Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Ok... I'm new to this whole band thing. I've never started a band. I need to know exactly what you NEED in order to play. I just thought you only needed amps, but I was obviously mistaken.

I'm not really sure what to buy, it's for a beginner band.
I don't know what all this technical stuff is so if you could explain to me in laymans terms that'd be sweet.

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WOW ...

Tall order.

Been outfitting our band for four years and I'm still considering what I need on a daily basis.

What kind of band, electric , acoustic?
How many members?
How many / what instruments?
How large will the venues be ?
Recording, performing, both ?
Budget??
I could ask one hundred questions today and one thousand tomorrow.

Just the equipment for one guitar player could take up a whole page.

Lets start simple ... OK

What type of music, how many instruments, vocalist, and intended venues.

Thanks for replying! I really appreciate your help! I know it's pretty ridiculous to start up a band when you have no clue what you need.

It will be classic rock, and blues type music. There will be 2 guitarists, one bassist, one drummer, and one vocalist. With the 2 guitarists as back up vocals as well.

For now, it will be a small space for only practicing. In the near future the venues will be only small bars for awhile. Spaces not much larger than 6-12 garages or so.

We'll be practicing in a garage more than likely. So I'm assuming, and hoping we won't need much for that...

Assuming each musician has their own gear, I would suggest looking into a powered PA system with a minimum of twelve to sixteen channels.
And some speakers for you monitor environment as well as mains.
It can be quite difficult to balance the sound without feeding everyone into a mixing board. We started with an inexpensive Behringer powered mixer but quickly out grew it when adding drum mics.
When I purchased a unit similar to the one in the link below a lot of our sound problems went away.

http://www.carvinguitars.com/mixers/

You can get package deals with mics stands cables ETC.

Good equipment is not cheap.
But if you plan ahead you can add to your basic set up as your needs grow.

Lots of different ideas on this. The first thing I suggest is to keep it simple for a first band. Rent a system for a while to get used to the tools before spending a bunch of $$. Get only what you know you will need for the shows you intend to do. If it was my band I would only start with vocal mics, simple mixer and 2 powered speakers. Learn to use your gear and perfect your craft while playing live. Add gear only as you absolutely need to for larger venues.

You got into this to make music, not to go into the moving and storage business. Too much gear sucks the joy out of playing live.

Google "JAMHUB GREENROOM." You might consider using one of those to rehearse while you figure the rest out. You'll need headphones for everyone.

Our band started with used gear, and we still use it. You can usually find good stuff on your local Craigslist. Keep in mind that your musicians will have different tastes for what they want monitor wise. I personally like wireless in-ears, they can be spendy, but they allow for a quiet stage, and less opportunity for feedback. I think your biggest consideration is how much you want to spend to get the sound you want. Just my two cents. Hope it helps. Shoot me a pm, or email [email protected] . I'll get you my telephone number if you'd like to discuss sound in more detail. Rock on man!

Guys - look at the original post date of this thread - over a year ago, and 'Aimee' hasb't been back since!

Sorry, didn't see that.

IF the band members have thier own gear( amps and such) then you need something for the vocals. I got a Mackie 8 channel amp with power for about $400 on ebay. Everyone bought their own mics(Shure beta 58) and stands. We ran to 2 15" speakers and 4 12" monitors. that was our practice set up and live set up. Only vocals went through the pa. Later, I started to use Hot spots for monitors(on ebay for about $50 each).
The trend seems to be going with a mixer and then powered speakers. The problem there is that each speaker needs to near an outlet. I like the powered mixer so that you only need to send a cable to the speakers, plus they tend to be lighter without an amp built into them. Passive speakers are cheaper than active speakers. A powered mixer costs more than a simple mixer. You'll pay one way or the other. If you decide to run the guitars through the pa, you should be able to do so and have 2 mics for drums. IF you play somewhere larger, most clubs have a pa anyway. Otherwise, you may have to buy or rent a larger mixer, but then if you play a larger venue, you should be getting paid more too, so figure that into your costs. good luck!

Well when my band first started , we just used our old guitar amp as a mic amp and used the other single amps for the instruments . I would say that you probably don't need to buy a pa system unless you are doing a gig . unless you can afford it , then i would reccomend it !