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Author Topic: Levels: Mains, monitors, lead guitar, keys  (Read 3764 times)

chenevert

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Levels: Mains, monitors, lead guitar, keys
« on: January 14, 2007, 10:58:43 PM »

Hello all, this is my first post.
My band has been having a problem setting the levels on our sound.
Members: Singer/guitar, lead guitar, keys, bass, drums, 2 back vocals.
The problem is setting our individual levels, esp the lead and keys, in our monitors.
I play lead. I use a POD. I use 4 channels: 1-Clean, 2-clean/delay,3- dirty, 4-dirty/delay. I set 4 at the max that I want the guitar to be heard. The other three I bring down to where they are lower than 4, but uniform 1-3.

Keys: Has to change volumes during song to fit parts. Also, some tones ae softer sounding.

Here's our problem. The guitar is always blowing everyone out on stage using the monitors, but is not loud enough in the mains. The keys are always too loud coming out of the mains, also. We don't have a dedicated sound man yet.

One side of the camp is saying we should be monitoring what is coming out of the mains, (so we know when to turn up our level), and the other is saying "not to worry about it", the sound man will take care of it. We plan on having a sound man for our next gig.

Everyone is getting mad at everyone over this. We need help. We need a basic understanding. Thanks
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Andy Peters

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Re: Levels: Mains, monitors, lead guitar, keys
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2007, 11:02:08 PM »

chenevert wrote on Sun, 14 January 2007 20:58

Hello all, this is my first post.
My band has been having a problem setting the levels on our sound.
Members: Singer/guitar, lead guitar, keys, bass, drums, 2 back vocals.
The problem is setting our individual levels, esp the lead and keys, in our monitors.
I play lead. I use a POD. I use 4 channels: 1-Clean, 2-clean/delay,3- dirty, 4-dirty/delay. I set 4 at the max that I want the guitar to be heard. The other three I bring down to where they are lower than 4, but uniform 1-3.

Keys: Has to change volumes during song to fit parts. Also, some tones ae softer sounding.

Here's our problem. The guitar is always blowing everyone out on stage using the monitors, but is not loud enough in the mains. The keys are always too loud coming out of the mains, also. We don't have a dedicated sound man yet.

One side of the camp is saying we should be monitoring what is coming out of the mains, (so we know when to turn up our level), and the other is saying "not to worry about it", the sound man will take care of it. We plan on having a sound man for our next gig.

Everyone is getting mad at everyone over this. We need help. We need a basic understanding. Thanks


Two things:

1) Read the fucking rules, especially the part about "use your real name in the 'alias' field," otherwise your question will be deleted, and

2) Hire a soundguy, at least for one gig, who can straighten you out.

-a
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Bob Leonard

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Re: Levels: Mains, monitors, lead guitar, keys
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2007, 10:15:48 AM »

You didn't provide enough information So here's an answer for you.
Don't run the guitar through the FOH, and why do you have to monitor guitars and keys. Didn't you set up the backline and rythem section correctly or are you playing in a house with a stage that's 100 feet wide and 50 feet deep.

Plus what Andy say's.
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Tim Padrick

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Re: Levels: Mains, monitors, lead guitar, keys
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2007, 01:02:09 AM »

Eliminating the backline amp is one of the main reasons to use a pod.  A keyboardist not using an amp can also be a wonderful thing, as, like with guitarists, it always blows past the players knees and kills the folks in the crowd.  This usually works best with individual mixes though.

The problem of the guitar being too loud in the monitors and too quiet in the house has a very involved solution:

Grab Fader on guitar channel and push upwards until desired level is attained in house.

Grab Aux knob on guitar channel and turn anti-clockwise until desired level is attained in monitor.

Patrick Tracy

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Re: Levels: Mains, monitors, lead guitar, keys
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2007, 03:31:40 AM »

chenevert wrote on Sun, 14 January 2007 20:58


One side of the camp is saying we should be monitoring what is coming out of the mains, (so we know when to turn up our level), and the other is saying "not to worry about it", the sound man will take care of it. We plan on having a sound man for our next gig.

Tim Padrick wrote on Mon, 15 January 2007 23:02


The problem of the guitar being too loud in the monitors and too quiet in the house has a very involved solution:

Grab Fader on guitar channel and push upwards until desired level is attained in house.

Grab Aux knob on guitar channel and turn anti-clockwise until desired level is attained in monitor.



You're assuming they're on the correct "side of the camp". At least they're getting help for their next gig.

To the OP: Please do what Andy says. The world will be a happier place.

Ricardo Cruz

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Re: Levels: Mains, monitors, lead guitar, keys
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2007, 06:49:26 AM »

To OP,

When I run sound for bands I don't even take the guitar amp out of the truck unless I get asked for it.  I setup a seperate mix on a monitor then put the monitor next to the guitar players' ear using a stand and crank it to his/her pleasure.  I get less bleed this way and get better control of FOH.  I usually hear the complaint that you mentioned.  "The damn lead guitar player is too fargin loud!!"  That's why the amp stays in the truck.

Good Luck!

Ricardo
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