FOH options for small festival

To many ads? Support ODJT and see no ads!
Definitely agree with Steve here. If you are going to make a big investment in touring gear, it's best to find out what the most common gear riders are. I know that can vary a lot but the EAW rig your local house is still renting was one of the more common setups that have been in use for quite a number of years, that's why they are available for rent.:)

If I was going to make any investment in touring gear, it would definitely be a modular/scalable line array system such as the JBL VRX as Steve mentioned. Throw is king for outdoor events.

I don't know what else your local house rents, but the EAW system is quite dated now but will still work.
If they have line arrays for rent then maybe try going that way as well. Again the key is scale-ability so you can use the same gear for both smaller corporate events as well as mains for larger gigs.

Not wanting to piss off the neighbors would be the least of my worries.
Get the gear that will give you a good throw and a great thump, as you can always turn it down.
 
The Evox's work great for corporate presentations etc... I originally thought about more RCF as I could mix and match depending upon needs.
The EVOX do sound great (I have one too :) ) but aren't usually in rental inventory when you need to scale out. In Vegas, for some of the large shows my day job does, we sometimes have dozens of breakout rooms going at the same time. The boxes the audio vendors bring in include QSC K12, Yamaha DXR12, and JBL PRX 612 (12s are king for vocal use). For larger rooms, there might be multiples of the above or the aforementioned JBL VRX. The largest rooms get true line arrays (over 1000 people). Bose L1 also show up for intimate setups.

For corporate work, the sound is secondary to rental availability for most.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ittigger
Forward thinking, what would be the best way to approach/invest into a scalable setup for this (I would consider this small / medium) or maybe to fairground events. Anyone here see enough of the riders to know what's common?

Tops (would probably need several pairs?) - EAW, RCF, JBL, EV, Bose or other? Would powered or passive be better?
Subs (would definitely need several pairs) - EAW, RCF, JBL, EV, Danley, JTR - would multiple pairs of Bose meet this? Would powered or passive be better?
 
Based on the few I've seen (again mostly C listers) Danley, JTR, RCF not on the lists. Usually JBL, EV, EAW and any number of line array makers (Meyer, Nexo, etc.). Not that they WARRANT such setups, it's their starting point. One can negotiate with the tour or event manager to use what you have, but if they are providing any of the personnel (FoH mixing or monitor desk), usually they want something they have used or heard before (same with the mixer desks). For mixers, at the lower end, Yamaha main desks and A&H MixWizards on monitors abounded . These days, I'm guessing it's mostly digital boards.

Most won't care whether passive or active, though you'll see more passives in the lower end (JBL SRX and EV Tour used to be defactos).

I only did sound for folks I knew, so they got my gear or they provided/rented it. When I was doing smaller stuff (less than 300) I used my Yorkville Unity system up front and my JBL MPros as wedges (I used to run 4 amps) .. sounded fantastic, but would not have made any rider. We used to rent SRX setups as needed and those were fairly known to artists.

Most of the smaller bands have no clue on brands, so if that is the market, you could probably get away with most things .. assuming it sounded good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ittigger
FWIW: I Googled "sound production companies" and "live sound rentals" in my area and found companies (closest about 2 hours) and found people advertising Tapco Thumps and Yamaha ELX. Maybe I'm overdoing it...lol
Not if you want this business longer term.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ittigger
TJ That is one reason I considered the QSC KLA. I prefer the QSC sound over JBL's personally, plural cabinets can be found plentiful used when I need to add. VRXs are a little harder to find used.

No offence Stevie, as everyone has their sound preferences, and I get it that it might make sense to invest in what's readily available for ease of scale-ability, but here's something else to consider especially when dealing in the used market. Sometimes if there is a lot of the same gear available for sale used, it can sometimes indicate that people aren't happy with the sound (or the throw) and are dumping them. Sometimes if a certain brand or certain model is scarce, it may also indicate that everybody using them are happy and are not selling as they feel no need to upgrade. Not saying it's always the case either way, just food for thought.


FWIW: I Googled "sound production companies" and "live sound rentals" in my area and found companies (closest about 2 hours) and found people advertising Tapco Thumps and Yamaha ELX. Maybe I'm overdoing it...lol

Somehow I don't think you are searching with the right keywords and are only seeing results for portable sound rentals instead of "tour sound".:)



Whichever brand/model you decide to go with, imo the minimum you need to invest in would be 4 top modules and two 18" subs per side to start. 4 array modules over 2 18" is pretty much the most you will see majority of the time if ground stacking them, and 4 is also pretty much the most you will ever see flown from standard 12" horizontal truss (If your crank stands have sufficient load rating) without having to go to a dedicated speaker tower. Basically by going with the number of cabinets suggested, it will get you started but still be "manageable" for now.

A K2 rig as an example:

nd-stack-line-array-system-portable-20141103005447.png



And a QSC ISIS rig:
QSC-ISISWL3802-8.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ittigger
I see your in a small town of roughly 5,000.
So your local dealer only sells the KLA system, he doesn't rent them?
If not, how far is the closest rental house that will? Is it to far to be feasible?

Also (and please don't take it the wrong way), but if you are relatively new to doing this level of front of house, and no matter whether you rent or purchase, if you only like the QSC "sound" as you say but don't already have any specific experience with the KLA system, (or any other line array system for that matter), is that something you really want to take the chance on trying to make sound good as a first time user in a new venture such a this?
An area of the biz where as I'm assuming from your post, is an area you are trying to branch out into and hopefully make a good name for yourself?

I know if I was doing it myself without the help of a professional sound tech and I didn't have any experience with line arrays, I would go with the EAW rental for tried and true.

If I didn't have any line array specific experience and really wanted to basically "Audition" the KLA array before purchase, then I would find out who has them for rent and maybe hire a system for the gig including their own line array experienced sound tech. I know there probably wouldn't be much if anything left for you after costs but if you can get their sound tech to coach you on the KLA system, you can then see for yourself if you really want to go that route.

Out of everything I've said here, it boils down to that unless you really think there will be a guarantee of enough similar work in the near future, I would only rent (even if it is outdated equipment) and would hold off on any purchases of any gear dedicated for this area of the business.:)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ittigger
TJ I am hiring a local a1 to run the sound. I am not doing it my own for the first time. I may not have mentioned it in this thread, but about 100ft left and right of the stage are rows of homes, and they would like to keep the db levels under 100db at the homes. Last year attendance peaked around 300 people at any given time. This year they are not expecting much more, so they are not looking for concert levels. I will probably stick with renting the EAW system. Which was my initial thought. The dealer mentioned the FBT system as comparable, and I asked him about the RCF system as an option as it would fit many other types of events because of its modularity.

TJ, also I did think the same thing about the QSC array. I just wasn't sure if it was because of their initial popularity either. The K12 topswere hugely popular, and many people were happy with them, but there are a lot of them available now, because of how many are at there more so than people not being happy with them. I was one of those people who used to own k12 tops.

I just re-read this and realized it me read as though I may be stubborn, sorry was writing on my iPad after just waking up. I do appreciate all advice and tips. I just need to compile and process everything, to do whats best.
 
Last edited:
FWIW: I Googled "sound production companies" and "live sound rentals" in my area and found companies (closest about 2 hours) and found people advertising Tapco Thumps and Yamaha ELX. Maybe I'm overdoing it...lol

I work for a production company that does festivals all over our area.
We use a full blown passive system with JBL tops and EV subs.
But we recently got the ETX systems that Bill mentioned ^
We've found that each system has it's pro's and con's.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to BUY anything big enough with $2k...
and many places will not let you rent a system of that size and run it yourself.|
(especially to someone without live sound experience)
You may have to sub-contract it....and let them do the work.

If you need a contact number, PM me.
 
Thanks Bill, and Mike. I didn't land the gig anyway. Lost to a $1400 quote. I couldn't go that low on labor alone for a two festival.

I did have an experience A1 lined up, who was going to bring a nice Danley setup. We would have had to setup and tear down each day. 24 hours labor each for him and a stagehand, plus all of the gear. I'm not getting into a bidding war as there is nothing left over for my 24 hours. Mike I will keep you in mind for future endeavors.

PS the two companies I found were out of Harrisburg area. One uses Yorkville. The other had the Thump setup.