Speaker Placement Basics For Small Concerts, DJ's, and Portable Churches

►► Get my audio math survival spreadsheet found in my audio toolkit:

00:00 - Intro
01:25 - What makes clear, consistent sound at your event?, 4 Main Variables
05:30 - My ethos and mantra for sound system design decisions
06:20 - Show Scope, Speaker Selection
09:50 - Speaker Placement Principles
11:21 - Using Forward Aspect Ratio (FAR) To Match Mains Speakers To Audience Size
13:48 - What If I Can’t Place Speakers Optimally?
14:38 - Vertical Speaker Placement, What Speaker Stands To Buy
16:30 - Adding A Front Fill Speaker
17:30 - Subwoofer Placement For DJ, Portable Church, And Small Concert Sound
18:04 - Why I Prefer Center Sub Arrays
19:16 - Managing Levels And Keeping Tonality Even
21:27 - Recap, Big Wins

[brianbauer]

As a systems engineer I appreciate giving some of thse basic ideas to people. Not everyone can afford to have a dedicated person to figuring out speaker set up. Almost everything is a compromise but a basic understanding of speakers and how they perform is important. I always teach people starting out the main goal is keep the sound on the people and off the walls so your maximizing the clarity and not wasting the power. subs is one of thoose things most people strugle with because it isn't always intuitive and the way low frequencies can either cancel or reinforce depending on placement. I've see damage to many systems becasue of that. Equadistant from the audience can be another goal, although just like he said the people that like it a little quiter gravitate to the off axis areas.

I'm passionate about good sound for all situations and apreciate the effort to train people through your videos.

[a-zmp]

I’m watching all of your videos and am so impressed and grateful for them. The more you give, the more you get. I hope you reap tenfold all the work, knowledge and energy you put into these videos.

[CameronMagee]

That subwoofer power alley/valley visual was a game-changer.

[bluerootentertainment]

Separating the subs to evenly distribute the sound and avoid power alleys has really been an eye opener for me. Thank you!

[garends]

The aha moment for me...the flashlight analogy. I've always thought the tweeter should be at ear level, but this makes sense. I was concerned about going too high with our mains because the ceiling in the room we meet in has large 4 foot indented chandelier sections in the ceiling that I thought would really cause some problems. I am going to measure our room this weekend and do some FAR calculations! Our stage is really close to our audience with our portable church, so coverage has been difficult. I ended up adding two side fills in addition to our mains... but I am now wondering if I can drop those and move the mains inward. Keep up the good work Michael!

[Wax_Room_Productions]

Beautiful. My band at 9 V Saturday just had a gig last night and it was in a pretty tiny bar and I am 34 years old. I have been around live music and playing live music since I was 1213 years old you just taught me the most important thing that I could have ever learned about live sound. I play bass Bass and I believe that I am going to be a headache for the rest of my band members and start implementing these values to our set up when we gig out

[scandinavianserialki]

I knew that higher speakers could more evenly cover a wider area but the flashlight thing is really easy to visualize. I'm definitely going to use that next time somebody asks me about speaker height.

[emptinessground]

Very good video! The front fill changed everything. I didn't know how to properly distribute the sound to the front of the stage.

[mitas]

Thanks for this, it goes directly against what most people would think. Having now tested the stick setup, and I can tell very clearly the comb filtering effect. Will try the sub in the center, and also the 1.27 meter spacing with delay and inverted later.

[roba]

The visuals of the sound wave was very helpful. Also the use of the center fill sub with a monitor.

[peternelson]

Michael - What an excellent video you've put together! I love how you've come up with a nice "mix" between the science and the realities of most projects for smaller events. I also enjoyed seeing you use the software tools. I can envision what that "next level" approach looks like when you have the tools and a paying gig. I do some teaching myself and I am definitely going to refer my students to your resources. Thanks!

[mrixdj]

YO! This has been super helpful! New years eve, I did my first gig with much taller tripods for the mains, and an inline gradient for the subs. It was FANTASTIC to not be bombarded with bass all night and having excellent response for the people in a big wide-open gymnasium!

[snorklewacker]

Late to the game, but wanted to thank you for an excellent video! Really helpful — the diagram with dual subs was really eye-opening for me. One thing I’d love to see in a follow-up video is the question of reflections and trying to manage them. It seems like in the model where you have both speakers pointed directly at the back wall you’d get a lot of reflection canceling vs. an angled setup, but that’s based on a naive mental model of the space. :) Would love to hear some tips and tricks for handling those both when you can move the speakers and when you can’t. Thanks again for such a terrific resource!

[shaneberckman]

This is great information. I have the Bose f1 system and it has an adjustable array and I have a couple Bose s1pros that I pair up with the Bose Sub1s and 2s depending on the situation. I done a school tailgate party with S1pros and Sub1s and they couldn't believe it produced enough for that parking lot. The dispersion on those S1 Pros and when you have the crossover through the sub it is amazing at what those little things can do

[Bulletman]

Thank you very much for making this video. I learned a lot from it. We have a gig tonight. I’m going with the subs in the center and outing the mains on poles left/right. Thank you again for all you do

[TonyNguyenFR]

Thank you for this video. Just pieced together a PA setup for our youth retreat and wanted to know the best configuration based on room and amount of people!

[Musicalpa]

Thank you for this data. Our Messianic synagogue just purchased two Alto TS410 speakers and a used 32 channel Mackie, and everything you said confirmed my thoughts for speaker location and angle. We are installing it all this Sunday, and I'm very optimistic and eager to hear how much better things are going to sound in comparison to what we've been using.

[chiesapuntoluce]

thanks for explaining the coverage angle

[mastersoundlive]

Finally, someone who explains it clearly rather than those who like to wow us with the tech language! Thanks. The aha moment were the kids in the background and you not stopping to edit. Blessings! Thanks.

[djmikecartel]

So Im researching speakers now, I need a new setup and been looking at sub/top combos all day, and then I come across your vid, , , learned how I have those silent alleys with that setup, even tho I love how it looks, lol, ,,and now looking for a banging center sub, thanks for the knowledge!!! 🙌