Beginner’s Guide to Live Sound Setup & Mixing

Sound Engineer pro Nathan Lively is your guide when starting your live sound journey! Learn all the important basics and more, so you can take your analog or digital PA system and set it up correctly, doing your first live sound gig or your own band’s sound with success.

Videos

• Important Guidelines (02:36) - Nathan welcomes you to the series and asks the important live sound questions such as "How does this thing work?" and "Is it for me?".

• Introduction to Live Sound (02:28) - Nathan reveals some of the challenges in live sound and the differences compared to studio work.

• Power (Will I Overload the Circuit?) (04:23) - Learn to compute your exact power needs for a gig and communicate it to the venue.

• Where Do I Put My Speakers? (04:40) - Nathan shows you how to place your speakers for best audience coverage.

• The Best Stage Layout (08:41) - Learn to set up the stage so that everyone is happy and you can do your job effectively.

• How to Aim Any Speaker (01:52) - Nathan covers how to aim your speakers to improve isolation and reduce overlapping coverage.

• Signal Flow & Gain Staging (06:46) - Learn to route signal from a microphone to a speaker correctly, and how to set your levels for optimal operation.

• Verification (09:37) - Learn how to make sure that all of your inputs and outputs are arriving on schedule.

• System EQ (05:34) - Nathan explores how to balance the level and frequency response of your sound system in the room by ear.

• Setting Up Your Board (07:32) - Learn to set up your mixing console for quick operation under stress.

• Sound Check (13:59) - Nathan reveals an upside down sound check procedure for improved efficiency when on the job.

• Showtime (03:37) - Nathan shows you how to learn to trust your instincts, take notes, and mix from the stage, getting a good sound every time.

• Load Out (01:32) - Nathan gives you one last easy trick to speed up your live sound growth and learning.