please treat me gently as I am new to PA systems
I sing in a choir of about 20 and also a blues band where some times I sing on my own and other times with 2 others and guys using 60 watt tube amps for their guitars and a drummer who isn't too loud. I would like to buy a simple flexible system that I can expand as required to cover the choir(who normally sing with no PA) for bigger venues and also the band. I hope to buy the kit second hand on ebay as I can afford it
I was thinking of using a mixer to cope with varying number of mics plus a keyboard if needed and then using the line out from the mixer into the line in of an active speaker. I can then add another passive speaker for bigger venues as required. Or I can go for a small mixer amp in to passive speakers using just one for small venues and adding a second as needed
Thoughts please
I sing in a choir of about 20 and also a blues band where some times I sing on my own and other times with 2 others and guys using 60 watt tube amps for their guitars and a drummer who isn't too loud. I would like to buy a simple flexible system that I can expand as required to cover the choir(who normally sing with no PA) for bigger venues and also the band. I hope to buy the kit second hand on ebay as I can afford it
I was thinking of using a mixer to cope with varying number of mics plus a keyboard if needed and then using the line out from the mixer into the line in of an active speaker. I can then add another passive speaker for bigger venues as required. Or I can go for a small mixer amp in to passive speakers using just one for small venues and adding a second as needed
Thoughts please
what gear you get will largely be determined by budget.
stick with brands that well known and have a good reputation.
proper mic's and mic'ing technique to reinforce a choir of twenty are a challenge to even the best soundguys out there.
when it comes to "the blues band" are you planning to mic the drums?
any thoughts on "monitors" they may become a necessity.
stick with brands that well known and have a good reputation.
proper mic's and mic'ing technique to reinforce a choir of twenty are a challenge to even the best soundguys out there.
when it comes to "the blues band" are you planning to mic the drums?
any thoughts on "monitors" they may become a necessity.
I've been downsizing my equipment for years as the technology gets better and cheaper and my opinion is that a simple powered mixer of about 100w would probably do fine for your needs. Anything with four or more inputs would probably work since the 20 vocals could probably be covered well by two strategically placed microphones.
Powered mixers can be a little on the heavy side since the amp is built in but alternatively you could get a cheap-ish unpowered mixer and a separate poweramp to run passive speakers.
I have sometimes done exactly this as individually the components aren't that expensive and leave room for future upgrading piece at a time. You can for instance get fairly cheap Behringer mixers and various "DJ" poweramps from eBay and use whatever speakers you can blag or get secondhand with an eye to upgrading any of the bits later.
Another trick of mine sometimes has been to search eBay and other sites for secondhand bass guitar amps and use them as an all in one PA with a small mixer. The reason for using bass guitar amps is that they are generally cheaper to buy as they don't often have as much built in complication as guitar amps, such as overdrive channels etc that you wouldn't need as a PA, and the speaker cabinets of bass amps are much better suited for the wider range of sound frequencies you'd associate PA use with whereas guitar amps are often good sounding for guitars but a bit lifeless at anything else.
I'd go for about double the watts for PA use to avoid distortion etc. An old 75-300w bass amp makes a pretty good compact general purpose PA system and they can be had cheap enough if you look around.
Powered mixers can be a little on the heavy side since the amp is built in but alternatively you could get a cheap-ish unpowered mixer and a separate poweramp to run passive speakers.
I have sometimes done exactly this as individually the components aren't that expensive and leave room for future upgrading piece at a time. You can for instance get fairly cheap Behringer mixers and various "DJ" poweramps from eBay and use whatever speakers you can blag or get secondhand with an eye to upgrading any of the bits later.
Another trick of mine sometimes has been to search eBay and other sites for secondhand bass guitar amps and use them as an all in one PA with a small mixer. The reason for using bass guitar amps is that they are generally cheaper to buy as they don't often have as much built in complication as guitar amps, such as overdrive channels etc that you wouldn't need as a PA, and the speaker cabinets of bass amps are much better suited for the wider range of sound frequencies you'd associate PA use with whereas guitar amps are often good sounding for guitars but a bit lifeless at anything else.
I'd go for about double the watts for PA use to avoid distortion etc. An old 75-300w bass amp makes a pretty good compact general purpose PA system and they can be had cheap enough if you look around.
If you happen to have 2 or more passive speakers on hand adding a powered mixer makes for a tidy system, but if you're starting from scratch it's well worth your money to buy powered speakers. The latest designs like the EV ZLX will easily outperform any budget powered mixer/passive speaker combo and with 2 onboard inputs you don't need anything extra to support a solo artist, but add a compact tabletop mixer like the Soundcraft EFX or A&H ZED series and your whole PA system weighs less than 50lbs and fits in the passenger seat of a sedan.
conanski +1 on those recommendations.
only thing you could have added is this approach is easily upscaled with a powered sub (more for blues band in larger venues)
any recommendation on mic types and brands for the choir?
only thing you could have added is this approach is easily upscaled with a powered sub (more for blues band in larger venues)
any recommendation on mic types and brands for the choir?
I see Woodsongs and Jubilee television programs use a Shure KSM27 condensor mike frequently to pick up several vocalists and instruments at once. The sort of setup where you used to see old RCA ribbon mikes used in the fifties.
I found a KSM27 for $80 on craigslist and am using it (plus a $2 dynamic mike on the other side) to record my piano an organ playing. You can hear those mikes on Yellow Bird on inbojat.tumbler.com , my blog.
BTW, I find old Peavey gear very easy to work on with full documentation. My Peavey speakers don't need work, except the 30 year old 1210's may need a new crossover capacitor - the impedance on one speaker is below 6.5 ohms, more like 4. The 1994 SP2-XT speakers are fine, sound the best on piano source of any speaker I've heard, but a bit heavy to set on poles if you are touring.
Honey of Ron Piazza's Mighty Flyers band, uses a Peavey KB300 speaker for her electric "piano", which has a built in mixer. She uses it to boost the various soloists for the band herself, without a soundman. You can see this on an old Jubilee show if KET.org will let you download it.
I used to sit on an old Ampeg mixer when I played keyboard for the junior choir, with the two 1210 speakers and a 120 watt amp as the sound. The keyboard was on an organ bench. All this would fit in my Chevette, which was a sub-compact car. Powered speakers would have made that setup better, now that amps are much tinier.
I found a KSM27 for $80 on craigslist and am using it (plus a $2 dynamic mike on the other side) to record my piano an organ playing. You can hear those mikes on Yellow Bird on inbojat.tumbler.com , my blog.
BTW, I find old Peavey gear very easy to work on with full documentation. My Peavey speakers don't need work, except the 30 year old 1210's may need a new crossover capacitor - the impedance on one speaker is below 6.5 ohms, more like 4. The 1994 SP2-XT speakers are fine, sound the best on piano source of any speaker I've heard, but a bit heavy to set on poles if you are touring.
Honey of Ron Piazza's Mighty Flyers band, uses a Peavey KB300 speaker for her electric "piano", which has a built in mixer. She uses it to boost the various soloists for the band herself, without a soundman. You can see this on an old Jubilee show if KET.org will let you download it.
I used to sit on an old Ampeg mixer when I played keyboard for the junior choir, with the two 1210 speakers and a 120 watt amp as the sound. The keyboard was on an organ bench. All this would fit in my Chevette, which was a sub-compact car. Powered speakers would have made that setup better, now that amps are much tinier.
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