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I want to say thanks to those of you who commented and sent me emails about the last article and the articles in general. So I've grabbed an idea out of the bag and decided to write on it this month. So all of you part-time groups or folks who are starting a new group, perk up your ears and read on!

The question was to posed to me about sound system essentials, what are the most important parts, what's the bare minimum a group can get away with to start, etc. Well, as much as it pains me to hear the words "bare minimum" I understand where these words come from, for I've been there myself.

If I had to pick two parts of a sound system, that I had to deem as the "most important," I would say that it involves where the sound begins and where it ends. This being the microphone or music source and the speakers. In one of my earlier articles I mentioned microphone selection, so I'll briefly just touch on the topic.

Remember, pick microphones based on their performance with your vocals. In this case, if you know you may not have much EQ in the system, pick a microphone that has excellent feedback control. This way you don't have to waist any of your EQ frequencies on trying to adjust for the feedback and frees you up to use your EQ to fine tune your system. You'd be surprised of how good a mic you can get for a little bit of money. Of course for the budget conscious, stay away from wireless and buy yourself a nice wired microphone.

Speaker selection can get a little trickier. When you're on a budget, speaker selection takes on new form that is completely different than if you have a higher budget to work with. When trying to cut cost in a system, you may want to consider a speaker with good frequency response, so that you won't have to buy subwoofers to supplement the low end. To be more specific, I would recommend a 15" speaker for the main speakers and wait on the subs.

In addition, going powered can save you a little money as well. A powered speaker means no amp cost, and requires less rack space, thus allowing for the purchase of a less expensive rack. If you go with powered speakers, also try to find one that at least has a high and a low EQ adjustment on it. This will give you a little more EQ to play with when tuning your system at really no extra cost.

Put the bulk of your investment into these two elements of you system and you'll have the start of a great, budget minded system. In my opinion the single most important element for any vocal group is the microphone, so splurge on that. Next month I'll build the rest of the system!

You may notice I don't name specific brand names for recommendations. I will however, be more than happy to tip you on to retailers I trust and specifics on brands that would relate to this article to get the job done that I have described. Just email me!

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