First Possible Wedding DJ Gig - Advice Needed!

[THeBa$$]

Hi, Guys

Iv'e got a possible wedding gig to DJ that is waiting to be booked for on the weekend.

All speakers etc will be set up by the hire company on the day prior to when I arrive.

Details of the equipment being setup is below:

SOUNDCRAFT M12 12 MONO/4 STEREO MIXER
D&B E9 SPEAKER
D&B P1200 AMP (E9 MODULE)
TRANTEC S4.4 HAND HELD RADIO MIC

At the moment I use Traktor S2 with 1/4 speaker cable jacks. My concern is I have never used an external mixer before as I normally have my Traktor S2 connected directly to my active speakers.

There are four speakers which will be at the venue instead of two.

Is there any additional specific speaker cables for me to purchase for my set up to become compatible etc?

Peace

[THeBa$$]

PLEASE HELP ME!

[Aloysius]

If it were me, I'd contact the Hire Company and explain the situation. They should be able to put your mind at ease. Perhaps you could arrive the day before in order to get a rundown.

[Kaine]

If it's just you up there you can ask them what cable run's from the current mixer into the amp and if it's a 1/4" > 1/4" your laughing as that's the output on the S2 anyhow. Just tell them to forget the mixer and you'll hook up your S2 before the event (always soundcheck if your not sure) and you should be fine.

However it might be a cannon (XLR) jack so they can can either sort you out a 1/4" > XLR from your S2 or worst case senario just patch your S2 into the Soundcraft desk on a pair of channels using 1/4" > 1/4" and set everything to zero and mix as normal on your S2.

That desk they are supplying does seem largely overkill TBH unless the are plans on running a band through there as well earlier in the evening. Either way speak to the hire company, they'll deal with questions like this every single day, and if your at all nervous about something not being right, get yourself there in the afternoon whilst they are setting up and ask them to walk you through it. They'll be happy to know someone there knows how to look after the kit and if its going to be you on there all night, it should be you who knows how to sort things out should something go wrong.

[BertKoor]

Don't skip the mixer. At a wedding someone will want to say something, you can bet on that. And for that the mixer with wireless mic is a must.

This type of mixer surely has 1/4" jack inputs & outputs, the same type you currently use to feed your active monitors.

Quick mixer setup guide:

* set the two MIX faders (your master volume) at the right to zero (bottom position)
* set the GAIN knob at the top and fader at the bottom of the STE1 channel to zero
* set the EQ section (LF = bass, HF = treble) and BAL (stereo balance) of the STE1 channel strip to neutral (12 o'clock position)
* plug your interface into the STE1 inputs
* feed some normal sound (that is LOUD!) from the laptop to the mixer
* you might now connect a headphone to the mixer for monitoring
* press the PFL (Pre Fader Listening) button on STE1, which makes the VU led bar show just that channel and feeds that channel only to the headphone output
* adjust the GAIN knob so you get a healthy signal hovering around 0dB (yellow leds, peaks might be just in read)
* press PFL again to disengage monitoring that channel
* raise the channel fader to the 0dB position (abt 3/4 up) and keep it there
* now raise the MIX faders at the right and the PA should make sound.
* use the HF (treble) and LF (bass) knobs on the EQ section to adjust the sound color
* look what channel the wireless mic is connected to
* reset that channel strip (EQ set neutral, gain & fader zero)
* make sure the mic itself and the receiver is switched on
* press PFL on the channel and talk into the mic
* adjust the GAIN knob so you get a healthy signal (around 0dB)
* raise the mic fader to 0dB position
* adjust EQ to taste (you have HF, LF and sweepable mid)
* use the MUTE button on the strip to switch the mic on & off, that's quicker than using the fader

That should be about it.

[THeBa$$]

If it's just you up there you can ask them what cable run's from the current mixer into the amp and if it's a 1/4" > 1/4" your laughing as that's the output on the S2 anyhow. Just tell them to forget the mixer and you'll hook up your S2 before the event (always soundcheck if your not sure) and you should be fine.

However it might be a cannon (XLR) jack so they can can either sort you out a 1/4" > XLR from your S2 or worst case senario just patch your S2 into the Soundcraft desk on a pair of channels using 1/4" > 1/4" and set everything to zero and mix as normal on your S2.

That desk they are supplying does seem largely overkill TBH unless the are plans on running a band through there as well earlier in the evening. Either way speak to the hire company, they'll deal with questions like this every single day, and if your at all nervous about something not being right, get yourself there in the afternoon whilst they are setting up and ask them to walk you through it. They'll be happy to know someone there knows how to look after the kit and if its going to be you on there all night, it should be you who knows how to sort things out should something go wrong.

Thanks, for the reply. Just confirmed with the organizer at the venue, it is a 1/4 to 1/4 connection. Also the mixer is included anyway in the package. No luck with getting a number for the hire company though as they wouldn't want me negotiating individually with the hire company for a better price!

A little confused on the fact that there are four speakers instead of two & would it make a difference to the connections from the S2 to the amp or mixer?

I know the speakers will be connected to the amp first, but would I just need to connect my s2 controller using 1/4 to 1/4 cables to one of the inputs on the amp or mixer for it to work?

Peace

[TR908]

A little confused on the fact that there are four speakers instead of two & would it make a difference to the connections from the S2 to the amp or mixer?

I know the speakers will be connected to the amp first, but would I just need to connect my s2 controller using 1/4 to 1/4 cables to one of the inputs on the amp or mixer for it to work?

Peace

No to your first question and yes to the second!

It should'nt make any difference at all mate. As the DJ I wouldn't worry about anything more than getting your sound into the mixer. From there on the hire company should have things sorted.

Hope your set goes down well fella

[Kaine]

Don't skip the mixer. At a wedding someone will want to say something, you can bet on that. And for that the mixer with wireless mic is a must.

This type of mixer surely has 1/4" jack inputs & outputs, the same type you currently use to feed your active monitors.

Sure, its wedding, so speechs are a dead cert! I was thinking that the S2 has a dedicated 1/4 input for mics so I was thinking 1/4" > 1/4" from the trantec receiver into the S2.

All I was considering in the my previous post was that the soundcraft is a sizable desk in a situation where space is normally at a premium and I tend to find that the less expensive electronics in the region of beer swilling guests the better

That and loosing from the equation means one less thing to go wrong / stress about on the evening.

Admittedly if the hire company is going to set it up and show you how to piggy back into it, then leave it as they instruct as that'll be the simple way forward.

[THeBa$$]

Don't worry guys, Wedding is now done! It was a blast of fun!

Thanks for all the help especially Bertkoor!

Peace

[davidka]

Don't worry guys, Wedding is now done! It was a blast of fun!

Thanks for all the help especially Bertkoor!

Peace

The thing I wanted to ask today. Maybe you'll have more in the future? ^^