yeah, that's what compressing the whole mix sounds like to me, too; hell, i hear that annoying "woosh" on linkin park records!
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COMPRESSED HOUSE SOUND
- Thread starter tunewriter
- Start date
You guys did note that I admitted many people, musicians especially, do not like the sound I'm talking about because it sounds over produced. I've just learned, over the years, that people often want to listen to the music, watch the band, and still be able to talk to the person sitting next to them without screaming into their ear. This mix allows that. Depends, of course, on the crowd, but unless your a head banger, or, 14, you can appreciate a good mix at a volume that doesn't make you wish you had ear plugs.
If I ever see one of those near my PA I'll kill it with fire.
@tunewriter:
A mix that sounds like a recording would be my ideal. I've never been to a live show that sounded as good as well mixed, mastered recording.
Analog/Acoustic drums can also add to the mixing complexities of achieving that perfect mix. Especially in a small room. Anyone ever use one of those plexiglass screens?
A good sound guy can do wonders, but don't discount the PA system and the acoustics of the venue. I saw the same band play live a few months apart. Same sound guy, nearly the same set list, different venue with a different sound system, HUGE difference. The first show sounded polished and perfect almost like listening to the album. The second show was really scooped and echo-y. You couldn't make out the individual instruments and the vocals were a mess. I'm pretty sure it was all because of the venue. Most bands who played there sounded the same. I stopped going to that venue because their sound was so consistently bad.
We use one at my church, have a lid too. It honestly doesn't help a whole lot, having a drummer with good volume control is really the key.
People take low stage volume WAY WAY WAY to far. Low stage volume is just as easily overdone as anything else. The guitars and bass at least need to be loud enough to be heard by the band over the drummer behind his little plastic wall. Turn the stage down too much and you sound terrible, there's no punch and you get feedback and bleed-through like crazy. You might as well have everyone go direct through an original POD if you're doing that.
Churches are usually the worst offenders of too low stage volume, band leaders spend too much time reading "the new in thing magazine" and not enough time learning how something sounds good.
In my experience the plexiglass screen is a BIG help - the drummer still may need to play with hotrods, but you can mic the kit more easily and I find it cuts the overall necessary volume down quite a bit, mainly because it tames those cymbals sizzling right in the other musicians ears and keeping them from hearing their parts. There's less need to turn up amps or monitors to compensate. It also helps the snare pick up fewer sympathetic vibrations. Ive always coupled the plexiglass screen with a drum riser to decouple the drums from the rest of the stage a bit, and raise the directionality of the sizzling high end over most peoples heads. Doesn't have to be too high up, some 2x4s with plywood nailed over and carpeting stapled down does the trick.
Churches are usually the worst offenders of too low stage volume, band leaders spend too much time reading "the new in thing magazine" and not enough time learning how something sounds good.
In my experience the plexiglass screen is a BIG help - the drummer still may need to play with hotrods, but you can mic the kit more easily and I find it cuts the overall necessary volume down quite a bit, mainly because it tames those cymbals sizzling right in the other musicians ears and keeping them from hearing their parts. There's less need to turn up amps or monitors to compensate. It also helps the snare pick up fewer sympathetic vibrations. Ive always coupled the plexiglass screen with a drum riser to decouple the drums from the rest of the stage a bit, and raise the directionality of the sizzling high end over most peoples heads. Doesn't have to be too high up, some 2x4s with plywood nailed over and carpeting stapled down does the trick.
I've never been to a church where the stage volume was too low.
If it were possible to have absolutely 0 stage volume I'd love it. Would make it a joy to mix.
If it were possible to have absolutely 0 stage volume I'd love it. Would make it a joy to mix.
There is no such thing as too low stage volume in any sort of absolute sense. Differing stage setups and volumes need to be managed effectively, but the best live sound I have ever heard was at a Grateful Dead show in Las Vegas in the mid 90's where there was ZERO stage volume other than the drums. All the instruments were fed via speaker emulators into the PA and everyone on stage had stereo in ear monitors. All the FOH sound came from a pair of massive linear arrays. It was STUNNINGLY clear, dynamic, punchy, and loud. I've never heard better, before or since.
