Sound Checking Your Gig?

[Twitch]

The venues we play for our duo are all small restaurants and bars, and there's ALWAYS people around so the sound check is inevitably awkward. You gotta do it though to know the volume and EQ are gonna be ok for the room.

What advice do you have for getting a good sound check in a full room without being obnoxious?

[Goat Mick]

Well it helps to know your equipment well enough to be able to predict what the right EQ and volume for the room is before you actually turn it on. Start with the volume lower than what you think it will need and run through a verse and chorus of a crowdpleaser song and make the final adjustments then. Ask your audience if they can hear you OK and tweak from there.

[J Patrick]

....in lieu of a full soundcheck....i like to have a few go to recordings on my IOS device that i can set the master eq and levels to.... recordings that approximate the instrumentation and overall vibe of what the ensemble sounds like...then a quick check on the individual mics and instruments and its good to go...in bars and restaurants its always a good idea to play as quietly as you can get away with because the louder you play the louder the crowd noise becomes....i'd rather be asked to turn up than down...

[ChrisE]

Originally Posted by J Patrick

....in lieu of a full soundcheck....i like to have a few go to recordings on my IOS device that i can set the master eq and levels to....then a quick check on the individual mics and instruments and its good to go...

I do that. I'm a solo performer so I'll put on recorded music and walk around the room then set my mic and guitar to the level of the recording. Then hopefully I remember to turn off the recording before I actually start playing.

[jseth]

If there are folks around and I don't want to do a normal soundcheck, I will sit and play/sing a song, in its entirety, as opposed to just "playing a few bars or sounds"...

If I NEED to walk out in the room and listen or check out the coverage of the room, then I just do it... as unobtrusively as possible... get a long mic cord and step out into the room to check my vocals; same drill with guitars.

Being CERTAIN of what the audience will be hearing is yet another bonus of my Bose L1 Model II rig... what I hear on stage (with the unit 6-12' behind my left shoulder, diagonally) is truly what the audience will hear, albeit at a fractionally lower volume.

But even with my Bose rig, I still want to play a bit to see if there are any "hot spots" for my guitars; you know, those pesky lower frequencies that tend to bloom and jump out when sustained... notably that low A string and the notes either side of it...

If you play in a duo, you can always listen to your partner's tone and have them listen to yours, to ascertain the quality of the sound, at least... then get a mix from your "on stage" positioning...

[M Hayden]

Plug in, set basic EQ, set volume low, play a bit while walking into the room, make adjustments, continue. With a rig of reasonable quality - one or two powered speakers, a small mixer, a preamp if needed - it's hard to screw up sound.

[Audix]

Do you have somewhere to set up your speakers like a rehearsal room or a room at home? If so, I would suggest setting up there and get the volume levels and EQ exactly as you would like there, there's no guarantee that the sound will be the same at each venue of course but it would definitely limit the amount of time needed to get it right when you get to the venue, it shouldn't be far off. I would get your duo partner to run through a verse of a song on each guitar and mic so that you can make sure it's as it should be, I've seen guys using mixers that can be controlled with an Ipad and can adjust levels from anywhere in the room which means no running to and from your mixer which presumably would also cut the soundcheck time significantly, I'm in the process of getting my hands on behringer air mixer for this very reason!

[SalFromChatham]

I play in an acoustic duo. We have a general idea of levels. We start out by saying "Good evening everyone... I'm Sal and this is Mike. Hope you all are enjoying the Yankees lead over the Sox right now.... we are going to warm up with a few and get our sound level right... Here is a song by... "

While we play, our third partner... Bobby Tambo (he plays sticks and tambourines etc, and knows the Bose or Fishman well...) fine tunes levels.

[Wyllys]

Live Sound 101:

If folks are leaning in to talk to each other, you're too loud.

[leew3]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

Live Sound 101:

If folks are leaning in to talk to each other, you're too loud.

Good call Wyllys. When we are setting up we try to reassure folks that we won't overwhelm their conversation-having said that we'd better do it!

[gfa]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

Live Sound 101:

If folks are leaning in to talk to each other, you're too loud.

Or they're being polite.

via tapatalk

We are three voices, one guitar in the same situation as you describe. I use a looper to play something on the guitar (suitable for listening, not just "stuff") I then walk the room and make adjustments while the loop is playing. The vocals I just take a quick moment with the "check one two" stuff to eliminate obvious excesses. We then start the gig with relatively easy listening material with lots of harmony to fine tune balance, eq and volume. So over the course of the fist few songs, we're set.

[jonfields45]

We just start playing using our standard settings. After the first song I ask a nearby table how the volume was for them and adjust accordingly. Our goal is to be conversation friendly indoors and out and we've been using the same sound system long enough to know what to do. I don't worry about the far corners of a restaurant. I figure not everyone wants to hear the music and there should be a place for them too.

[varmonter]

I have a line 6 g50 wireless system.
We set an initial level on stage.then when the
Band starts i walk out into the audience
And listen. I can generally walk out to the
Back of the room with zero latency.
Outdoor gigs have their limits.
If you do this and look like your doing
A sound check and not there to entertain
There is none of the awkwardness.
Just be aware of the servers.try to stay
Out of their way...this works great for
Us. The only level i cant set is my vocal
Mic. We just wing that....and of course if your
the sound engineer and the only vocalist then
this meathod wont work...

Be aware that the fcc is re-evaluating the use of these
Wireless systems...the laws may change..but as with most
Fed dept.there wont be much funding for enforcement..

[MaurysMusic]

We also use a Bose L1 and simply play the first song without a soundcheck. We just politely introduce ourselves after the first tune and ask - "how's the mix where you're sitting, etc.". Of course after playing these kinds of gigs for over 30 years, it's become pretty automatic.