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Guide to getting and playing better gigs


   

PA Tips

     
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Most PA systems, no matter how large or small, are run in essentially the same way. Once the basic components of equalizer, mixer, effects, microphones, amplifiers and speakers are in place, the basic principles for running a huge stadium PA are no different than those used for running a tiny club or pub in-house system.

After it's all set up and connected, the first thing you will probably want to do is turn it all on. This is trickier than you might think. Although turning it on seems simple enough, doing it improperly can cause damage to some parts of the system. Specifically, in addition to scaring the hell out of the people hanging out in the room, the loud "pop" that sometimes occurs when you flip the "on" switch has the potential to tear up the midrange horns. Although there's no way to avoid this popping altogether, there are a couple of things you can do to keep it to a bare minimum.

First, before you turn any knobs or switches into the "on" position, you should make sure that the master levels on the amplifiers and the mixer are turned all the way down. If you don't make sure you check those levels, the Law of Sod might take effect and ensure that one of the levels is set incredibly high (maybe the slider got bumped in transit) which will cause horrendous and unexpected feedback immediately after flipping the "on" switch. That instant kind of feedback can easily blow a midrange horn, so it's best to play safe. The levels you should be most concerned with are the output levels on the amps (usually knobs), and the main outs (usually sliders) and monitor outs (sliders or knobs) on the mixer. Once these levels have been "pulled down", it's safe to turn the system on. Other master levels such as those on the equilizers and effects are safe if left at or near their usual setting, but if you're in doubt (or haven't yet determined a "usual setting"), pull them down to zero as well.


The components of the system should be switched on in the following order: Effects, EQ, mixer, crossovers and amps (lows first, highs last).

This order keeps the majority of the popping signals created by that initial power surge when each component is turned on from ever reaching the speakers. The main thing to remember is that the amps should be turned on last. The purpose of the amps is to increase the weaker line level signal to a high level signal that drives the speakers. If they aren't turned on, then there's no signal going out to the speakers. If the speakers don't get the high power signal from the amps, they can't "pop". Turning the amp on last reduces the number of "pops" from one for each piece of equipment you turn on to just one when the amp itself is switched on.

Whenever turning anything on (or off) that's connected to the PA system (microphones, keyboards, acoustic guitars...), make sure the "mono" knob and the "level" slider for the channel it's plugged into is pulled all the way down. Switches on active mics in particular make loud pops when being turned on or off.

Now that it's all turned on, the first thing to do is run the system through a series of tests to make sure everything's operating properly. There are a lot of things in a PA system to plug in, and it's very easy to make a mistake somewhere along the way. Running these simple tests will make it easier to quickly find and isolate these mistakes without any unnecessary aggravation.


Powered Mixer System:
The powered mixer setup is probably the smallest system that should be used for gigging. It's very convenient in that most of the components (Effects, EQ, reverb, mixer) are already built into one unit. This combining of components means there are very few external things to hook up, and therefore there's very little likelihood of making an error when putting it all together.

The least complicated system is of course the easiest system to test. To test the system, you need only go through a few simple steps. The steps listed below are there as a guide to help you locate any problems. If something in your system doesn't work properly, and the suggestions listed don't seem to be the problem, you should first go back to "setting it up" and make sure you wired it all together properly. If it turns out that everything is hooked up correctly, you should then check all your cables to make sure they're working. After you've determined that they're in good shape, it's then time to look at the possibility that something may be wrong with one of the larger components of your system.

To begin testing, it's a good idea to set all the knobs on the board to relatively neutral positions. To do this, set all of the EQ knobs on the input channels (Low, Mid, High) to the straight up twelve o'clock position, Set all the sliders on the main EQ to the centre position (this is called "flat"), turn all the effects and auxiliary knobs all the way down, set all the "pan" (balance) knobs to twelve o'clock, turn all the gains on the individual channels all the way down, and make sure the main and monitor master levels are all the way down. After these knobs are set, follow the steps below to make sure the system is connected properly.


Mono (1 output channel):
1) Gradually turn the main (volume or level) knob or slider up to near it's normal setting. On knobs, straight up at twelve o'clock is good. On sliders, three quarters of the way up is good. These settings will vary depending on the mixer, and the personal preferences of the soundman. It's a flexible setting that's inversely proportionate (when one is high, the other will be low and vice versa) to the final settings of the levels and gains of the individual input channels. Just make sure you don't turn it all the way up, or all the way down. Somewhere between one quarter and three quarters is fine.

2) If your mixer has one (some don't), turn the gain on the lead vocalist's microphone channel up to about the nine or ten o'clock position. If it doesn't have a gain knob, simply proceed to step 3.

3) While repeating the word "check" into the lead vocalist's microphone, gradually turn up the "level" knob or slider for that input channel until you can clearly hear your voice coming out of the speakers. If you don't hear your voice, recheck your connections and settings.

4) Now, have someone else check the mic (or you can do it yourself if the lead's long enough) while you go out to the speakers and listen to them to see if each is working. Make sure to place your head in front of the midrange horns and the individual speakers in each cabinet to check them individually. If a whole cabinet is not working, check your connections to that cabinet. If just a speaker or horn in a cabinet isn't working, and the others in that same cabinet are, check to make sure you plugged the cable into the "full range" input on the speaker. If it still isn't working, you probably have a bad internal connection inside the speaker cabinet or a blown speaker or horn.

5) If everything's working fine up to this point, check all the other input channels in the same way as in steps 2 and 3. Some channels may have instruments plugged directly into them instead of microphones. If so, instead of checking a mic, simply play the instrument while you turn that channel's "level" up. If one of the channels isn't coming out of the speakers, and all the others are, you either have a bad connection or cord, or something's wrong at the instrument end.

If your mixer's equipped with a powered monitor output channel, then proceed to steps 6 through to 8. If the monitor output channel is not powered (ready made to plug a speaker into), then it'll require you to use an external amplifier and equalizer.

6) Turn the main master slider or knob all the way back down. This will make it easier to hear your monitors independently of the mains while you make sure they are working correctly.

7) Gradually turn the master mono (volume or level) knob or slider up to near it's normal setting. On knobs, straight up at twelve o'clock is good. On sliders, three quarters of the way up is good. Again, this isn't an exact science. Somewhere between one quarter and three quarters is fine.

8) Now, perform the same procedures described in step 3, step 4, and step 5, only this time make the adjustments to the "Mono" knobs or sliders rather than the main "level" sliders or knobs.


Stereo (2 output channel):
The only visible difference between the mono powered mixer and the stereo powered mixer is the addition of a "pan" knob for each input channel and a master "pan" knob that controls the panning of all the channels at once. The "pan" knob is basically the same thing as the "balance" knob on your car or home stereo system. Now having said that, here's the long, drawn out, semi-technical version of what it does in a stereo PA system.

A stereo setup has two separate channels going out of the system to the speakers. These are usually labeled either "left" and "right", or "A" and "B". Each of these channels has it's own independent amplification. In a powered mixer, this is all set up internally as part of one self contained unit. Using the "pan" knobs allows you to change the volume of channel "A" (or left channel) in relation to the volume of channel "B" (or right channel). In other words, when you adjust the "pan" knob towards the left, the left output channel will get louder in relation to the volume of the right channel, and the opposite will happen if you turn it to the right.


To test a stereo PA system, first follow steps 1 through 5 just like in the mono system, then procede to these next few steps.

5a) While checking a microphone, gradually turn the main "pan" knob all the way to the left. You should hear the sound gradually move entirely to the left main speaker (from the audience point of view) as you turn the knob. If not, check your connections to see if the "left speaker out" is connected to the left speaker and the "right speaker out" is connected to the right speaker.

5b) Now, pan the sound with the main "pan" knob all the way to the right. The sound should now move all the way to the speaker on the right side of the stage as it is viewed from the audience's perspective.

If, when you turn the "pan" knob to the left, the sound goes to the right, and when you turn it to the right, the sound goes to the left, all you need to do to fix the problem is check your speaker connections and make sure you plugged the right "speaker out" into the right speaker, and the left "speaker out" into the left speaker.

5c) Finally, set the main "pan" knob back to twelve o'clock. Then check the "pan" knobs on the individual channels using the same technique. If the main "pan" knobs are working properly, and an individual channel's "pan" knob isn't, there may be an internal electronic problem with the mixer.

Once you've completed all these steps with your powered mixer, and everything's working properly, you're finally ready to begin your soundcheck.

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