Sound Engineering Lessons
This series of articles is designed to help the beginning sound engineer get the best sound assuming limited stage space and money. Each column focuses on one aspect of sound engineering, but the Q&A format does not suggest a specific sequence.
The Soundman
By Dan Lasley
Dan Lasley has written an excellent article on sound engineering. This informative and in depth piece will give you all the insight you need to make your band sound good on and off stage. Such topics as cost, reason and how do set it all up are covered.
The Equipment
By Dan Lasley
This article is based on emails regarding PA's and speakers. Answered are questions about distinguishing good and bad speakers as well as reducing noise and hum from a PA.
The Mix Board
By Dan Lasley
When you first see a mix board, it can be overwhelming. A 16 channel board can have over 200 knobs, buttons, sliders, and lights. Even when you break it into groups, you can have 10 controls for each input, and a bunch more for various group sends and receives. Most modern boards are designed to be so flexible that it can be confusing to figure out how to do what you need to do.
Compressors
By Dan Lasley
More questions bring more answers! Learn about sound compressors, microphones, intentional feedback as well as speakers designed in the 'disco days' of the seventies!
Miking The Drums
By Dan Lasley
I have received a few emails asking about how to mike the drums, and a couple of others about setting up in a church. This article gives advice on those topics.
Rehearse and Rehash
By Dan Lasley
Some recent emails have given me the idea to review the importance of rehearsing as a band, and how to get the most from your practice time. These are some general suggestions for you to adapt to your own band's abilities and temperament.
Your First Gig
By Dan Lasley
In honor of our Performance month, a frequent visitor to GuitarNoise decided to make that grand leap of faith and get a gig for his band. Of course, as most of us end up doing, this first gig is going to be right in his own backyard. I am going to use this gig as an example, but I'm going to modify the facts a little to fit my column.
Battle of the Bands
By Dan Lasley
Have you ever wondered how they run those multi-act Lallapalooza type shows? Well, first a large corporate sponsor is found, and they hire a bunch of experienced professionals. Let me give you a couple of ideas, because once you see how easy it can be, you can try it out for yourself.
Soundcheck: A Necessary Evil
By Scott Hysell
A lot of people don't realize exactly what it takes to become an accomplished musician. Through perseverance and a certain degree of fearlessness, many of us passed through difficulties and finally made it to the bright lights of the stage. And when we got there, we discovered one thing - one necessary evil - the soundcheck.
Compression - A Simple Explanation
By Stephen Sherrard
A compressor is basically a variable gain device that is used to either try to smooth out the dynamic range of a signal, or is also sometimes used as an effect. Different compressors have different types of characteristics and sounds that they impart to the source signal as well... the really expensive compressors are often expensive because of the character of their sound that is desirable for a lot of applications.
How to EQ Your PA
By Kelly Marsh
Kelly Marsh explains why a smiley face may be the last thing you want to see on your EQ. Learn how your EQ really works and what you can do to make it work even better.
Can You Hear Me Now? - Hearing Protection, and some Sound Engineering ideas as well
By Dan Lasley
Believe it or not, the world of music can be very dangerous! Particularly to one's ears. Dan Lasley brings us some important tips on how to be proactive in safeguarding your hearing.
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