help with live gig performances

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Hi everyone,

I am a new starting at performing live gig. My band (fairly new in the scene) will be having our first live gig in July.
I have a few issues with my keyboards and I am not sure how to go about getting them sorted.

I have nothing fancy, just two basic keyboards - YAMAHA PSR-1000 and a ROLAND GW-7

My first issue is with the GW-7. When there is no noise, I can hear it quite loud and clear. However, when we all play together, I find that I am constantly having to increase the volume to hear it. Is there some sort of setting that I should know to stop that happening?

The d-beam on the keyboard used to be very loud and sensitive. I could activate it from about 30cm away from the beam. However, now, even if I put full volume on, I can only barely hear the d-beam noises. Anyone has any ideas?

Finally, is there any videos, tutorials or even places I could go to to learn how to setup the tones? I am having trouble try to get the tones to sound right. I am talking effects like a guitar with some reverb and delay, nice clean saxophones and so forth.

Any input will be greatly appreciated.
 

Wes

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The correct way to fix the first problem is to ask your sound man for more monitor volume.

I have no idea what a d-beam is.

Wes
 
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Hello Sajithj! Well I dont know what the line up of your band is but for sure, when you practice alone, all the little details of variation in the effects are coming out very clearly but from the moment where instruments are playing in similar frequencies or just very loud, that's gonna mask what you're trying to do, I suggest two things: think of yourself as a live actor, you have to exagerate your effects so that it comes out strong and above the rest, also if that would be too musically outrageous, just boost your volume for those parts you want to make stand out! It is also important that the band have a good volume balance, everyone should try to equalize there levels so that the band wont have an endless war of volumes going up and up!
Have fun with that first gig, hopefully that was usefull!!!
 
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Hello Sajithj. This is a common issue with bands. First, what are you using to amplify your keys? If you're relying on the built-in speakers on the Yamaha PSR, I can tell you from my experience that I doubt they will be sufficient in a loud band room or stage environment. Most professional keyboards do not come with built-in speakers. So, you probably need to turn those off and then look into setting up a separate amplifier of some sort. Powered monitors work great. I use a pair of RCF Art 310A's which are powered with 400W, with 10" speakers. But, you could make do with something smaller. But, I think you're going to need to invest in some good amplification in order to compete with the drums and other guitar amps. Once you're keys are amplified sufficiently, then you can work on getting your sound just right.
 
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G'day Sajithj,

tullsterx is on the money - you definitely need to sort yourself out with an amp of some kind. I also agree with him that a powered monitor is a great option. You should be able to hear yourself in the rehearsal room with no issue.

When you play live, you should have a sound engineer behind a mixing desk to make sure the band sounds great FOH (front of house). There will be monitors pointing back towards the band so you can hear yourselves on stage (these are called foldback). Before you play you will do a sound check, and that is your time to ensure you can hear yourself. If you can't, ask the sound engineer for more keys in the foldback, as Wes suggested above.

If you don't want to rely on the sound guy for foldback, you can use your amp.

As far as the D-beam goes - I have a Roland Juno-GI and I've always thought of the D-Beam as a bit of a gimmick. Don't really use it so sorry can't help you there. Maybe take your 'board to a repair shop?

Lastly, you will find that different keyboards are better at reproducing different sounds. My best advice if you want to create or modify your sounds is to spend some quality time tweaking different settings and seeing what they do. After a while you'll feel more confident with the unique properties and capabilities of your keyboard. The owner manual might help as well? Some are better than others, but at the end of the day it's what sounds good to you.

Hope that helps mate - good luck with the gig if you haven't had it already!

Cheers!
 
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Hi!
Did you ever get your sound problems figured out? I know your post is a year and a half old.
In our band, the sound guy hooks up my keyboards to a DI box before going to the board, and both the lead guitarist and myself have compressors put on our instruments so that we can't turn ourselves too soft.
The third thing which helps me is using an Inner Ear Monitoring system, rather than using my amp as a monitor. Our band uses the app Q-Mix AI, I wear Shure earbuds which are hooked up to a channel in the board, and use an iPod to create my own mix. The IEM blocks out the noise of the hall too, so I only hear our band. I can turn down the volume to my earbuds and help reduce the strain on my eardrums.
 

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