I have been to a lot of live gigs lately, small bands enjoying in small pubs, and I’ve seen the identical scene every time. The fold back is on the brink of feedback nonetheless the singer wants more, the entire mess is painfully loud and screeching, and therefore the band are looking nervous because there are way more people walking out than there are walking in. The room in front of the stage could be a sonic void that no-one wants to pass through, let alone stand in. It does not take a genius to figure out what is wrong: IT’S ALL TOO LOUD.

What is the problem with musicians and small public address systems is it too laborious to understand that a box containing two 15 in drivers and a horn is no match for two quad boxes, a bass amp, and a drum kit at full blast. Obviously, musicians don’t perceive the basic principles of good live sound. Thus, I now present “Four Steps to Better Sound through Little public address systems”.

Step 1: Garbage in, garbage out

This is often so blatantly obvious, I am unable to believe I’m writing it. If you sound like a wisp on stage then you’ll sound like an amplified wisp through a public address systems. On the opposite hand, if you sound smart on stage, a good engineer will build you sound great – and you will blow away the other bands that also sound like wisp. Therefore how do you sound good on stage?

Step 2: Play balanced

Sounding good on stage begins by sounding good in the rehearsal room. Next time you are in practice, move into the center of the band and take a careful listen. Could you hear all the instruments clearly? Is anyone instrument dominating the others? Does it sound sort of a outlined musical event, or sonic mush? If it’s sonic mush, you’ve got to try and do one thing concerning it.

Step 3: Play soft

With all the instrument amplifiers all the way down to zero, start enjoying a song. Hear the drums. Change the extent of the PA so that the vocals are in a good balance with the drums. Take it slow to urge it right, because the vocals and the drums are your points of reference. Currently, start turning up the bass amp until it sounds balanced with the drums and vocals. Add the other instruments, one at a time, turning their amps up slowly until they work into the proper balance within the room. If an instrument drowns out the vocals or drums, it’s too loud. By now, you must be ready to hear a a lot of better balance of the band, and the PA system will no longer seem sort of a useless piece of howling wisp.

Step 4: Learn to like it

I recognize what you are thinking now: “my amp is not giving me the proper tone”, or “I am unable to get enough sustain”, or any of a zillion different excuses for turning your amp up. Bad luck. The fact is that if you would like to sound good through a small public address system, this is often your only option. There are answers to most of these complaints that do not require turning up the amplifier.

Currently that you’ve got your volume settings and instrument layout sorted, use the same settings and layout when you play live (but flip the vocalist around to face the audience, in fact!). Keep your amps playing to yourselves, and let the PA play to the audience. You will get a lot of better live sound, and you may have way less problems with fold back. If the venue’s PA is notably little, work with the sound engineer. You will have to repeat these steps during sound check.

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