How To Set Up A Sound System For A Live Event [PA System Setup Tutorial]

How do you set up a PA sound system for a live event? This video will help you to hook up your sound system for a band, a concert, a wedding, or a DJ gig. By the end, you'll have a great-sounding PA system.

Live Sound Mixers:

Studio Mixers:

Used Mixers:

0:00 - Introduction
0:15 - Step 1: Room Layout
0:33 - Speaker Placement
1:18 - Mixer Location
1:50 - Cable Pathways
2:15 - Step 2: Power
2:39 - Step 3: Set Mixer To Default Settings
2:52 - Step 4: Connect Mixer To Speakers
2:57 - Main Speakers
3:27 - Stage Monitors
3:44 - Power On Speakers & Mixer
3:54 - Step 5: Connect Inputs To Mixer
3:56 - Line Level Source (Smartphone, Laptop, etc.)
4:28 - DI Box (Direct Box)
5:06 - Dynamic Microphone
5:15 - Condenser Microphone
5:32 - Step 6: Test System & Set Up Gain Structure
7:49 - Audio Mixer Tutorial
7:57 - Subscribe To Audio University!

QSC K12.2 Powered Speakers:

Ultimate Support TS90B Speaker Stands:

Shure SM58 Dynamic Microphone:

Gaff Tape:

Cable Ramp:

Power Outlet Tester:

1/4-Inch TRS to XLR Adapter:

3.5mm to Dual TS Adapter:

Whirlwind IMP 2 Passive Direct Box:

Radial ProDI Passive Direct Box:

Countryman Type 85 Active Direct Box:

BSS AR-133 Active Direct Box:

Radial ProAV2 Stereo DI Box:

Book a one to one call:

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Disclaimer: This description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click them, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.

[GeraldWilhelmBradenComposer]

I have been a live and studio engineer (with a sound engineering degree) for over 40 years. This young man is sharing a LOT of great info about sound. Every time I hire a new sound tech for my Music Shoppe sound company, it takes me about 6 months to train them, though they receive an education they can use for the rest of their lives. Sadly, most "sound engineers" are not "real" trained sound engineers, that had to study all the math and everything else I studied in college. Most sound people learned to run sound working in a music store, or with a band. There is SO much to learn for a good sound engineer, and this makes ALL the difference between mediocre or OK sound, and having great sound. Here are a few more tips for you all.

As Kyle mentioned, always "flesh out" the sound system set up, to know where you are going to place the speakers, monitors, and microphones, before you begin running cables. I always start with my power ex cords, using 12 gauge ex cords, and I use a circuit tester to make sure the outlets are wired properly, with no open or reversed grounds, , , , etc. Using bad power can easily damage your equipment! The I run the main XLR signal cables fro my rack to my mains, subs and AUX monitors, using thick 16 gauge XLR cables. The I run a 30 foot 8 channel snake near the drums, for the drum mics, bass and guitar amps., and vocals on the other side of the stage. I always make sure that my XLR main, AUX monitor cables, and snake are a few inches away from my power cables, to help keep any possible 60 cycle hum from power from getting into my XLR cables. For clubs, and most indoor venues, I always turn my speakers in towards the dance floor a little 'caddy corner, " so the loudest sound is on the dance floor, and so that the sound is not bouncing back to the stage from the rear wall (at about 50% when it bounces back). This helps so that you won't have bartenders and servers complaining about the volume being to loud, helps stop the possible feedback of the sound bouncing from the back wall (like a cur ball on a pool table), and also allows people that are not dancing to hear themselves talk, and still hear the music as well. You will also want to have the horns in your main speakers to be at about 6 and a half to 7 feet above the the floor, so that high end and clarity will throw to the back of the room. If you have your horns to low, your PA will sound "muffley" because the bodies in from of the PA will "absorb" all that high end and clarity. The subs are a different story, because bass is "non directional, " and will be pretty much heard all over, having much wider sound waves that the shorter frequencies coming from the horns. I always set up my mixer and rack on the side of the stage, because after I do a full sound check (walking out front a few times during the sound check to check the levels and mix), everything is set and mixed, and all I am basically doing is turning solos up and down, turning the fader up a little more for each person that sing lead (and bringing the other vocalists faders down a bit, so that their harmonies do not "bury" the lead vocalist), and changing effects such as shorter or longer delays (such as a "rockabilly" or Stray Cats type of quick delay, or a longer Led Zeppelin or Journey type delay with 3 trailing repeats). I always have a good set of headphones set up, and can always listen to whats going on out front, by soloing out any channel, any AUX mix, or the 4 sub mixes on my Mackie mixer. The other really good thing about running sound from the side of the stage, is that it's very easy for me to hear the monitor mixes, and for the musicians to communicate to me if they want any small changes.

Also, I use 31 band EQ's right after the L-R outputs on my mixer, and before my crossover that separates the frequencies from my main speakers to my subwoofers, and usually set the low crossover point to about 80 HZ. I also use a separate EQ for each monitor mix. I use JBL PRX 635 1500 watt 3 way speakers for my mains, and QSC KW 181 subs for my low end (I have 10 of each, for smaller or larger shows), and all QSC and JBL 1000 watt powered monitors (I have 16 of these for smaller or larger shows), and Mackie VLZ 4 mixers (24 and 32 channel), as well as Allen & Heath Mix Wizard mixers (16 channel). Also, I run my QSC K12 stage monitors on tri pod stands on the front sides of the stage, like side fills, instead of on the floor. I set up an AUX 1 and Aux 2 mix for Left and Right, and those monitors easily throw 15 feet, and FILL the stage with vocals at ear level, instead of the monitor being in front of the singer on the floor. When you have a monitor on the floor, about 50% of the sound is "wasted, " just hitting the singer in the belly or chest, because your ears are on the side of your head NOT on the front of your face. Also, when a lead singer walks away from that monitor, the monitor becomes almost non existent to them, which is why so many singer get sore throats! I learned this monitor technique from Todd Rundgren almost 35 years ago, and it has served me very well. It's always wonderful when a singer comes up to me and tells me that they heard everything they were singing, all over the stage, without getting a sore throat! When I do the AUX L-R mixes, I place the lead singers mics at equal volumes in both mixes, and place the guitarist, keyboardist, or bassist vocals on either side of the stage, just a tad louder than the persons vocals from the other side of the stage, This way the lead singers always hear them selves well, and the musicians that are singing on each side of the stage hear themselves well, as well as the other harmony parts. If I do a larger concert, I will tap another monitor off each AUX 1-2 mix, and place it on the floor near the subs, on the front of the stage, caddy corner to help fill the stage a little more. For even larger concerts, I will also place another set of monitors from the AUX 1-2 mixes on the floor in front of the singers at the middle of the stage front. I never have to turn up those monitors very loud, they are simply a little "extra stage fill." When I do very large concerts, I will also tap another set of QSC K12 monitors on tri-pods, about 5 feet behind the first set that are near the front sides of the stage. Because of the way I set up my monitors, I am able to do very large concerts with only 4 AUX mixes (AUX 3 is usually for brass players, also at ear level on a tri-pod stand, and AUX 4 for drummers at ear level on drum cases, making sure the monitor is not bleeding into a vocal mic, or any drum mics), and no one EVER complains that they can't hear the monitors Peace! 🎃

[Maydoggie]

I wish I had found this channel 2 years ago. I had to learn by trial and error, which results in a lot of error. I continually ran into 1 of 2 problems with the people I consulted with: 1. They had a static setup (same configuration week after week, year after year) and had only memorized steps without a conceptual understanding of audio principles, or 2. They had a good understanding of audio principles, but talked over my head or tried to teach me too much at one time. Anyway, thanks for this. My brain is very linear and if I don't understand the alphabet, it's futile to try to teach me how to read. Once I grasp the basic concept of a system, the details are much easier to grasp. This video alone is going to help me tremendously. I can apply this knowledge to my 2 years of fumbling and bumbling and maybe be a decent sound rookie now.

[guystoker]

Thank you so much for this video, it’s such a life saver. Believe it or not I’ve managed to go 30 years as a pro musician without the need or knowledge of one end of a desk from the other (metaphorically speaking) and next Tuesday I start a job where the only person responsible for the set up etc is me. I’m going to put this video on repeat between now and then. Thanks so much!

[cooperalbert]

I really love this channel. Every videos uploaded here is useful for our church whether indoor or outdoor. Thank you so much :D

[TheFendertak]

Hello Kyle, I am a singer musician Dj for over 40 years and still at 54 years old learning about sound 😉 I have seen a few video clips on properly setting your sound and by far you really do explain this very very well indeed, now live music has returned once again I have been looking into buying a new speaker system and really with the choice thats available it's an absolute minefield of confusion due to the marketing propaganda each audio company goes on with, Kyle
you being a sound engineer
and how great you can bring your tutorial across to us musicians and singers,
and Djs, well let's concentrate more on singers and musicians,
Right now I own the Dynacord Powermax 5 pa system which has played many venues big and small for the past 13 years and still today going strong, connected to Dynacord Cms 1000 desk, lately I bought 2 yamaha stagepas 1ks out of watching many videos on how great they are, yeah there ok for small pubs, but still I end up setting up my Powermax 5 next time I'm performing in that small venue, so really yamaha stagepas 1ks are not all that great, I'm looking now at selling them and possibly going for the
Evolve 50, or Bose F1 812 and F1 Subs, but I'm not forking out big money Less I know that what I'm buying will surpass the old Faithfull Powermax 5,
sorry for going on here, but I'm sure a lot of musicians out there want answered too to this,
every speaker audio review seems to only really cater for Djs, we need someone to be completely honest and know what their talking about, and really a qualified sound engineer with full in dept reviews would make it a lot lot easier to buy right, I've have only come across this video clip now and have subscribed and look forward to viewing more of your you tube videos, perhaps you do already reviews on PA and speaker systems?

[uweschmidt]

I work as a professional live sound engineer for about 25 years and was curious about that video. A thing, that doesn't make sense in my experience is the gaining her. I would highly recommend NOT to use the gain to create a mix and not keeping a close look on the meter. That can lead to big trouble during the show, especially when you're doing house and monitoring through one desk. I use gain to adjust headamp-sensitivty, not meant to be touched during the gig after leveling (only in case of a need). The levels on analog-consoles (e.g. -6 to 0 dB) are different from a digtital-console (-18 dB to -12 dB dbFS). But set up right, I user faders to do the mix, because it is much easier to handle and for most of al this is what they're made for. At last a proper gain is the base of your mix.
The second point is here to check inputs with all outputs set to 0dB to the system can result into a very short to no show. If there is something wrong on stage and an instrument boosts suddenly up to +20 dB or more (I had this several times) to the open system can really damage more than switching on in the wrong order. Always check the signal PFL via headphone before sending it to speakers.
I met several guys doing gain-mixing and sent themselves to hell and back. Correcting a wrong gain-structure during the show is a pain in the a.. for everyone taking part.

[wazzuptrey]

Awesome video! It took me years to learn a lot of these basic things and I put plenty of wear on my equipment because of basic mistakes that can be easily avoided.

I have two more SUPER simple tips for new folks in the live audio world to add.

1. SHOW UP EARLY!!! My dad who did mobile DJing for 25 plus years would always say "if you think it will take you two hours to set up, plan for 3" multiply the time you expect setup to take by 1.5

2. Make securing cable your LAST step. I can't tell you how many times I've made adjustments to microphone placement, monitors positioning, or even moved my main speakers a couple feet to accommodate for a larger audience and ended up tearing tape lines or cable ramp up and redoing them. Its also a very import step for liability purposes, so it you make it a point to have securing cables be your last step you won't forget it.

[rupe]

As someone who used to do a fair amount of small music festival work, I used a system of organization to keep everything straight for quick band changeovers. (average about 10 minutes) Using a 16 channel board was common so 5 inputs across the front of the stage for vocals and misc, 5 inputs mid stage for instruments, and another 5 inputs for a drum kit. #16 was for FOH talk-back via monitors. Each XLR cable got a masking tape "flag" with the input number, so you didn't have to follow it back to the snake to see where it was. From the FOH position you could easily count (left to right) what channel people were using. (1-5 was front of stage, etc... 6-10 was instruments... 11-15 was drums) you could easily swap a mic for a DI and keep the channel assignment. If you needed to change things more you can push vocal channels #4 and #5 to the instrument row and keep a group together on the board. (congas, bells, maracas, horns, etc) Basically straight back and keep the count in order. (swapping left and right always tangles things) Another handy tip was to pull the whole board down between acts... except for mic #1. This was for an MC who wants to talk between acts, you just tell them to look for #1, which is always live. (or whatever number you assign) This allows you to move stuff or pull inputs on stage without constantly having to worry about pops and clicks. After a changeover, the stage tech gives his "thumbs up" to the FOH, then all levels go back to a mid-point, which is close enough to start mixing on the fly. Again, average changeover in under 10 minutes. Hint: pull mics away from drums and walk away while he sets up, then push everything back when he's done... especially if the drummer is a lefty!

[mcmusic]

I really love your tutorial. Great help to someone like me who is new to sound mixing. Thanks!

[shcoopsarasota]

For me a good reminder of what to do and care to start all the way down. After 30 years of doing the sound for my small local band I still fight to get he best quality sound, and these explaination are very clear.

[prafulc]

Very good setup instructions. I would recommend sound engineers to watch this video over and over again. Wonderful!!!
Go to 5:31 for Step 6 to understand the order of adjusting the knobs.

[MrLunkhead]

This is honestly the best and most informative Sound System tutorial I have yet to see on Youtube. Good job!!! :)

[joyparakka]

Thank you dear Kyle for sharing some very intricate and immensely useful information wrt Sound management in the music industry, Much appreciated!! Am still learning. Always looking forward to your informative videos.

[jjfrank]

Thanks for the knowledge...the best part of the whole production is the dented 58...I'm going to watch all the other free videos you you mentioned

[jessezepeda]

I love your way of explaining the Info. Please keep the Information coming I've learned alot from you over the last year. Stay blessed!

[durgaramakrishnan]

You are so good in explaining clearly about everything in detail. God bless you!! 🙏🏽👏👏🌈

[brandonbillings]

Good shit buddy....been looking for a video to show my guys in my band. This is gunna help the other guys get up to speed about how proper set up and leveling can make or break a performance of any sort.

[chrisharper]

Pro tip #1: Guitar players always want to use the XLR output on their amp instead of a DI box to get the tone of the amp and the FX in the mains. Some amps are wired with pre-master volume XLR outs but some are post-master. Make sure they can’t (or won’t) mess with the front of house signal by constantly fiddling with their amp volume. Otherwise you will have to keep trimming the channel constantly. If they need FX and amp in the mains, using a mic on the cabinet may be the best way.

Pro tip #2: Choose the weirdest or most obscure song possible to test the PA. Ideally, this is a song you know extremely well and tests the full range of frequency and dynamics, but that nobody else has ever heard of before. Bonus points for choosing a song from a genre that is extremely bizarre or out of style. Use this song before every gig for the rest of your life. If anyone in the band ever asks why you use that song, give them a totally made up, but very complicated sounding answer full of engineer jargon. This will be your trademark, and will give you instant credibility as an engineer, because it will make you seem eccentric and mysterious to musicians.

[GuYGT]

Tons of thanks from me!!! I've made mistakes for a year!! at fitness instructor I always try to boost every channel main, music, mic too high (over 0 db) I just understand that have to adjust to 0 db on every channel and always get a limit sound on amplifier every time that so very annoyed!!! I really love you!!! <3 <3 bug thanksss 😍😍

[oluwatobiadegoke]

Great videos you have on your channel. I'm not a sound tech but I do want to know about sound mixing so that I can set my guitar myself and get the best sound. I've subscribed to your channel because I've got no time to waste. Well done once again!