There are a lot of decisions that must be made once you have
decided that you want to become a Dj. The first one will be what kind of Dj you
want to be. Do you want to spin the latest underground electronic tracks? Do
you want to spin the hardest hitting hip hop tracks? Do you want to cater more
towards weddings and corporate events? Then there is the format. Do you want to
go old school with vinyl? Do you want to run the most cutting edge mixing
software on your laptop? Do you want to use CDJs?
Next, there is the question of sound reinforcement. Many
clubs will have there own dedicated sound system for Dj’s to use. But if you
are planning on providing your services elsewhere, you will need to have an
adequate PA system. There are a lot of options that are suited for different
situations. In most case you are going to use two main speakers and at least
one subwoofer. The idea is that the main speakers (also referred to as PA
speakers, Dj speakers, and mains) carry the mid range and high frequencies
while the subwoofer (also known as a sub) carries the low frequencies. These
two types of enclosures come in many different configurations.
Speakers (also known as drivers) come in different sizes.
The size of the speaker is defined by the diameter of the speaker. Common sizes
for PA speakers are 10”, 12”, 15”, and 18” speakers. Generally speaking, the larger the speaker-the lower the frequency response. The size of the
speakers in your PA mains should be between 10” to 15” while your sub should be
either a 15” or 18” subwoofer.
There is also a third type of enclosure that incorporates
these two designs into one enclosure.They have multiple speakers that are each devoted to reproducing a
certain frequency range. Multiple speaker enclosures are defined by how many of
speakers are in the enclosure (2-way, 3-way, 4-way, etc…).The most common of
these enclosures are the 2-way and 3-way PA speaker. In some situations, it may
be beneficial to have a pair of 2-way or 3-way rather than 2 subs and 2 mains.
You will invariably get more out of having separate subs and mains because you
can do a lot more tweaking to your setup with speaker placement and
amplification.
This concludes the first of many segments to come. Stay tuned
for part 2 of the Dj’s Sound System Survival Guide.
Church Gear
