 But You Must Be Heard
There are no silent psychic/mentalism acts. You must use your voice, you must interact and therefore you must be heard. If you do a stage act then in my opinion it is imperative you have your own sound equipment. Many performers have told me they ask the venue to supply microphones etc. This is OK but I have worked places where the sound equipment is about as effective as a baby monitor and I once worked a show in a marquee where the 'state of the art' sound system consisted of a wired handheld microphone which had a cable of about two meters in length. My advice is buy the most expensive you can afford and stick with it. Always arrive at the venue a minimum of 45 mins before your gig, so you can set up and test your sound equipment. You don’t have to break the bank to obtain a decent sound system and if you stick with your own system all the time, you'll know what to expect. Can't afford thousands for the best on the market? Well the first thing to do is ask yourself do you need an £800 headset, £1500 wireless microphone system, a 5000 watt surround sound speaker system, £500 mixer deck, fully integrated, remote control digital MP3 player and a transit van to carry it all in. If you are working national theatres to sold out houses of a thousand or more audience members, then yes you probably do, but then those theatres usually supply quality in-house equipment and require that you employ their resident sound engineer. However if you are booking your own stage/cabaret shows in smaller venues then you can put together a pretty decent and effective sound system on a budget. First things first, I'm talking about the spoken word here, maybe some intro and exit music and perhaps a bit of mood music during the show to set the scene. If you are performing a rock show or singing as part of your mentalism act that's a different ball game and you'll need to do your research into which systems are best for you. But for a PA system used primarily so that you can be heard over the rustle of crisp packets and coughing, and for indoor venues, then you should be looking at a system which is able to deliver approximately two watts of output per audience member, all of which you can pick up on ebay for a reasonable price if you are willing to do a bit of research and searching. I bought a reasonable quality duel channel UHF wireless microhone set which came with a lapel mike for £80, retail price new £170. I replaced the lapel mic with a medium range low profile Unidirectional, Cardioid headset microphone which I picked up again on ebay for £40 but which retails at approximately £100, and finally for £92 I bagged myself £385 worth of 600 watt active speaker with built in mixer and MP3 docking station Later I bought another passive extension speaker to go with it which cost £50 because it has no built in amp. For my music I use an MP3 player with a built in bluetooth remote control. These days with free online music editing software such as Audacity and royalty free music sites such as Purple Planet it is simple to add a bit of music to your shows. The £262 system I have put together is very cheap compared to some on the market but it doesn't take up a lot of room in my car, I know how it works and I'm comfortable with it. So far, touch wood, it has never let me down. Do a bit of research, everything you want to know is online, then take a look at ebay you may be surprise what you can pick up. Comments are closed.
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