How to Build and Run a Sound System for a School Dance
Contact your student council or student government if there is one., Plan far ahead., Get yourself a technical person who knows audio or who learns quickly (or both, if possible), if you aren't one yourself., Realize that you will need professional...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Contact your student council or student government if there is one.
They usually arrange the dances, and you'll definitely need their support.
Keep in mind that if you're not in council yourself, they can be difficult people to convince, as they usually like things done in a consistent way.
One good tack to use is to learn of the profits/losses off the last dance and describe how they can be improved.
If a teacher is in charge of student council, you might want to approach him/her first, after you spoken the teacher the change will improve that they will listen to you.
If your school does not have a council, you'll want to contact whoever is in charge of the dances. -
Step 2: Plan far ahead.
Make sure that you have sufficient time to get all your gear together, arrange this all with the council. , If you have a lot of time, see if you can find a job in the community that needs volunteer sound/tech work done, like community theater or a music festival, this experience will prove invaluable for your dance, and for yourself. , Too many times people delude themselves into thinking that they can get away with off-the-shelf Walmart speakers.
A ghetto blaster is not nearly loud enough nor high enough fidelity.
The same goes for living room hi-fi gear, which tends to have overly exaggerated power ratings ("1000-watt" surround sound systems which probably only have 50 watts per channel spring to mind).
To make your dance work, you can't settle for anything less than true pro-audio gear. , This depends on the venue, for a gym or another large space, you'll want at the bare minimum a professional power amp, a graphic equalizer, and an audio source (most likely, a computer), and speakers rated for the amp's power (rule of thumb says go twice the rating if possible to avoid clipping). , Nice things to have on top of that are a mixer so you can cross fade between audio sources, a microphone, and a better source.
While you can use a 1/8th inch TRS (from your computer) to RCA adapter with fair results, it's better to use a DI (Direct Input) box to balance the output to XLR cables, avoiding mains hum and other nasty artifacts.
Even better would be a professional Firewire recording/playback interface, but these can be hard to get if you are borrowing gear.
Lighting equipment is nice, but can be really difficult to get a hold of.
Strobes are nice, as are disco balls and low-level ambient lighting.
Set your standards high to start with, because it can be guaranteed you won't meet them. , This can be a bit difficult depending on where you live.
If your school has a music program, that's probably the best place to start.
If you already have a teacher sponsor, you might have them talk to whoever is in charge of the gear in order to sway their support.
This gear can be hard to get, because it tends to be expensive and easily broken, so don't expect easy handouts.
Alternatively, if your school has a theater, you can look there.
Theaters are especially good if you need lighting gear
- typically they'll have some extra stage lights lying around.
If you can't scrounge up any gear from your school, move on to your community.
A few good targets: community theater groups, youth groups, nonprofit music schools, and community radio stations.
You might not even know that the last one exists.
Try pulling out an FM radio and surfing the dial.
In Canada, nonprofit stations are almost always allocated below the 92 mHz band, far below the more commonly listened-to commercial stations.
Shoot for the best gear, but remember, beggars can't be choosers.
Rent gear if you absolutely can't find anyone to lend you it.
You might be able to do this at a fairly steep cost if you live in the city
- check your phone book.
Those of you out in the country
- keep scrounging. , Get it all set up and see how it sounds in the venue.
Start low and be careful, but don't be afraid to see how loud you can push it.
You'll need ear-splitting sound for the night of the show.
A good test: stand with a friend in the middle of the dance floor, about four feet away from each other.
If the system's cranked and you can still hear each other without shouting, than it's not loud enough. , You can run gigs with Itunes or Windows Media Player, but it's not recommended.
On Windows, Winamp is a reasonable choice.
On Mac and Linux, amaroK is an awesome music player with collections, fast search support, and automatic crossfade.
There's also an unofficial Windows version available.
If you can, It's recommended using a Mac or a realtime Linux kernel because of the better audio support.
If you absolutely have to use Windows, use a fast machine.
The last thing you want is a lag out in the middle of a DJ session.
Make sure you have a huge media library available.
You will be getting quite a few obscure requests, and it's icing on the cake if you can fill them.
If you have CDs, rip them to mp3s (or better yet, FLAC if you have the space).
External hard drives are nice for this, and relatively cheap
- a 1TB drive can be purchased for $250 at the right places.
Try to not stress too much about the gig.
And it will be stressful.
See below for a couple tips.
Once it's over, fade the music out and bring on the lights.
If you have a microphone, tell them it's over (expect some jeering, get a teacher to do this if you prefer). , Make sure you put it away real nicely to leave a good impression for next time.
Coil the cables, leave the mixer settings the way you found them, etc.
Count the profit
- it was a lot of work, but it paid off. -
Step 3: Get yourself a technical person who knows audio or who learns quickly (or both
-
Step 4: if possible)
-
Step 5: if you aren't one yourself.
-
Step 6: Realize that you will need professional gear.
-
Step 7: Decide what equipment you need.
-
Step 8: Consider extra gear beyond the bare minimum.
-
Step 9: Scrounge up the sound gear from your school.
-
Step 10: Do a test run.
-
Step 11: Get a good program for your DJ software.
-
Step 12: Strike your gear and return it to the rightful owner.
Detailed Guide
They usually arrange the dances, and you'll definitely need their support.
Keep in mind that if you're not in council yourself, they can be difficult people to convince, as they usually like things done in a consistent way.
One good tack to use is to learn of the profits/losses off the last dance and describe how they can be improved.
If a teacher is in charge of student council, you might want to approach him/her first, after you spoken the teacher the change will improve that they will listen to you.
If your school does not have a council, you'll want to contact whoever is in charge of the dances.
Make sure that you have sufficient time to get all your gear together, arrange this all with the council. , If you have a lot of time, see if you can find a job in the community that needs volunteer sound/tech work done, like community theater or a music festival, this experience will prove invaluable for your dance, and for yourself. , Too many times people delude themselves into thinking that they can get away with off-the-shelf Walmart speakers.
A ghetto blaster is not nearly loud enough nor high enough fidelity.
The same goes for living room hi-fi gear, which tends to have overly exaggerated power ratings ("1000-watt" surround sound systems which probably only have 50 watts per channel spring to mind).
To make your dance work, you can't settle for anything less than true pro-audio gear. , This depends on the venue, for a gym or another large space, you'll want at the bare minimum a professional power amp, a graphic equalizer, and an audio source (most likely, a computer), and speakers rated for the amp's power (rule of thumb says go twice the rating if possible to avoid clipping). , Nice things to have on top of that are a mixer so you can cross fade between audio sources, a microphone, and a better source.
While you can use a 1/8th inch TRS (from your computer) to RCA adapter with fair results, it's better to use a DI (Direct Input) box to balance the output to XLR cables, avoiding mains hum and other nasty artifacts.
Even better would be a professional Firewire recording/playback interface, but these can be hard to get if you are borrowing gear.
Lighting equipment is nice, but can be really difficult to get a hold of.
Strobes are nice, as are disco balls and low-level ambient lighting.
Set your standards high to start with, because it can be guaranteed you won't meet them. , This can be a bit difficult depending on where you live.
If your school has a music program, that's probably the best place to start.
If you already have a teacher sponsor, you might have them talk to whoever is in charge of the gear in order to sway their support.
This gear can be hard to get, because it tends to be expensive and easily broken, so don't expect easy handouts.
Alternatively, if your school has a theater, you can look there.
Theaters are especially good if you need lighting gear
- typically they'll have some extra stage lights lying around.
If you can't scrounge up any gear from your school, move on to your community.
A few good targets: community theater groups, youth groups, nonprofit music schools, and community radio stations.
You might not even know that the last one exists.
Try pulling out an FM radio and surfing the dial.
In Canada, nonprofit stations are almost always allocated below the 92 mHz band, far below the more commonly listened-to commercial stations.
Shoot for the best gear, but remember, beggars can't be choosers.
Rent gear if you absolutely can't find anyone to lend you it.
You might be able to do this at a fairly steep cost if you live in the city
- check your phone book.
Those of you out in the country
- keep scrounging. , Get it all set up and see how it sounds in the venue.
Start low and be careful, but don't be afraid to see how loud you can push it.
You'll need ear-splitting sound for the night of the show.
A good test: stand with a friend in the middle of the dance floor, about four feet away from each other.
If the system's cranked and you can still hear each other without shouting, than it's not loud enough. , You can run gigs with Itunes or Windows Media Player, but it's not recommended.
On Windows, Winamp is a reasonable choice.
On Mac and Linux, amaroK is an awesome music player with collections, fast search support, and automatic crossfade.
There's also an unofficial Windows version available.
If you can, It's recommended using a Mac or a realtime Linux kernel because of the better audio support.
If you absolutely have to use Windows, use a fast machine.
The last thing you want is a lag out in the middle of a DJ session.
Make sure you have a huge media library available.
You will be getting quite a few obscure requests, and it's icing on the cake if you can fill them.
If you have CDs, rip them to mp3s (or better yet, FLAC if you have the space).
External hard drives are nice for this, and relatively cheap
- a 1TB drive can be purchased for $250 at the right places.
Try to not stress too much about the gig.
And it will be stressful.
See below for a couple tips.
Once it's over, fade the music out and bring on the lights.
If you have a microphone, tell them it's over (expect some jeering, get a teacher to do this if you prefer). , Make sure you put it away real nicely to leave a good impression for next time.
Coil the cables, leave the mixer settings the way you found them, etc.
Count the profit
- it was a lot of work, but it paid off.
About the Author
Lauren Turner
Enthusiastic about teaching pet care techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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