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I didn't work tonight but I did rent out my piano and sound system for the evening. I get to the site and then learn, the house can provide a sound system for the group. It doesn't matter to me and I don't force my opinions though I know from experience my system will sound better. (This was a small concert hall that seated probably less than 250.)

I attended the concert tonight and the piano sounded distorted. The distortion probably was a result of the monitor being driven too hard but the distortion did not originate from the CP5. As soon as I got the piano home I plugged it in and cranked up the volume control - no distortion.

Lesson learned ... again.

soundmen...

problem is with soundmen.. only a few are actually educated.. most done it having simple concerts and they're running the show, feeling all superduber mr.knobturnerman :-)

Badly set up house system? Bad engineer? bad house system?

Distorted pianos are not nice when they're supposed to sound clean. One of the more horrible things to have to listen to..

Regards. Rimmer

I would go with the bad engineer category. He was a kid.

The piano was my CP5 and we used the XLR outputs. He fed that signal to the house system and also to a monitor for the pianist. Since it was a small room (I initially thought 250 people, but it was closer to 120), most of the sound I heard (and probably most of the audience), was through the single floor monitor.

That floor monitor was the source of the distortion. I don't know if that was a powered monitor or not. I tend to think it was a powered monitor and the signal he sent was simply too hot. For good measure when I got the piano home I hooked up the XLR outputs to my mixer and set the piano on its loudest setting and played hard - the global volume control was maxed as well as the individual Voice knob. There was no distortion through my Mackie mixer. I listened through the headphone outputs.

Soundmen: bane of my existance! I've only had the "luxury" of a soundman in malls and churches, all 100% clueless. I'm sure there are really good ones somewhere but I have not met them yet.

Meanwhile, how to we set levels? I have a 2 piece jazz band (me on kb, other guy on sax). I worry that we are not balanced (can't do anything for his volume but I gig with a Yammie portable and a Roland amp).

I thought about using a mike at the back of the room and listening to it though earphones. Reasonable? Better ideas?

Ed

For starts you might buy a sound level meter. $49 at radio shack and more for a better one but the RS one is not bad and likely better than guessing. I have one I got at RS and use it to measure frequency response of speakers. It is good enough that you get a useful graph.

OK now that you can measure sound how to decide how loud you want it? Does the Sax need to be 6dB above the piano? Beats me.

Record your playing using the keyboard's own recorder and simply walk to the back of the room while the sax is playing.

Depending on your setting, you may not need to amplify the sax at all. If you don't have a PA, then i'm not quite sure how you're doing it anyway..

If you do have a PA, then turn one of the monitors towards you when you rehearse and you should be able to get a reasonable idea of how things are balancing. It's not easy task as the sax is obviously expressive and dynamic..

Tnx for tips.

I'm thinking I could use the idea of recording my part and using it with the sax to set my kb volume. It would probably take a little back and forth to set it the first time but once done I could use the RS level meter to set it quickly in new gigs.

I do have the RS level meter; used it when I reduced volume of my Hamilton from 92db down to 85db with a quilt folded and stuffed between the piano and the wall.

Ed

next time, ask the purported sound "engineer" if he/she knows what "unity gain" is. if they don't, step in and do it yourself...