Setup for playing festivals that will give me a good onstage sound?

Jack Orion · #1 02-09-2018, 02:39 AM

hey folks,

I have a few festival gigs lined up this year and I'm starting to think about how I can guarantee myself a good sound onstage.

Having performed at festivals in the past with a rock band I know that, often, you're expected to plug in and go and get very little time for soundcheck - that wasn't so bad in the rock band but, as a solo singer/songwriter, my onstage sound can be the difference between a great sounding gig and a terrible one for me!

Obviously I need something that I can setup really quickly and that is easily transportable so I was thinking I would take my AER Compact 60 with me and then use my DI to send a signal to the front of house and a line out to the amp.

I've also been looking at this from radial - http://www.radialeng.com/proms2.php - which would allow me to split my mic signal to the house and to my amp.

This would give me total control of my sound onstage but allow the soundperson to do what they want out front (I'd just get them to turn off the monitors) and I know that the AER sounds good and gives me confidence that I can hear myself well with a pleasing tone.

Add a headstock tuner into the mix and I think I've got a relatively easy setup that will give me consistency from stage to stage...

any thoughts?

51 Relic · #2 02-09-2018, 06:13 AM

Hi I use the AER Compact 60 great choice and direct into a PA it's a godsend

Nymuso · #3 02-09-2018, 06:36 AM

For a throw-n-go solo performance at a festival, I just ask which vocal mic I'm using and which direct box they want me to plug into. That's if I am one of the openers, and I'm certain there ain't gonna be no festival where I'm the headliner, so I know they want me on and off with no muss or fuss, and I know it will sound great out front. I don't need pristine monitor sound.

However if it's a farmers market type of thing, yeah bring your own amp, dial in your sound and send a line to the kid who is scratching his head looking at the mixer over at the side of the stage.

Jack Orion · #4 02-09-2018, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nymuso

For a throw-n-go solo performance at a festival, I just ask which vocal mic I'm using and which direct box they want me to plug into. That's if I am one of the openers, and I'm certain there ain't gonna be no festival where I'm the headliner, so I know they want me on and off with no muss or fuss, and I know it will sound great out front. I don't need pristine monitor sound.

However if it's a farmers market type of thing, yeah bring your own amp, dial in your sound and send a line to the kid who is scratching his head looking at the mixer over at the side of the stage.

I think they will be 'throw and go' performances, which is why I'm thinking about providing my own sound on stage but only for me, the FOH will all be the soundperson - I'm planning to split the signals BEFORE the AER so I have my stage sound separate to the FOH.

It'd just be a case of plugging in four cables and an amp (which I can setup up eq-wise before hand) and then asking for nothing in the monitor and then starting...

I'd love to be a 'walk on and go for it' performer, but I know from experience that a poor onstage sound really throws me and it's worth the extra effort on my part to get a sound that will enhance my performance by provided me the positive feedback that I need from my guitar and vocals...

Mr. Jelly · #5 02-09-2018, 07:14 AM

For an acoustic guitar driven performance I use K & K minis into a Fishman Spectrum Aura that feeds into my on stage acoustic amp/monitor. The sound people take a lead off the amp. Vox are through the mic and monitors. In this way I'm not at the mercy of the sound people to be comfortable in this environment as I have a consistent environment.

KevWind · #6 02-09-2018, 08:20 AM

This is what I used

SKB 6 space Rolling rack case
Monster 2500 power conditioner
Langevin DVC (Dual Vocal Combo) Mic pre ,Limiter , EQ and DI
TC Electronics M3000 stereo FX processor.

In the situations where there is already a FOH system and sound guy, I simply used whatever the house monitors were or none at all, given that as a solo stage act :
#1. I can hear sound of my singing and playing acoustically on stage .
#2. the balance between the guitar and vocal that reaches the audience (FOH) is going to be controlled by the sound guy and not by what I might have feeding my own monitor .
#3 since the balance coming from the house monitors is going to be a more accurate (if the sound guy knows what he is doing) representation of what the audience hears, than what I would have in my own pre FOH monitor. If the stage monitor sound is really bad for some reason, then I just have them turn it down or off because in that situation, it always seemed a redundant and useless extra piece of gear to haul around and set up

martingitdave · #7 02-09-2018, 11:09 AM

The festivals I play wouldn't allow for the setup you are hoping to use. My advice is to get the best pickup for your guitar, and, if necessary a Fishman Platinum Stage preamp. You get a DI box and a mic on a stand. You've usually gotta be ready to plug and go.

Jack Orion · #8 02-09-2018, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martingitdave

The festivals I play wouldn't allow for the setup you are hoping to use. My advice is to get the best pickup for your guitar, and, if necessary a Fishman Platinum Stage preamp. You get a DI box and a mic on a stand. You've usually gotta be ready to plug and go.

I already have great pickups in my guitars (Lr Baggs Anthem SL) and a great preamp/DI (Orchid Preamp) so I can easily do the plug and go thing if needs be...

I'm just getting peoples opinions about how likely this setup would be to work and the gist seems to be 'not that likely' if you've got no time...

'tis a shame as I think it'd be a lot easier than trying to get a decent monitor mix as I'm playing but I guess that's the festival way...

martingitdave · #9 02-09-2018, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Orion

I already have great pickups in my guitars (Lr Baggs Anthem SL) and a great preamp/DI (Orchid Preamp) so I can easily do the plug and go thing if needs be...

I'm just getting peoples opinions about how likely this setup would be to work and the gist seems to be 'not that likely' if you've got no time...

'tis a shame as I think it'd be a lot easier than trying to get a decent monitor mix as I'm playing but I guess that's the festival way...

I feel your pain brother. :-)

varmonter · #10 02-09-2018, 01:27 PM

orchid also has a muting di ., is there a mute switch
on their preamp/di that you own? Always nice to mute
if you have to tune .

BluesKing777 · #11 02-10-2018, 05:53 AM

You could try a vocal/guitar preamp like my Boss VE8....

(Acoustic with effect of choice in one side and vocal with your mic and effect of choice on the other side, get your sound and balance practicing at home....preferably get used to using just mono and one xlr out, turn up to gig, plug in one xlr to stage jnction box, plug in power point?, your mic, your guitar, use in ear monitors or headphones from the back of the Boss VE8 and they just have to turn the volume knob up out front).

Control freak plus?

May be easier to just wing it, plug guitar in and use their mic.....

BluesKing777.

Jack Orion · #12 02-10-2018, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by varmonter

orchid also has a muting di ., is there a mute switch
on their preamp/di that you own? Always nice to mute
if you have to tune .

Yep their acoustic preamp has a mute switch so I can mute whilst tuning...

Quote:

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

You could try a vocal/guitar preamp like my Boss VE8....

(Acoustic with effect of choice in one side and vocal with your mic and effect of choice on the other side, get your sound and balance practicing at home....preferably get used to using just mono and one xlr out, turn up to gig, plug in one xlr to stage jnction box, plug in power point?, your mic, your guitar, use in ear monitors or headphones from the back of the Boss VE8 and they just have to turn the volume knob up out front).

Control freak plus?

May be easier to just wing it, plug guitar in and use their mic.....

BluesKing777.

Hmm, not sure about that!

Just to clarify I'm not talking about sending a DI from my AER to the front of house to provide my own balance - I'm talking about splitting the signal from the vocal mic and guitar and sending it to both the front of house and my AER like this:

Vocal mic -> Mic splitter -> thru goes to front of house & aux goes to mic channel on AER

Guitar -> DI -> balanced output goes to front of house & line output goes to AER

So I'm sending a 'clean' signal to the FOH which I can't change anything on, but then I'm using sending a signal to my AER which will be setup as a monitor for me only which I can adjust to my own onstage preference without changing the FOH signal and without having to rely on the monitor provided.

My thoughts on why I would do this is that I basically always set my AER up the same, with a few minor tweaks to treble and volume depending on the venue, so I could have it all ready to go settings-wise before I'm on stage and all I have to do is plug four cables in and I'm ready - I don't think that would take much longer than plugging in just the guitar would...

I know it seems a bit control-freak but I'm a fingerstyle guitarist with a pretty soft voice and a lot of my gigs are in very low noise environments so I'm used to being able to hear myself very well - the few gigs I have done in louder environments were not very enjoyable for me and that really affected my performance.

I know I could 'man up' and soldier on with poor onstage sound but, if there's a relatively easy solution that will make the gig more enjoyable for me and therefore allow me to perform at my best then I think it's worth a little extra effort!

Vancebo · #13 02-10-2018, 06:48 AM

I think you have it figured out. If the AER had a DI out for each channel then you don’t need the splitter, right? There are at least a couple of amps that have that feature but they aren’t the mighty little box that is the Compact 60.

varmonter · #14 02-10-2018, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Orion

Yep their acoustic preamp has a mute switch so I can mute whilst tuning...

Hmm, not sure about that!

Just to clarify I'm not talking about sending a DI from my AER to the front of house to provide my own balance - I'm talking about splitting the signal from the vocal mic and guitar and sending it to both the front of house and my AER like this:

Vocal mic -> Mic splitter -> thru goes to front of house & aux goes to mic channel on AER

Guitar -> DI -> balanced output goes to front of house & line output goes to AER

So I'm sending a 'clean' signal to the FOH which I can't change anything on, but then I'm using sending a signal to my AER which will be setup as a monitor for me only which I can adjust to my own onstage preference without changing the FOH signal and without having to rely on the monitor provided.

My thoughts on why I would do this is that I basically always set my AER up the same, with a few minor tweaks to treble and volume depending on the venue, so I could have it all ready to go settings-wise before I'm on stage and all I have to do is plug four cables in and I'm ready - I don't think that would take much longer than plugging in just the guitar would...

I know it seems a bit control-freak but I'm a fingerstyle guitarist with a pretty soft voice and a lot of my gigs are in very low noise environments so I'm used to being able to hear myself very well - the few gigs I have done in louder environments were not very enjoyable for me and that really affected my performance.

I know I could 'man up' and soldier on with poor onstage sound but, if there's a relatively easy solution that will make the gig more enjoyable for me and therefore allow me to perform at my best then I think it's worth a little extra effort!

This is what i do with the orchid muting di but just for guitar.
di out to FOH amp out to aer. I never could
get a decent vocal sound out of my aer but YMMV.
But this makes perfect sense as the FOH would have two
signals to work with instead of the one combined with the di out on the aer.

jimmorgan · #15 02-10-2018, 03:08 PM

I've played a number of festivals and seen folks using amps as monitors on stage. Even in strictly acoustic bluegrass festivals it's common for upright players to bring a small amp to hear themselves. I think as long as you can hook it up and get going in the time given, I don't see how it would be a problem.