Audio-teching - pet peeves

[shufflebeat]

I’ve just done a small festival ranging from one man and his Taylor to 5pc Metal-Core. A couple of recurring issues caught my attention which I thought I’d get off my chest.

1. Guitarists who, when asked to play a big chord so I can judge max level, stamp on their Boss tuner, mute the instrument and start tuning, the one thing I don’t care about for now.

2. Similarly, singers who can chat incessant drivel until you want to set a level but then can’t think of anything to say. To add insult to injury then sing at full pipe with mic cupped during songs but whisper with the mic at chest height in between while the guitarist tests his presets.

3. Drummers who have no concept of a balanced kit. Kick drum resonates and rings like a clap in a sheet metal factory, badly tuned toms that sound like raindrops and snare and cymbals that hurt from 300 yards. Do you guys EVER record yourselves?

It’s obviously my job to work out strategies to deal with these things but a little awareness would make everyone’s day better.

[Hugh Robjohns]

..... and breathe.....

Sounds like a pretty universal experience to me.

[Bob Bickerton]

Wasn't it always so?

Commiserations, but thanks also Shuff for reminding me how lucky I am not to be doing live sound any more

(unhelpful) Bob

[Drew Stephenson]

Good thing someone thought to record the soundcheck:
https://youtu.be/TTtswoWkGQU?si=f2Y2Nyrdiw6V8xRT

[BigRedX]

The sorts of gigs I do there just isn't time to mess about like that, so other than to check that my gear is working when set up and plugged in. I'll shut up until asked to play something to check my instrument and then shut up again until we're asked to play something as a band. The alternative would be that we'd sound terrible for the first half of the set whilst the PA engineer tries to sort out everything that should have been done in the soundcheck.

However there is a flip side to this. I play Bass VI in one band and sometimes I need to point out that I'm also going to be producing some guitar like sounds which normally prompts hurried EQ changes in my channel to put some top end back into the sound. Also just because we don't have a human drummer on stage doesn't mean that we want the drum sounds to resemble a weedy 70s home organ rhythm box and be barely audible in the mix. It should sound like a well-produced drum kit being played by a hard-hitting drummer. These features are all pointed out on the technical specification we send to all the gigs we play, but often it still needs to be mentioned.

[shufflebeat]

..... and breathe.....

Sounds like a pretty universal experience to me.

Wasn't it always so?

Commiserations, but thanks also Shuff for reminding me how lucky I am not to be doing live sound any more

(unhelpful) Bob

Yes, universal and timeless. Proof if proof were needed that evolution is neither linear nor progressive necessarily.

As I said, I just needed to vent a little to those who would understand without judging or being “helpful”.

They also serve who listen and roll their eyes.

[shufflebeat]

Good thing someone thought to record the soundcheck:
https://youtu.be/TTtswoWkGQU?si=f2Y2Nyrdiw6V8xRT

Class!

[shufflebeat]

The sorts of gigs I do there just isn't time to mess about like that, so other than to check that my gear is working when set up and plugged in. I'll shut up until asked to play something to check my instrument and then shut up again until we're asked to play something as a band.

Sounds ideal, like you’ve done this before almost

I take your second point as well, communication is the thing.

[S2]

Sound check? PA Engineer?

You'll be telling me next that there are people whose job it is to carry the gear in and out of the venue...!

(From a pub band player).

[Luke W]

Ah yes, the joys of live sound. A couple of personal favourites:

Guitarists who can't hear their amp because it's sat on the floor firing at the lower half of their legs. Tilt it up a bit? "No thanks, I'll go for a louder monitor mix and share my problem with the rest of the band."

Singers who don't actually want to sing for a soundcheck.

Sound check? PA Engineer?

You'll be telling me next that there are people whose job it is to carry the gear in and out of the venue...!

(From a pub band player).

When I was gigging regularly (as a musician, not a techie) I did a show at a festival where that actually happened -- everything carried and rigged for us, driven to the stage etc. It made me uncomfortable, to be honest.

[Drew Stephenson]

When I was gigging regularly (as a musician, not a techie) I did a show at a festival where that actually happened -- everything carried and rigged for us, driven to the stage etc. It made me uncomfortable, to be honest.

I remember being offered a hand loading in at a festival up near Ripon a few years ago. By far the biggest stage we'd ever played but as we only had a guitar and a cello between us it seemed a bit unnecessary.
It was a bit weird to unpack and set up then look round for somewhere to stash the cases and realise that basically anywhere in the back 50 square meters or so would be fine!

[Sam Spoons]

I have a mate who wouldn't sing full volume at the soundcheck in case he damaged his voice

[Drew Stephenson]

Had a keyboard player who would do soundcheck with the volume on 50% and then push it all the way up when we got to live.
So I used to tell the soundguy what was going to happen after we'd soundchecked.

[Sam Spoons]

Ah yes, the above mentioned singer did that with his guitar 'cos he 'liked to have a bit in hand'

Then there's the 'can I have everything louder than everything else' guys...

[shufflebeat]

…he 'liked to have a bit in hand'

I know some bad people. Such things can be arranged.

[Sam Spoons]

[sonics]

How about the amateur singer-songwriters who yank out their guitar cable after a song without giving you time to get a finger to the mute button, even though you've talked with them about that beforehand.

The manager that keeps interrupting your mixing with obscure requests.
The friend of the band with a pint in his hand "helping" you mix, because they "know what the band should sound like".
The bad singer that needs "lots of effects in the monitors to be able to feel the song".

There are dozens more things that I'm not going to mention. I'd rather forget that stuff at this late stage of my career, and hope I don't encounter them again.

IME the only fix is to work with professionals only...and even some of them can be jerks!

[Sam Spoons]

How about the amateur singer-songwriters who yank out their guitar cable after a song without giving you time to get a finger to the mute button, even though you've talked with them about that beforehand.

Neutrik Silent Jacks are your friend.

The manager that keeps interrupting your mixing with obscure requests.
The friend of the band with a pint in his hand "helping" you mix, because they "know what the band should sound like".

Don't you know what the DFA knob is for?*

The bad singer that needs "lots of effects in the monitors to be able to feel the song".

There are dozens more things that I'm not going to mention. I'd rather forget that stuff at this late stage of my career, and hope I don't encounter them again.

IME the only fix is to work with professionals only...and even some of them can be jerks!

Yes, the rest of those are hard to resolve and sometimes the fact that they are being paid does not make them 'professionals' (and vice versa)

* The advent of digital mixing desks has made the provision of a DFA knob much easier.

[Hugh Robjohns]

The ones I hated most were the vocalists who ate immediately before — or worse, during — the gig.

Using a pin to pick bits of Chinese food from the grille of an SM58 is a memory I so wish I didn't have!

[Sam Spoons]

Definitely a good case for throwaway foam windshields...

[sonics]

Don't you know what the DFA knob is for?*

You actually let other people touch your console!!!

Never, ever will that happen when I'm in charge.

[Sam Spoons]

[shufflebeat]

The friend of the band with a pint in his hand "helping" you mix, because they "know what the band should sound like".

Mmm, actually this one has some uses. I recently mixed a band with some eager local fans who were well known to the band. One of the friends was chatting to the singer during soundcheck and when the singer was outlining some tech requests to me he added, “xxx can sit beside you and tell you what to do”.

Having not been given much of a choice I decided to follow xxx’s opinion when it concurred with my own and simply add some DFA processing when it didn’t. This proved to be a winning formula because, as the band couldn’t hear the FoH mix, when they asked xxx what the sound was like he just said, “exactly as we would have wanted” and he was generous enough to credit me with up to 50% of the outcome.

If the band had had any complaints then I could’ve just said, “address them to xxx!”.

It actually turned out pretty reasonable in the end.

[djangodeadman]

I once had the manager of an act ask me to turn the lead vocal up by 0.25 dB!

[Sam Spoons]

I once had the manager of a 'girl group' tell me to mute the vocal mics when the 'backing track' started...