All Event and "Bar Night" Organizers Only!!

[Zoologico]

One of the coolest things I've found is that if you buy those velcro cable wraps that stay attached to the cable after unwinding (you can get em from any office supply store), when the cable is laid out along with any other cables going along that same path, then you can use the velcro wraps to bunch them all together. Makes for real easy cord management with out the sticky gaffers or duct tape. If there are any cords on stage though, make sure to tape those down so people don't trip over them. Remember, the people playing will have usually been drinking, the stage will be dimmly lit, and if someone falls, they are going to land on an expensive piece of equipment! Hope this helps. Later!

Thanks.

I am about to drop some cash on a powered mixer.
I want to get the right power.
I am partial to the PMP series from Behringer.

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/PMP1000.aspx
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/PMP3000.aspx
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/PMP5000.aspx
Any feedback?

[Jerrid_DOMN8R]

Thanks.

I am about to drop some cash on a powered mixer.
I want to get the right power.
I am partial to the PMP series from Behringer.

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/PMP1000.aspx
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/PMP3000.aspx
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/PMP5000.aspx
Any feedback?

Just a quick reply on the Behringer products...
In my experience these are lower-end mixers and I (personally) have had some bad luck with them with my previous line of work... Switched over to Mackie 1202 and 1404 mixers - and have had better sound/luck.

But - for this type of gig those should be fine - but if big plans are on your horizon, I guess I would consider others.

Just some feedback on that brand - only because if I had a $1 everytime i said, "F*$& this Piece of S#!& mixer" - I would have enough for a $5 footlong... at least. Again - just me, but I was always using them for live concert audio recording - not playing sound from xbox/ps3 and laptop...

[Zoologico]

Just a quick reply on the Behringer products...
In my experience these are lower-end mixers and I (personally) have had some bad luck with them with my previous line of work... Switched over to Mackie 1202 and 1404 mixers - and have had better sound/luck.

But - for this type of gig those should be fine - but if big plans are on your horizon, I guess I would consider others.

Just some feedback on that brand - only because if I had a $1 everytime i said, "F*$& this Piece of S#!& mixer" - I would have enough for a $5 footlong... at least. Again - just me, but I was always using them for live concert audio recording - not playing sound from xbox/ps3 and laptop...

Do you mind elaborating on why you ended up saying "F*$& this Piece of S#!& mixer" and if you recall the particular products?

[Jerrid_DOMN8R]

things that caused my headaches were -
1/4" aux monitor outputs were "flaky" I seemed to get "hiccups" in the audio when recording master DVDs & Betas
Sliders were cheap, and loose, and broke a couple pretty easily.
Like I said, minor - but when your client and the bands' recordings have shotty audio - I get to apologize frequently. I haven't used this brand for several years, so i wish i could be more specific - but all i know is once i switch, i didn't have problems - plus the Mackies seemed to be more "rugged" and overall, put together better - didn't feel so light and cheap.
On the last particular model i used the power plug was not a standard one, it was some small, almost mini USB adapter that kept getting unplugged. probably an older model, and i would hope to god they aren't all still like that.

Again - this is just my experience - and I only replied cuz well, you asked for feedback, and i remember swearing to never use this brand again after the 2006 Wildflower Fest in Richardson, TX... that was when I just took it and through it out the control room door, drove to guitar center and bought a mackie - 1202 i think... had knobs versus sliders which i didn't prefer, but i never needed to constantly adjust levels, so no big deal.

Like i said before though - Behringer is an affordable way to get a lot of inputs/outputs/controls for little $$$. so it's a good way to go for this type of gig. If you plan on doing anything "big" with this rock band karaoke stuff (multiple speakers, recording, or just pumping volume louder - like for outdoor gigs) - maybe consider brand with higher quality.

But - my preference has always been the Mackies - since i have no problems at all - when even the smallest ones piss me off.

/2cents - again, don't get discouraged, just one man's vent.

[Zoologico]

things that caused my headaches were -
1/4" aux monitor outputs were "flaky" I seemed to get "hiccups" in the audio when recording master DVDs & Betas
Sliders were cheap, and loose, and broke a couple pretty easily.
Like I said, minor - but when your client and the bands' recordings have shotty audio - I get to apologize frequently. I haven't used this brand for several years, so i wish i could be more specific - but all i know is once i switch, i didn't have problems - plus the Mackies seemed to be more "rugged" and overall, put together better - didn't feel so light and cheap.
On the last particular model i used the power plug was not a standard one, it was some small, almost mini USB adapter that kept getting unplugged. probably an older model, and i would hope to god they aren't all still like that.

Again - this is just my experience - and I only replied cuz well, you asked for feedback, and i remember swearing to never use this brand again after the 2006 Wildflower Fest in Richardson, TX... that was when I just took it and through it out the control room door, drove to guitar center and bought a mackie - 1202 i think... had knobs versus sliders which i didn't prefer, but i never needed to constantly adjust levels, so no big deal.

Like i said before though - Behringer is an affordable way to get a lot of inputs/outputs/controls for little $$$. so it's a good way to go for this type of gig. If you plan on doing anything "big" with this rock band karaoke stuff (multiple speakers, recording, or just pumping volume louder - like for outdoor gigs) - maybe consider brand with higher quality.

But - my preference has always been the Mackies - since i have no problems at all - when even the smallest ones piss me off.

/2cents - again, don't get discouraged, just one man's vent.

Well thanks for the more specific feedback.
It is really appreciated.

[YRDaddy]

And I have nothing really to add to the sound equipment question. I'm actually terrible at judging sound. As long as it is loud, the quality is acceptable to me That thing does have way more inputs than you will need though. I'm pretty satisfied with my Beringer 15" PA speakers. They sound decent and they where a good price. Don't know much about the powered mixers though. Once agian though, I recommend browsing craigslist 1st before buying new, you'll be suprised what kinda deals you can find on there. Good luck.

[RockBandLosAngeles]

Hey, guys, lots of great posts here as usual. It seems we've been pretty lucky, the places we host at already have multiple HDTV's and PA systems that we just have to plug into, so we don't really own any TV's or PA systems ourselves, just Xboxes, cables, splitters and instruments. I did buy the Behringer 1202 for one bar we were at for a short while, and once I learned to run the Xbox through the Control Room out, giving me the ability to amp it twice, it worked fine, but if we're ever going to do parties we will either have to rent or buy a much better PA system. The places we focus on for our gigs are sports bars with stages, I know that kind of limits you to where you go, but these places are the best to start in.

On another note, I spent the day at E3, watched the Beatles Rock Band demo and played the game a bit, and what I can tell you is , we're all gonna need to buy some more mic stands! Three vocal tracks on some of those songs. But that's the easy part, the hard part is that the game is a 'stand alone' product, and won't currently integrate into the Rock Band 2 library, so we're going to have to rack our brains and figure out the best way to deal with this in September. Will we have special Beatles Rock Band nights? Will we play the Beatles for an hour, and then swap disks and go into RB2 the rest of the night? Will we have to have two separate Xboxes and equipment setups to quickly change back and forth? All ideas are welcome.

Also, I was able to meet HMXSean and Sarah and many of the other people we have been emailing and talking to recently and they are very interested in what we are doing and in trying to coordinate all this and help us out. One idea Sarah talked about, which I really like, was maybe getting us a special controller or game disc so that we have complete control over the instrument settings for every instrument (easy, hard, etc.) so when people start pushing buttons or hitting drums it won't cause us the chaos it usually does, that would be cool. They also said they were going to come to our Rock Band Night at THE DRAFT tonight (Thursday) to check it out, so if you're in Los Angeles you might want to drop in. Of course I can't guarantee they will be there, but let's hope!

www.rockbandnightsla.com

[YRDaddy]

I never met Sara, but Sean is pretty cool. Tell him Gabe from Denver said "hi" for me please.

The Beetles game will be used sparingly at my Rock Band Nights (kinda like GH Metallica). I might use it for a couple hours but only if the demand is there. I already use back up singer mic stands but in no way am I going to be switching xbox's in between songs (I bring enough stuff to rock band night as it is). As cool as the beetles may be, people can only handle so much of the same band or genre of music. Thats why Rock Band is so popular, because of the diversity. When ever we have done GH Metallica it's lasted 2 hours tops because it gets old and people get restless. I suspect the same will happen when trying to use The Beetles game.

[stubby8177]

Need some help! I own a bar and am interested in doing a mid-week event such as this. Problem: Don't know a dang thing about it. If possible, I would like to learn from others who have been there, done it, to minimize my mistakes. Looking for the "package deal" if that type thing exists. Any suggestions on best equipment, set-up, etc., would be greatly apprieciated!

Thanks to the forum and to anyone who responds!
stubby8177

[Zoologico]

Hey, guys, lots of great posts here as usual. It seems we've been pretty lucky, the places we host at already have multiple HDTV's and PA systems that we just have to plug into, so we don't really own any TV's or PA systems ourselves, just Xboxes, cables, splitters and instruments. I did buy the Behringer 1202 for one bar we were at for a short while, and once I learned to run the Xbox through the Control Room out, giving me the ability to amp it twice, it worked fine, but if we're ever going to do parties we will either have to rent or buy a much better PA system. The places we focus on for our gigs are sports bars with stages, I know that kind of limits you to where you go, but these places are the best to start in.

On another note, I spent the day at E3, watched the Beatles Rock Band demo and played the game a bit, and what I can tell you is , we're all gonna need to buy some more mic stands! Three vocal tracks on some of those songs. But that's the easy part, the hard part is that the game is a 'stand alone' product, and won't currently integrate into the Rock Band 2 library, so we're going to have to rack our brains and figure out the best way to deal with this in September. Will we have special Beatles Rock Band nights? Will we play the Beatles for an hour, and then swap disks and go into RB2 the rest of the night? Will we have to have two separate Xboxes and equipment setups to quickly change back and forth? All ideas are welcome.

Also, I was able to meet HMXSean and Sarah and many of the other people we have been emailing and talking to recently and they are very interested in what we are doing and in trying to coordinate all this and help us out. One idea Sarah talked about, which I really like, was maybe getting us a special controller or game disc so that we have complete control over the instrument settings for every instrument (easy, hard, etc.) so when people start pushing buttons or hitting drums it won't cause us the chaos it usually does, that would be cool. They also said they were going to come to our Rock Band Night at THE DRAFT tonight (Thursday) to check it out, so if you're in Los Angeles you might want to drop in. Of course I can't guarantee they will be there, but let's hope!

www.rockbandnightsla.com

You're awesome.
Hope they come to see you and that control mode would totally destroy.