PA Tone-ing

Here’s my thoughts on PA TONE-ING…not Tuning….there’s a difference.  A lot of what i do traveling with bands requires a lot PA tuning. In most cases when i’m walking into a room I already know what the PA system is, boxes, amps, DSP, etc. I fly a lot, so most of the time the PA is in the air when we arrive.  If it’s a tour or fixed install i’m commissioning, this is a different ball game, speaking strictly one-off concert days.   First things first, i plug my phone in and listen (sorry mp3 haters).  Walk the room and listen to every zone in the venue.  If it sounds great i won’t touch it.  If it doesn’t this is where the tuning comes in.  If it’s a matching speaker/amp setup (Nexo PA/Nexo AMP…JBL/Crown..etc),  i’ll verify that the crossovers are set to FACTORY SETTINGS.  MOST of the time this is a safe place to start.  Manufacturers spend a lot of time setting this up right (most of them).  Once that’s done i play some more music from my phone and listen.  EVERY situation is different, every single one.  So none is this is a rule, just sharing the methods i use to get where i need to .  If the system isn’t full range i’ll try and do most of the EQ-ing at the amp inputs.  So if it’s super bright, instead of taking that out the LR in the console or the DSP EQ, i’ll shave it down on the amps first.  Same thing goes for Mids, lows, etc.  I want to get it as close to what i’m looking for before the console ever gets involved. If i’m still having problems that the wide bands on the amp won’t take care of, then and only then am i gonna use a DSP, outboard eq, or the consoles eq.  BTW, i don’t like using graphics for this, i think parametric is the only way to go.  It just sounds more musical to me.  Using a reference track (whatever you know like the back of your hand), i’ll get the PA to sound as close to what i think it should sound like based on what i’m hearing in the track.  If when i open my console file everything is cool and all the sounds are cool, i’m good.  If they are way off, then something still isn’t right.  Rinse and repeat.  This works great for me.  If it’s a HUGE rig with multiple zones of PA and delay times (massive arena or stadium) i’ll make sure there’s a pro system tech their that i can just tell what i’m hearing, and he’ll translate that to 1’s and 0’s and make it happen.  That’s about it!  More later!