Sound Advice Sound Advice
Clay Whittington December 12, 2024 Natchez Grand Hotel Conference Room C Building an effective sound system for you marching band on a budget EQUIPMENT Power conditioner (Furman M8X2 $84.99) Behringer XAir18 (XR18 $459) Wireless Wi-Fi router (Walmart TP Link C54 $26.87 or Netgear Nighthawk AX2400 $123) Electro-Voice powered/active 18” subwoofer EV ELX200-18P $999x2 Electro-Voice powered full range speaker EV ZLX-15P $599x2 Shure ULX series wireless mic (554-590 frequency range) eBay Headset mic (Amazon Sujeetec ASIN B07C25SYR $26.99) Shure SM57 instrument mic ($99) XLR Cables (Hosa MCL125 25 ft cable 26.95) XLR Cable (Hosa XLR103 3-ft cable for wireless mic receiver to xr18) Hosa Little Bro’ 8 channel snake ($141.45) 50 ft triple head extension cord (Walmart, green $24) ¼ inch instrument cable (Gator 10 ft cable QTR10AGB $13.99) 1/8 to ¼ cable for iPad with adapter (Hosa CMS-110 $8.95) Cuezy app for samples Speaker xlr cables (Hosa 50 FT XLR 2 pack HMICO50-2PK $119) PVC 4 1-inch cross (item number 22702 Lowe’s $5.75) Black spray paint Black electrical tape Bungee chords (2-ft Walmart $3.97) Ratchet Straps (Harbor Freight $6.99) TYPES OF CABLE XLR also referred to as a mic cable. 3 prong cable TRS, (tip, ring, sleeve) balanced, left and right 2 rings on cable shaft (1/8 and /4 cables) TS (tip, shield) often referred to as an instrument or guitar cable, unbalanced (should not be used for speakers) SpeakON cables, used for speaker connection WHAT’S IN THE RACK? UPC backup power (power conditioner plugged into this) Power conditioner, things plugged into power conditioner: XR18, Wi-Fi router, Shure wireless receiver Use power conditioner to turn all of these on and off UPC should be plugged in after rehearsal each day (If possible, use a rack mount UPC) Do I really need this? Why? MARIMBAS AND VIBES Use pvc four way to hold SM57. (Demonstrate this on the keyboard cart) Paint the pvc cross black, drill holes for bungee cords. Connect bungee cords to pvc cross and marimba/vibes Get the SM57 and put a small amount of tape on it so the pvc cross will hold the mic Place mic in the cross and make sure it fits correctly Usually, marimbas have 2 mics and vibes have 1 SPEAKER CARTS Buy or build? Ratchet straps Yes, they do make them in black CONNECTING YOUR SYSTEM Connect the speakers to the air with an xlr cable. Connect the cable from the main output of the xr18 to the Sub input. Then connect an xlr cable from the output of the sub to the input of the full range speaker on the sub. Connect speakers to power. Connect xlr (mic level, not line level) from the wireless mic receiver to xr18. (Make sure the selector switch is set to mic instead of line) Connect snake or mic xlr cables from instrument mics to xr18. Connect keyboard the xr18 with an instrument (1/4) cable. Connect 1/8 cable to iPad, connect ¼ end to xr18. You’re ready for sound. Power on power conditioner and then power on speakers. Sequence is speakers on last, off first. KNOW YOUR COLORS Color code your connections to the snake and console KEYBOARD All the big 6A and 7A bands use a keyboard playing the tuba line. Should you? SAMPLES iPad and Cuezy app for samples Keep you iPad cool and out of the sun Recording samples at proper volume level in Audacity XR18 BASICS Using an external Wi-Fi router (you should) Name channels Link channels (marimbas) High pass (low cut) EQ Gain and gain structure Compression Effects-How to get that ethereal sound for solos. OTHER STUFF Cables, plan on replacing them every season I love Velcro cable ties and so should you (Amazon ASIN B08RYR241M) Roll cables like a sane human, not like a crazy person Train your students to do a job with this system. They do that job every day and responsibilities are the same on rehearsal days AND show days. Generators-it’s gotta be an inverter generator Cable sniffer (Amazon ASIN B00C0NTSUS $60.00) Free and cheap stuff Options |
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