Karaoke Forums

Okay, start laughing. We have a chance to do kid karaoke at a Roller Skating Rink--don't have the exact square footage but it is BIG. The house DJs have 10 speakers set up around the perimeter that they power with two, 1400 watt amps. We won't be using their system.

All that we have are two Yamaha Clubs and a PS5000 amp. Would we even be able to make a dent in such a huge place? They may not have skating that day but use part of the rink for tables and dancing, instead--so we might not have to fill the entire room. Should we even consider it or are we doomed? We have only used our speakers in smaller places so never pushed them to see what they can (or can't) do.

I would use the house system if that is an option. Just feed your output to the house board. You still still have full control of the mix.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

The house system belongs to the DJs and is not an option, unfortunately.

For that kind of setup i'd personally want to run at LEAST 4 speakers - 1 in every corner & depending on the speakers a minimum 2000 watts - 500 to each speaker - the amp/speakers you got now i'd just double.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Oh I love roller skating!... whatever direction you choose, just make sure the music is loud, crisp & clear cause I'm a dancing fool!

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MUSIC+DANCE=LIFE

Providing bass thumping club type music for a skating rink is WAY different then supplying enough THUMP and volume for a "KIDS" KARAOKE SHOW in the same area.

As suggested you may want to add 2 extra speakers for area coverage --but can you do that with just the 1 amp ???

No--the amp is just enough for the two speakers. We would have to double the system, as Lonman suggests but that isn't in the budget at the moment. We have a cheapo Kustom speaker and a chintzy amp that supplies it that we have used as a monitor but the sound isn't too good. That is the only extra we have.

We are allowed to go in and set up on an off day and see what we can do but I'm thinking it will only work if they don't have skating and just use a corner for karaoke/dancing. We have had our speakers over a year but only use them monthly for a kid's show in a doublewide mobile classroom situation. We plug into the house speakers for our Dive show which is why we haven't had a lot of experience with our own speakers.

I think the Yamahas will probably do a pretty good job. I don't think anyone is going to hate you if you set up on one end of the rink and fill 75% of the place with good sound.

What are the specs on the other amp you have? You could probably get some cheap DJ speakers on craigslist/ebay. I've seen usable speakers for around $20-25 each. Might just get you through this particular gig (if you are making enough to justify it). Here's what I found just doing a quick search in my area:

http://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/for/1622908113.html
http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/msg/1603404159.html

If you are located in a decent sized city, you could also probably rent some good powered speakers to add to your system for around $50.00 for tthe day. Again, depends on what you are getting paid.

For the future, you should go ahead and have an extra pair of speakers. Reinvest some of your earnings. It take money to make money!!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

The other amp is a Technical Pro LX-1500 (220 watts at 8 ohms, puke).

If we did get another amp and speakers, I'm not sure how to go from the mixing board to both amps though.

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Kevin

Most amps that have dual input connections like the Yamaha (both XLR & balanced 1/4") you can run the signal from the mixer to the amp via the XLR, then piggy back the 1/4" balanced input that will feed to the input on the second amp.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Do you have the 2x15 or 1x15 or 1x12 Club speakers? That amp will comfortably run two of the 1x15 or 1x12s per channel without current-limiting, so you could put four speakers on it. It would have to work a lot harder to push four 2x15s though, and will clip somewhat more easily.

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if covering only a small part of the venue is totally acceptable. I hate doing karaoke for kids events because so many of them want to do the same song over and over, and often a lot of the kids will do the same song. Very aggravating, and if I was a parent, I would welcome the option to sit at a table far away from the speakers and eat a pizza in peace.

I am guessing the house DJs have flown their speakers around the skating area. In order to duplicate something like that you would need a bunch of stacks or speakers on poles, and kids will run around, bump into them, and possibly, knock the speakers over. That is dangerous for kids and equipment, so pretty much a terrible idea in a skating rink.

I would also be very careful of speaker cable runs. It's not practical to buy or rent hundreds of feet of cable ramp, so if you do have any speakers that are far away from you, I would think hard about the safest way to route the speaker cables, and not be afraid to spend an hour on a ladder with a roll of gaff tape attaching your cables to the ceiling.

Have you thought about paying the house DJs to let you use their system? That might be economical and much less trouble than worrying about the coverage area and safety issues.

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

We have the C115's.

Ideally, if they would let me set up next to their DJ platform, unplug their input and let me plug my mixer into their amps, it would be a quick setup and there would be plenty of sound. I looked at the area yesterday and am not sure how hard that would be for them or if it is even plausable.

We do the boys and girls club once a month as a donation and I know what you mean about singing the same songs. I try to discourage it but they have a lot of fun regardless. The first time we did it, "Beat It" came up 3 times before I even got started. Only twice last time for the duration.

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Kevin

If you can't do the job proper you shouldn't book it.

We use Dual 18's with Dual 15's mains and Single 15" tops with single 18" subs as side fill when we do something as big as a roller rink.

Minimum I rent a 5000 watt power amp and a high power dual 18" sub

Can someone explain the "piggy back" part of this? I'm sorry but I am stupid (my older brothers always told me so).

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Kevin

The XLR and 1/4" connectors are wired in parallel. So you can use one as an "input" and one as a "thru" to a second amplifier or powered speaker. It does not matter which one is which.

Electrically, it is the same as connecting a "Y" splitter cable before the first amp, and then hooking the two split ends into two amplifiers' inputs.

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

Thank you. Now for just one more. On one of my mixers I have Stereo Out that has both XLR and 1/4" (Yamaha MG124c). Can they both be used in the same way, the XLR to one amp and 1/4" to another?

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Kevin

Do it.
Be blarsay, Use what is there.
If you fall short,
Do a gig, & apologise.
Use the money and buy.
You need this.
Go for it.
If you need it I will ship you lighting.
Jerry.

Yes. The volume reduction will be pretty negligible.