Thursday night I was at this really happening bar called the Mai Tai (97 Aquarium Way, Long Beach, Ca). What I really like about the Mai Tai is bands can perform there and not have to sell tickets or pay to play. It was packed, I mean packed with young people who were there to mingle, have fun, listen to live and house music and dance. What a concept. I was there to see our long time friends in the band Rundown perform their unique alternative/reggae music and to set up their sound. The stage is perfect for a four piece band, the PA and monitor system was awesome. Allen Health mixing board, QSC powered speakers and a 16 channel snake. Very cool. I would suggest bringing your own microphones, mic cables and stands though. The house only provides 1 microphone, cable and stand.

You have to get your sound check on the fly, this bar is in movement and the music must never stop in the middle of the night to get a bands’ sound check. It’s best to know your settings prior to any gig. That’s what some of your rehearsal time is about. Perfecting your amp settings and learning how heavy of a drum stroke is needed for that balanced pro sound. What I did was, during the house music, I set the PA system up. I just karaoke to the house music. First I set the monitor system up. I mixed the three voices to the appropriate monitor speakers. Next, I had Mike go out into the crowd and signal me as I set the levels for the house speakers. I slowly turned the house music up to live sound levels and I just sang along with it. The crowd didn’t even blink. When Rundown began their set I was standing in the crowd, and based on what I heard instrument wise, I went to the amps and made the appropriate change to the volume control. All this within 30 seconds. My idea about setting the vocal levels during the house music worked perfectly. The vocals were just right. They were sitting just above the instrument levels. You could clearly hear every word Jovan, Manny and Kevin sang. I love that cause I’m a lyric guy. At the end of the show I was approached by the bar manager Ike. I was pleasantly surprise by his comments to me. In brief what he said to me was, he hadn’t heard such a balanced band sound in the years he’s been managing the bar and if I could show him how I did it and what the settings on the mixing board were. So I did gladly.

All the Best

Richard Morales

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