What are /r/Busking's favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

There is an awesome 40watt battery powered system on Amazon by Vangoa. You should check it out.

Congratulations on getting such an awesome amp, I've had my Roland Street Cube 5 years and it's amazing. I did use Duracell batteries but discovered eneloop by Panasonic 6 months ago. They perform better but only recharge approx 800 times.

I really recommend you get a fast recharger they make all the difference.

www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-Eneloop-Rechargeable-4BE-Batteries-Black/dp/B00JWC40JY/ref=asc_df_B00JWC40JY/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=214458080830&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16897144181343959712&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045225&hvtargid=pla-406645104175&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

Any decent portable PA will do fine. The micro cube is good for it's size, but you can get better (bigger) PAs for about the same price. I've used this one in the past, and it's great:

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https://www.amazon.com/ION-Audio-Tailgater-Portable-Bluetooth/dp/B00SNBCBGE

If you are thinking of busking for the first time I can share with you a book that covers the main points.

It's free on kindle!

The Prosperous Musician. Busking for Beginners https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08CDZZRGH/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_PEMA3FTTPVQ2B5G37V8D

Bose S-1 (https://www.amazon.com/Bose-Bluetooth-Speaker-Backpack-Microphone/dp/B08268SYCW) has two mic/inst lines and a line in. Also a wireless connection.

Another alternative is a small battery powered mixer which then feeds into a PA.

330W Portable Power Station, FF FLASHFISH 300Wh/81000mAh Solar Generator CPAP Battery Backup Power Emergency Power Supply With AC, 12V/24V DC, PD-Type-c, SOS Light For Camping Van/RV Trip Home https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083NZG68X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6751MNSYCSAB3ZM7MQ1E?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Here is the tutorial on how to be able to set up payment methods for the Busking Project’s tipping platform.

It uses a service called Stripe. it looks like you need a phone number, but it doesn’t have to be a mobile phone. Perhaps you can use a shelter number, or a friends?

I’ve never been contacted by Stripe on my phone, all of my interactions have been via email-and since you are commenting on Reddit I am going to assume you have a way to check email.

Wow, being able to get tips from multiple services with one link? This is great!

The three (four?) services that audiences can tip with this url are: ApplePay, AndroidPay, and PayPal. (Also they can just enter their credit card info.)

This service uses Stripe , which will take a small cut, but [the Busking Project](busk.co) is not taking any commissions. They are the ones handling the bank transfers and everything.

I am a little sad to discover that the Busking Project’s app is now dead, but their newly revamped tools on their website are so much more functional to artists and random tippers.

I like MuseScore as I use the free program on my computer to transcribe sheet music. The iPad app costs a few bucks, but it will allow you to download tons of sheet music from the community’s online library.

Pro: lots of free sheet music

Con: all the sheet music is posted by community members, so you never know what quality the pieces that will pop up in the searches will be.

Most are fine, and popular pieces will often have several arrangements that have been posted.

Depends on how much power you're going to use.

For small stuff, you could use a UPS (uninterruptible power supply). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06VY6FXMM/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glc_fabc_7ZEW5Y6FKAHDVSCKHJ1M

Gas generators are even more powerful and can run more things and be louder. And are more expensive.

But easiest is probably to use extension cords with permission from the business owner if possible.

200 ft Extension Cord - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SHYL9TD/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glc_fabc_1BBPVGJNW7BSRMQCWCCZ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

If you are already set on speaker and amp, use a kill-a-watt to measure actual power draw of your system and then find a battery bank with at least that much output (search solar generator on amazon). Your 1000 Watt (peak) speaker is not using anywhere near that even at moderate/loud volumes. Sucks that manufacturers don't give RMS numbers for powered speakers from what I've seen. I recently purchased this one.

And when I say Battery, I was thinking one of those Battery Generators (https://www.amazon.com/Jackery-Portable-Generator-Explorer-Emergency/dp/B07FYJVFNK/ref=asc_df_B07FYJVFNK/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312202698398&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3251943045837811025&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007759&hvtargid=pla-568502590062&psc=1) not like a car or marine battery.

People use both. I like PA because its super versatile, you can run a guitar bass or/and vox thru it. When you go to a live music event, you are usually hearing sound coming from a PA speaker.
Here is what I use, it is much louder than you would expect and small enough to transport fairly easy:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004VQDAQK/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_asin\_title\_o03\_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Second this. I've used the ION Tailgater (which is basically a version of the Blockrocker that doesn't have wheels) for subway busking in NYC with great success. You get a really good amount of sound out of it, and it's really inexpensive.

First of all, you need to take into account the logistics of that. Are you going to travel by walking, car, public transport? Because I'm sure that equipment sounds very good, but there is no use of it if you cannot move it comfortably, or you arrive at your preferred spot too tired to play lol

In the last months, I've been busking A LOT

What we did: (same setup as you, 2 acoustics and 2 voices) bought some not so expensive portable PA (like https://www.amazon.com/Hisonic-HS420-Rechargeable-Microphones-Connection/dp/B019YNDMFS/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1531699647&sr=8-25&keywords=portable%2Bpa&th=1 ), with 2 VHF mics, and 2 jack ins, which allows us to take the bus to the city centre, plug our instruments and we're ready to go. 3 minutes to set all up and start playing. It has plenty of options to play clean and nice and the battery lasts a lot (5 or 6 hours, if we play a couple of hours in the morning we still have plenty of power to do another 2 or 3 hours in the evening without having to go home to recharge it). here it is my partner with ALL the stuff we carry: https://imgur.com/a/WziToIl

Plus, you don't risk damaging the good equipment.

My advice is: at least try that (it's amazon, you can return it anyway lol).

Hope that helped :)

Personally, I would start as basic as possible and then adjust later.

The Samson MK10 seems to be the cheapest, most trusted budget microphone stand option for beginners (unless you're a tall person, because it's kind of short). Never used it though so can't say for sure.

For microphones, will you be using it to sing? If so, any mic with the words 'dynamic' and 'cardiod' should do the trick, I think.

Re: amplifiers. Do you want something battery powered, or will you have access to electricity? Will you be playing outside or inside? (that affects how loud it'll need to be) How important is portability (heaviness etc ...) to you?