weekend gig sound levels (video)

stevemac · #1 05-04-2011, 06:18 AM

We're having a bit of a dispute over sound levels. Without any prompting can you give me some feedback on this:

YouTube - Broad Daylight - Led Zeppelin - Rock and Roll cover

The bass is played per the real deal, minus a few variations. For those of you unfamaliar with Rock and roll by led zep

, see here
YouTube - Led Zeppelin- Rock and Roll

Thanks!

newwavefrank · #2 05-04-2011, 07:03 AM

Was anyone playing but the drummer? Seriously thats about all you can hear

Wes Whitmore · #3 05-04-2011, 08:14 AM

Pretty good groove there...your rig is pointed at you, and the guitarists is pointed to the crowd.

It could be beaming from the guitar player's amp right into your recorder, but the guitar and drums are the only "non vocals" I really hear prominantly, and I have headphones on right now...no bass guitar in the mix that I can really pick out. Even if it was, the guitar is super hot and has a pretty bass heavy tone. When he is down on the neck at 2 minutes, its boomy, then when he comes up the neck in the 2:25 minute area, the boom goes away, and I still cant hear you even then. Turn up or turn him down. I like his volume and tone, we just need more bass.
Its so hard to tell with a recording. You might have been rumbling the seats and we just cant tell with this video. You guys sound good and tight. Getting the sound tweaked is the easy part.
Wes

MattyH · #4 05-04-2011, 08:26 AM

Guitars are a little loud. Drummer is loud too, but hey, what are you gonna do play with dowels? It'll sound lame. I think you could use a little more volume and the guitarists could use a little less. Again, this is a live recording. A lot of video cameras that have been used at my gigs that aren't professional, will really catch those higher frequencies and the bass will be totally lost. I've had perfect mixes before, and all you hear on the recording is guitar and snare.

What you might want to consider, is putting more guitar in the monitors. That way, your guitarists can hear themselves perfectly, but wont have to BLAST their amps. Also, move your amp closer to the front. If I'm in a situation, although rare, where I might have this problem with no PA support, I'll place my cab directly in line with the front of the drums instead of tucked back behind it. Just because your drummer and my drummer both have loud sets!

Once your guitarists have a good monitor mix, your amp is either in the PA, louder, or moved up, you should be fine. But again, it could have sounded perfect there. That's another problem with the live recordings. Your singer sounds like she's semi straining to hear herself, or project louder. Could she use more monitor as well? I think she could be brought up in the mix a bit as well. Just based on this vid. Good luck! Hope we can all help you out.

projectMalamute · #5 05-04-2011, 08:31 AM

I used to do live sound in the brightest room on earth. Tin ceiling, mirrored walls, hard dance floor, capacity 300 or so. A total nightmare. I realized about 10 minutes in to the first band I mixed in this room that micing cymbals, even high hats, would be redundant. Between acoustic bleed in the room and spillage in to open mics I reliably had all the cymbals I needed.

Except for one guy in this like 9 piece reggae band. The drummer insisted on a miced high hat so I could blast it straight at his head through the monitor. It would be about as loud as I ever ran that thing (a three way EAW box powered by a bridged RMX 850) and mostly high hat in his mix. Every time he played there. Not a lick of high hat in the FOH and you could hear it fine, kinda loud even, but he felt he needed that much high hat in his monitor for things to sound right to him.

I tell this story because it's possible this same guy was mixing your band that night.

FuzzBoxVoodoo · #6 05-04-2011, 08:56 AM

The high hat is drowning out most everything,my drummer in my heavier band uses a shield which so far has worked out really well to help avoid this.

pmorlen · #7 05-04-2011, 09:16 AM

Based on the location of the recording and what I hear throught my earbuds, the hi-hat is too hot in the mix. Could it have been the acoustics of the room?

chetorch · #8 05-04-2011, 10:00 AM

the loud guitar in question is what is closest to the camera so maybe that could be why it is loudest.

its too hard to tell from a recording, especially if it isn't fed from the mix directly. I assume the camera is not a "pro" camera?

anyway if all we have to go with is the sound from the video, then yes, what everyone said above....

stevemac · #9 05-04-2011, 10:49 AM

Yea the camera isnt pro, just something you would get from the local walmart. Some really interesting comments here, and not what I expected!

Its mixed by one of our band members, and I'm not hearing my bass, thats all. Drums arent my thing so this thread is really pulling my attention to them which is very cool in a way.

Wes Whitmore · #10 05-04-2011, 10:59 AM

We aren't hearing that second guitar in the shadows either...

mboogiemanusa · #11 05-09-2011, 09:38 AM

Don't use a video camera to check sound levels and it's impossible to really get a handle on it from your stage volume. If you don't have a dedicated sound person then try something like what my cover band does. Get a decent small hand stereo digital recorder such as a TASCAM DR07 for about $100 at Guitar Center. Stick it on a table or on a mic stand out in a audience. Do a sound check and/or let it roll. Bring a set of headphones and give it a listen. These small recorders work far better than video recorders which are not good for live loud audio. The audio picked up on these recorders is so amazing that we record every show and have used the playbacks as demos for club bookers and websites. You can hear which instruments are dominating in the mix on these devices plus always good to record shows for hear what songs are working, weak sections, errors and audience comments.