The Magic of Sound Equipment

So you have practiced your routine well. You know what to do, what to say and what to wear. There is nothing else you need to do or check prior to your on stage performance. Or is there?

Yes there is. Remember that you will be performing before a live audience. An audience needs to, besides see the best part of your act and your costume, hear what you have to say to captivate their attention.

It is a requirement that every performer who go on stage must not forget the essential three things in order to have a good if not a positively unforgettable performance: an appropriate costume, a case for where to put your props in, and - drum roll please - sound.

These three things are the essential must haves, besides the usual add-ons to up any show's theatrical value. But you are on the safe side as long as these three basic requirements are heeded and paid utmost attention to.

Even if you have a totally amazing, mind blowing performance which you practiced day in and day out to make it perfect, if the audience you are performing to cannot hear a word you are saying and so cannot understand what it is that they are supposed to, it would be very difficult - on their part - to appreciate all the efforts you put in to have a good show.

Every performer who is to go in front of a live audience must have a microphone. Duuuh! Do not forget, it should not be just a microphone, it should be a microphone plus a working, if not excellent, sound equipment.

There are magic act performers who prefer, and find it best, to use a Shure clip on their microphones as well as an amazingly powerful yet extremely simple Fendor Can Amp.

But over all, it really does not matter what type, what brand, what kind of sound equipment you use. What does matter is that your equipment must be able to provide a clear, crisp sound throughout the venue and one that will make the audience hear you as well as laugh at, applaud at, and be in awe at the appropriate moment you would want them to.

However, there are those kinds of performers who cannot wholeheartedly as well as logically appreciate the value of having their own sound equipment. Most of the time, the audience suffer from this kind of technical negligence.

Some performers think that as long they speak loudly - and carry a big magic stick - everyone in the room would be able to hear them.

Or sometimes, they assume - wrongly most of the time - that the people who organized the event or the venue that they will be working or performing in will be the ones to provide the sound equipment they need.

The best way to go is to assume nothing and bring everything. Your very own sound equipment will definitely work best for you. You benefit more from being prepared and the audience will just as enjoy your company, your act, your performance and probably talk to you later on for other gigs. And all this will be possible because of your sheer foresight.

Someone once said that persons with microphones cannot and should not be trusted. This may be a correct and incorrect statement. It all depends on who is holding the mic.

Microphones, more often than not, provide speakers with the power to hold an audience captive. For anyone holding a microphone, and whoever is holding that one and only microphone in a crowded room - that person is definitely the only one whom people will be hearing all throughout.

Absolute ownership of the mic gives anyone absolute power as well as prestige. It also gives the impression that the one holding the mic is worth hearing, seeing, and listening to. Those are benefits that any performer could consider as - definitely - priceless.

The same concept applies to any music that a performer will be using for his or her act. If there is to be music on the show that you will be staging, do not forget to use equipment that looks professional as well as provide a service that is professional, if not brilliant.