What should we rent to perform as a band for entertainment or a show at a wedding ceremony or reception?

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• Live Spot LugHirata Hiroyasu
  I’m Hiroyasu Hirata from Live Spot RAG. When I was 15, I was blown away by how cool music—especially rock—was, and I started playing guitar and formed a band. I’m from Kochi Prefecture, where there weren’t many live houses or concert venues, so there were few opportunities to experience live music. Back then, our sources of information were magazines, CDs, and even VHS tapes (!?). Still, I was captivated by the sparkle of music, and I spent my days enjoying guitar and music, mostly neglecting my studies. I moved to Kyoto for university and “graduated” from the light music club, so to speak (laugh). Until then, I mainly listened to Japanese rock and Western hard rock, but thanks to seniors and peers I learned there was so much more music in the world. Now I listen to anything that strikes me as good, regardless of genre. After graduating, I joined RAG. After about six years in the office and about ten years in the music studio, I now work at the long-established Live Spot RAG, which has been around for 39 years, mainly handling promotions. Being exposed to the “real music” performed by Japan’s top musicians and delivering it to our audience lets me feel the brilliance of music anew every day. I still play guitar and keep a band going casually, and in recent years I’ve even started singing—better late than never. I’ve fully become an old guy by now, but I hope we can continue to chase “what lies beyond the dreams I painted with music back then” together.

Start by choosing the venue first

First of all, some wedding venues do not allow live band performances, so make sure to research whether band performances are permitted.

Depending on the banquet, some places say “drums are not allowed, but keyboards and guitars are okay.”

Decide on the performing members and the pieces to be played

Once the venue is decided, let's determine the instrumentation and which pieces to perform.

This time, we'll keep it simple and proceed with the classic setup: a four-piece band of vocal, guitar, bass, and drums performing Ulfuls’ “Banzai.”

Here’s the gear you need!

Here’s the main point.

First, given the above setup, the instruments we need are a drum set, a guitar amp, and a bass amp.

drum set

We offer a variety of drum kits with different materials, manufacturing methods, and colors, and the prices are divided into two tiers.

If you don’t have any particular requests, we recommend the standard PG series from the more affordable line.

guitar amp

There are many types of these as well, but the Roland JC-120, which you’ll find in virtually any studio or live house, is the classic standard.

Guitarists are probably used to it, so it should be no problem.

Discerning customers sometimes specifically request Marshall or Fender amplifiers.

bass amp

In many cases, wedding receptions are held for about 50 to 100 guests, so extremely high volume probably isn’t necessary.

There are also separate head amps and cabinets, but here I’d like to recommend the combo amp “Hartke Kickback 15.”

Despite its compact size, it’s equipped with a single 15-inch woofer and can deliver the authentic Hartke sound.

The above are the required items, and if you wish, you can add options such as a guitar stand, effects units, or a twin pedal.

It’s possible to rent guitars and basses as well, but since this is an important wedding reception, we recommend using your own guitar or bass that you’re accustomed to.

Here’s the audio gear you need!

At the reception venue, of course the bride and groom, the emcee, and guests will be speaking, and background music is essential. Since I believe the venue has its own sound system, if you use that, it should be possible to perform without needing to rent additional equipment.

However, since the sound of the instruments and the vocals will be coming from different locations, the sense of a live performance will be diminished, and how it sounds will vary considerably depending on where you are in the venue.

Since it also depends on your budget, it’s ultimately up to you, but we recommend renting dedicated audio equipment as well.

With that premise, I will proceed with the discussion here.

The necessary audio equipment includes a microphone, speakers, a mixer, and an amplifier.

Mike

We’ll need a total of three microphones: one for the lead vocal and two for backing vocals, assuming the guitarist and bassist will handle the backing vocals this time.

The type is surely the SHURE SM58 for vocals—the one you’ll find in any studio or live house.

We will also prepare three microphone stands and three microphone cables.

Speaker

These are the main speakers, and since they normally output in left-right stereo, you’ll need two units.

This is also a classic model, but I recommend the “Electro-Voice SX300” speakers.

It can output a volume that perfectly matches the acoustics of this class.

A dedicated stand and cable are required, so I will prepare two sets of those as well.

Mixer amplifier

A “mixer,” which combines audio from various sources and adjusts each one’s volume and tone, and an “amp,” which amplifies the signal from the mixer and turns it into a louder sound.

These can be ordered separately, but since there’s a piece of equipment called a powered mixer that combines the two functions into an all-in-one unit, we’ll use that.

The YAMAHA EMX 5000-12 has a large number of channels (the number of sources fed into the mixer—three microphones in this case) and comes equipped with two types of effects, such as reverb, which adds spaciousness to the sound, and delay, which repeats the sound like an echo. It’s a very user-friendly powered mixer.

How should we handle the delivery?

With that, all the equipment needed for the band performance is ready!

All that remains is to perform on the day, but we need you to consider how you would like the delivery to be handled.

If you can come and borrow it yourself, you’ll only be charged for the equipment, but in this example it would be quite a lot.

As a guideline, it's about half the size of a HiAce's cargo area.

The bass drum of a drum set is quite large, and it would be difficult to transport it in a sedan or a compact car.

The bride and groom must be busy preparing for the reception, and I feel hesitant to ask the guests.

If you use our delivery service, we will bring everything to your specified time and location, assemble the drum set, set up the audio equipment, and prepare it so that it’s ready to play.

After the wedding reception ends, we will dismantle (pack up) those instruments and equipment and clear them out.

How much does it cost?

This is the price when you rent the above equipment, including delivery service.

1. Drum set / Pearl / PG series / 1 set / 15,900 yen
2. Guitar amplifier / Roland / JC-120 / 1 unit / 5,300 yen
3. Bass amplifier / Hartke / Kickback 15 / 1 unit / 5,300 yen
4. Microphone / SHURE / SM58 / 3 units / 3,300 yen
5. Mic stand / 3 units / ¥1,590
6. Mic cable (5 m) / 3 pieces / 330 yen
7. Speaker / Electro-Voice / SX300 / 2 units / 9,600 yen
8. Speaker stands / 2 units / ¥1,060
9. Speaker cable (10 m) / 2 pieces / 320 yen
10. Powered mixer / YAMAHA / EMX5000-12 / 1 unit / 12,700 yen

Total equipment cost: ¥55,400

Shipping fee (within Kyoto City) / 1 set / 10,500 yen

Total: ¥65,900

And in fact, the equipment listed above is the content of “Set Plan B,” which packages musical instruments and audio gear.

As a set plan, we offer a slightly lower price of 54,000 yen, so to be precise,

Total: ¥64,500

will be

In conclusion

How was it?

Even if the instrumentation is different, in most cases you can accommodate live performances at wedding receptions by using this Set Plan B as a base and making arrangements such as adding another guitar amp or an electronic piano.

For those who are particular about the setup, you may also want to have monitor speakers for foldback or mic the drums and guitar, but I’ll cover those topics separately another time.