Need help finding an outdoor audio system for a party...

[BorrowedTime]

Hi all,

I need help with some information regarding audio systems for an outdoor party, and I hope that someone here will be able to provide some useful info in relatively short order.

Here is the situation...

In July (between the 4th and 13th), here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada there's a 10-day party celebrating our western heritage and the cowboy culture surrounding it. As a result, there are several parties hosted by individuals and corporations throughout the city, at virtually all times of day. The company my friend works for hosts one such party for employees and clients. He made an off-hand remark to the individual responsible for the party set-up about the band that was hired last year. So, my friend's co-worker has tasked my buddy with coming up with an alternative to last year's band. Nothing really complex, basically a sound system hooked up to an I-pod, or other such device with a few hours of country and western music for background ambiance. The problem here is that he needs to come up with a suitable delivery system for the music so that it can be enjoyed by the guests, but it doesn't need to be so overpowering that it makes conversation impossible.

Specifics of the party are as follows...

-It will be in an open air area (probably a parking lot) where the music needs to reach a roughly 2500 square foot area, possibly larger. There will be a tent canopy set up, at the very least covering much of this space, possibly even tent walls on 3 sides.

-The party will take place in a busy part of the downtown area next to, or near, several pubs, and other corporate hosted parties (many parking lot areas are typically rented out at this time of year for this purpose), so there will be a bit of ambient noise ranging from other parties, to vehicular traffic, to large crowds of pedestrian traffic.

-There is an estimated budget of around $2500.00 for the sound system, either for purchase or rental. (This would have been the budget for hiring a C&W cover band).

-The Stampede party will occur over a 5-6 hour period, and at any given time will be host to 100+ people as employees and clients come and go.

What my friend needs to know is what kind of system (amplifier capable of accepting an I-pod dock/other music delivery device, as well as type and number of speakers, perhaps even placement, and cabling) he will need to project music over the given area, to the given crowd size, in the environment I've described. Like I stated earlier, the music doesn't need to be overpowering, simply there for atmosphere and theme.

The earlier any of you with an idea of how my friend accomplishes this can respond, the better. Especially, if he needs to rent this equipment as there will literally be hundreds of such parties occuring over this 10 day span throughout the city, and he will need as much lead time as possible to find such equipment.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[allstar780]

Originally Posted by BorrowedTime

Hi all,

I need help with some information regarding audio systems for an outdoor party, and I hope that someone here will be able to provide some useful info in relatively short order.

Here is the situation...

In July (between the 4th and 13th), here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada there's a 10-day party celebrating our western heritage and the cowboy culture surrounding it. As a result, there are several parties hosted by individuals and corporations throughout the city, at virtually all times of day. The company my friend works for hosts one such party for employees and clients. He made an off-hand remark to the individual responsible for the party set-up about the band that was hired last year. So, my friend's co-worker has tasked my buddy with coming up with an alternative to last year's band. Nothing really complex, basically a sound system hooked up to an I-pod, or other such device with a few hours of country and western music for background ambiance. The problem here is that he needs to come up with a suitable delivery system for the music so that it can be enjoyed by the guests, but it doesn't need to be so overpowering that it makes conversation impossible.

Specifics of the party are as follows...

-It will be in an open air area (probably a parking lot) where the music needs to reach a roughly 2500 square foot area, possibly larger. There will be a tent canopy set up, at the very least covering much of this space, possibly even tent walls on 3 sides.

-The party will take place in a busy part of the downtown area next to, or near, several pubs, and other corporate hosted parties (many parking lot areas are typically rented out at this time of year for this purpose), so there will be a bit of ambient noise ranging from other parties, to vehicular traffic, to large crowds of pedestrian traffic.

-There is an estimated budget of around $2500.00 for the sound system, either for purchase or rental. (This would have been the budget for hiring a C&W cover band).

-The Stampede party will occur over a 5-6 hour period, and at any given time will be host to 100+ people as employees and clients come and go.

What my friend needs to know is what kind of system (amplifier capable of accepting an I-pod dock/other music delivery device, as well as type and number of speakers, perhaps even placement, and cabling) he will need to project music over the given area, to the given crowd size, in the environment I've described. Like I stated earlier, the music doesn't need to be overpowering, simply there for atmosphere and theme.

The earlier any of you with an idea of how my friend accomplishes this can respond, the better. Especially, if he needs to rent this equipment as there will literally be hundreds of such parties occuring over this 10 day span throughout the city, and he will need as much lead time as possible to find such equipment.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

2 easy solutions... 1 is to hire a DJ, but being Stampede weekend that might be nearly impossible on that budget.... the other is a little more complicated but still do-able on that budget...


So this is just a rough rundown of the setup... never attempted this before but it would work in theory... hopefully someone can back me on this... I'm going for something that would give a nice ambient sound, like you said something that will not be too loud, also assuming you do not want to use a subwoofer....

10x Klipsch AW-400 outdoor Loudspeakers (about $200 for a pair, around $1000 total)

2x Sony STRDG502 5.1 Amplifier (about $250 each, total $500)

Pole stands for all the speakers (or if its in a parking lot I guess you could duct tape them to the lamp poles)

Speaker wire for all the speakers

2 way headphone splitter ($1)
2x 3.5mm (headphone jack) to RCA cable (like $10)

Run the splitter on the iPod, then run the 3.5mm to RCA cables to the inputs in the recievers, set them to whatever mode allows for every single channel to play from a stereo audio source, run the speakers along the boundaries of the area, and there you go!

[househead]

why not rent a PA system? there should be companies that will have what you need.

If you want to purchase instead, look for 4 of the powered Mackies (love them) or JBL Eons and a cheap DJ mixer/cables.

Since you're not trying to rock the party with bumping techno or rap, you can get away with not using a subwoofer. The speakers above will get the job done.

[Beta Man]

Get them from a "Rent to own" place, and keep them for a couple weeks, and send them back..... get big (in house) speakers, and just put a large tent over the equipment...... and get the insurance (if there is such a thing)

[gearyt]

we use local rental firms that supply the stuff ( I love Mackie's too )
You can usually find thru your local music store, they cater to bands
that can't afford their own equip. fyi I pay $ 500 per day for a complete band set-up... you should pay approx $1000 for the week

[phlydude]

Speaking from experience (I used to do sound for a 10-person band), you need to find a local music store that sells band equipment and DJ/PA equipment.

Since you don't need something sonically exceptional (especailly with the compressed mp3 type audio on the ipod), depending on the size, you might be able to get away with a couple stage monitor speakers, a 2-channel amp and either a small mixer board (preferred) or a EQ with RCA input and XLR outputs (might be hard to find that is why the mixer board is preferred).

I haven't done this stuff in 10+ yrs, so I couldn't begin to tell you what it will cost but a decent shop will have used equipment that you can purchase (or even rent).

We used to use a 16 channel board (3 horns, guitar, bass, elec. piano, 3 lead vocals, 5 drums and 2 back-up vocals), passed though an EQ, passed through a sound processor (effects), and passed into 2 seperate amps (400 W and 800 W) output into some Electrovoice speakers (pair of 18 inch woofers and horns for the mids and highs) - this was only for the crowd system - there was another amp and home-made stage monitors for the band to hear themselves.

Now this set-up was used for everything from bar gigs (where the stage volume was more than enough) to hall gigs to outdoor weddings to block parties and neighborhood group functions (city sponsored).

This would obviously be overkill but was priced right second hand and served us well.
Looking for a sound board, look for something that will allow you to input via 1/4" stereo plug or via RCA. You can buy a 1/8" (3.5mm) stereo cable to hook to the i-pod that has RCA adapters on the end (like this one http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2)
or you can use a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter. They also have all kinds of XLR to stereo 1/4" cables you can buy in case you can't find one that allows input via RCA or 1/4" plug.

Even DJ mixer boards can easily accomodate your needs and it will have a channel or two for microphones in case you have any public speaking needs in the future.