Chaining my T1 with drums into my T8S. Will it explode?

Portable PA
1

(Sorry if this is a re-post, but my last post was deleted when I tried to edit it)

 

The Event

This is an outdoor concert where people will sit on the grass in front of an amphitheater.  We will play on an elevated concrete stage under a bandshell.  The area under the shell is 25’ deep.  The back wall is 31’ and front opening is 56’.  Each side wall is 27’.  The stage extends another 17’ in front of the bandshell so the stage is 41’ deep total.  We have no idea how many people will be there.  Max capacity is 250 on the grass with 6’ between families.

 

My PA equipment

Bose L1 Model 2 with B2 Bass

Bose L1 Model 2 with 2 B1 Basses

Bose L1 Compact

Bose TS8 ToneMatch 8-channel Mixer

Bose T1 ToneMatch 4-channel Mixer

 

The instruments/inputs

  1. Lead vocals (me)--EV vocal mic
  2. Guitar--Roland 60W Cube amp with high impedance output.  Wants his amp on-stage
  3. Vocal mic using phantom power
  4. Piano--Yamaha MX88
  5. Tenor Sax—SM 57 on a stand
  6. Alto Sax--Cardioid Condenser clip-on mic
  7. Upright bass--Realist pickup into a Fender 300W Rumble Amp and he wants to use his amp on-stage.
  8. Drums
    • Shure Beta on kick
    • Shure 57 overhead
    • Shure 57 on snare

 

Plan A—Place the PA front of the stage and plug three of the drum mics into the T1

 

The PA

  1. Place both L1’s at the front of the stage
  2. Use the L1 Compact in back as a monitor for the whole mix
  3. Use guitar and bass amps on stage to keep them happy

 

Use all 8 inputs in the TS8 and plug the T1 into one of them

  1. Lead vocals
  2. Bass.  Take a line out of the Fender amp and let him use it on-stage
  3. Guitar.  Take a line out of the Roland cube amp and let him use it on-stage
  4. Guitar vocal mic
  5. Piano
  6. Alto sax mic
  7. Tenor sax
  8. Drums from the T1

I will also run break music through the USB port

 

Input the drums into the T1

  1. Kick
  2. Overhead
  3. Snare

 

Will this work?

Is my T8S going to blow up on stage?

 

The band shell has pretty good acoustics.  It might be possible to get by without mic’ing the two horns at all, but I won’t know until I set it all up. 

 

 Appreciate your thoughts. 

2

Hi Jane,

Thanks for your post - nice setup!

In theory, there should be no issues using this setup with the T8S, and having the T1 sub-mix the drums. The T8S's master stereo outputs can be connected to the L1 model IIs, and the T8S's aux out can be connected to the L1 Compact for the monitor feed.

I would definitely recommend fully trialling this setup in rehearsals beforehand.

Do you plan to use much EQ/dynamic/FX processing on these input channels?

3

Thanks for the feedback.  I am embarrassed to say that I was not able to practice this set-up before the gig because of limited practice time with the band.  I live over an hour away from all of them and it was not possible to set up the PA for our rehearsal.  Consequently, I was sweating bullets before this event.  I am pleased to tell you, though, that it worked perfectly.  Even though I had the mains slightly in front of us, a lot of the sound reflected back so we really didn't need much in the monitor.  It also helped to have the bass amp on stage next to the drummer. 

I used all the available BOSE presets in the mixers for the instruments, and this made them sound great.  I had one available channel left on the T8s after after hooking up and balancing the seven vocal and instrument mics.  I plugged the T1 into that open channel and set the trim and volume on the T8s to 12:00.  Then I put the four drum mics into my T1 and used the Shure Beta mic preset for the bass drum and added the kick gate preset.  Next I dialed in the three Shure 57's for the two overheads and the snare with mixer presets for those Shure 57's with percussion.  I added some compression on the snare.  Finally, I balanced the gain and volume for those four mics on the T1. 

I have to say, it was flawless.  The musicians were really impressed with  my sound system and so were the 150 people scattered across the lawn.  I would not recommend trying this on-the-fly, but it worked.  Thanks, again.  

4

Hi Jane,

Excellent, glad to hear things ran smoothly!

5

Hi I've done this with two T1s with similar good results. Just upgraded to a T8S so got enough channels now (but may hold onto a T1 just in case we need more). My question though is on the Snare drum. What setting did you use as there is only Kick, Overhead and handheld percussion options. Previously we just had kick and a single overhead. Cheers for any info re Tonematch and gate you may have used.

 

Thanks Archie

6

Hi Arch1e!

You can use any of the drum presets as a starting point for the snare sound, then tweak it accordingly.