound stupid. i'll list out the instruments we have, not very impressive, but we're trying for a more acoustic, softer sound. so

1 acoustic guitar
1 bass guitar
1 drum kit
1 keyboard
1 vocal

we dun have a pick up on the acoustic guitar sadly :(
so what amps do you think i might need besides keyboard and bass amps? what kind is good for performance and where can i rent such stuff? remember we're going for a more acoustic sound, so i dunno how loud our bass and keyboard should be. we're putting a mike in front of the acoustic guitar.

thanks!
 
you can ask the performance organizer to mic-up your guitar to the monitors/ PA system, instead of buying an amp for the sake of it.
 
Setup

My advice - Just give Luther of Luthermusic a call. He does not bite. Very professional advices and reasonable rates as well. Good luck and have fun. Cheers.
 
Setup

Anyway, this is my take. Others may differ.

Since you are running the sounds through the PA (as in you are miking up the acoustic guitar), it stands that you may want to mike up the entire team, less the drum. If so, you need a small mixer here, perhaps 12 individual channels. Sufficient numbers of cables including two cables from mixer to House PA. Typically, there should be some XLR input points at stage area.

Acoustic Guitar - Using a mike to pick up the guitar signal is fine. It may actually be good if you have a fairly decent sounding guitar. So, you need a good mike here complete with mike stand and a sufficiently long XLR cable to the mixer.

Bass Guitar - A DI Box (direct Injection) with dual outputs (most DI boxes have these) so that you can run one O/P to a good bass amp and the other to the Mixer. 2 x 1/4" jacks and a XLR Cable to Mixer.

Electric Guitar - Same as Bass Guitar, except that if guitarist uses effects, then, one additional 1/4" jack cable is needed.

Keyboard - Similar setup to the Bass Guitar (assuming running mono).

Drum - asumming it is not miked up. Just use "as is"..... To mike it up is a BIG issue as you will easily need (bare-bare minimal) 4 mikes here. 1 for kick-drum; 1 condenser mike for snare and high-hat; 2 overhead condenser mikes to catch the "rest" of the sounds from the drum. Of course relevant numbers of XLR Cables.

Singer - One singer.... one simple mike, one simple mike stand and one XLR cable here, unless you want to go wireless, whcih is another set of cost and problem. So, I suggest just do it with wired mike. Keep it simple and sweet.

Another question to ask yourself - will the singer be singing alone? or will the musicians be providing backups as well? If so, you need mikes, stand and cables for those doing backups.

The above setup is very minimal. Workable but can be improve on. If possible, do include at least a monitor each for the singer, the acoustic guitarist and the drummer as well, so thet they can hear exactly what is happening. In this case, if the audio-mixer is not active, then the monitors need to be active. Include cables for these monitors from Mixer to moniters.

The mix for the entire band is adjusted at the small mixer; which then feed the PA. The House volume is controlled via House PA system

That is it ..... short and sweet......

just give Luther a call... I am sure you can pick up many pointers from him. No attitude problems from him and his team.

Cheers
 
lol, i dun understand what yoda just said, never performed with a band before lol, nor do i play on any instruments(im the singer). sorry! i can try to visit luther(dun like phone call), but then it will have to wait until o lvl finish lah lol

so i think what you're saying is, i use a small mixer(is that mxing console/audio mixer?) and plug to PA, then for my keyboard and bass i plug into a DI unit and then to amps and the mixer? and the mikes also? that's it right?

any other opinions welcome as well

i sent an email to luthermusic lol
 
Last edited:
thank you yoda!

@ DJ_Tiesto
i havent discussed the finalised songlist with my friends, but the titles they have given me are

Open Your Eyes(acoustic) - Alter Bridge
All Out Of Love - Air Supply
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
Can You Feel The Love Tonight - Elton John
Qing Tian - Jay Chou
Thunder - Boys Like Girls

so, somewhere along that line.

@subversion
sorry about that subversion, but i'm really stupid about this kinda stuff. monitors are?.. are they these things? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foldback_(sound_engineering)
 
no apologies necessary bro... (you're not a sis, yes?) 8-)

that's quite it- monitors are speakers by another technicality. we play better if we hear ourselves first & foremost. however, such floor moniotrs are luxury items in certain performance venues especially those not equipped to hold a band. if you are given a chance to list your equipment/ performance requirements, ask if these monitors are available for use.
 
yeap i'm a guy lol. okay will do, will ask the performance organizers when i have the chance. btw, more details on the performance. there will be 3 other bands performing on that night, and they got all their electric guitars, so their going to put on a more um, electrifying performance than our soft, soppy acoustic love songs, so i was wondering when it would be best for our turn to take the stage. and also, the audience will be around um, 200 - 400 people at most, i think most of the sec 4 cohort will be there.
 
around the end, let the shredders/ rockers go first while the crowd is all hyped up, and put in your soppy love songs when everyone's in the mood at night and best if got dance floor at that time lol
 
Actually, if budget is tight, keyboard amps and bass amps aren't really necessary. Keyboards can be directly plugged into a PA while the bass guitar can be DI'ed into the PA too, unless the bassists performing requires effects like overdrive. Electric guitars need amps which can be mic'ed up. Drums can be mic'ed up also. The most important thing for such performances, imo are the PA speakers/subwoofers facing the crowd and stage monitors which are facing the performers.

With compressor and limiter units in the mixer, a solid PA system would nail a good sound for all instruments/voice except guitars, which are dependant on the guitar amp and how it is tweaked.

The omision of keyboard amps and bass amps are not purely for cutting down on cost, but it has advantages such as making it easier for the audio engineer to mix and balance the overall sound. Many professional bands choose this path too, eg Dream Theater.
 
ohh, maybe dun need amps at all huh. but i talk to luther, he say hotel PA systems mostly for speech only, maybe cannot plug instruments though
 
momentum said:
ohh, maybe dun need amps at all huh. but i talk to luther, he say hotel PA systems mostly for speech only, maybe cannot plug instruments though
Click to expand...
What he meant is that their speakers are not powerful enough to produce sounds at concert volume level. House speakers are rarely used for such purposes because they are too weak and not designed for band situations.

The PA systems for performances are usually rented together with the rest of the equipment (drums, mixers, amps) from gig suppliers.

What's the budget for this gig btw?
 
cool you're also performing for prom.

i think we should start a thread bout prom songs haha.
( ok random)

but i think since gt other bands performing you can try borrowing from them??

where's your school's prom nite held btw?
haha
 
my school prom night at orchard hotel lawl. the plan is, they want to rent amps for all the bands, so all the bands share the cost. but now i scared they noob noob one, rent stuff we dun need, end up we pay for nothing. i also noob, but i felt we should at least get some pro advice mah, i think my worry is quite reasonable. our audience only like, 300 only, but they are like, 20w amp no good lah, need 50w, need this need that yadayada, like damn... extra laiddat lol
 
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