PA Beginners Guide | Yamaha Commercial Audio

Here’s a PA system for a simple setup consisting of a vocal, a guitar and a keyboard.

This time, we'll use a STAGEPAS 600i Portable PA system.

1. Prepare the power supply and connect the speakers

Don't turn the power on until all connections have been made.

2. Connect the microphone and instruments to the mixer

Connect the microphone to channel 1, and set the MIC/LINE switch to MIC. Connect the electric/acoustic guitar into channel 4, and set the MIC/LINE switch to LINE. Connect the keyboard to channel 5/6.

3. Turn the power on

Ensure that the MASTER LEVEL and INPUT LEVEL knobs are set to "0" (minimum) then turn the power on for all instruments, and finally turn the mixer on.

4. Adjust the volumes

Set the MASTER LEVEL to the position indicated with "▼."

While singing or talking into the microphone and playing the instruments, adjust the volume of each channel using its respective LEVEL knob.

Adjust the tone of each input by turning the equalizer knobs. Sounds can be amplified (boosted) by turning the knobs clockwise, and can be attenuated (cut) by turning them anti-clockwise.

The effects of boost/cut for each frequency band are described below.

	Increase	Reduce
High	Adds an edge to the sound	Gives the mix space
Mid	Makes vocals easier to hear	Gives a relaxed tone
Low	Adds power to the sound	Gives a clean sound

6. Apply breadth and vibrancy to the sound by using reverberation

Turn the REVERB switch on, select the type of reverberation, and adjust the amount of effect applied to each channel using the REVERB knobs.

For example, when applying reverberation to vocals, more will be applied to the vocal channel as its REVERB knob is turned clockwise.

Types of reverberation

HALL	A reverb that simulates the reverberation of a large space such as a hall.
PLATE	A reverb that simulates the reverberation of steel plates. This gives a brighter feeling to the reverberation.
ROOM	A reverb that simulates the reverberation characteristics of a small space (room).
ECHO	An echo optimized for vocal applications.

7. Mixing the sound while listening to all instruments

In this type of band arrangement where the song is centered on the vocals, mixing the song with the vocals as the baseline will make the song easier to listen to. In this situation, the volume of other instruments should be lowered, and then added as needed to support the vocals, so that the vocals can be heard clearly.