Hello! Im a long time hack - pretty good chops on guitars / keys, lots of knowledge on rock songs & structures - but always just played instruments myself at home, never did the band thing.
My boys are in that early teen just starting out phase, and we would like to form an actual band to play parties, dances, local town outdoor festivals etc. The venues would then be things like home basement for practice, gyms, and outdoor open spaces. Instruments would include drums, bass, two singers, and either two guitars or one guitar and one keyboard.
Guitar amps include Marshall 50W half-stack, Fender Twin Reverb, and Ampeg SVT half stack (bass 4x12). So my idea is to play the guitars at chosen volume, un-micd, and then have suitable amplification on other stuff to match that. Drums are Roland digital BTW.
This question actually isnt necessarily pure PA, given Im thinking about amplifying things separately (example: running vocals through one amplified system, drums through another). I have a couple of mixers (20 channel, 12 channel) as needed so lets take any combining and mixing out of the equation.
I have picked up over time a QSC K12 and EV ZLX-12p, so have those to work with. Powered speakers certainly offer modular flexibility, but Im not opposed to going rack power amp and passive PA speakers. I do not want a subwoofer because it will be hard to store and utilize at home, and Im satisfied good quality high power 12 or 15 can work for the kick drum (remember, Bass guitar would be just through its own amp in this scenario). For music type, think 60s-80s style rock.
Really one QSC K12 for drums seems to keep up with the guitar/bass in this scenario (thats all the farther weve gotten in practice) so - while I could spread that to more/different speakers, 15 or whatever, Im not too worried about amplifying the drums.
So that leads to the challenge: vocals primarily, plus keyboards and 12 string Guild Acoustic (K&K Pure Mini transducer pickup). I bought a TC Helicon Voicelive 2 to experiment with harmonization, and will use that for front-end dynamics processing on the lead vocal (and add something suitable for the backup singer too). We definitely need some improved feedback treatment in the basement (Sabine type system?), but I can tell you that as we experiment with adding vocals to the other instruments, it looks like both the 1000W portable speakers will be needed minimum to keep up with all those big guitar amps and matching drums.
So the question is, type, configuration, and amount (number/size of speakers plus amp power) for vocals plus acoustic guitar or keyboards in this type of band setup. All the above implies Im not too hurting for $$$, but not a rich man - budget in the $2k-$3k range.
I was thinking about trying an EV ETX-35p maybe for another flexible piece, but that is just one potential variable. One other note, while the above descriptions are all quality stuff, I am not opposed to Behringer products for amp / speaker.
Please suggest, if youre still with me, configurations for vocals with PLENTY of headroom for optimum blend and clarity. And, mixed on the same system or in parallel on separate powered system, (one at a time of) keyboard or 12 string acoustic.
And feel free to tell me whatever else you want if you think all this sounds stupid.
THANKS!!!!
My boys are in that early teen just starting out phase, and we would like to form an actual band to play parties, dances, local town outdoor festivals etc. The venues would then be things like home basement for practice, gyms, and outdoor open spaces. Instruments would include drums, bass, two singers, and either two guitars or one guitar and one keyboard.
Guitar amps include Marshall 50W half-stack, Fender Twin Reverb, and Ampeg SVT half stack (bass 4x12). So my idea is to play the guitars at chosen volume, un-micd, and then have suitable amplification on other stuff to match that. Drums are Roland digital BTW.
This question actually isnt necessarily pure PA, given Im thinking about amplifying things separately (example: running vocals through one amplified system, drums through another). I have a couple of mixers (20 channel, 12 channel) as needed so lets take any combining and mixing out of the equation.
I have picked up over time a QSC K12 and EV ZLX-12p, so have those to work with. Powered speakers certainly offer modular flexibility, but Im not opposed to going rack power amp and passive PA speakers. I do not want a subwoofer because it will be hard to store and utilize at home, and Im satisfied good quality high power 12 or 15 can work for the kick drum (remember, Bass guitar would be just through its own amp in this scenario). For music type, think 60s-80s style rock.
Really one QSC K12 for drums seems to keep up with the guitar/bass in this scenario (thats all the farther weve gotten in practice) so - while I could spread that to more/different speakers, 15 or whatever, Im not too worried about amplifying the drums.
So that leads to the challenge: vocals primarily, plus keyboards and 12 string Guild Acoustic (K&K Pure Mini transducer pickup). I bought a TC Helicon Voicelive 2 to experiment with harmonization, and will use that for front-end dynamics processing on the lead vocal (and add something suitable for the backup singer too). We definitely need some improved feedback treatment in the basement (Sabine type system?), but I can tell you that as we experiment with adding vocals to the other instruments, it looks like both the 1000W portable speakers will be needed minimum to keep up with all those big guitar amps and matching drums.
So the question is, type, configuration, and amount (number/size of speakers plus amp power) for vocals plus acoustic guitar or keyboards in this type of band setup. All the above implies Im not too hurting for $$$, but not a rich man - budget in the $2k-$3k range.
I was thinking about trying an EV ETX-35p maybe for another flexible piece, but that is just one potential variable. One other note, while the above descriptions are all quality stuff, I am not opposed to Behringer products for amp / speaker.
Please suggest, if youre still with me, configurations for vocals with PLENTY of headroom for optimum blend and clarity. And, mixed on the same system or in parallel on separate powered system, (one at a time of) keyboard or 12 string acoustic.
And feel free to tell me whatever else you want if you think all this sounds stupid.
THANKS!!!!