John Deal's Live Sound Projects

Here is a brief description of my live sound interests and a list of my current sound projects. My goal is to help local bands get a better sound at small bars/resturants/outdoor shows/etc at an affordable cost. I am only interested in bands playing music that I like (blues, pop, non-hard rock, alt/pop). Contact me if interested.

My interest in sound systems started in 1971 at a pool party at a friends house where I discovered using the tape output RCA jacks of my Marantz 1030 stereo amplifier, I could connect another stereo amplifier via its tape input RCA jacks. I could now run two amplifiers driving two pairs of speakers from a single stereo source. Wow. What a sound!

Many many years later, when I started playing in bands, I took charge of the PA systems of most of the various bands I was in. Setup, configurations, mixing, fixing various problems, etc.

The highlight of this era was running sound (mixing, stage management, etc.) for a moderate-size outdoor festival at the Watchusett Brewery in Westminister, MA. where The Charlie Dee Blues Band , which I played bass in, were the headliners. Here are some board recordings from a Peavey MDII 12 preamp channel board which I still use today in my basement band rehearsal area. Some board recordings of this festival are below.

After suffering an injury on my left hand which prevented me from playing gigs for a few months, I re-established my interest in sound engineering and did a significant study of the subject (always learning!) during my break from gigging. This resulted in re-establishing my sound engineering work.

My current setup is centered around a Behringer XR18 sixteen pre-amp channel six aux digital mixer. For front-of-house (FOH), I generally use two Harbinger V3415 15" 2-way powered speakers for tops and two Harbinger S12/VS12 12" powered subwoofers. For monitors, I generally use some combination of various 12" or 15" passive monitors across two or three monitor mixes powered by various amplifiers. I find this setup works fine for smaller shows. Some situations I use the above listed equipment with equipment supplied by the client.

Below are some examples and some current clients.

Fran and Rita were (and maybe still are) a duo which was the opening act of the 1997 Wachusett Brewery October Festival which I was doing sound for. I do not remember who the percussionist was. They put on a great set as documented in the recording linked here. Note the interesting use of a Wah-Wah pedal on acoustic guitar by Fran.

Note this is a board recording resulting in parts having volume levels dependent on the amount of amplification needed. The recording is in stereo but my PA at the show was in mono because my crossover was set for two crossover points, splitting low, mids, and highs. Still, a reasonable documentation of their set.

The Rooster were (and maybe still are) a rock band which was the act which played before The Charlie Dee Blues band during the 1997 Wachusett Brewery October Festival which I was doing sound for. They put on a great set including some good covers of Rolling Stones songs as documented in the recording linked here.

The Zookeepers is a popular classic rock band based in Stillwater, NY playing large and small indoor and outdoor venues in the northern part of the NY Capital District (Albany, NY). They have quite a strong and loyal fan base. They alwasy put on a great rockin' show!

I only do FOH mixing (PreSonus Series III 32SC) on their quite powerful PA system. We generally run 14-26 channels depending on the show size.

Kill Phil is a quite talented band made up of neighbors playing in bars/clubs/resturants in or close to their neighborhood. They often have guest musicians to complement the five member core. Their shows are great to watch and listen too. A fun band!

I started playing bass for Kill Phil in December 2024 and still did FOH and monitor mixing until March 2026 where we use an engineer for FOH mixing.

Kill Phil uses a band-owned Behringer XR18 stage box mixer (excellent product BTW) and a pair of Yamaha DXR12 powered speakers. I add one or two 12" powered subwoofers, two 15" 2-way and one 12" 2-way monitors and amplifiers to run them. Depending on the venue, we send only vocals, keys, and electric drums or the entire band through the PA.

The Glove Theatre is a famous theater in Gloversville, NY which is in the process of being restored. Currently, the theater is hosting multiple movie/theater/music events every month. It is a grand building and a great project.

I was a volunteer sound tech for the Glove Theatre from December 2023 until May 2025, mixing many concert and theater events, designing and implementing sound system improvements, and various other activities. I really enjoy this work and the people I work with. It is quite challenging and rewarding. I hope to do additional sound work with the theater when scheduling permits.