okcrum
in your chest
Oh that's just harsh! ^^^^^
That was harsh of the producers.
Did you fire the drummer?
That was harsh of the producers.
Did you fire the drummer?
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Anybody ever been on TV?
- Thread starter Bunk McNulty
- Start date
I was in a Cap n' Crunch commercial as a kid about thirty-five years ago, does that count?
Yeah. For some reason, most people who work in TV (but not actually on TV) think they are hot s#*t on a silver platter. Truth be told, most of 'em are just cold turds on a paper plate.
The most down to Earth TV guy I know, and just had coffee with him on Friday morning, is a retired CBS cameraman. He was a grad from our broadcast journalism program around 1970. He's done it all from soaps to presidents to space shuttle landings and has picked up a few Emmys for his camera work along the way. He is one if the exceptions to the silver platter crowd.
Anyone asks, I tell them I'm in radio.
Then they ask if I'm a DJ.
I tell them they don't have those anymore.
It's all computers and I type in the voice track text, so yeah, I'm a DJ.
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Oh that's just harsh! ^^^^^
That was harsh of the producers.
Did you fire the drummer?
Nope.. that guy is still the best rock drummer I've ever played with.
- Sep 11, 2016
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- Endorsing Artist: LowEnd basses, DR Strings, Warm Audio, Shaw Audio
Make sure you have extras of anything that can break or fail on you. Make sure you get a solid sound check in to take sure the monitoring situation is spot on for you. Don’t let them rush you if you aren’t hearing what you need to hear. Don’t be afraid to step on toes. It’s their job to get it right for you. Other than that have fun and enjoy getting some free HD footage!
Actually, it's their job to get it it right for them.
If the band were paying a production company to make a music video, then yes, they need to get it right for the band.
Normally though, TV is like meat ball surgery was in MASH.
The control room is organized chaos.
No one is concentrating on what is happening right now.
Everyone is focused on what's coming up next.
The only attention paid to what's airing now is that last 10 seconds so they call the cues to get out and into the next piece.
It's pretty much slam and bam but without the thank-you.
If it's live and on a news type program, you might never even make it to air, pre-empted by a late breaking tweet maybe.
- Oct 22, 2015
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- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
Yeah. For some reason, most people who work in TV (but not actually on TV) think they are hot s#*t on a silver platter. Truth be told, most of 'em are just cold turds on a paper plate.
The most down to Earth TV guy I know, and just had coffee with him on Friday morning, is a retired CBS cameraman. He was a grad from our broadcast journalism program around 1970. He's done it all from soaps to presidents to space shuttle landings and has picked up a few Emmys for his camera work along the way. He is one if the exceptions to the silver platter crowd.
Anyone asks, I tell them I'm in radio.
Then they ask if I'm a DJ.
I tell them they don't have those anymore.
It's all computers and I type in the voice track text, so yeah, I'm a DJ.
Yes, in spades.
Now it happens that while I was wishing I earned my keep with my bass, my camera and my pen were my income in the Big Leagues. And I hold a keen understanding of how to bring out your (general you) best. Or not. Some people for reasons of their own can be made very happy with less-than-flattering shots. One particular shot earned me a seat directly behind home plate at Dodger Stadium for the asking, any time, any reason. I'd forgotten about that until now LOL
Many times. But here's a one we did a couple of years ago. We were sync'ing to a recording ... song was written and recorded in LA two or three days before taping. I'm the guy pretending to play my upright bass. They wanted me to climb on the hay wagon with my bass as it rolled up the hill. For $200/day I said "hell no" ... 
. Not a claim to fame, just a cool experience ...
. Not a claim to fame, just a cool experience ...
And this was a couple or three months ago, at a local public access channel. Audio is clear, but (IMO) poorly mixed, verging on clipping, and vocals are completely dry. I had a wicked cold, and you can see a few Cold-Eze lozenges on top of my "mini rig of doom" on the floor behind me. So my weak harmony vocal was NOT typical ... but what can ya do? That is the risk you take ... you do the show with little or zero input on production, and hope it all works out in the end. I've been disappointed with the result as many times as I've been pleased.
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BTW - I did the bass and 2nd guitar (those little dyads you hear) in the theme song, too. It was recorded maybe three or four years ago.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
BTW - I did the bass and 2nd guitar (those little dyads you hear) in the theme song, too. It was recorded maybe three or four years ago.
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Very cool.
I always think I'd like to be a free-lance professional photographer in another life. Or even this one.
I imagine it's a tough way to make a living though.
Lots of props to those who do.
Yeah, a few times. The first one was a telethon. We went on at 4:45 on a Sunday morning. The drummer was still half asleep and missed a few beats. Second time was my last gig with a band after having a run in with someone who decided to hook up a boom box to the PA and mess around with all the dials without asking permission. I was furious and with a crappy sound throughout the second set things started that awkward downward spiral of a gig from hell. All saved for posterity on local cable TV. The others times were normal gigs, usually fun and had a better outcome. MonsterThompson nailed it. Don't do anything that you would be ashamed to show your grandchildren. Nuff said.
One of the first times I was on TV the set manager was positioning the band. She was deciding where she wanted each person to be in the shot regardless of how we normally set up. She placed me on the left side of the drummer
(no big deal). We were getting ready to start a run through when one of the camera men said " there's a cable in the shot" and he pointed in my direction. I looked down and there was a electrical cord near my feet. I bent down to pick it up and move it out of the way and suddenly everybody freaked out shouting "No No". I backed away and this guy came over and picked up the cable and moved it out of the way. Moving cables was a union job and if I moved that cable it would have been a violation and there would have been a greivence submitted.
(no big deal). We were getting ready to start a run through when one of the camera men said " there's a cable in the shot" and he pointed in my direction. I looked down and there was a electrical cord near my feet. I bent down to pick it up and move it out of the way and suddenly everybody freaked out shouting "No No". I backed away and this guy came over and picked up the cable and moved it out of the way. Moving cables was a union job and if I moved that cable it would have been a violation and there would have been a greivence submitted.
If there's no studio audience it can be disconcerting, so prepare what to do in between tunes bearing in mind nobody is there to laugh at your jokes. Don't glare at the drummer.
- Sep 11, 2016
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- Endorsing Artist: LowEnd basses, DR Strings, Warm Audio, Shaw Audio
If they’re bringing the talent in and supplying the audio engineers. It’s most certainly their job to provide the appropriate monitor mix. I’ve done several TV gigs. They are getting paid to run the sound for the talent brought in. They need to get it right. I definitely agree it is very much organized chaos. Nonetheless they’re used to it and I haven’t had a situation yet that didn’t end up fine. I’m just saying for your first time don’t be afraid to address something due to the chaos and feeling you’re being pushed.
We did a set on PBS a few years ago playing live in the TV studio during pledge drive breaks in programming...all part of a theme of British Invasion television where we played Brit Invasion classics. Prior to the gig we met with the audio guy at the studio, who intended to take a feed from our small club mixer. So I contacted a sound support company and discussed it with them. After that conversation I agreed that hiring a pro was the only way to do it. The company I called has done sound support all over the USA from festivals to corporate to full scale concerts and I was happy to hear they had also done mixing for over 200 television performances. They highly suggested we hire an experienced mix engineer for the broadcast. So we hired them and were able to get the TV people to pay for it. The sound engineer who worked with us had 50+ broadcast mixes under his belt and brought in a 32 channel board that could send out 3 separate mixes. He sent one mix to the band for our monitoring, one mix to the live studio, and the third mix went to the broadcast feed. He had the IEM and studio mixes dialed in and set, and monitored the broadcast feed from an on air signal via headphones. So he was listening to us over the air from the transmitter feed. Well, it turned out absolutely perfect. He told us if it's not done right and if the TV audio booth just takes a line feed from a band mixer, the TV audience at home usually ends up getting 90% vocals and 10% instruments
The cost for that sound service was $600. And worth every penny, even if we'd had
to pay it ourselves.
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1995. Forget the graphic; that was added later.
Local Mpls show
2012. Snickers Comedy Club, Ft Wayne IN; can't remember if it was just filmed or actually broadcast.
Quite a few other times, but I don't think any video survives. We used to do a public access show in the early 90s that was comedy and music.
Local Mpls show
2012. Snickers Comedy Club, Ft Wayne IN; can't remember if it was just filmed or actually broadcast.
Quite a few other times, but I don't think any video survives. We used to do a public access show in the early 90s that was comedy and music.
Oh that's just harsh! ^^^^^
That was harsh of the producers.
Did you fire the drummer?
No way would I fire that drummer!
Not quite TV, but the country band did a main stage at a Nascar event, and they had cameras set up for that. I believe it was aired online. They built a nice stage for the weekend (they had bands each day/night) with a catwalk and a big screen like you would see in a stadium showing the footage. It was pretty cool to look up and see the band on the big screen!
