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[Dave Dermont]

Hi Tim,

The idea you have for a pair of speakers on sticks for mains and another for monitors seems like the way to go here.

I wouldn't be too discouraged by some of the comments here about passing on the gig.

Just the same, I hope it's a low-stress gig with good musicians who are out to do a fun gig. Even better, I hope they are friends of yours and you all have a great time.

I feel sorry for those who never did a great gig in funky little venue.

Dave "sometimes, it's really not about the money" Dermont

[Winston Gamble]

Why not do it like the others do with just two SOS? We've done a couple of really small space gigs over the years. One time I set up the mains behind the band where they acted as mains and monitors.

The other time I set them up as cross firing sidefills shading towards the house and let the wash cover the room. Either way, the band has to control stage levels or it doesn't work. But that's a good thing!

Good luck, Winston.

[Tim A Perry]

Well folks, I have just come from a very successful recording gig at the opposite ends of the spectrum. The Venue: Turningstone Casino Showroom. With a simple "2-mix" from the series five board nearly caused the client to fall over when I played it back.

While I appreciate the commiserations the intent of my post was to glean new tips or ideas on how to improve on live sound in tiny spaces. My next show on the books is a benefit in a theater lobby. 3 bands to play while people are coming in and waiting for the main event. I have done this gig before using Yorkville E-600's on stands and a mix-pac. Moving through the shoulder to shoulder audience to check the mix is a bit of a pain.

Last weeks show was a multi band festival in a 2 car garage. This was the 5th or 6th time for me to the problems were minimal and the many local musicins who played and attended were satisfied. This included elements of the upcoming nine piece band.

I did some unusual patching this year. Based on prior experiance I opted to put a comp channel in each of six vocal mics plus comp the subgroup.  I put the monitors on poles and treated them as center fills. (it also avoided beer getting spilled into the k-10's) I still had problems with people miving the congas and bongos in front of the mains when i wasn't looking. also they kept trying to use a vocal mic to augment... and kept pointing it at the monitor... last year it was moving them down to try to pick up the djembe. Maybe next time I'll set up a cam to help keep an eye on the stage. As I had a week to rig lights and sound I was able to ring out the system pretty well.

While my first second and third reaction was to not do the small bar 9 PC there are non-monitary reasons to proceed.

I am thinking about racking up some Sabine FBX units for this show.

[George Friedman-Jimenez]

IF real musicians are involved who know how to play a small room, and IF the 2 drummers know how to play with (and not on top of) conga, bongo and djembe players (and vice versa), the only reason for a PA is for the vox and harmonica. A very small PA, maybe even just 1 good speaker on a stick, would be adequate. This would be an easy and fun gig, could be great. IF these are not real musicians and don't know how to play a small room, bring your earplugs and charge a lot or don't do the gig. More fun to stay home and check the solder connections and continuity on all your cables. Seems that the big IFs are key here. We do lots of small bar gigs and have a great time, until the DJs blast music between sets and chase all the musicians out.

[Gareth Hunt]

Whats the pay?

[Tim A Perry]

Gareth Hunt wrote on Sat, 16 October 2010 12:11

Whats the pay?

The satisfaction of a job well done

[Brian Jojade]

Tom Reid wrote on Thu, 14 October 2010 13:53

Mix in the trailer.

Nah, mix in the bar, stick the drum kits in the trailer!!

[Jay Barracato]

Small room means really controling the FOH as well as the stage sound to me.

I usually fall back on 1 SOS for these small places to keep as much sound on the people listening and as much as possible off of back walls, floors, ceilings etc.

This room sounds like you could set up mono at one end at a right angle to the stage and bar, and cover the whole dance floor.