Singer had this forward thinking idea

[substitute]

I was talking to a singer the other day and she had this interesting idea. If her guitar player was willing to spend $1200 on his guitar and $1000 on his amp, and throw em in a van and lug em all over the place, how come she would just sing through whatever mic into whatever pre a club happens to have?
I thought there was a logic to this but I really don't know anything about live sound. So the question is, does it make sense for vocalists to bring their own mics and preamps to a gig? I think she's willing to spend some dough, what would yall recomend?

=|:^=

[housepig]

that's a great idea.

it also avoids the problem of having your lips up next to a mic that the previous smelly, tuberculosis-laden singer just spent 45 minutes gobbing into...

[mysteriousmammal]

This makes all kinds of sense. She must be stopped.

[djslayerissick]

yes!

i completely agree with her. most singers are SO freakin lazy and cheap - house PA and house mic? they just say... eh.... good enough.

singers should do their own effects too - or have a sound effects tech - not just throw a basic verb on there.

i'm the other extreme. i bring a whole rig with me to every show in an SKB case.

i sing with 2 mics - an RE-20 and the egg mic - sometimes switching off and sometimes both at the same time. the RE-20 has this really huge, clear, full range sound, a focused dynamic range (the volume difference between whispers and screams is relatively small), and it sounds gorgeous with a touch of effects. and the egg mic is this nasty, lofi, am radio sound, with some distortion, too much presence, and zero low end.

then the rack is a dual mono DBX compressor - one channel for each mic. a sonic maximizer. a VoTech pedal with all my verb, delays, chorus, etc.

my band gets more comments about the sound of the vocals and the effects than anything else. people are blown away that a local band has vocal effects that are dynamic (i any at all, a good sound man might throw on a basic verb or slapback on there for the whole show and it never changes - i'm practically tap dancing up there with all the changes i'm making). and the compressor helps so you can actually hear me no matter how soft i sing - and i'm never deafening.

so long story short - encouage that singer to go all out and eventually get a whole rig. i suggest adding one thing at a time tho - it gets overwhelming to introduce all that at once.

[chikkenguy]

i wonder if the soundguys at a bunch of places might just get annoyed at having to do more work setting up or whatever...

[marqueemoon]

For those who bring their own pres and compressors, do you bring them on stage with you?

[djslayerissick]

i wonder if the soundguys at a bunch of places might just get annoyed at having to do more work setting up or whatever...

its extra work for the singer, not the soundman. you just make sure that no matter what the hell you're doing with gear - the end result is 1 or 2 XLR cables. then they just plug that in to whereever you normally plug in the mics.

[djslayerissick]

For those who bring their own pres and compressors, do you bring them on stage with you?

yes, i bring my own compressors.

i have yet to start carrying around my own pre, but i'm thinking about it. i didnt really understand the beauty of mic pres until recently.

[rimbaud234]

At the least she should bring her own microphone. A Shure SM58 Beta is a great vocal mic and only costs $150.

Plus the hygiene issue.... eeeugggh. When I played at the Viper Room the sound guys actually wiped down the vocal mics with alcohol between sets. Man, I'd never seen that before.

B.

[chris harris]

I've seen too many jackass metal singers stick the mic down their pants for me to use a house mic.

As a soundman, I'd prefer if they handled their own effects from the stage. I usually am not familiar with the songs and the singer knows what effects sound best in which parts.

but, if you're going to do this, making sure that you've got xlr's to plug into for the soundman is NOT your only concern. Make certain that your rig and effects chains don't produce ridiculous volume differences from patch to patch.

After that, I say, "bravo!"

great idea!

[Family Hoof]

This is a great idea! But running your preamps into the console preamps? Hmm... I think most lazy soundengineers at smaller clubs would be kinda annoyed or just not give a shit as long as you can give them two XLRs not too hot or two 1/4" and they'd DI them no matter what it is. But preamp into preamp? This intrigues me. Can you say distortion? loading effects?

[leigh]

...as long as you can give them two XLRs not too hot or two 1/4" and they'd DI them no matter what it is. But preamp into preamp? This intrigues me. Can you say distortion? loading effects?

If the system can take DI's from keyboards and bass amps, shouldn't be any problem with a moderate line level from a mic pre.

Leigh

[Family Hoof]

If the system can take DI's from keyboards and bass amps, shouldn't be any problem with a moderate line level from a mic pre.

That's true. What was I thinking?

[SecondSon]

Yes, but if you are using vocals on stage, aren't you supposed to be sending the soundguy a dry line also, for the monitor mixes.

I am a singer and have my own beta58 that I use, but would like to use my vocal processor on stage, but there really isn't a way for me to send the sound guy a dry vocal. So my effects come back through the monitors, producing tons of feedback.

Besides a feedback destroyer, is there a way to somehow split the signal??? Or would that be a no??

This is something I have been thinking about for a long time.

[AGCurry]

A Shure SM58 Beta is a great vocal mic and only costs $150.

Not to start a war, but I'll disagree. There are a number of mics for the same money or less which will shame a Beta 58. I have a Beta 58 and it stays in its bag...

But, as to the subject of the thread, YES! A serious singer should pay some attention to his/her gear just as does any other musician.