mcsleazys open letter to all soundman haters

s_mcsleazy · #1 05-31-2011, 06:11 AM

please stop moaning and complaining about the sound guy "ruining your sound"

i was at a small local gig lately. im friends with the soundman in that venue so i went along. now more often than not at a gig you always get "that band" you know atleast one "that band" so its usually "that band who comes in to soundcheck a hour later than they were ment to and just HAS to use there own gear and turn everything up to 11 putting the show a whole hour behind while being a dick to the soundmen"

this example of "that band" was the same. me and the soundman decided the last band to soundcheck was the 1st band to go on and we came up with a time table to who would soundcheck and when. so "that band" were to go on 2nd (3 bands playing that night plus they wernt the biggest band on that night so it made sence to leave the biggest band till last) so they came into the venue a hour late for soundchecking and decided they needed to load in all there gear. heres how this went

soundguy - your late for soundcheck
me - yeah and to be fair we dont really have enough time to have you load in and setup your own gear because by the time the 1st band goes on it will be 10:30 and keep in mind the last busses for people to get home is at 12
soundguy - so why were you late?
"that band" - its not importent why we were late now shut up and let us load our gear in
soundguy - we honistly dont have time to have you load in unless you want your set cut short
me - plus keep in mind we have good gear already set up here and all you have to do is plug in
"that band" - how dare you say you are going to cut our set short AND ruin "our sound" now soundmonkeys get to work and help us load in our gear
me - ok usually the rule is if your bringing your own gear your atleast going to schlepp it.
"that band" shut up soundmonkeys, you do know ANYONE could do what you two do
soundguy - well tough s*** it just happens to be us doing it tonight now use our amps and get a full set OR schlepp your own gear and cut everyone elses time you lazy cock f******

so in the end they used our amps constantly complaining how we were "killing there sound" and demanding to be on last because they thought they were pulling the most people (they actually only brough 4 people to see them) but while they were complaining we were making them sound good for the audence sake. ive seen this too many times so im going to outline some rules for gigging bands

1. the venue pay the soundmen (or some work for free) so be nice to them or they WILL hit the suck button

2. its there venue. they know the room and what works in it.

3. dont play to bloody loud. just because spinal tap play at 11 doesnt mean you should.

4. actually show up for soundcheck on time or earlyer. its your own time your cutting into

5. if you must use your own backline make sure you can load it in quickly and load it out quickly

6. dont demand special treatment. in the club scene ALL BANDS ARE EQUAL

7. if somthing goes wrong with your gear then please dont wait for the soundman to fix it. keep calm and carry on.

8. at the end of the night buy the soundman a beer. its a thankless job

9. please dont go over your set time. just because you can push a 45 min set insted of a 30 doesnt mean you should

now befor some start mouthing off id like to say there are some "bad" soundmen but keep in mind if it sounds good to the crowd then thats all that matters.

**Rune Bivrin** · #2 05-31-2011, 06:34 AM

/rant

You forgot that along with a bunch of capital letters and apostrophes. I know spelling and grammar is a thankless job, but don't demand special treatment. In the forum scene ALL POSTERS ARE EQUAL.

jakrees747 · #3 05-31-2011, 07:12 AM

Agreed. (with the soundman thing, not with the grammar thing)

Being a soundman is a thankless job in a low paid, flooded market. I hate doing sound and have a lot of respect for anyone who is trying to do it.
If your playing, you should do your job and trust the soundman to do theirs. I personally love the feeling that the sound is someone else's responsibility leaving me to just concentrate on performance. if im worrying about the sound guy, Im not concentrating on entertaining people.

ps. any spelling mistakes and grammar errors are delibaratley put there to upset you, Rune Birvin. i know you will proof read this

snyderz · #4 05-31-2011, 07:19 AM

I've never moaned or complained even once about a soundman. I've moaned and complained when a post was very difficult to read.

MuzikMan · #5 05-31-2011, 07:28 AM

The only thing I got out of your post was that there were at least three a$$holes there that night. I don't think being the soundman is the problem!

**Rune Bivrin** · #6 05-31-2011, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakrees747

If your playing, you should do your job and trust the soundman to do theirs. I personally love the feeling that the sound is someone else's responsibility leaving me to just concentrate on performance. if im worrying about the sound guy, Im not concentrating on entertaining people.

+100. On the few occasions when I've had sound guys it's been a true pleasure. They have always know infinitely more than me about how to do it right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakrees747

ps. any spelling mistakes and grammar errors are delibaratley put there to upset you, Rune Birvin. i know you will proof read this

Can't proof read something that's already published. Just read it with difficulty.

prd004 · #7 05-31-2011, 07:37 AM

Well "That Band" are a bunch of arrogant pr***s
There are those types, nothing you can do. When I'm on the board I try to give jerks like this a monitor mix that passifies them and keeps the complaining to a minimum, but if the house sound isn't good........ooops!

That being said, When I'm playing, I show up an hour before I need to be there. I never use "The backline" unless it's an open mic or a festival, but we always get on and off stage in a timely manner and still most of the time we get poor sound.
There are some good sound men out there, and when you come across one it is a true gift! Unfortunately, nowadays everyone with a computer and two SM57's think they are soundmen, and it seems to me they are the ones getting the gigs.
I just did a recap of my last fourteen gigs and I break it down like this:

Lugged my own PA and did my own sound twice - no problems
Had really great sound/soundman twice
Had the best sound/soundman I've ever encountered once!
Also had the worst sound/sounman experience ever once
Had three gigs where I would rate the sound/soundman OK, not great, not bad
And four gigs where the sound was awful, borderline un-playable

It can be rough, but there's no excuse for being "that band" in the OP

joshwilkesbooth · #8 05-31-2011, 07:40 AM

your/you're
there/their/they're

joshwilkesbooth · #9 05-31-2011, 07:43 AM

also: to/too

ric stave · #10 05-31-2011, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshwilkesbooth

also: to/too

Don't ferget lose/loose.....

BigMac5 · #11 05-31-2011, 11:17 AM

If we are not allowed to bash sound-men in this forum, we should also not be allowed to bash bands/musicians. It's only fair.

**Rune Bivrin** · #12 05-31-2011, 11:50 AM

I think often times the problem is communication and attitude, from both sides. In the case the OP describes I read it as if the first thing the sound guy did when "that band" arrived was bite them for being late, and entering into a discussion over the reason. While the reaction is understandable it's unfortunately completely non-productive and gets "that band" on edge too.

Now, I may be slightly anal about language, but the OP's language strikes me as not too concerned with effective communication, and if that mirrors the attitude during the actual event I can see where this went south.

CapnSev · #13 05-31-2011, 04:55 PM

I'm not sure how I can link one incidence of a rude band with complaining about how I sound at my gigs.

ric stave · #14 06-01-2011, 07:07 AM

I have less a problem with the mispelt words in the OP than I do with that the conversation as posted doesn't sound like anyone in the real world would actually say.

"that band" - its not importent why we were late now shut up and let us load our gear in

"that band" - how dare you say you are going to cut our set short AND ruin "our sound" now soundmonkeys get to work and help us load in our gear

"that band" shut up soundmonkeys, you do know ANYONE could do what you two do

...riiiiiiiiiight...............

MuzikMan · #15 06-01-2011, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ric stave

I have less a problem with the mispelt words in the OP than I do with that the conversation as posted doesn't sound like anyone in the real world would actually say.

"that band" - its not importent why we were late now shut up and let us load our gear in

"that band" - how dare you say you are going to cut our set short AND ruin "our sound" now soundmonkeys get to work and help us load in our gear

"that band" shut up soundmonkeys, you do know ANYONE could do what you two do

...riiiiiiiiiight...............

There is no doubt that the conversation is fake

.

bwest9 · #16 06-01-2011, 08:04 AM

I used to teach high school history, and would mark down essays with bad grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Invariably, students would complain, pointing to the fact that it was history they were studying, not language.

Bwest9: "English isn't just for English class, it's for life."

Some people never seem to grasp this: take your time to communicate well and your audience --be it your wife, boss, or Talkbass folk-- will be more responsive and understand you better without confusion. Show them that you actually value how they interpret what you're saying without making them decode your string of errors. They'll also trust and respect you more for giving a damn to communicate in good form than if you don't give a damn by presenting them mangled gibberish instead. And it will make them wonder what other important things you don't give a damn about, which is what seems to be happening here.

Mangled Gibberish = good band name

Metal Bassist · #17 06-01-2011, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuzikMan

There is no doubt that the conversation is fake

.

Or translated from another language (known as scottish).

Jerry Callo · #18 06-01-2011, 08:16 AM

Like anything else, some are good, some are not.

My biggest problem is when a soundman forgets who is performing. That make it his job to make
me sound better. It isn't my job to make his job easier.

My pet peeve is being told they raise the volume in the room. That does me no good. I need to hear myself. If it's too loud, THAT is where the soundman comes in. He can turn it DOWN in the room.

Other than that, I agree with the OP points.

ric stave · #19 06-01-2011, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metal Bassist

Or translated from another language (known as scottish).

I'm curious... exactly what word in Scottish translates to "soundmonkeys"?

modulusman · #20 06-01-2011, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry Callo

Like anything else, some are good, some are not.

My biggest problem is when a soundman forgets who is performing. That make it his job to make
me sound better. It isn't my job to make his job easier.

My pet peeve is being told they raise the volume in the room. That does me no good. I need to hear myself. If it's too loud, THAT is where the soundman comes in. He can turn it DOWN in the room.

Other than that, I agree with the OP points.

Believe it or not it isn't all about your bass sound.