Live Performance Question Options

[slimjimmed]

Okay, my setup has been the following when playing live shows with my band.

I play the M-audio keystation 49e which is hooked up through the USB of my PowerBook G4. I ues software such as Reason and Miroslav Philharmonik as my sounds. THEN I use the the headphone out to a keyboard amp(with a 1/4 inch to 1/4 inch jacks cord that has a 1/8 converter so that I can plug it into my headphones OUT on my Powerbook.

This setup ain't working for me. When I play most instruments(piano, harpsichord, etc), the lower keys are so much louder than the higher keys that I cannot concentrate on performance. Instead I am riding the volume levels.

How I can fix this? I only have a headphones out jack as an out on the Powerbook G4 and it isn't delivering stable levels to my amp.

I also own a Tascam US-122 which I use with guitar stuff, but haven't figured out if it could help me send the signal from my computer to an amp in a better way. I am really frustrated.

[Jim Hoyland]

If you really are getting uneven levels (rather than uneven frequency response from the amp), run the H/P output through a compressor before it hits the amp. If its an eq issue then run it through a cheap graphic eq. In either case, I'd recommend looking at Behringer gear - its not the nicest, but its very cheap.

One thought I had while typing the above, as the H/P out is stereo and your keyboard amp is probably mono, have you checked which side of the stereo signal is hitting the amp? If the instrument you play has a wide stereo spread and the amp is only getting the left channel then the bass notes will have much more weight. Ideally, you should get a cable made up that takes the tip and ring from the mini-jack and combines them both on the tip of the mono jack at the other end. Alternatively, you may be able to edit your software instruments to remove stereo panning.