Originally posted by AMC
View Post
Enough said...
Regarding the OP's inquiry, there seem to be lots of larger local sound providers out there who will say almost anything to prevent a 'guy with a couple speakers' (who they view as a bottom-feeder) from entering their market, and the principal argument against getting into live sound is the cost of entry into the market. However, from the venues you're talking about, it sounds less like you want to do bar bands and small outdoor festivals, and more like you're just wanting to pick up a few side jobs in coffee shops. As long as you know your limitations and don't try to work too far outside them until you've bought the gear to properly serve more advanced clientele, there's nothing wrong with being a 'guy with a couple speakers'.
Stick with your EV cabinets as mains. EV is a name that will go a long way. However, the FR15 cabinets (if you're talking about the FR15-2, which are big square boxes) are probably too cumbersome to use in the long term, and getting them high enough above the audience to sound good will be tough (unless you use some DIY subs shaped like the Community CSX50 to match the FR15's width and just make a stack). The alternative is to try to sell off the FR15 cabinets (try eBay; you may get more than you paid for them) and buy something from Yamaha or Community with a 12" woofer.
Who told you that crap about the hat? That makes no sense at all, and my friends in the business will tell you what utter bulls--- that is. What will build your business is an earnest attitude toward pleasing the customer, which will drive word of mouth. Save your money on the hat, and make some business cards instead.
$250/evening is a typical call fee for a sound engineer providing sound for a bar band in my town (Lafayette, IN), so if you can make $100 at a single gig of the type that you're able to do (where you essentially babysit the gear), consider yourself very fortunate until you have enough gear to provide reinforcement for an entire band. Before you go spending money on other speakers, work on getting more gear, like microphones, cables, mic stands (the boom type are usually preferred by musos) and some big plastic Rubbermaid tubs to put it all in.
Don't expect to get rich doing this. I certainly couldn't afford to drive the car I drive and rent the place I rent if this were my day job. And when considering what the music rental places across town charge for their services, also have the humility to realize that their personnel are also more experienced and probably better workers than you are (at least at first), and don't walk around with the attitude that their prices are highway robbery or that they're dishonest. Like everyone else in the world, they need to make a buck, and someday you'll probably need to rent some gear from them. One guy in town that I know has a small speakers-on-sticks system with a small digital console but rents a full triamped rig from a company in Indianapolis to do the very big shows.
Eventually you will also need to move to a more sustainable business model - that is, you will need to operate at a profit. When you do this, consider that being 'too expensive' is easier to recover from in a short span of time than being 'too cheap' - that is, you'll have an easier time recognizing that you're losing gigs on price and lowering your fee until you start getting gigs than you will have in convincing a previous customer that you are worth more than they paid you last time to do the same work. I speak from personal experience.
Leave a comment: