How do you run your rig at gigs?

[EscapeRocks]

My rig ends up running through my Behringer 12 channel board, then I run left and right (stereo) to the PA.

 

I have a Roland keyboard combo amp that I use as a keyboard monitor onstage.

 

Around here, I've seen about a 50/50 split between keyboards mic'ing an amp and keyboards running direct to pa (like I do).

 

What are the pros and cons of each method.

 

I've always done the premix to PA setup, but latelty have seen more guys micing their amp, with no direct lines to the PA.

 

Just curious about the various amplification methods in gig settings.

 

Dave

[eric]

I use one or two Motion Sound KT80 amps, depending on how much room there is on stage. I run my three keyboards into the 3 inputs of the KT80 (mono or stereo, depending on stage size) and then send the XLR out from the KT80 to the PA. Most of the time, even when I'm monitoring in stereo, only one XLR goes to the board in mono. It is not often that the soundman is running true stereo, so XLR out of both amps is pointless.

 

Some gigs, the soundman likes to control volume on each keyboard individually, so we use the BBS DI boxes for each keyboard in between the amp. Three or six DIs to the board and then the signal goes through the DI to my amp(s).

 

I've had great results with just using XLR from the amps, rather than bothering with the hassle of a separate mixer. Works well for me!

 

Regards,

Eric

[Byrdman]

Originally posted by EscapeRocks:

My rig ends up running through my Behringer 12 channel board, then I run left and right (stereo) to the PA.

 

I have a Roland keyboard combo amp that I use as a keyboard monitor onstage.

 

Around here, I've seen about a 50/50 split between keyboards mic'ing an amp and keyboards running direct to pa (like I do).

 

What are the pros and cons of each method.

 

I've always done the premix to PA setup, but latelty have seen more guys micing their amp, with no direct lines to the PA.

 

Just curious about the various amplification methods in gig settings.

 

Dave

Micing keyboard amps is not worth doing unless your sound involves tha amp. For example, if you are playing through a guitar amp, because that is the sound you want, then it is worth doing.

 

The problem is that a keyboard amp that is designed to be neutral will contain at least two types of speakers and positioning a mic to balance the two from right in front of the grill can be a bear. Also, if you use a cardioid you are going to get bass roll-up (lots of thump in the bass) which can overdrive the mic and result in distortion while if you use an omni its going to help muddy the sound of the whole band,

 

So best to avoid micing a cabinet unless you need to do that to get your sound. Make sure you carry direct boxes so you can avoid injecting hum into the PA. If you are using house PA make sure the direct boxes have pads as on some low end PAs the only balanced ins are the mic ins.

[ksoper]

I just recently bought a Behringer UB 1202 mixer because our act went down to a smaller monitor desk. They can't run stereo mixes to everybody and I've really got to hear the boards in stereo. So, they run me a mono feed that has everything but keys. The output of the RD-700 goes into a rack-mounted DI. The VK-7 goes into a Motion-Sound R3-147 which has both low- and high-z outs. So I get a nice stereo feed almost from the source, and I run a 1/4" to 1/8" cable from my little mixer for my in-ear monitors. It sounds very good, though I miss hearing the on-stage instruments panned across the stereo field.

 

k.

[EscapeRocks]

Thanks for the input, peeps.

 

As I said, I run, and have always run my own mixer on stage in my rack, and then send L+R to the front of house board.

 

Luckily, our sound guy has an awesome Allen & Heath board with built in pads, so I run XLRs direct to his board.

 

I was just seeing more and more players around here mic'ing a small Roland or other brand amp, and thought maybe I was missing some new thought in sound reproduction, hence my original question.

 

As another poster here said, I think it would be very hard to capture all the nuances of keyboard sound by mic'ing an amp.

 

cheers,

 

david

[Superbobus]

Rhodes->POD->my mixer

Synth/piano/clonewheel->my mixer

My mixer->monitor

My mixer->PA (mixer again)

[marino]

I use different rigs depending on the kind of gig, but I usually run all my keyboards, modules and effects thru an old Roland M120 12-channel mixer. It's clean, only one rack space, and it has a separate monitor input with level control - so if the in-house monitoring is really awful, I can run a monitor return from the house into the Roland, balancing it with my keys, and monitoring thru headphones. Not the ideal, but it saved my life a couple of times.

[petros]

I carried racks for years, but no more now. I hate moving gear so much that I will never carry a rack again or more than one keyboard over 40 lbs. Now it's just one keyboard to a keyboard amp or straight to Mackie SRM450s.

[coyote]

My Hammond goes into a Pro3T, and the low rotor sim is fed into a Marshall stack. The JP8000 goes directly into the Marshall. Then both the Pro3T and Marshall are mic'ed. The QS7.1 and MK80 go straight into whatever PA we're using.

 

The pros & cons of direct vs mic'ed amount to one thing only: Which way sounds best for a given keyboard? The JP sounds much better thru the all-tube Marshall than straight into the PA; the QS7.1 & MK80 sound better direct.