A soundcheck checklist for small club and cafe gigs

Key facts

CD Baby's DIY Musician blog advises pointing vocal mics away from stage monitors and venue speakers, and singing within an inch or two of a standard vocal mic.
Violet Recording's small-gig guide advises setting each channel's gain with faders down, checking inputs one at a time, then playing a full song.
The same guide notes that a packed room sounds noticeably different from an empty one, so leave headroom at soundcheck.
NIOSH's recommended exposure limit for noise is 85 dBA averaged over an eight-hour workday.

A small gig rarely gets a real soundcheck. In a cafe or a 100-cap club you might get twenty minutes, a sound person who is also running the bar, and a PA you have never seen. That makes the soundcheck less about perfect tone and more about removing the things that go wrong: a dead cable, a howling monitor, a vocal nobody can hear. This checklist is built for that. Sources were read on 30 Oct 2026.

1. Before the day

Confirm times in writing. Load-in, soundcheck and set time, plus who runs sound. Our gig booking guide covers what to put in the confirmation.
Send an input list. One line per channel: what it is, mic or DI, and whether you bring it. Violet Recording's small-gig guide recommends labelling every channel and building a quick input list so sources are easy to find; sending yours ahead means the engineer has it done before you arrive.
Ask what the venue has. How many monitor wedges, how many mixes, how many DI boxes. If the answer is "one wedge", plan for it now.

2. What to bring

Your own vocal mic. CD Baby's DIY Musician blog suggests it so you know its condition, and so you can work it closely.
A spare of every cable you depend on, plus a DI box if you play keys, bass or acoustic guitar. Violet Recording advises DI boxes for guitars and basses.
Gaffer tape, a power strip, a phone charger, and earplugs.

What we think: the cheapest insurance at a small gig is a spare instrument cable and a spare XLR. Most "the PA is broken" moments we have seen turn out to be one bad lead.

3. The order to check in

Arrive early. The CD Baby piece says early arrival lets you test the venue's gear and catch a faulty jack before the show.
Place the gear before anyone plays. Point vocal mics away from monitors and speakers; the CD Baby tips say the mic should be "always facing away from the stage monitors and venue speakers". Keep amps close to you and aimed at your head, not across the stage.
Gain first, faders second. Violet Recording says to set each channel's gain with faders down so meters "peak healthily without clipping".
Line check each input on its own. Then play a full song together. The same guide recommends building the mix around vocals first, then the rhythm section.
Monitors last, and quiet. Ask for only what you need: usually vocals and one key instrument. Violet Recording warns that extra stage volume invites feedback.
Play the loudest song, not the first. Pick the song with your peak level so the engineer sets a ceiling, not a guess.

4. Feedback, quickly

Fix the cause before reaching for the fader. The Violet Recording guide lists monitors aimed at live mics and mains placed level with the performers as common culprits, and suggests a gentle EQ cut if one frequency keeps ringing. Singing close helps too: the CD Baby piece says a standard vocal mic like the Shure SM58 works best "within an inch or two", which means less gain is needed and less room sound gets picked up.

5. The empty-room trap

An empty cafe at 6pm is not the room you play at 9pm. Violet Recording notes "a packed room sounds noticeably different", so leave headroom and adjust once people arrive. What we think: agree one hand signal with the sound person before you start, for "more vocal in my wedge", so the fix after song one takes five seconds instead of a shouted conversation.

6. Look after your ears

Small rooms get loud fast because you stand close to everything. NIOSH sets its recommended exposure limit at 85 dBA averaged over an eight-hour workday, and notes that decibels are logarithmic. A gig is shorter than a workday but often far louder, and soundcheck plus set plus the other acts add up. Wear earplugs through the whole evening, not just your set.

The one-page checklist

Times, contact and input list sent ahead.
Own mic, spare cables, DI, tape, power strip, earplugs.
Arrive early; place gear with mics facing away from wedges.
Gain with faders down, then line check each input.
Full song, loudest one, vocals first in the mix.
Minimal monitor mix; fix feedback at the source.
Leave headroom for a full room; agree a hand signal.
Earplugs in from soundcheck to load-out.