D-Man
I'm currently in matric at Sutherland High School in Wierdapark Centurion and I lead the school band there. This year's band is sick compared to previous years and everyone's really passionate. Next Friday, I'll be having my last performance as an actual part of the band and I want it to be amazing. The issue is, we're going to be performing on a small makeshift stage practically in the middle of our main rugby field. The school has equipment to amplify vocalists, but that's where their contribution ends. We have a pretty useless drumkit with an awesome drummer and I'm quote sure no one will even hear him properly. The point is, the sound is going to be horrible if we do the same thing we've always done, which is to set up as we do for rehearsal and play. So I've turned to the forum for some PA or general sound tips or suggestions that'll make the band sound as awesome as possible.
Our setup includes:
Lead Vocals
Backup Vocals
2 Electric guitars
1 Bass Guitar
Drums
Any input will be MUCH appreciated <3
AlanRatcliffe
Ummm... It's such a wide topic, outdoor sound is so demanding and I have no idea what equipment you have and have access to. So I'm not sure if a few posts will get you anywhere useful. I'd usually say get and read the whole of the Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Handbook, but that wouldn't really help in the short term.
The important thing to know is that you need four times the volume outdoors to get the same volume levels you would inside, so unless you have a big PA, forget any kind of serious volume. This also affects any monitoring (which you often wouldn't need in a small room), so be prepared for the fact that you might not be able to hear each other well.
The most important thing is balance, so if you set up pretty much the way you do for practice, you'll be OK, just relatively quiet. Drums (as usual) will be your limiting factor - no use everyone else turning up when the drummer is stuck at the same volume. So keep it all to the same balance as you do for practice.
The moment you start pulling in and adding sound reinforcement to that basic setup, everything gets a lot more complex - by several orders of magnitude. Then you have to mic up and DI everything (including drums, which I gather you have no experience with), you need a decent monitor system and you need someone with some knowledge at controlling it all on the mixing desk.
