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At some point all flute players
start wondering about playing live performances and amplifying
their flute music. I have been doing that for about 5 years now
and when I first started looking into I had no clue as to what
would work and what wouldn't. Of course I didn't have a ton of
money to spend on this stuff, so I usually went super cheap,
well that was a mistake, in going cheap and thinking I could
get by with cutting corners, I wound up rebuying a lot of equipment
to get the things that work well for what I wanted to do. Now
by no means is this the end all be all list of equipment, other
people will tell you to get other things and that is cool. This
is a list of what I have found to work well for me with the types
of gigs I play and the level of hassle I want to deal with in
setting up and breaking down, plus the money I could spend at
the time. Before you get to list I want to add one more note, if you want to play live and you want to use amplification and effects one thing you have to have is a gig bag!!! I use a old laptop bag, the ones that are like a soft brief case with a pocket for the laptop and then lots of other pockets for the accessories. In it I keep all my cables and smaller things like mics and my effects pedal. I also keep some extra batteries, some of those 1/4 inch to mini plug adapters, an extra 1/4 inch cable. An extra Mic. I also keep on of those digital kitchen timers in there so I can see the time without looking at my watch while performing. Keep all your wall warts ( power adapters) in there as well. Put everything away the same way everytime and you will never be at a gig without all the things you need. I use this stuff at home to but when I am done it all goes back in the bag the same way, so I am always ready to go!! Here's a list of equipment that I use for live performances, with brief comments as to how I use it and how I like it plus links to see pictures of it!! Crate Keyboard Amp KX15 http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-CRA-KX15.html This is my general knock around amplifier, I use it at home and out on small gigs, like Nursing homes and Coffee shops. It works great for flute alone but now that I am starting to use some background music, it doesn't handle the bass lines all that well I think they are getting lost and sounds are starting to cancel each other out as it is only the one speaker. I have had it for about 3 years now and it has been a workhorse. Fender Passport http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-FEN-0692001-003.html This is my bigger PA system. I use it for school gyms and outdoor large crowd type settings. I has great sound and is easy to use. My only complaint is this sucker is heavy!!! The speakers detach from the mixer so it is fairly compact. It reminds me of those old heavy Samsonite suitcases. I also have a couple of speaker stand that I bought separately to get the speakers up off the floor. I there are smaller lighter systems out there now that I would consider if I needed to replace this one. Korg PXR4 4 track digital recorder http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-KOR-PXR4.html This is more of a nice toy to have kinda thing. I use it as a musical note pad. Say I am playing out on the front porch or at a flute circle and I stumbled across a cool phrase and want to remember it I just turn this little gadget on and play. I can then transfer it to the computer and save it there or just keep it on the 4 track. Or if I am with someone that plays a guitar of something and they have a cool little riff I can record it to one track and then work out the flute part on the other track. It also has a built in drum machine and all kinds of effects with editing. It is possible to do a whole song on it but I find the menus and the little screen impractical for this. I also use it as a playback machine for my backing tracks for live performance, I built a little tray on my mic stand so it sits right there and I can jump to each track, yes a portable cd player would do the same thing, although I have better control of the levels with this. Plus with it's other uses it make it one less thing I have to keep around. It's a little on the spendy side but if it broke I would replace it. Digitech VX400 http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-DOD-VX400--brand-69.html This is my main effects piece of equipment, effects like reverb (echo) delay etc. It is designed for vocals so it works really well with he flute. All the setting are infinitely tweakable, I have like 5 different reverbs set up in it and can switch between them while playing by using my foot. All the other effects are cool to while some don't sound great with flute there are some real possibilities. You can also hook it up to your computer and use it to get sound into the computer via USB I have not tried this feature yet but I do want to explore it at sometime. It is really built solid the case is metal and mine has taken a real beating and works great. This would be the step between a nanoverb and a really good rack mount effects unit in my opinion. Mics Mics are a touchy subject as a lot of it is highly subjective, I recommend you follow the link below to a highly informative article regarding mics written by Barry Higgins of white Crow Flutes, he has test which mics work best for NAF and can explain it a lot better than I can. http://www.whitecrowflutes.com/micropart1.htm Right now for playing live I am using an audiotech mic, it's not the best although I have not found anything really to complain about other than I have to be really close to the mic to get good sound on the upside it doesn't pick up a lot of background noise either which is good. I will eventually upgrade to a Shure 58 which is the basic workhorse mic for live performances. In the studio I have a couple of Octiva 319's that I have been real happy with. Mic stands http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-MUS-7701B.html I use the On stage mic stands with the boom arm, they fold up nice and compact and with the tripod style feet are very stable. With the boom arm I can get the mic away from the main part of the stand so that I don't knock my flute against it. Cables Buy nothing but Monster cables, I tried to get by on the cheap with this and got lousy cables that fell apart at the connectors or added noise to my music. I finally started buy the monster cables and man what a difference!! Plus you only have to buy them once they have a unlimited lifetime warranty, you break it, cut it, chew it up they will replace it free, forever!! Power Source The wall outlet will never be were you need it to plug all this stuff in!!! I made a power source using one of those extension cord reels from home depot and a surge protector that 5 regular outlets plus 3 of the transformer outlets. I loaded the reel with a fifty foot cord and attached the surge protector to the side of the reel with zip ties. I can plug in anywhere then unreel enough cord to get to where I want to set up then plug the surge protector in to that. When I am ready to goo all I have to do is unplug and reel my cord in!! I recently purchased a Monster surge protector which cancels out any electrical noise you can pick up from wall outlets and will be mounting that on my reel instead. Although in 3 years of playing I have never had any problems with the cheaper surge protector. |
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