Setting Up the Band with a PA System? Here’s What You Need to Know

If your band is busy laying roots across the country, playing every gig it can, whether in a fully set up venue or grubby backstreet pub, the idea of kitting yourselves out with a good PA system has probably come up already. But as soon as you’ve decided to take the leap, you’re faced with a whole new set of questions. Do you need active or passive speakers? Do you just need a little vocal setup or a complete PA system? What do you need to look for in your perfect mixer, your monitors, your microphones…? And so on. Not to worry, in this blog, we will lend a generous helping hand and set you up with the knowledge you need to make all the right decisions.

• Take Matters Into Your Own Hands
• Vocal System or PA?
• Maximum Flexibility
• Monitoring
• Mixers
• Microphones
• Good to Know
•     The Win-Win situation
•     Soundchecking without an engineer
• Picking Speakers
•     Active or passive?
•     Powered mixers
•     Controlling an active speaker
•     The goal in mind
•     Monitoring
•     Placement
•     Accessories
•     System amplifiers
• Instrument microphones
•     Drums
•     Bass guitar
•     Guitar
•     Keep an eye on the rest
•     Dare to experiment
• See also…

Take Matters Into Your Own Hands

Every band has been through it. You’ve carefully honed your set, loaded in and set up in the corner of the pub that booked you, and find yourself being plugged into the DJ mixer – because sound is just sound, right? On top of that, you’re presented with a mixed bag of what must be pre-war microphones and worst of all, no one seems to have thought about getting in a sound engineer or some monitors. It’s moments like these that often force bands to just take matters into their own hands. To do this, you need to keep your PA knowledge up to date; make smart decisions when buying or hiring a PA system, and make sure you’re always fully prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.

Vocal System or PA?

If not all of the instruments in the band actually need extra amplification, then you can get away with using a small vocal PA system. Vocal systems are also great for rehearsals and will serve an audience of around a hundred people where (usually) just the vocals, maybe a keyboard and an acoustic guitar are amplified. Most of the time, these systems are active, meaning that they feature a built-in amplifier, and with just a left and active right speaker, you can get pretty far. The Devine Onyx Series and Behringer Eurolive Series are good examples of affordable vocal PA systems and RCF’s more-than-decent ART Series systems are also definitely worth looking at.

If you want the bass to have more impact, then adding one or two subwoofers is a must. In a system that includes subwoofers, you have two options: to run the satellites (so the speakers) and the subwoofer separately or to link them using a crossover. Dividing the power and setting up a good crossover is actually not all that easy. The subwoofer will need more power than the speakers to deliver the same volume level and the crossover has the task of figuring out which parts of the frequency spectrum are sent to the subwoofer and the speakers. This is why it’s often a much better idea for bands to go for a ready-made system, so that all you need to do is hook up your mixer and plug it all into the mains power. Devine and Behringer also make some really affordable systems complete with one or two subwoofers, and while HK Audio is more expensive, they’re systems are built to withstand years of touring.

If you’re not sure what kind of power you need, then take your cue from the loudest instrument in the band, which is usually the drums. If you think that one or two elements of the drum kit need to be amplified, then you can be certain that the rest of the instruments are likely to need it too. In that case, a vocal system won’t do it and you need a full PA system that’s able to amplify every part of the backline. In theory, a PA system is nothing more than an oversized vocal system that’s able to support more instruments. However, since full PA systems are getting more compact and powerful by the day, the difference between the two has become less relevant.

Maximum Flexibility

When you start puzzling over which sound system you need, you’ll quickly become aware that the options are endless. You can push the power and number of subs through the roof and build a system big enough to service a massive festival – which is not just stupidly expensive, but unnecessary. The unwritten rule is that if you’re playing a night that’s big enough to need 1,000 Watts of power per side, then the venue will provide the PA system and a sound technician. With this in mind, what you need to get is something that sits somewhere in the grey area and preferably, will also work in your rehearsal space. Even with a simple three-way vocal system, the speakers make great floor monitors, and a sub-bin provides the perfect drum fill.

Monitoring

In an ideal world, every band member would have at least two monitors or use a set of in-ears. In-ear monitoring has the benefit of limiting the chance of feedback on stage, and in theory, reduces the chance of hearing damage. In practice, using in-ears doesn’t protect your ears from any sudden, unexpected loud noises, like peaking overdrive or feedback, so it’s not necessarily recommended to use a set of in-ear monitors unless you have a professional behind the mixing desk. This brings us back to floor monitors, but it’s not recommended to use too many – not just because of the high volume, but because forking out for a set of ten floor monitors requires a pretty big budget. This is why it’s so important to bear in mind what you actually need to hear on stage when making decisions about monitoring. For example, the bassist will usually prefer to stand on the hi-hat side of the drum kit, where they’ll get the most balanced drum sound and will tend to set up their amp on the other side, pointing it towards themselves so that they can hear enough of their bass without blowing the socks off anyone in the first row.

If you want loud monitors, then maybe just get yourself a good vocal system; make sure you’re using dynamic vocal microphones; and spend some time fine-tuning your monitors – so, filter out all the frequencies that are most in danger of quickly leading to feedback. The biggest benefit of using floor monitors alongside your own vocal system is that you know you can trust the sound. Note that it’s best not to feed every amplified element of the band through the monitors, like you would with the front-of-house speakers, because this will only increase the chance of feedback or of overloading and blowing out your monitors. In principle, you only need to feed the monitors with the signal from elements that, even when amplified, can’t be heard clearly on stage. If you get the chance, try getting a split-signal from the main mixer and then adjusting it with your own mixer on stage. This is not just useful for filtering out some unnecessary low-end, but allows you to add some effects separately from the front-of-house sound.

We’ll talk more about choosing the right speakers later in this article.

Mixers

The kind of mixer you’ll need will depend on what you want to do to the sound other than just sending a dry signal through to the speakers. Any mixer will at least come with passable preamps and a standard EQ filter these days. Smaller mixers, like models from Soundcraft, Yamaha or Mackie are often popular for their simple layout and decent sound, but it’s the extras that will determine whether or not you’re looking at a mixer that’s compatible with your band. For example, the number of AUX busses dictates the number of separate groups that can be sent to your monitors, which is worth paying attention to if you want to run the stage and front sound with the same mixer. Most, if not all, mixers will have a digital effects processor onboard, removing the need to add any external reverb or delay units (e.g. for the vocals). Another handy feature of many digital mixers is a set of motorised faders capable of ‘total recall’, so that any set parameters can be saved and then called up later at the push of a button. So even if you’ve nudged a few of the faders by accident, they’ll automatically return to the saved position. This makes it possible to do things like prepare the perfect vocal sound in the rehearsal room, so that when you take the mixer into a venue, all you need to do is call up your setting and lightly tweak it to match the stage and space. Being able to prepare reverb, delay, and compression settings beforehand is also pretty useful. Besides the low-cut, the rest of the EQ settings will depend on the space you’re playing in and microphone placement on the day.

A lot of digital mixers come with some kind of audio recording option, but if you’re looking for a mixer with this feature, make sure that you check if it will need to be hooked up to an external module and/or computer, or if it’s just that the stereo output serves as a recording output.

Devine and Behringer make great budget mixers, while models made by names like Yamaha and Soundcraft are more often seen used as part of smaller PA systems. If you need to brush up on your mixer knowledge, see the helpful blog, The Mixer: Functions & Connections Explained.

Microphones

These days, most vocalists are more aware that having your own microphone is actually a good idea. It doesn’t just mean that you can match your on-stage sound with your voice, but it’s also way more hygienic. The Shure SM58 and Beta58a microphones are considered the standard all over the world and are the most common weapons of choice when it comes to vocals. So virtually every sound engineer on the planet is likely to have at least one of them in their kit.

The only way to find out which microphone best suits your voice is to try them out in rehearsals. Getting a microphone like the SM58 will never be a waste of your money. Besides serving as most people’s ideal vocal microphone, an SM58 can be used for the backing vocals; to mike-up the snare (top or bottom); the toms; and even guitar cabinets.

Of course, if you’re planning to stick the entire backline through your PA system, then you’re going to need an arsenal of microphones, and some will need to be more specific than others. So before you go buying up a small army of microphones, check what elements of the band can be amplified without a microphone. Maybe the bass amplifier has a DI output so the bass can be worked nicely into the mix, or you’ve noticed that you barely use any of the hi-hat microphone signal. Looking at things in this way will save you having to fork out for a lot of microphones.

While most microphones are designed for live shows, most of them can also be used to make DIY recordings. Later in this blog, we’ll look at choosing the right microphone for instruments.

Picking Speakers

Now, we’ll start diving a little deeper into the ins and outs of picking the right speakers. Do your speakers need to be active or passive? Is using a speaker with a built-in amplifier a good idea? What kind of monitors do you need? And what other things do you need to look out for?

Active or passive?

When we briefly covered more compact sound systems earlier, we bumped into powered systems, also known as active systems. “In terms of sound, systems with separate amplifiers tend to be superior to ready-made speaker systems with a built-in amplifier,” says PA specialist and manager of the Group-PDA events audio gear hire company, Peter Smith. “Especially when vocals are involved. But most situations just won’t need the highest quality equipment and will be fine with just a good active system. QSC and RCF have great separate components that have been well calibrated to work with one another. However, watch out for companies that do a lot of number juggling when it comes to maximum power. The technical specifications you need to focus on is the dB level measured at one metre with a power output of one Watt. This will enable you to sort the wheat from the chaff. A measurement of 91dB is too far below par and just won’t give you enough volume. What you need to look at are speakers with a rating that hits around the 100dB mark.”

“The whole picture is also usually based on the measurement of one specific frequency – often 1 or 4kHz, because this frequency yields the most results. But since the specifications are based on what you might call ‘the ideal’ frequency, there’s no way of knowing if you’ll get the same results in the other frequency ranges – especially in the lower regions and anywhere over the 12kHz mark. It’s here where cheaper speakers will start to react more aggressively.”

“In the world of professional audio, people often don’t talk about power in terms of Watts anymore, but in decibels (dB). If you want a good indication of what this means, then you can follow the unwritten rule that a two-hundred-head audience will need a sound system with 15 inch speakers and a power capacity of around 500 Watts per side.”

For more help understanding the difference between active and passive speakers, see this helpful blog.

Powered mixers

These days, many manufacturers seem to be less interested in them, but brands like Behringer, Dynacord, and Laney still produce powered mixers. “These mixers have a built-in amplifier so that passive speakers can be immediately plugged into them. Most of the time, these are standard amplifiers with just one power amp and no processing. This kind of system is limited in a number of ways. For instance, if you want to upgrade to heavier speakers, you’re restricted by the power capacity of the mixer and you’re likely to find out there’s no other ideal match than the speakers you have already. It also adds unnecessary weight if you already have speakers.”

Controlling an active speaker

”It’s important to note that the master volume of an active speaker is only useful when the speaker is set up as a standalone system for playing back music from your phone or tablet, or just to amplify a microphone. Any other time, you just need to set the volume of the speaker to maximum and then adjust the loudness using the master fader of your mixer. You don’t need to be scared of blowing your speakers when you do this, since a limiter always comes built into these systems to protect them against big signal peaks. Just make sure that the little red LED indicator never lights up to be sure that you’re not pushing your system too hard. A well practised musician is likely to hear the distortion that happens when you go too far. It’s also best not to touch the EQ controls of an active speaker. Again, the EQ section is only designed for balancing the sound when you’re just plugging in one microphone and you need to limit hard sounds and raise the mids a touch to ensure intelligibility. Some speakers come fitted with a separate line and microphone input while other models will automatically recognise what’s being plugged in. There are also a few models that come with the controls needed to mix signals, but this can be awkward for singer-songwriters and other solo performers, not only because your mixer is on the back of the speaker you’re playing through, but also because you’re unlikely to be able to EQ the separate channels and get a good mix.”

The goal in mind

Giving some serious thought to what you want to achieve as a band is also important when you’re picking out speakers. “Ultimately, mixing the sound is like driving a car. When you jump into someone else’s car it can feel awkward, because you suddenly need to actually think about the whole process of driving. But when you jump back into your own car, everything feels natural again. The same is true with a PA system. When you use the same system to rehearse as you do to play gigs, then you get familiar with any little idiosyncrasies. You know exactly how the microphone is going to react to your monitors and you know exactly what you need to do if any feedback occurs. All of this stuff is worth knowing before you get into the venue, either as a sound tech or as a band. Knowing your system inside and out basically means that you already have a good idea of how to get the sound you need on stage.”

“Actually, you could even say that there’s a specific sound system for every genre. Whether consciously or not, the decision you make when it comes to your PA system will end up contributing to your sound as a band. For example, speakers with a horn system aren’t so good for classical music because they can quickly sound a bit aggressive. The horns of speakers are there to ensure more controlled sound distribution. You could compare it to a bundle of light: the more concentrated the bundle, the further the light can travel. In exactly the same way, sound travels further when the angle is reduced. But the problem with that is that you’d have to place a lot of small speakers with a narrow dispersion angle in a row to make sure the sound actually reaches every member of the audience. Since there aren’t all that many pubs and smaller venues with a thirty-metre-long hall, it’s just a lot easier and cheaper to take one speaker with a broader dispersion angle and stick it on a stand. When it comes to floor monitors, things are the other way around. Monitors are best when they have a short dispersion range, so that the musician is provided with clear sound but feedback is minimised.”

Monitoring

There’s no need to explain why not every band can set themselves up with a sound system with one or two separate monitors per member. “In that case, you’ll need to improvise a bit,” says Peter. “Now and then you’ll see bands that have set up their front-of-house speakers halfway back from the front of the stage so they can hear themselves, which is just asking for feedback. You’ll be far better off forking out for just one or two extra active speakers that you can put at the front of the stage to serve as monitors for the band. Just make sure to put an equalizer between the mixer and your monitors – preferably one with 31-bands – since monitors don’t need to amplify the entire frequency spectrum. By reducing the right frequencies, you’ll reduce the chance of a lot of noise and hum. Try not to fuss too much about the sound coming through your monitors. I mean, if you try to remove every little peak, then you’ll end up with no sound at all.
In-ear monitors are definitely recommended, but you need to know what you’re doing with them. Luckily, most in-ears come with a built-in limiter to limit the chance of hearing damage. In-ears have cables, and you can even use a good set of in-ear headphones as monitors if you’re only using them to reduce the risk of feedback. You don’t need to send an extra master signal through them from your mixer, but use the auxes instead. This way, you can send exactly what’s needed on stage.”

Placement

When setting up your sound system, there are several little details you’ll need to pay attention to, but the positioning is one of the most important. How do you achieve the ideal speaker height? “Setting up one speaker on either side of the stage is easy. Make sure that the treble driver of the speaker – which is usually in the middle of the cabinet – is pointing out, over the heads of the crowd. Otherwise, if your speaker is too low, then you’re only shooting sound at the first couple of rows of the audience. If you’re setting up in a venue where the ceiling is only about three metres high, you’re essentially having to push the sound through a letterbox, as it were. For the bass cabinets and sub bins, this is different, since they can just be placed on the ground. The difference between a bass cabinet and a sub sits in the frequency range. A sub usually starts working at around 30Hz and stops anywhere between around 60Hz, or 80Hz, while a bass cabinet covers frequencies up to around 150Hz. This is why a passive system where the frequencies are split is actually more ideal. By pulling back the frequencies that the speaker has to compensate for, you increase the efficiency. So, if you have a pair of active speakers that fall a little short in terms of body, then add one or two extra sub cabinets. And no, they don’t need to be from the same manufacturer. The better active systems have a high-pass filter in the satellite speakers to filter out the lows that the subs will take care of. When picking out a sub cabinet, go for something with a minimum size of 18 inches. The reason is logical: the larger the surface of the woofer, the more air it can displace. For example, you would need maybe four 12 inch speakers to achieve the same effect as an 18 inch subwoofer. The downside of an 18 inch sub is that the sound can get messy a lot faster, while a set of 12 inch speakers will deliver much tighter and more compact bass reproduction. Also, don’t start sound checking with the lows, it just doesn’t work as well. Of course, you want to be able to actually feel the bass, but before you get to that, check all of the frequencies above the 1,200Hz mark – because that’s where all of the clarity and detail lies.”

Accessories

As with much audio gear, it’s not always the best idea to go for the cheapest option, advises Peter. “Stay away from the cheapest, budget models. These are only useful when you intend to just take them out of the box and put them somewhere where they’ll stay forever. When you buy the cheapest thing out there, there’s a risk that after a few rounds of unpacking and setting up, they just don’t work as well. Screws tend to quickly get loose and bits of plastic fall off easily – which is the last thing you want.”

System amplifiers

When you take another step up in the price range, you come across much more expensive passive systems with system amplifiers. “D&B, Coda and L-Acoustics are a few makes that produce passive systems with digital amplifiers. The internal processors of these system amps optimise the settings of the connected speakers. This makes sure that you get the best performance out of your system. For example, back in the day, a 10,000 Watt strong setup would have to be erected to serve a crowd of a thousand, but with a D&B system complete with digital processors, you can achieve the same level of performance with just 3,000 Watts. Of course, it takes a hefty investment, but you can be sure that every professional sound technician loves these installations.”

Instrument microphones

The search for the right microphones for all of the different instruments could be compared to painting a house: carefully choosing the right colours, making sure that they’ll work well together and with the efftect you want to achieve, and then applying them step by step. The same is true of amplifying a band. You’re trying to achieve a complete, cohesive result, which is not something you can do by applying all of the colours at once. Luckily, pretty much all stage microphones are also perfect for home or studio recording – while studio recording microphones aren’t so flexible.

Drums

Amplifying a drum kit is perhaps one of the most complicated jobs since there are so many different elements. In the studio, you can get away with simple solutions like just suspending a condenser microphone over the snare and poking another one over the shoulder of the drummer. The most important detail to remember when using this setup is that the microphones need to be at an equal distance in relation to the kick and snare. When you get on stage, it’s a different story, since it’s better to mike up as many of the different elements as possible so that you guarantee yourself the most in-your-face sound you can get, but without too much crosstalk. An exception to this rule might be the toms because in some situations they sound great enough through the overheads. When playing in smaller venues, it’s possible that the kick, snare, or overheads sound loud enough without being mic’d up. But if it needs it, the kick drum is often amplified using a Beta 52a from Shure, a Sennheiser e901, or an AKG D112. Like the SM58, the Shure Beta 52a is considered an industry standard since it delivers a full-range character and nice, round sound. The AKG D112 is a little more punchy and has a bit more attack to the sound, so it’s more fitting for rock and similar genres. The Audix D6 is also an absolute smasher when it comes to heavier work because of the bigger ‘click’ it’s known for, and lastly, there’s the Audio-Technica AE2500 – another great microphone fitted with a condenser and dynamic capsule, meaning that you can take the basic character of both and mix them any way you want.

Two for the snare

In theory, the snare and toms can all be mic’d up with a Shure SM57 or Sennheiser e604. These are both dynamic microphones that are known for treating louder sound sources with really nice character. The best technique when it comes to the snare is to place a microphone below and a second microphone above. Since they’re placed in a 180 degree relationship to one another, you’ll need to reverse the phase of one of the mics to get a full and complete sound. The microphone that you use to point at the underside of the snare isn’t all that important, so a Shure SM58 or even one of the clones available from cheaper brands like Fame or Behringer will do the job.

The microphone placed above will need more thought. You’ll get more clarity and sparkle with an Audix D1, while a Sennheiser 421 will pack out your snare sound with character. The toms will also benefit by being mic’d up by an Audix D-Series microphone. Toms don’t necessarily need to be individually mic’d up, especially when you’re looking at a rack of five or six. You could just place a microphone between the toms instead of clipping them to the rims, which not only sounds amazingly good but saves you spending more cash on more microphones. Both the hi-hat and cymbals can be taken care of by a condenser microphone since you don’t need all that much low-end or body, but you could do with a little shimmer and sparkle. Small-diaphragm condenser mics (or SDCs) like the Neumann KM184 serve as the ideal overhead microphone, but in some cases, you can use a cheaper studio condenser microphone like the Behringer B1. Also, miking up the hi-hat separately is not always necessary since usually the overheads will pick it up perfectly.

Bass guitar

In theory the options are just as wide when amplifying the bass guitar, but in practice it’s actually a bit simpler. Many bassists prefer to play over DI when playing live since this usually results in a great signal and dramatically reduces the chance of feedbacking low-end on stage. If you happen to prefer using a microphone, then pick a microphone like the Shure Beta 52A, the Sennheiser e602-II, or the D112 – this can then be combined with a DI signal or a second microphone that’s set up to capture the higher frequencies and those all-important details.

Guitar

Guitar amplifiers are often considered the scum of all stage gear. In general, they can be noisy, bothersome lumps that, by their very nature, have a habit of distorting and overdriving. As such, it’s not all that easy to capture their very specific character via a PA system. Hooking up a guitar amplifier to a DI box is seldom recommended. Even the more expensive amplifiers can send out a DI signal that doesn’t sound too different to a mosquito trapped in a matchbox. It also just doesn’t make sense to approach it this way, since the speakers loaded into the cabinet have a massive influence over the colour of the sound. The Sennheiser E609 and E906 microphones, as well as the Shure SM57 are the most commonly used dynamic microphones when it comes to miking up a cabinet. These are often combined with an SDC or LDC (large-diaphragm condenser) that’s placed a little further away from the speaker to inject some space into the sound. Position the condenser a little closer to the speaker for a more ‘in-your-face’ sound and some extra detail. You need to watch out for phase problems here as well.

Acoustic guitars are yet another different story. When they’re electro-acoustic and plugged into an acoustic amplifier, then you can treat them in the same way that you would an electric guitar, but then using different microphones. Since you’re looking for sparkle and don’t need to worry so much about high sound pressures, then you can use a defined condenser. Electro-acoustic guitars with a direct output are far more workable than placing a microphone in front of a standard acoustic guitar, which is just asking for feedback. You could place a microphone – an SDC like the Neumann KM184, Sennheiser e914 or AKG C451B (either a single or a stereo pair) – so that you have very little problem with the monitor sound, but this will limit the movement of the guitarist and the whole band behind them will quickly have trouble with crosstalk.

Keep an eye on the rest

Sometimes, choosing the right microphone doesn’t just depend on the colour of sound of the specific instrument but also the position on the stage and how the instrument needs to blend with the rest of the band. For example, it’s best not to pick a condenser microphone for the backing singer that’s standing right next to the drummer because you’ll have the sound engineer pulling their hair out trying to get rid of the crosstalk from the drums. A vocal microphone can have a lot of body to it, and sound nice and warm, but as soon as it’s blended in with the rest of the band, it immediately gets less interesting because of its darker character. The trick is to pay attention to every element and always make choices with the end result in mind. Experiment with different combinations that compliment each other. The two guitarists could go for microphones that aren’t all that interesting on their own, but when combined, work perfectly together. Choose the right gear in terms of the function and musical role it’ll have on stage. Your amp microphone might be the perfect match for your screaming solos, but sound dead and lifeless during rhythm parts. Of course, you can compromise – use a few microphones and let the sound engineer know when the right colour has been hit.

Dare to experiment

As with every aspect of music, the age-old cliche still applies: dare to experiment. You don’t need the most expensive microphones on Earth before you can give the performance of your life. Sometimes you can get the same results with cheaper gear, and sometimes you might find that cheaper models are actually a better choice in terms of your specific sound. An old dynamic microphone can sound incredible when miking up the top of a snare. The microphone you use to record vocals at home can work just as beautifully as an overhead for the percussion or as an extra for the guitar amp (albeit with a little caution). Just make sure to keep on the critical side of things and be aware of the pros and cons. A microphone that’s made specifically for the snare top is less of an all-rounder than a microphone like the SM57, but might sound far more convincing live. See what you can find out. Pick out your microphones with the live show in mind and make sure you can use them to record demos as well. The price of a microphone is an indication of quality, sure, but that doesn’t always mean that it’s going to be a perfect match with the sound of your instrument. Test and compare gear and try it out on stage before you make any final decisions. The microphones you choose will ultimately define the sound that the sound engineer has to work with on the day, so they’re way more essential than you might think.

See also…

» Speakers
» Mixers
» Amplifiers
» Microphones
» In-Ear Systems
» Cables
» Stands
» All PA Gear & Accessories

» The Mixer: Functions & Connections Explained
» How to Clean a Microphone
» Live-Stream Your Gig with Great Sound!
» Speakers & Amps: The Difference Between 2/4/8/16 Ohms
» How many Watts? – The Truth About Speakers and Power Output
» Balanced and Unbalanced Connections (Finally) Explained
» The Difference Between Dynamic and Condenser Microphones
» What is an Equaliser and What Is It Used For?
» Why You Should Be Using Gaffer Tape Instead of Duct Tape
» The Difference Between Active and Passive Speakers

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