Setting up a Home Jam Room | Need Help!

A

Avneesh Asija

New member
Hi!

Apologies in advance if this has been asked zillions of times! I am setting up a jam room in my homefor my band ( 1 vocals, 2 guitars, bass guitar and drums). All the sound proofing work has been done.

I am planning to provide each member in-ear monitors (or simply headphones). Planned to buy a decent mixer, 5-6 headphones, 2 guitar amp heads and 1 bass head (better than basic but less than advanced) and drum mics.

What should be the ideal mixer for this kind of setup? How may pre-aux sends would be required so that each member can adjust the volume in his monitors according to himself?

Also, what if for now I do not add amp heads for guitars and take them directly to mixer? Would it still provide us good sound for practice and get tight?

Apologies for sounding noob. New to this technical world of sound :P Thanks!
 
So then I am curious as to why you wish to use headphones or IEM's for rehearsal? Is the drummer using sampled drums or is there any other reason you need to have such monitoring?
 
jimmys69 said:
So then I am curious as to why you wish to use headphones or IEM's for rehearsal? Is the drummer using sampled drums or is there any other reason you need to have such monitoring?
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When i used to play in a different band in a different city, we used to practice at a jam pad who had this kind of setup and what i felt was this setup is great to increase the overall tightness of the band as each member can hear everything clearly through headphones rather than putting up amps and drum kit together in a room and hearing the overall mix. Each member could hear things crisp and I feel this would especially help tightening up bass guitar and the drums. (Ours is a Progressive Rock band)
 
You have not said how you are recording the band? The new Soundcraft Signature USB mixer the MTK (rvwd in Sound on Sound April 16) looks fabulous value for money at under £800. Not only a lot of mic channels for your money but also several high Z inputs (rare on mixers) saving you buying DI boxes although I doubt you will get a really decent guitar sound unless you also mic up a good amplifier?

As for monitoring, something like the Hear Back system would serve I think?

Dave.
 
I throw this out a bit, but it sounds like you're describing a JamHub. (google the name). If your drums are digital, then it's the way to go. Everyone can get their own mix, everything is done in cans, and you really don't need to set up a special space. The "greenroom" version allows up to 7 musicians to input their instrument (stereo mix via TRS connection) and a microphone each (21 channels) for $500. Each person can tailor all 7 groups to get their own mix. There's also a 5 person unit for $300.

AFA recording later, probably not so much help...I believe the USB outputs are stereo and not 21 channel...
 
I personally disapprove of the whole "more me" individual mix thing. In fact, in mind the real advantage of this sort of system is precisely the fact that everybody will hear the same mix, rather than the drummer hearing mostly drums, the guitarist standing right in front if his amp so he hears mostly himself, etc. The overall mix is all that really matters. Everybody should be paying attention to how they are contributing to that mix. As long as the mix is actually good, they should all be able to hear themselves well enough, and when they get lost, it usually means they need to play something different.

That said, is it not obvious that everybody who wants a different mix needs his own output from the "mixer" in order to achieve it? The answer to "how many aux sends do we need?" Is "how many members are in the band?"

Most guitarists depend on at least a little bit of compression/overdrive from their amp, and a lot of band-limiting from their speaker cabinet. Nobody wants hear an electric guitar plugged straight into a mixer. But just an amp "head" usually won't get you there either. You could put that money into amp sims and have a whole lot more flexibility...

...but what you should really do is put that money and what you might spend on a mixer into a decent computer, an interface with enough inputs for each instrument and mic (and outputs for individual mixes if you're still insisting...), and a liscence for PodFarm or Amplitube or GuitarRig or something. Then you'll be ready to record whenever. In fact, you can just record every rehearsal. Then people can listen back to review their performances and identify problem areas, think about arrangements, and you can tweak the mix a bit so that it sounds even better next time you get together and less people need less "more me". I personally then bring that whole thing on stage with me and then our live performances sound as close to our rehearsal mix as the PA/monitors can come.
 
Very nice, Ash. With the proper interface, you could just send a pair of outputs to the mixer and have your sound right on the spot.
 
BroKen_H said:
Very nice, Ash. With the proper interface, you could just send a pair of outputs to the mixer and have your sound right on the spot.
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I've done it with hardware and it can work, but this way is a lot less crap to have laying around the room, and a lot easier to carry. Of course, it's only ever going to be as loud as whatever "PA" is available and on stage you only get to hear what the "monitors" tell you. I don't have in-ears, and can't imagine my group of freaks putting up with it. We can sound pretty damn good in a living room at "party" levels, but you obviously don't get the physical interaction between guitar and "amp" until you can get it up to "real amp" levels. Its really nice when the venue actually has the power to do that, otherwise you really end up bringing the same amount of gear that any other band might. :/
 
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