Yesterday I had the opportunity to play at a fall festival in which I got to bring a sax player, percussionist, my wife on vocals, and myself on my Tyros 2. I was really excited to get to play with these guys, perform at a large outdoor venue, with a pro sound company/sound engineer providing the sound. When I arrived I was impressed with the stage set up which included four 15” speakers and two 18”subs up front and several 12” monitors on stage (all Yamaha SV series)

However once we stated to play I was very disappointed with the keyboard sound. No life at all. It sounded like the quality of AM radio. Yuck! The sound man told me he was running me stereo but it sure didn’t sound like it. Some of my laymen friend sitting in the front told me it sounded real nice- but it’s hard to trust their opinions… People were having fun and dancing. I guess the only ones bothered by the sound was the band- especially me.

I’m thinking for my next outdoor festival I’ll bring my own Bose compacts and mixer and send the signal to the front house system so we can at least get a good stage sound. Anyone tried doing that? What do you do when you play at events were the sound provided? Do you bring any of your own amps/speakers/mixer?

I would definitely bring your own pa and sencd a signal to FOH. YOu've got to be pleased with the sound yourself or it will show through your playing and attitude, no matter how professional you are.

J

Paul,

I had a similar situation when I first purchased my Bose L1 Model 1 about 5 years ago. I was asked to perform at the Maryland Senior Expo, which was held at the Maryland State Fairgrounds inside The Exhibition Hall. The venue was a series of 10' X 10' booths divided by rows of 10'foot high curtain-walls.

The stage I was to perform upon was about 4-feet high, made of wood and covered with carpeting. The expo had hired a local company to do the sound work. Their equipment was very old, beat up, and consisted of a pair of 18-inch subs, 4 15-inch cabinets with 10-inch horns, a couple 12s on stands and two Peavey floor monitors. When I arrived a friend of mine was performing the last 10 minutes of his job, then I had to set up and do the next hour. His system was nearly identical to mine so it was a good measure to hear him performing with their sound system--it sounded awful.

Despite the fact they had the system cranked up, the fall-off was horrible. Just 50 feet away from the rows of speakers the sound was distorted and weak. At 100 feet the crowd noise overpowered the sound system. But, 10 feet in front of the speaker row the sound was ear-bleed level and completely distorted.

When it was my turn to set up I took my Bose on stage with me. The guy running the sound board said "What the Hell is this?" I told him it was my sound system, and while he insisted that I connect to their system I steadfastly refused and told them it was my way or they would have to find someone else to play for the next hour.

The reluctantly agreed to allow me to use the Bose. While performing I had people dancing in the isles 200-feet away. And, despite the fact I had to crank up the Bose remote Master Volume a bit higher than usual, it remained crystal clear and rocked the house. At the end of the hour I got a great round of applause, several people came up and asked for business cards, and the next guy that was to perform asked if he could use my sound system. While I was tearing down my equipment the guy from the sound company came over and asked the make and model of my sound system. When I told him it was a Bose L1 (PAS back then) he said he wasn't surprised and wrote down the information.

Ironically, had it not been for one of our forum members, Uncle Dave, I would probably still be using a pair of monster Peavey 15s and struggling to put them up on poles. The first time I heard the Bose PAS (L1 Mod.1) Dave was playing a Korg in an Italian restaurant near Philadelphia. After walking through the three-room venue while he performed I was hooked. I purchased the Bose, sold all my other sound systems and never looked back. I just ordered a second L1 Compact to have for a backup, and for that occasional larger job.

Good luck and thanks for sharing your experience with us,

Gary

I always take my own monitors (Yamaha MS-60S) and run them in stereo, regardless of what the house system provides. I am used to hearing my keyboard through these speakers, and I find that consistency is very important.

When you sound great to your own ears, you definitely play better.

Ian

Use your own system. You, and you alone, are familiar with it and what it should sound like. That said, even though you've set up your Bose/mixer to your own liking, once it goes through another system (FOH) then there'll be other colorations that'll come into the equation. For what it's worth, whenever I've had other people in control of the sound, it's always turned out to be a disappointment.