AIC out on a run

GregShadoan · #1 09-29-2009, 08:40 PM

Hey you'all, if you get a chance to see Alice in Chains on their current run, I HIGHLY recommend you do. They are amazing Live. Say Hi to Tom, the FOH guy

Grooveman1961 · #2 09-30-2009, 12:00 PM

Definately get out and see them!

I saw them at 1st ave in Minneapolis. I usually don't have very high expectations for the sound in that room. The AIC show was one of the best I've ever seen anywhere, and a big part of that was the quality of the sound. It was loud, and it was clear. I thought I was listening to a recording in my living room it was so good.

The FOH guy did indeed outdo himself. I wish there was a way to communicate with him to get his perspective on what it takes to get that kind of quality sound.

I could hear Mike Inez perfectly, the bass didn't get lost in the mix. And I don't often get that in that room.

I noticed that the FOH console was not the usual house console, but one that AIC brought with. They did use the house speakers, but beyond that, I'm not sure what was up equipment wise.

GregShadoan · #3 09-30-2009, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grooveman1961

Definately get out and see them!

I saw them at 1st ave in Minneapolis. I usually don't have very high expectations for the sound in that room. The AIC show was one of the best I've ever seen anywhere, and a big part of that was the quality of the sound. It was loud, and it was clear. I thought I was listening to a recording in my living room it was so good.

The FOH guy did indeed outdo himself. I wish there was a way to communicate with him to get his perspective on what it takes to get that kind of quality sound.

I could hear Mike Inez perfectly, the bass didn't get lost in the mix. And I don't often get that in that room.

I noticed that the FOH console was not the usual house console, but one that AIC brought with. They did use the house speakers, but beyond that, I'm not sure what was up equipment wise.

Tom (FOH) uses a Digidesign Profile, loaded with a ton of cool plug-ins. Monitors was done on a Digico D5, all IEM's, with backup wedges, just in case. 3 pairs downstage, and one for the drummer. Tom has had 2 years to dial in that mix with them, and yes, it is one of the best mixes I have heard in recent months. Plus the band threw down. Awesome. The guitars/bass cabs were in ISO boxes off stage. The boxes on stage are all dummies. The only sound on stage is drums. Everything else is ISO'ed. Nothing to muck up the FOH mix. Very state of the art tour. Warning. They will smoke cigerettes on stage during show, irregardless of local or state laws. They just don't care LOL.

Grooveman1961 · #4 09-30-2009, 01:23 PM

That makes a lot of sense. What set up does he use to capture Mr Inez's sound? Do you know what part of the existing house system was used? Concerning the smoking, since its part of a theatrical act, it flys in Minnesota.

GregShadoan · #5 09-30-2009, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grooveman1961

That makes a lot of sense. What set up does he use to capture Mr Inez's sound? Do you know what part of the existing house system was used? Concerning the smoking, since its part of a theatrical act, it flys in Minnesota.

They use racks and stacks, wedges (backup to the IEMs) and 2 center/lip fills, at least thats what they used in my room.

A DI and a mic, do not know which type/brand, or where the DI was in the signal path. Mikes cab (presumablly an 8-10 cab) was located inside an ISO road case. The boxes on stage were dummies. Ampeg heads. SVT pros. The rackmount version. A whole rack of them. I should have taken a picture, didn't occur to me at the time.

GregShadoan · #6 09-30-2009, 01:40 PM

Heres a part of the email I got from the PM.
Quote

We have changed a couple things in Audio world for us. If I have asked any of you for extra sidefill subs, we no longer need them.

However we have gone to all Iso speakers on stage, so there is now NO stage volume from our backline… SO…. we will need between 2 and 4 MONO front fills depending on the size of your stage. To make this easy any stage under 30’ wide please have 2 F.F’s available and on stages over 30’ please have 4. Thanks for your help and understanding.

End quote.

Grooveman1961 · #7 09-30-2009, 01:54 PM

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer with great details!

bombjack · #8 10-03-2009, 11:20 AM

Mike said he uses a SansAmp Bass DI - I either read that in the Bass Player magazine article or he said it in the promo clip for the DVD that he has out...can't remember which.

Regarding using ISO cabs off stage - we were pretty close to the stage in NYC and now that you said that it makes sense - especially since they use in-ear monitors now.

Jerry was a chimney in NYC too and the fire marshall's who were there for most of the night didn't say a thing.

Definitely a great show!

Qvist · #9 10-04-2009, 06:40 AM

Are you sure Mike does use a sansamp? His tone sounds nothing like it =/

fokof · #10 10-04-2009, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregShadoan

However we have gone to all Iso speakers on stage, so there is now NO stage volume from our backline… SO….

That helps so Fu**** much an overall band's sound.
The FOH guy must be really happy to work with guys having that level of commitment......

JimmyM · #11 10-04-2009, 10:54 PM

I would be suicidal.

Mark Reccord · #12 10-05-2009, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregShadoan

Tom (FOH) uses a Digidesign Profile, loaded with a ton of cool plug-ins. Monitors was done on a Digico D5, all IEM's, with backup wedges, just in case. 3 pairs downstage, and one for the drummer. Tom has had 2 years to dial in that mix with them, and yes, it is one of the best mixes I have heard in recent months. Plus the band threw down. Awesome. The guitars/bass cabs were in ISO boxes off stage. The boxes on stage are all dummies. The only sound on stage is drums. Everything else is ISO'ed. Nothing to muck up the FOH mix. Very state of the art tour. Warning. They will smoke cigerettes on stage during show, irregardless of local or state laws. They just don't care LOL.

Good to hear it. Too many times heavier bands just sound like crap out front for a variety of reasons.

The Profile is one of my favourite desks. Very intuitive to use and very responsive as well.

bombjack · #13 10-09-2009, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qvist

Are you sure Mike does use a sansamp? His tone sounds nothing like it =/

Wikipedia has his equipment list as per the BP interview - I don't have the magazine and can't find the link where I read it initially:

Mike Inez Equipment

He said he sends his signal to the board using the SansAmp BDDI but also notes his Ampeg heads and cabinets...maybe he just uses the SansAmp purely as a DI box then?

I've always found that the SansAmp just enhances the sounds I get out of my basses but I've never played a Warwick so I can't compare it to anything.

TUEP · #14 10-22-2009, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregShadoan

Heres a part of the email I got from the PM.
Quote

We have changed a couple things in Audio world for us. If I have asked any of you for extra sidefill subs, we no longer need them.

However we have gone to all Iso speakers on stage, so there is now NO stage volume from our backline… SO…. we will need between 2 and 4 MONO front fills depending on the size of your stage. To make this easy any stage under 30’ wide please have 2 F.F’s available and on stages over 30’ please have 4. Thanks for your help and understanding.

End quote.

What does this mean? They just hear everything from their monitors, and their amps are just for show? Please explain?

Jehos · #15 10-22-2009, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TUEP

What does this mean? They just hear everything from their monitors, and their amps are just for show? Please explain?

Yep.

Isolation boxes are basically just big soundproof boxes with the amp, speakers, and microphone(s) inside. You can crank up the amps in the box and not hear them very loud (if at all) outside the box. They're putting dummy amps on the stage just for looks--no signal is actually going to them. Everything the band hears comes from their in-ear monitors, but they also have regular old monitor wedges on the front of the stage in case anybody's in-ears fail. They just pull them out and listen to the monitor mix.

If you were standing on the stage while they were playing and you turned off the monitor wedges and didn't have in-ears, all you'd hear is the drum kit.

Basically it's the ideal setup for the front-of-house guy. He can get a *perfect* mix since there's hardly any bleed from anything. However, the artists have to *really* trust their monitor guys. For a tour where the equipment setup is the same every time, it's not a big deal. They just each dial in their own monitor mix in their in-ears and it stays consistent.

Edit: I'd love to see AIC give Geddy Lee a nod, and put rotisseries or washing machines or something on stage for one of their dates.