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Buddy Guy - Atlanta Symphony Hall

zon6c-f

zon6c-f

Jun 9, 2007
2,782
1,676
72
Metro Atlanta, Ga.
#1
We saw a living legend, Buddy Guy, in Symphony Hall, last Sunday.

Glad we got to see the show, but sound was so terrible as to make it un-enjoyable.

Standard arrays: L&R.

(2) 2x15 atop (1) 2x18 sub:L&R. Subs were set on KILL...Louder than any metal show EVER.

Only clear notes were Low-B and kick drum..rest was all mud..vocals nearly undiscernable.

I have heard flawless shows there other than Atl Synphony,so maybe there was a sound tech issue?
 
#2
Sorry to hear that, man.

Where were you in relation to the mains mix desk? Some soundguys operate as if the entire audience is at their mix position.

Could be any numbe of reasons, or a combination of all of them.

Hopefully the stage was quite wide, otherwise when the sub stacks are split up, you'll get more power alleys and null zones. Hopefully the bandwidth was split such that the 18's were low bass and the 15's midbass instead of all of them playing the same thing. Perhaps the bass channel was not highpassed as it should've been to keep the low notes from woofing out the whole band.

Could've been a time delay thing as when the highs reach our ears before the lows we percieve clarity, but if the lows arrive first we percieve mud.

We really enjoy Buddy Guy and have heard him sound excellent at outdoor venues. His music is not conducive to having subwoofers set to kill though.

For some dumb reason, I've heard soundjobs at topnotch acts sound like crap way too many times. Would be much easier to count the good ones.
 
#3
I have talked to sound guys at concert and the new paradigm for mixing live seems to be over the top bass. For most groups it sounds horrible. I went to a really nice jazz festival here in town,(Anita Baker, Robin Thicke, others.) They all sounded horrible and they all sounded the same. Anyway, the sound guy went to some famous sound engineering school. (Full Sail maybe?) and he told me that was the way he was trained.
Anyway, I've seen Buddy Guy several times over the years. Enjoyed him immensely and even got to meet him once after a show in Dayton. How about a video?
 
#5
Blame the sound guy. they ruin more shows.
Besides all the gear they use they should train their ears.
I bitched at on once. You could not hear the vocals or the soloists.
He gave me the look. A Little Feat show's sound was so bad I
hardly recognized the tunes.
Too loud, too much bass &/or drums.
 

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