Driving stage wedges

Re: Driving stage wedges

Mitch,

This thread has taken a turn, but I think it's for the better. The less NEED for a monitor, the better.

I also agree with the others that cohesive performing is becoming a lost art...not saying that about your son's group, but it IS quite common nowadays. If I were you, I would be inclined to listen to a rehearsal or three, and assess how well they do/don't hear each other. Take a look and see how their amps are situated (flat, on the floor, pointed at the back of their knees, for example). The best fix is to fix the problem at the source...and the "source" is not being aimed to where it does any good.

I think that you will find you require less monitor output if you direct the energy of the various guitar cabinets across the stage, aimed up towards the players' heads. You get less bleed into the audience area, and everyone can hear the amps better...it's a win-win. Some metal guitar stands allow tilting, some amps have legs or can be modified to use such props; the StandBack can work, too. It seems like a nice, affordable piece of kit.

You and/or your son my also want to look into a power soak. They allow the use of a higher wattage amplifier, whilst allowing the volume to be kept at a tolerable/acceptable volume. This lets the player "get their tone" while keeping the volume under control...the added benefit is that the engineer can listen to the amp and find the sweet spot without need of earplugs.
 
Re: Driving stage wedges

I just did a show with a professional band, two key players (three keyboards total), bass, guitar, drums, two horns. The band was way off to the side of the vocalists, in sort of a close group configuration on a stepped stage. One wedge downstage aiming at the whole band plus a drum fill with very little in it took care of everything.

All the band needed in the wedges was keys and vocals...it's so easy to do good sound when the musicians have a clue...
 
Re: Driving stage wedges

Mitch - congrats on helping your son out - best to get him on the right foot starting out.

Couple of things that may or may not help, based on my experience in a band:

For rehearsal, simplify the amount of gear needed and size. Your son's small combo amp sounds like a better bet for rehearsal than the Randal 4x12 cab as the goal is to ensure everyone can hear each other to learn to play together. If there's a vocalist, I'd give him/her a wedge and then one speaker positioned so the rest of the band can hear the vocals, but remember, the louder the band is, the louder the vocals will get until it ends up being a good old-fashioned volume escalation war.

We also set up for practice in a circle; it helps to maintain eye contact, but also points our amps at each other so that volume in a practice setting can be minimized. Get small amps up on chairs, cases, anything so that they're not on the ground -- this helps dramatically in perceived volume not only for the player, but the rest of the band. I have my Princeton Reverb for shows sitting on top of my Showman cabinet just for rising it up 2' from the ground.

If you have a keyboard player, I'd suggest having them get an amp instead of going through the PA. Reason being that they then will have their own amp/monitor, and if they get to gigs, they won't have to rely on not having a monitor wedge, etc. Doesn't have to be fancy - a used Peavey TNT300 sounds fine, is indestructable, and the 1980's models are very reasonably priced. Same reasoning for bass - the less you have to put through a PA to hear themselves, the better starting out. It also will help prepare them for playing at gigs where there may not be any PA that can handle low end, more than 4 inputs, etc.

Good luck!
 
Re: Driving stage wedges

Thanks a ton Ned. Much appreciate the specifics here. Not being a musician myself (since high school band, anyway), it's hard to know how to best guide and assist. Your post has lots of good info there.
 
Re: Driving stage wedges

No problem. Having tried to run rehearsals with our band with everything going through an 01v, it just becomes an ordeal to mix for rehearsal and get everyone's mix accomodated. If your son's band can learn to play together well with minimum gear, having a full PA and monitors will be icing on the cake. I'm sure like a lot of people who played in bands here, I was playing in bands since 1980, and the first time I had a monitor wedge would have been 1996... it can be done.
 
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