How to Mix Live Sound for a Small Band: A Practical Guide

Running sound for a small band - in a pub, a community venue, a church or a rehearsal space - doesn't require years of professional training. What it does require is understanding the fundamental principles, having a methodical approach, and being willing to make decisions by ear rather than by eye.

This guide covers the essential concepts and practical techniques for mixing a small band live, with a focus on what actually makes a difference in real-world small venue situations.

Before the band plays: soundcheck

A proper soundcheck is the difference between a confident, controlled mix and a stressful scramble during the performance. Here's a methodical approach:

1. Drum kit first - Check each drum individually (kick, snare, hi-hat, toms, overheads if miked). Set the gain so the loudest playing is around 70-80% of the way up the meter, leaving headroom for louder moments.
2. Bass guitar next - Direct input (DI) or miked cab. Set the level so the bass sits comfortably below the kick drum in the mix.
3. Guitar(s) - Balance against the rhythm section. Guitars should cut through without being abrasive.
4. Keyboards and other instruments - Add these to the existing balance.
5. Vocals last - Vocals are usually the priority for the audience to understand the performance. Set them so they're clearly audible above the band without needing to be painfully loud.

Gain staging: the foundation of a clean mix

Gain staging is the process of setting the input gain (preamp level) correctly before touching any channel fader. The goal is to have each channel's preamp operating in its optimal range - loud enough to be well above the noise floor, quiet enough that it's not clipping or distorting.

On most mixers, you're looking for peak levels that hit around 0dB on the channel meter at the loudest moments, with headroom left for unexpected loud transients. The channel fader should start at unity gain (0dB, usually marked on the fader) and you balance the mix from there.

The three most common small venue mistakes

1. Everything too loud - The most pervasive problem. When the mix is too loud, every channel needs to be louder than the one before it to cut through, creating a spiral of increasing volume. The final result is painful SPL levels that cause audience fatigue and increase feedback risk. The solution is to set a conservative master volume and keep it there.

2. Vocals buried under instruments - Audiences come to hear the singer. If you can't clearly understand the lyrics, the mix is wrong regardless of how good the instruments sound. Prioritise vocal clarity over everything else.

3. Too much reverb on everything - Small venues have their own natural reverb from reflective surfaces. Adding artificial reverb on top creates mud. Use reverb very sparingly - a short room reverb at low levels on vocals is plenty for most small venue applications.

EQ in live sound: subtractive first

The most effective EQ technique in live sound is subtractive - reducing frequencies that are causing problems rather than boosting frequencies you want more of. Common corrections:

• High-pass filter on everything except kick and bass - Roll off below 80-100Hz on vocals, guitars, and any source that doesn't produce useful bass frequencies. This cleans up low-end mud significantly.
• Cut boomy frequencies in vocals - If the vocal sounds thick and muddy, reduce around 200-400Hz until it clears up.
• Cut harsh frequencies in guitars - If guitars sound brittle or aggressive, reduce around 2-4kHz.
• Cut feedback frequencies - If you have persistent feedback (the howling loop), identify the frequency (usually possible by ear) and apply a narrow cut at that frequency on the channel causing the problem.

Feedback prevention

Feedback happens when a microphone picks up sound from a speaker, which is then amplified and sent back to the speaker, creating a loop that grows louder until it produces the familiar howl. Prevention:

• Keep microphones behind the main speakers (speakers fire toward the audience, not toward the stage)
• Use directional microphones (cardioid pattern) that reject sound from behind and to the sides
• Keep monitor volumes as low as possible while still audible to performers
• Apply a high-pass filter on all vocal mics (remove low frequencies that build up easily)
• If feedback starts, quickly reduce the gain on the offending channel - don't try to grab the master fader first

Monitors: what the band needs to hear

Stage monitors (the floor wedge speakers that face toward the performers) let the band hear themselves on stage. Without monitors, performers can't hear their own vocals or instruments properly and their performance suffers.

A basic monitor mix should give each performer the sound that helps them perform best. Vocalists typically need to hear themselves clearly. The drummer needs to hear the click track (if used) and possibly the bass guitar. Guitarists need to hear the vocals to know how loud they're playing relative to the singer.

Monitor mixes are separate from the front-of-house mix and require their own send from each channel on the mixer. Modern digital mixers often allow individual monitor mixes per performer; analogue mixers with a single aux bus produce a single monitor mix for the whole stage.