Performing in hall-how should i mix the backround music?

[Shana]

OK, I'm singing/playing at the Broward Center of Performing arts- and no im not that good, its a fundraiser and my cousin conned me into it..blah blah blah. Anyways, I'm gonna be playing electric/acoustic and singing. How should I make sure the sound crew sets up everything, i.e. are they going to plug the guitar into their mixer , mike it, do they control the volume and tone of the guitar, anyhting i should make sure to do or not to do?
Nextly, I'm singing to music ive recorded. How loud should the harmonies be? Anything I should be careful about being its in sucha big hall with such a great sounds system? If i pan harmonies hard right/left will that mean they will come from the speakers on opposite sides of the hall? How will I hear my music onstage?

I don't want to go blindly so if you have tips from past performances, drop a line or two
Thanx
Shana

 

[bvaleria]

Shana,

There are 2 sound systems used when handling sound in a large venue. The FOH (front-of-house) mix which is what the audience hears, and the artist monitor mix, which is needed by the artist to hear themselves (and other instruments/sounds) on stage.

The artist doesn't give a damn about what the audience is hearing - it's the FOH engineer's job to take care of that. In smaller venues, the monitor mix may also be handled by the same sound tech, and that's the area you need to work with. The idea is to get a stage volume/sound comfortable for YOU to listen/play along with. For all intents and purposes, the monitor mix is yours to dictate, and is independent of the whatever the audience needs to hear.

All you have to do is tell the sound tech how you want the stage to sound while you're doing your soundcheck. The rest of it, FOH mix, setup, etc, would normally be handled by the sound crew and you needn't concern yourself to much (unless they don't know what they're doing - in which case you're in BIG trouble!!)

Hope this helps...

Bruce
Blue Bear Sound

 

[Hard2Hear]

Before they turn any sound on, fo to the front center of the stage and look out to the middle of where the audience will be. Then scream at the top of your lungs for as long as you can.
This is what I do at every larger venue place we play. Usually makes people think I'm nuts, but it tells me alot about how sound is going to react in the hall. I listen very closely to the sound and how it is traveling.

H2H