How would i go about sending my guitars sound through the PA system?
Question by Spin: How would i go about sending my guitars sound through the PA system?
Hey, so me and my friends are playing a gig at our school. The auditorium is pretty big, and sound doesnt travel to well in there, so we need it to be as loud as possible. How would we go about running ALL the instruments (two guitars, bass, drums, two vocals) through the mixer and PA? Ive heard something about Direct Input boxes, what exactly are those? Thanks a lot for your help!!! Any tips are appreciated!
Best answer:
Answer by Chuck Norris
One time, at band camp, Chuck Norris ate a percussionist.
Give your answer to this question below!
Reader Comments
It sounds better to “mic” the amps, than use direct boxes.
And most PA’s in school won’t handle bass guitar or bass drums.
They are designed to reproduce talking, not music.
there are a few exceptions, but not many.
-use the PA for bass and vocals and lead guitar only..leave rhythm to the biggest amp you have and drums don’t need mic-ing.
any chance of an auxiliary chord working?
Depends on the PA. As someone previously mentioned, if the PA has tiny speakers your bass and kick drum will kill it. I would suggest 4 x 15s but have played bar gigs where they ran the bass and drums through 2 x 10s. If your music is really boomy, you will want subs. You will want a crossover and EQs for eveything to make it sound good too. To do it right, you will also want monitors pointed back at you so you can hear yourself (as the main PA speakers should be in front of you to get the sound to the audience and avoid feedback on your mics).
A DI box is just a little box ($ 50 or less, Berhinger makes a couple) that goes from your setup to a PA, replacing your amp. Pretty simple. The sound is very clear, with no coloration from your amp. It will be the sound that your instrument and effects create. Not what your instrument, effects, AND amp create.
Your other option is to mic the amps. This will be more expensive to do properly. If you go cheap, it will sound cheap.
Either way you will need good cables, which are not cheap. You will have to mic the drum set in some fasion (not cheap). One mic per drum with two overhead mics is best. If you want to go the cheaper route, you can just mic the bass drum and use one overhead to pick everything else up. Might add a snare mic to that. CAD makes some good affordable mics for drums.
Many bass amps have the direct out option built in as they can often be difficult to mic properly. Some effects boards and guitar amps will have this too. When playing live, I always use a mic (Shure SM57 when I am allowed to use my mic) into the PA, even when using my stack (guitarist). There are a lot of people playing guitar that go straight into the PA live, and it sounds good for what they are doing. I prefer the sound of my amp though. Also, a lot of times the stage monitors really suck and I wouldn’t be able to hear myself without my amp behind me.