Sound for an acoustic gig: a duo or trio in a café or at a private party
Two singers, an acoustic guitar and a keyboard in the corner of a café or in a birthday garden do not need a big sound system, but they cannot do without one either: the vocals have to carry over the chatter and the musicians have to hear each other. Here is what such a line-up needs, how to set it up in a small room, and what our acoustic duo kit contains.
What two vocals, guitar and keys need
Count the inputs. Two vocals are two Shure SM58 microphones on stands. An acoustic guitar with a pickup goes into the mixer through a DI box, our BSS AR-133. The keyboard also goes through a DI: one AR-133 for mono or a Palmer PAN-04A if you want stereo. Four to five channels in total.
A Soundcraft Signature 10 mixer handles that, with six microphone inputs, built-in effects for a touch of vocal reverb and an aux output for the monitor. If the guitar has no pickup, take a small condenser microphone such as a Shure SM81 and expect it to be more feedback-prone in a small room.
Speakers: two JBL PRX812 on stands
In a room of up to eighty people, two JBL PRX812 active speakers on stands are enough. Place them in front of the musicians and to the sides, above head height, aimed at the audience rather than the opposite wall. If the speakers are behind the musicians, the system squeals before the vocals are loud enough.
An acoustic line-up does not normally need a subwoofer. If a DJ or a playlist for dancing follows later, add one JBL SRX818SP, but for the concert part it gets in the way more than it helps.
A monitor for the musicians
In a small café the singers cannot hear themselves from speakers that are in front of them. One JBL EON710 on the floor as a stage monitor, aimed at the singers, solves that. The aux output of the Signature 10 gives the monitor its own mix: vocals forward, instruments quieter.
Keep the monitor as quiet as you can. Every decibel in the monitor is a decibel that gets back into the microphones, and in a small room that is the most common source of feedback.
Volume in a small room
The goal is not loudness but a clearly audible vocal. Start with the instruments at roughly their natural level and the vocals slightly above them. In a café people talk, and when the music gets louder they talk louder still: nobody wins that race.
At a private party outdoors there are no walls to reflect the sound, so the same system seems quieter. Then it is better to move the speakers closer to the audience than simply to turn them up.
Feedback with an acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is the most feedback-prone instrument in a small room, because the body amplifies low frequencies and starts to howl along with the speakers. First cut the lows on the guitar channel: the microphone channels on the Signature 10 have a low-cut filter for that. Turn down the bass on the guitar's own preamp as well.
Keep the guitarist as far from the monitor and speakers as possible and do not point the guitar body at a speaker. If the howl still appears, a soundhole cover helps, and guitarists do well to carry one always.
Our acoustic duo kit
The acoustic duo kit for up to 80 people has two JBL PRX812 on stands, one JBL EON710 as a monitor, a Soundcraft Signature 10, two Shure SM58 with K&M 210/9 stands and two BSS AR-133 DI boxes. It fits in a car and one person sets it up in under an hour.
For a trio add a third SM58 with a stand and, if needed, a third DI box. If a cajón comes along, take a Shure BETA 52A or Sennheiser e902 on a short stand. A violin or cello suits a DPA 4099, which clips onto the instrument and leaves the player free to move.
