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My brain is fried...............
Matt_Haynes
Posts: 2
Hello everyone. Matt here. New to the forum and new to the world of Live sound. Well not really but have learned that apparently all the years I've been asked to set up and mix the PA, all they basically did was ask an untrained monkey with a hat to play with a few sliding knobs. Or that's how I feel at least after reading all of Gadget's threads. After reading and not understanding most of it I realized just how incompetent I really was.
Okay long story short. Every year my family has a fairly big get-together every Thanksgiving. Anywhere from 40-50 or more people show up. And every year we play music for everyone. Me, my father, Uncles cousins all play. And every year they want me to run the PA on my uncles Ancient powered stereo Peavy mixer with the left channel blown. So basically it's mono. And every year everyone says the sound is terrible. So every year I get to go home knowing that I was everyone's disappointment yet again. But they don't realize that part of the problem is what I have to work with. Believe me.......... when I mentioned ancient mixer earlier, that also included the rest of the PA. And get this. Nobody used DI boxes to go from instruments to mixer. I know, I know......I never knew until here recently. You can believe me when I say I have a bunch now.
Anyhow this year I got upset and went and bought a new system.
What I have now is:
1. 2 - JBL PRX715's (New)
2. 1 - JBL PRX718XLF Sub (New)
3. Mackie 24 - 8 Mixer (Used Craigslist special in perfect working order)
4. DBX Driverack PX
5. Computer with Cubase - digital plugins (that i'm hoping to use live as inserts from my audio interface)
6. A BUNCH OF ACTIVE DI BOXES!!!!!!!!!
7. And outboard compressors & reverbs. (Not that I think I'll ever need or use reverb, but have it just in case)
8. A 20 channel - 50' audio snake with 4 returns.
Okay there's the rundown on equipment. I know that it may not be ideal, but it's all I could afford and that's all I got to work with.
Now moving forward.......
We play is in a Big!!!.....Metal!!!......Shop!!!! No insulation, completely empty with a concrete floor that has a mirror like smoothness to it. Measurements are 40 x 30 x 20. Uhhh......Yeah.....this is what I'm trying to work with. I think of it as the room sound engineers that God has deemed unworthy have to mix in for eternity in hell. While others just say the sound sucked. You can imagine my emotionless response that doesn't include a single word.
Well this year I'm hoping to somehow miraculously change it up a bit. The kind of music that is played is old country (Acoustic guitars, bass, drums, piano and fiddle). In front of a mostly senior aged crowd. So very loud music is out of the question. Thank God for that. As a matter of fact my cousin hit the snare drum to hard one year and made one of my great uncles have to change his diaper. Yeah it was sad...............I hope your getting the picture now.
Now moving on to my main concerns...........
@Gadget
I have read now for two days all the information that you have posted. While most of it doesn't compute in my head. And because there is so much info I can't remember half of it at this point.......I do understand some of what your saying. I plan on doing the outdoor flat frequency response thing. And I hope I do that right. I live on 10 acres so boundaries or reflections are not a problem. There's a lot of wide open space her in the country.
1. Should I do the flat response measurement with or without my mixer? Seems to me I should include the mixer.
2. If I run the system stereo, should I put the speakers close together (side by side) or space them apart while taking outdoor measurements or does it even matter? Balancing comes to mind here.
3. I understand that I have to get the mic 10'-25' away but should I set the mic's height directly in between the horn and the woofer and right between both speakers? If not then what's best here.
4. Is there anything a person can do to get a decent sound in a massive sardine can or am I just screwed all the way around. Just searching a for a little hope here. Hoping I didn't spend thousands of dollars for nothing at this point. Although Opening up the 3 Garage doors does help with reflection a lot. So that's a plus. Problem is it's usually cold Thanksgiving and at some point they start being closed. With all three garage doors open one side is completely open.
Honestly any help would be immensely and greatly appreciated from anybody. If anybody has any experience mixing in a giant coffee can please chime in. At this point you could put a little butter on my brain and call it toast. Literally.
Considering Thanksgiving is almost here, I'm willing to do anything to make everyone happy this year.
Thanks in Advance,
Matt
Okay long story short. Every year my family has a fairly big get-together every Thanksgiving. Anywhere from 40-50 or more people show up. And every year we play music for everyone. Me, my father, Uncles cousins all play. And every year they want me to run the PA on my uncles Ancient powered stereo Peavy mixer with the left channel blown. So basically it's mono. And every year everyone says the sound is terrible. So every year I get to go home knowing that I was everyone's disappointment yet again. But they don't realize that part of the problem is what I have to work with. Believe me.......... when I mentioned ancient mixer earlier, that also included the rest of the PA. And get this. Nobody used DI boxes to go from instruments to mixer. I know, I know......I never knew until here recently. You can believe me when I say I have a bunch now.
Anyhow this year I got upset and went and bought a new system.
What I have now is:
1. 2 - JBL PRX715's (New)
2. 1 - JBL PRX718XLF Sub (New)
3. Mackie 24 - 8 Mixer (Used Craigslist special in perfect working order)
4. DBX Driverack PX
5. Computer with Cubase - digital plugins (that i'm hoping to use live as inserts from my audio interface)
6. A BUNCH OF ACTIVE DI BOXES!!!!!!!!!
7. And outboard compressors & reverbs. (Not that I think I'll ever need or use reverb, but have it just in case)
8. A 20 channel - 50' audio snake with 4 returns.
Okay there's the rundown on equipment. I know that it may not be ideal, but it's all I could afford and that's all I got to work with.
Now moving forward.......
We play is in a Big!!!.....Metal!!!......Shop!!!! No insulation, completely empty with a concrete floor that has a mirror like smoothness to it. Measurements are 40 x 30 x 20. Uhhh......Yeah.....this is what I'm trying to work with. I think of it as the room sound engineers that God has deemed unworthy have to mix in for eternity in hell. While others just say the sound sucked. You can imagine my emotionless response that doesn't include a single word.
Well this year I'm hoping to somehow miraculously change it up a bit. The kind of music that is played is old country (Acoustic guitars, bass, drums, piano and fiddle). In front of a mostly senior aged crowd. So very loud music is out of the question. Thank God for that. As a matter of fact my cousin hit the snare drum to hard one year and made one of my great uncles have to change his diaper. Yeah it was sad...............I hope your getting the picture now.
Now moving on to my main concerns...........
@Gadget
I have read now for two days all the information that you have posted. While most of it doesn't compute in my head. And because there is so much info I can't remember half of it at this point.......I do understand some of what your saying. I plan on doing the outdoor flat frequency response thing. And I hope I do that right. I live on 10 acres so boundaries or reflections are not a problem. There's a lot of wide open space her in the country.
1. Should I do the flat response measurement with or without my mixer? Seems to me I should include the mixer.
2. If I run the system stereo, should I put the speakers close together (side by side) or space them apart while taking outdoor measurements or does it even matter? Balancing comes to mind here.
3. I understand that I have to get the mic 10'-25' away but should I set the mic's height directly in between the horn and the woofer and right between both speakers? If not then what's best here.
4. Is there anything a person can do to get a decent sound in a massive sardine can or am I just screwed all the way around. Just searching a for a little hope here. Hoping I didn't spend thousands of dollars for nothing at this point. Although Opening up the 3 Garage doors does help with reflection a lot. So that's a plus. Problem is it's usually cold Thanksgiving and at some point they start being closed. With all three garage doors open one side is completely open.
Honestly any help would be immensely and greatly appreciated from anybody. If anybody has any experience mixing in a giant coffee can please chime in. At this point you could put a little butter on my brain and call it toast. Literally.
Considering Thanksgiving is almost here, I'm willing to do anything to make everyone happy this year.
Thanks in Advance,
Matt
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