performance amps?

[KeDraiv]

i think it's about sound quality lah.
if the watt is small maybe not enough power to be decent?
i mean you'all are like playign to 300 plus pple so maybe they want it to be loud enough.

my prom only has like around 100 pple so i think practice amps should be able to do the job

btw are you'all allowed to use the power plugs?

i was told that my band can't use the plugs there lah.
i'm lyk "omg wat to do, use dc type amps ah?"

calling the organisers tmr to confirm it lah.
haha

 

[shinobi]

i agree with what someone mentioned which is, the best setup is a matter of preference.

and usually the guy who's preference matters the most is the soundman, and in practical situations, the person who is renting you the stuff.

what i do is make suggestions, and from there i will know if the soundman has objections, the reasons for him wanting to set up in a certain way, or if he doesn't know anything at all.

anyway, from what limited experience i have, it is possible for you to get amps which are powerful enough to fill a hall. but my preference would be, above all, to have a good PA system in place.

reason being, while you can get VOLUME from big bigger biggest amps, things like amp positioning and mixing becomes a problem. for me, amps are all about tone. everything should either go into the mixer either directly (through a DI) or indirectly (through a mic). that way all the instruments and vocals can be mixed nicely, and then sent to the house.

now it is very, very, very important that the sound setup has feedback monitors. these are speakers that are facing the band. it is most important that the singer can monitor his voice, and musicians can actually hear what they are playing! and as long as the band can hear themselves, and the audience hears the band, mission accomplished.

bass and keyboards directly into the house. everything involving a mic also goes into the house. as for the drums, i dont know how big the venue is gonna be, but since it's indoors, there may be no need for sound reinforcement.

so remember! the rental guys probably know what to do, but insist that everything is hooked up to the PA, and there has to be sufficient MONTIORS

 

[lucadia]

wah secondary school got prom liao sia..

i remembered the day i learnt qing tian and the girls would surround me and listen to me play..

man.. i missed those days

now poly girls gives less than a shit about guys playing guitars.. they only like guys who can wear tighter jeans than they can

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

If you require renting drums, be prepared to fork out something between $400 to $500. One way to really cut cost, is to omit all instrument amps. Request that all instruments be DI'ed into the mixer and then to the PA. For electric guitars, ask if any one has a good multi effects unit/amp simulator and is willing to share with the rest of the performers.

This would leave the items to be rented as:
-Drum set
-PA speakers
-stage monitors
-mixer
-mics
-DI boxes

should fall under or close to $500

 

[shinobi]

wah secondary school got prom liao sia..

i remembered the day i learnt qing tian and the girls would surround me and listen to me play..

man.. i missed those days

now poly girls gives less than a shit about guys playing guitars.. they only like guys who can wear tighter jeans than they can

i wear tight jeans but only because my ass is fat. will they love me

too many bullshit musicians around nowadays lah. can't fool them anymore

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

Haha, apparently not... The Qing Tian and More Than Words trick still works... Just play these songs and a lot of girls will be fascinated! -_-"

Works in a sense that it helps identify the girls you won't want... =P

 

[momentum]

lol i dun think there'll be monitors in the hotel ballroom, which sucks. i tried to explain to the other bands, if you dun have those monitors u wont be able to hear yourself play! how are you going to sound good if u cant hear yourself! but they dun understand! they're like, you see gig they also nvr use, what floor monitor what shit what shit, need meh?? and they're actually pissed i talked to Luther! horrible lah.

anyway @lucadia lol my school de prom i just found out, is a student council effort, the school never fork out a single cent. even our banner also cannot paint the school name. bullshit right?

anyway here'e what luther tell me, he can rent me 2 guitar amps 1 bass amp and 1 keyboard amp, where my mic can be plugged into so i can hear myself. i dunno about DI and mixer and stuff, but i think the equipment kinda sufficient liao? the sound comes from stage while the vocal is from PA i think. keyboard can plug into electric guitar amp? acoustic guitar can plug into electric guitar amp? the other bands dun wan rent keyboard amp, they arent using one

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

i dunno about DI and mixer and stuff, but i think the equipment kinda sufficient liao? the sound comes from stage while the vocal is from PA i think. keyboard can plug into electric guitar amp? acoustic guitar can plug into electric guitar amp? the other bands dun wan rent keyboard amp, they arent using one

Not a very good idea. Try to ask him about the method I suggested cause it's a more budget friendly configuration. If you really insist on no monitors to cut down more on cost, Its possible by placing the rented PA speakers behind the band, i.e. at the back of the stage, so that you can still roughly hear yourselves (poor drummer still won't be able to hear shit though)

As for electric guitars, it's the most troublesome thing and you definitely need an amp modeller or an actual electric guitar amp. For everything else, DI into mixer into PA. Bottom line is, rent a PA system. If the rest of the bands are not happy with what you are doing, stop what you're doing and let them do what they want. If SC is so smart in these kinda things, gig organisers/ sound engineers will be out of lovelovelovelovelovelovelove business...

If I were you, I'd be 100% freakin' pissed if it was a school event and the school didn't sponsor even a cent for it. And I'd be freakin' pissed if it turns out sucky.

 

[momentum]

i dont want it to turn out sucky either, and i am pissed the school didnt pay anything for the event. i wont name my school, its only right, but i'm pissed lol. i think i just see what they do loh. i think this is the first prom night where the sec 4 students have a chance to perform, the previous years dun have i think

 

[shinobi]

sound coming into the band will be in a different direction from sound going out to the audience.

to make the best of the situation, these are the things you must settle in order of importance

(1) each band member heard their respective instrument/vocal
(2) each band member can hear the band as a whole
(3) audience can hear the band as a whole (instead of some instruments being too loud or soft)

if everyone has their own amp then you may solve (1), except for the drummer and singer.

any attempt to mic the amps may improve (3)

to improve (2) you need the mix to come back to the band. and that's where monitors play a part. the best you can do is to point the amps into the stage, rather than into the audience.

anything other than guitar plugged into guitar amp? NO
anything other than bass plugged into bass amp? only the guitar, though that will make the guitar sound muddy and bassy.
anything other than keyboard into the keyboard amp? YES, keyboard amps do bass well enough.

i played on a luther-rented setup a few months ago and the peavey keyboard amp doubled as a bass amp, and had 2 inupts. though it's not advisable to share anything with a bass (play keyboard and bass at the same time), because bass needs alot of power to be amplified

 

[momentum]

if we face the amps to ourselves the audience can hear? i think my band is the least experienced out of the rest, coz one of the other bands had performed before for my school's choir, at the singapore conference hall. they had an experienced choir conductor to help them with the stuff though, at THAT was a school event, the school did pay for the event. dunno how the prom night performance will sound like -.- my friends from another band think its highly impossible they WONT be able to hear themselves on stage. bullshittt

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

if we face the amps to ourselves the audience can hear?

The audience don't need to hear the sounds coming out from the amps. They need to hear the sound coming out of the loud speakers.

And, from the line-up/ situation, you don't need amps except one electric guitar amp (or 2 if there're more than 1 in a band)!!! Take my advice and focus more on sound reinforcements and less in "instruments" i.e. bass/keyboard/acoustic guitar amps. Connect all these into the mixer through DI boxes. Mic up the electric guitar amp(s) and drums. You need at least two monitors. One for the vocalist (I'll assume center stage), and one for the drummer (unless all the drummer's are metronomes/ midi files, whereby nobody cares whos playing what, just follow him kinda arrangement).

The rest of the band will most probably not be able to hear what the hell is going on on stage if the loud speakers infront/side of it. If they don't believe, quit this performance and let those smart asses love themselves in the ass... It'll be a spectacular performance. Remember to bring a digicam and record some bootleg. Lastly, upload on YouTube to create a lesson for us all on what to expect when there's zero monitors on a medium/large sized stage! Don't forget to give credits to the performing artists too!

 

[momentum]

i think we can hear ourselves. our music will be softer than theirs, we playing clean acoustic songs

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

Ok la, then think for yourself enough liao, if they insist no monitors, and if you think you don't need, then don't waste money getting it. Telling won't make people learn, it's through mistakes people will learn the hard way. I'll say go ahead w/o monitors if its too much of a hassle

 

[momentum]

we dun need, but they need lol. so laiddat we'll be the only ones that sound good! works for me