backyard show...help!

[Call-Of-Ktulu]

I'm putting on a party and hiring an R&B/blues band to play that I know... I need a small PA and my friend at our local music store PA rental guy suggested micing the vocals, bass, kick drum and snare and I thought that sounded about right, but he also suggested getting a small sub just to get some bass resonance cause outside it'll just disapear. The problem is, the last show I was at, when you turned the subs on even to about 0.5 they completely hummed out and we couldn't even use them. We didn't really need to anyways, so it was a problem. I'm concerned about this same problem happening. Is there anything I should know that i might not know about hooking up subs? The rest of the sound was good, I was actually complimented on it, the subs were the only problem.

Thanks everyone.

[boingoman]

Sounds like you might as well skip them.

Diagnosing that problem is a little tricky with out lots more info.

I'd say ask the music store guy to explain it all, or hire someone who knows what they are doing to explain/set up/run the stuff.

[distortedrumble]

are you tryin to recreate an r&b blues club outside? cause if the band is just for ambience then i say go without the subwoofer and make sure your pa cabs have 15" woofers.....maybe have 4 pa cabs all with 15" woofers and you'll be fine. the bass doesnt need to go through the pa if he has a large cabinet of his own though. i would run atleast the kick through the pa

[dagwood]

You do know that you need an active crossover, and a separate amp to run subs properly, right? If you were just daisy-chaining off your mains with no x-over, then the subs, nor your mains, would be working properly. Lots of overlapping frequencies between the two cabs.

What exactly do you mean when you say they "completely hummed out"? A little more information would go a long way in helping you correct this problem.

Thanks,
Stacey

[Call-Of-Ktulu]

By "hummed out" I ment as in as soon as i touched the gain dile bass feedback came on so strong it shook the whole venue. Nothing fed back at all except the subs

[boingoman]

I'd bet it was the kick drum mic feeding back, if it was already mic'ed up and turned up in the mains. Very common. The fix is a gate, or moving the drums or mic a bit. Turn it all the way down, and turn up the subs before you apply gain to the kick mic.