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mosc
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Joined: Jan 31, 2003 Posts: 18198 Location: Durham, NC
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:16 pm Post subject:
Anyone with battery powered PA experience... |
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Anyone other there in electro-land have any experience with running a battery powered PA system. On another thread the topic came up about performing as at street musician.
Is this possible with a synth setup?
Anyone have any ideas? |
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elektro80
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Joined: Mar 25, 2003 Posts: 21959 Location: Norway
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:25 pm Post subject:
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I have played both using petrol powered generators and a "portable" battery rig. The engine powered thingie did make some serious noise, but we moved it around a corner and then it was pretty much ignorable.
The battery rig consisted of a cart with 3 truck batteries and a DC to AC converter. The cart was pretty immense and heavy. The rig had a calculator/power drain thingie. The PA was a 2 X 300 Watt amp, a 24channel mixer and two big speakers. It took some careful thinking before we managed to set it up so the sound was decent. 2X300 was probably way to little juice.. but it depends on where you will be playing. I also used the same rig inside a cave and that worked fine.
The battery rig was hired.
Modern petrol or diesel generators are far less noisy these days and I guess such a setup is more efficient and inexpensive. _________________ A Charity Pantomime in aid of Paranoid Schizophrenics descended into chaos yesterday when someone shouted, "He's behind you!"
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mosc
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Joined: Jan 31, 2003 Posts: 18198 Location: Durham, NC
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:31 pm Post subject:
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Sounds pretty heavy duty - 2 X 300 watts. For street playing, maybe a really large boom box might work.
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elektro80
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Joined: Mar 25, 2003 Posts: 21959 Location: Norway
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:41 pm Post subject:
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Nah.. it was a bit on the weak side.. but we might have played a bit loud... _________________ A Charity Pantomime in aid of Paranoid Schizophrenics descended into chaos yesterday when someone shouted, "He's behind you!"
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seraph
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Joined: Jun 21, 2003 Posts: 12398 Location: Firenze, Italy
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:49 pm Post subject:
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have you seen the Fender Passport
I have tried it but not battery operated. It's neither the best nor the worst but it delivers what it's supposed to do.
P.S.
the singer is not included _________________ homepage - blog - forum - youtube
Quote: | Don't die with your music still in you - Wayne Dyer |
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paul e.
Joined: Sep 22, 2003 Posts: 1567 Location: toronto, canada
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:02 pm Post subject:
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i like this one
party time on the golf course ?
nice painted background tho heheh _________________ Spiral Recordings |
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seraph
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Joined: Jun 21, 2003 Posts: 12398 Location: Firenze, Italy
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:08 pm Post subject:
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paul aka sudden wrote: | party time on the golf course ? | the best of both worlds _________________ homepage - blog - forum - youtube
Quote: | Don't die with your music still in you - Wayne Dyer |
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paul e.
Joined: Sep 22, 2003 Posts: 1567 Location: toronto, canada
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ian-s
Joined: Apr 01, 2004 Posts: 2669 Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 4:20 pm Post subject:
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Consider car audio, it is inexpensive and because it is designed for 12V, doesn’t have the additional power loss caused by the 12V->110V->Amp route. You will still need an inverter for the G2 or whatever. You could assemble the whole thing, including sub sat speakers, on a hand truck (which also doubles as a keyboard stand). With a couple of car batteries you should get 1-2 hours playing per charge. And also be able to make a quick getaway .
Your local car audio shop could put the whole thing together if your not into DIY. |
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mosc
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Joined: Jan 31, 2003 Posts: 18198 Location: Durham, NC
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 7:15 pm Post subject:
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Good suggestions... |
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egw
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Joined: Feb 01, 2003 Posts: 1569 Location: Asheville NC
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 7:18 pm Post subject:
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I think boat batteries are better than car batteries. They are designed for "deep discharge."
There is alot of info about battery operated rigs somewhere on the burning man site. |
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mosc
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Joined: Jan 31, 2003 Posts: 18198 Location: Durham, NC
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 7:27 pm Post subject:
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For a street setup, I would need a lot of power, but stereo would be very desireable.
Hee hee, I couldn't put of a sign saying I'm a music student, but I could ask people to support my retirement. |
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elektro80
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Joined: Mar 25, 2003 Posts: 21959 Location: Norway
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:21 am Post subject:
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You can handle the "power" bit in several ways. One way is to actually build your own PA speakers in order to make the design very power efficient and with a high power handling. You will need a decent PA amp anyway. You must plan how where to use them though.. and ..will you need monitoring or not? Obviously using a wall behind the speakers will improve directionality and bass. _________________ A Charity Pantomime in aid of Paranoid Schizophrenics descended into chaos yesterday when someone shouted, "He's behind you!"
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elektro80
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Joined: Mar 25, 2003 Posts: 21959 Location: Norway
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:27 am Post subject:
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NAD had some inexpensive stereo power amps like 15 years ago. Those could be bridged, giving you approx. 2 X 800 watts at 8 ohms.. and with very decent low impedance power handling too. I guess those amps or similar can be had for little money secondhand these days. Car stereo monster amps can be OK too.
If you decide not to go for stereo, then you should focus on a point source setup. I think there are some pro sound reinforcement websites out there with FAQs on this. _________________ A Charity Pantomime in aid of Paranoid Schizophrenics descended into chaos yesterday when someone shouted, "He's behind you!"
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mosc
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Joined: Jan 31, 2003 Posts: 18198 Location: Durham, NC
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 7:39 am Post subject:
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Opps... I meant I don't think I need a lot of power. Left out the word NOT.
Street musicians aren't playing for big audiences. The speakers need to be small too, so I can lug them around without need of a road crew. |
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elektro80
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Joined: Mar 25, 2003 Posts: 21959 Location: Norway
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:36 am Post subject:
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...uh.. this is not the megamonster battery powered global tour??? _________________ A Charity Pantomime in aid of Paranoid Schizophrenics descended into chaos yesterday when someone shouted, "He's behind you!"
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mosc
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Joined: Jan 31, 2003 Posts: 18198 Location: Durham, NC
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 11:13 am Post subject:
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elektro80 wrote: | .not the megamonster battery powered global tour??? |
Maybe I could use some head phones and let people listen for a minute. |
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bleep
Joined: Aug 10, 2004 Posts: 18 Location: Toronto, Canada
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:12 am Post subject:
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Has anyone tried one of those portable solar panels? They seem to be relatively cheap and claim they can power a laptop. I was considering doing a laptop busking session using one of those solar panels...
Do you know if something like that could power a small amp or a boombox? _________________ http://www.bleeptunes.com |
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jkn
Joined: Mar 14, 2004 Posts: 469 Location: La Porte, IN, USA
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:15 am Post subject:
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Matthew Florianz has an album with a few other folks where they recorded the entire thing outdoors using car batteries.
http://www.matthewflorianz.com/albums_openstage.html
I thought there used to be more on how they did it on the website - however, I might be thinking of some forum posts from him. |
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Oskar
Joined: Jul 29, 2004 Posts: 1751 Location: Norway
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:25 am Post subject:
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mosc wrote: | For a street setup, I would need a lot of power, but stereo would be very desireable.
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I agree, BUT in a live setting I've started letting my stereo rig (Soundcraft Spirit mixer, TC M300 reverb, JBL EON speakers) run more or less in mono, except for the odd multi-tap delay. I pan all instruments dead centre, maybe spreding the toms 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock. At a gig, most punters are far away from the sweet spot, thus making stereo not only less effective but actually sometimes counter-productive.
Mind you, I really LOOOOVE those lush stereo pads, reverbs, choruses (chori?) and so on. _________________ Where there are too many policemen, there is no liberty. Where there are too many soldiers, there is no peace. Where there are too many lawyers, there is no justice.
Lin Yutang (1895-1976) |
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elektro80
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Joined: Mar 25, 2003 Posts: 21959 Location: Norway
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:29 am Post subject:
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The best effifiency is of course obtained with setting up the PA as a line source/ point source rig. Bose has their own take on this.. check out the PA section at http://www.bose.com
...but I love stereo too.. _________________ A Charity Pantomime in aid of Paranoid Schizophrenics descended into chaos yesterday when someone shouted, "He's behind you!"
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Oskar
Joined: Jul 29, 2004 Posts: 1751 Location: Norway
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:53 am Post subject:
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Boat batteries look like a good bet, but I also feel that modern petrol- or diesel generators have a more acceptable noise level. There's been some professionally ethnic Andes Indians vending their wares and their music - horrible, anaemic pan pipe music backed by MIDI files on a Roland D110 or similar. ANYWAY, they use a pretty big PA powered by a little generator. Acceptable noise level, and enough juice is provided to power a quite loud sound system. To sum it up: Me, I'd go with either a generator- or a boat battery solution. _________________ Where there are too many policemen, there is no liberty. Where there are too many soldiers, there is no peace. Where there are too many lawyers, there is no justice.
Lin Yutang (1895-1976) |
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elektro80
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Joined: Mar 25, 2003 Posts: 21959 Location: Norway
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 11:19 am Post subject:
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A diesel/petrol generator will probably be the most cost efficient solution.
I have heard those pan-dians. They were pretty impossible to ignore. _________________ A Charity Pantomime in aid of Paranoid Schizophrenics descended into chaos yesterday when someone shouted, "He's behind you!"
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mosc
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 12:51 pm Post subject:
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Wow, those Andes Indians are in Norway too? They are all over the US. Their must be a franchise in Andes street music setups. Maybe the Kentucky Fried Chicken people decided to branch out into other areas. |
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elektro80
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Joined: Mar 25, 2003 Posts: 21959 Location: Norway
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 1:11 pm Post subject:
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Yup... sure.. and there is one specific crew which has been working Norway since 1982. _________________ A Charity Pantomime in aid of Paranoid Schizophrenics descended into chaos yesterday when someone shouted, "He's behind you!"
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