[jeansen]

i need help,guys..i always have volume problem when i live performance....i regularly use behringer's v-amp2 ,send it directly to the di box and then to the mixer (cause, i have no amp at all) ....my band have 2 keyboard player, 1 piano player,1 saxophonist,1 bassis,1 drummer,1 percussionist and 2 guitarist (1 is acoustic and 1 is electric,that's me).....in many ocassions,even when i check sound with my band, it is quiet hard for me to hear myself in the monitor..so, i usually raising up my guitar volume and my v-amp2 volume...but then, my friend( who sits in the audience seat) always telling me that my guitar is too loud...do you have any suggestion on these ?

btw,what is check sound for?i mean, what should i do actually when it is come to check sound?..i have seen many of us(unproffesional musician) ,when check sound, just jamming n play a song with the band...but i have heard that when we check sound,we should find our best sound first before jamming because the sound and the set-up in our home won't be the same as the one the stage,especially if we don't bring our own rig..is it true? so, what should i do?..please help this newbie..thx u

[Rockerbob]

You need your own amp pointed at your ears so you can hear it before it's too loud for everyone else. If you run through the PA without your own amp, you really need a full monitor mixer setup that allows each player to have his own mix, the "more ME" mix. Most club bands can barely afford one mixer, let alone a monitor mixer with a separate mix for each musician.

[OldG]

The soundcheck is what it says, to check the sound is at the right level with your chosen balance of performers coming through at your chosen level.

Matt, our lead guitarist, tends to check ours at gigs -he has a wireless setup for his strat that allows him to play out front with the audience if he wants to, which is ideal at soundcheck to run back to the desk to make fine adjustments.

Oli, the drummer, monitors through headphones (small in ear type) so to hear everyone,and not just drums - maybe a wireless in ear monitoring system would be the answer here? Although I am wondering why you don't just use an amp miked for your purposes....

[Tekker]

Originally Posted by jeansen

in many ocassions,even when i check sound with my band, it is quiet hard for me to hear myself in the monitor..so, i usually raising up my guitar volume and my v-amp2 volume...but then, my friend( who sits in the audience seat) always telling me that my guitar is too loud...do you have any suggestion on these ?

If your monitors are run on different channels than your main speakers, then tell the soundguy to turn your guitar up in your monitor but not in the main speakers. This way you will hear more of yourself, but the audience will not. If you turn your guitar up, then you will affect both the monitors AND the main speakers.

If you do not have separate channels for the mains and the monitors, most mixers should already will have aux sends that you can use to get separate monitor sends off the mixer, so all you would need is a power amp to power your stage monitors. If you guys play out a lot at small clubs, then you may want to invest in something like this for your band that you can take to gigs. Running the monitors and main speakers off the same channel is a horrible way to go as there is no separation between what the musicians need to hear and what the audience hears.

Do you know what kind of PA system you guys are using? (Mixer, amplifiers for speakers and monitors, etc.)

btw,what is check sound for?i mean, what should i do actually when it is come to check sound?

As mentioned above, the soundcheck is where you check the levels of each member of the band before you play to the audience. You don't want to be adjusting levels and stuff when playing for the audience, so the soundcheck is to make sure everything sounds good "before" you play your set.

Soundcheck typically starts off with each band member plays/sings solo and the soundguy gets an approximate volume level for everyone and adjusts any EQ or effects settings. Then the whole band plays together (ie. jams ) and then the fine adjustments can be made to get a good balance between all of the instruments in the main speakers and in the musician's monitors.

but i have heard that when we check sound,we should find our best sound first before jamming because the sound and the set-up in our home won't be the same as the one the stage,especially if we don't bring our own rig..is it true?

This is definitely true. The PA system and the room size and acoustics will all play a factor on your final sound. When I used to play guitar in my church youth group several years ago my Digitech pedal sounded much better in their monitors than it did on my home CD-player speakers that I was using at the time. So yes, the sounds will be different.

If you can, try to get to the gig a little early and spend some time "playing" with your sounds there before everyone else shows up. That way you will have your tone mostly dialed in and you can make your final tweaks when playing with the rest of the band during the soundcheck. Eventually you will be able to dial in your sound much faster, even on gear you've never used before.

-tkr

[Marsh]

Generally, a sound person would prefer you to have your guitar up on full volume for sound checks. This means that they can setup the channel for the highest volume. The pedal is a different matter, because you dont want to cause clipping at the output of the pedal or even the input of the DI (if it has no pad on it).

I would suggest you get an amp and use it for you onstage sound and then place a mic in front of the amp (eg. a shure SM57) and then what you hear onstage is pretty much identical to the sound out through the speakers. I have found in the past that DI's on electric guitars sound very harsh, especially with distortion and other effects. By using an amplifier with a mic you get a much nicer sound and the sound the audience hears is what you want them to hear. You would no longer need guitar in a monitor either.

As said above, sound checks are used to set levels (both front of house and monitors) and also to make sure that everyone (including the sound tech ) is happy with the sound. However, if you use the same amp for practise and gigging, the setup should be about right each time. You dont really need a huge amp, its only going to be used for stage sound, so a smaller, nice sounding amp is ideal.

[Andy S]

Originally Posted by Marsh

Generally, a sound person would prefer you to have your guitar up on full volume for sound checks. This means that they can setup the channel for the highest volume. The pedal is a different matter, because you don't want to cause clipping at the output of the pedal or even the input of the DI (if it has no pad on it).

In the case of the V-Amp2 ( I use one, too) What the sound tech wants, as Marsh said, is the LOUDEST volume you are going to be using. So, if you do a loud Lead part, he needs to know that so he can set that channel up so it sounds like YOU wanted it to, not distorted (clipped) even more than the tones you selected from the V-Amp.

Originally Posted by Marsh

I would suggest you get an amp and use it for you onstage sound and then place a mic in front of the amp (eg. a Shure SM57) and then what you hear onstage is pretty much identical to the sound out through the speakers. I have found in the past that DI's on electric guitars sound very harsh, especially with distortion and other effects. By using an amplifier with a mic you get a much nicer sound and the sound the audience hears is what you want them to hear. You would no longer need guitar in a monitor either.

Yeh, the only really good sounding DI device I've dealt with is a box called a SansAmp. But we wont go into that here.

Now, with the V-amp2, you have two outputs. Make sure you are using the "Live 2" setting. (check your manual for that) This will give you the amp modeling, the effects and all that stuff that you chose for that setting. It will come out of both of the outputs that way.

What I do is take one of those lines to a DI box that goes to the Sound System. So the sound person is getting the settings and tones I want. The other line I run to a small amp (bouncing right now between a Peavey Classic 30 and a Behringer V-toneGM-108. Probably will stick with the smaller GM-108) I don't need to mic anything this way.

This gives me a "monitor" on stage with just my guitar. The rest of the band hears me through that. We have the luxury of having 3 different monitor mixes and I have one for myself. I use in-ear monitors, so it's important for me to use the little amp to help the rest of the band hear what I'm doing. Some use monitors (mostly the vocalists and the drummer) Some don't use monitors. they can hear just enough of what they want from the stage volume since we don't play very loud.

Originally Posted by Marsh

As said above, sound checks are used to set levels (both front of house and monitors) and also to make sure that everyone (including the sound tech ) is happy with the sound. However, if you use the same amp for practise and gigging, the setup should be about right each time. You dont really need a huge amp, its only going to be used for stage sound, so a smaller, nice sounding amp is ideal.

And one thing a lot of folks don't realize....when they ask for "more of me!" in the monitors, they could best be served by just lowering the loudest thing in the monitors. Now, that being said, if, as Tekker mentioned, you don't have a separate monitor mix, or your limited to just one mix for monitors, then without fail, someone will always "need" to be turned up. That is a tough one to fix.


For the time being, try the small amp on stage and use the two signals out of the V-amp 2. One for the house mix, one for your amp. I'm sure you'll hear a BIG difference and the sound guy will like you for NOT having to turn up your signal and messing with his mix.

Any more questions on the V-amp 2 and setting it up live, feel free to contact me directly.