Issue 13: Why Sound Engineers Matter For Your Event

If you are reading this blog, you have inevitably reached out to at least one, if not several, bands or agencies and are gathering quotes for live entertainment for your event (or, you are planning on booking a band and want to know everything that goes into it). One thing that you should hear discussed is “live sound” or a “PA System.” (If it isn’t mentioned, you should DEFINITELY be asking about it). If you aren’t in music, you may have no idea what that is. This blog post will tell you what a PA system is, and why you NEVER want the band to run their own sound.

PA System stands for Public Address System, which is a set of speakers, microphones, and necessary equipment to project sound to a large audience. Also known as “Live Sound,” no band with singers (and in many cases horns) can perform for a crowd without some form of a PA as the amps of the rhythm section will overwhelm the vocals and horn players. A lot goes into a PA system for a band performing at a wedding. A professional setup will have every instrument running through it, including the drums, via either microphones on the amplifiers or being plugged into the system directly. This means, that for a 10 piece band consisting of 3 singers, 4 piece rhythm section of keyboard, drums, guitar, and bass, and 3 horn players, you can have over 14 microphones or direct inputs into the board being mixed at any one time (most bands will have more than that, with a rhythm section member also singing, a separate speech mic, and possibly a second keyboard for the keys player).

Without getting technical, this large of a band means a large setup - lots of speakers, a big soundboard, effects, etc. This is why you often see a section of the band area that is just big black cases with a soundboard on top of one - that contains all of the effects, wireless receivers, and other equipment necessary for the band to sound its best.

So, who runs it? This is where it gets…. Interesting. Some bands will run their own sound. That means a band member will, in addition to playing an instrument, will be running on and off the stage to check the sound from the audience's perspective (called “front of house”). Why? Well, speakers are directional - especially PA speakers. If you are behind a PA speaker, it will sound entirely different than it does out front. It may sound amazing behind the speaker, and horrible out front - or the reverse. The only way to know how the front of house sounds is to be out in the front of the house.

Now, this musician doing all of this work doesn’t do it for free - they will be paid extra. If they are the band leader, this means they are just taking an even bigger cut. You can imagine, this is exhausting work. Lugging all of that equipment is not easy - even with wheels, you often have to carry equipment up steps, have to load it in and out of the vehicle, run all the cabling, etc. Your average PA top speaker can run 40 lbs or more per speaker - subs even more. Sound boards are easily around 50 lbs or more, and that doesn’t include the case. Add in all the cabling they have to cart to your event, microphones, etc, and they can easily be lugging 600+ lbs of gear just to ensure you can hear the band - let alone their own equipment to perform. Then, they set it all up, soundcheck the band (and hopefully get themselves in balance as well), and run sound all night, and tear it down at the end. As you can imagine, that may not lead to the most energetic performance from that particular musician. Plus, they can’t take a break - even during speeches, they have to be on in case someone has feedback (that loud squeal you sometimes hear emit from sound systems and nobody wants) during the speech.

However, the fact that this person is working so hard is not even the worst part. Think of hiring a band to perform like renovating a house. Everyone has their job - and they are a pro at it. By asking a musician to also run sound, it’s like asking your plumber to also handle the electrical work - a recipe for disaster.

The best solution is to hire a sound engineer. Some bands and agencies do this - they will either work with a sound company or an independent engineer who will bring all of the equipment, set it up, run it, and tear it down at the end of the night. While it does mean an extra person at your event to think about (meals, tips, etc), the advantage is that this person has one job, and one job only - to make sure everything sounds good. They are trained on their equipment, have training to understand how the acoustics of the room your event is in will affect the sound, and will then make the band sound amazing (or, at least, as amazing as they can). They even know when they can catch a break, because there are many times in the flow of an event that the music is background music and sound issues are not going to arise, so they will take small breaks throughout the night during those moments to ensure they are also rested and able to best perform their job.

So, what does this mean for you, the person booking a band for your wedding or party? Well, quite simply, you should know how this all could impact your event, negatively or positively. A lot of agencies will state that the bands “bring their own sound.” That is a way for them to mask the fact that they either don’t know, or don’t care, that the bands may not have a professional sound engineer. This means the sound at your event could be terrible! So, how do you ensure that the agency or band is going to have an engineer? Demand it. Say you want the band to have a professional engineer, and see how they react. If they tell you they hire one already, make sure it’s in the contract. If they say they can do that and it’s extra, then you know that they are willing to cut corners - and if they are willing to cut corners with such an important element as how the band sounds, where else are they going to cut corners to make more money?