Totally novice questions about PA's...

N

nafai

New member
OK, I'm totally new to live performance, so be gentle...

What I'm trying to find out is:

What all is needed for a PA setup? Are we talking a PA and a couple of speakers\monitors or is there more? Does a PA need a special kind of mixer, or can I use my Mackie?

If anyone knows of I site that answers these questions and more, I'd appreciate it.

Also, what should I look for when shopping for a new\used PA?

*Sigh*

Somebody please throw me a life preserver...

Thanks!
 
You can use your mackie.

You will need Main Speakers and an amp to drive them (unless they're powered) I like 15" speakers in mine...depends on yuor style of music.

If you want to hear yourself, you will need wedges to put in front of you and an amp to drive those. A wireless system would be a more expensive alternative.

You will want to use a graphic EQ. Depending on where you play, the sound will be different and this will help to tame it and control feedback.

Of course, mics, cables, lots of cables, and mic stands.

It helps to draw a stage wiring and placement diagram and figure out what you want to go where and then just fill in the spaces.

H2H
 
Thanks for the info and the link. That helps a lot.

I'm starting to get a better idea about what I want from a PA.

One more quick question, just to display my ignorance of sound gear again:

I know that the way amps and such are rated is by watts, but I'm still a little fuzzy on some of the technical aspects such as the number of speakers.

Like, if you have a 100W stage monitor with one 12" speaker, and you have a 100W PA system with 2 10" speakers, are these basically equal in "loudness", or would the PA be louder since it's coming from 2 speakers. Or does the question not make any sense?

Right now I'm using a 100W stage monitor for a vocal practice amp which is working ok, but we're planning to add some electronics to our setup, which means we should get a PA to run the synth and drum machine through. And we might as well run the vocals through it as well, right?

Thanks again.
 
Actual volume output depends on alot of things, the effeciency of your speakers, how clean your amp is, how hard you are driving it. The optimum thing is the most watts your speakers will handle. If you are usig low power, you will tend to turn the volume up to get levels you want and can get distortion and that is when you can break a speaker.

H2H
 
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