DI banned by the sound guy

[Thumpin6string]

You would think a PA that cost £20k could handle all the bass you could throw at it.

 

[DaveParker39]

Absolutely ridiculous, but I'm not surprised given how many unprofessional folks there are in the field.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Setting up for a gig the other night the sound guy refused to take a DI off my Helix and insisted i use their backline amp (a keyboard amp) that he miced up. He said the PA was worth £20k so couldn’t risk the bass player blowing it.

I think he was being ridiculous, what are your insights?

Ridiculous, and absolutely unprofessional. Do everything you can to avoid working with this jerk again

 

[lermgalieu]

Idiot

 

[bigjames]

clown.

Yup. This.

 

[scuzzy]

wait....a sound guy INSISTED on micing a cab?

i don't believe you.

 

[GodPlayedBass]

Reading this made me pissed off for you

 

[frankie5string]

20K is not that much for a complete PA system...

Unfortunately, there are still people running sound who shouldn't be doing it and there are still some "personalities" out there that should have nothing to do with musicians.

 

[80jazz]

That guy just didn’t know how to, or didn’t want to deal with it.

My money is on this.

 

[J-Bass RMR]

I think he was being ridiculous, what are your insights?

Clueless would be more accurate.

Sounds like someone who had an extra $20K and thought it would be cool to buy a PA...
(Can't play in a band, so it's then next best way to get all the "perks")

 

[themickster]

Trial by Internet without giving both sides a hearing

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Running sound is a tough, thankless job. If you're any good at it and still want to show up to a gig to be blamed for everything, you're probably not doing the small clubs.

 

[kyral210]

wait....a sound guy INSISTED on micing a cab?

i don't believe you.

I wish I was making this up, but no. To his credit the sound was alright, but only alright vs what I strive for.

 

[Wasnex]

IMHO it's BS...however, I have done gigs where I was not allowed to use my own amp or set up our regular PA, so I don't necessarily find it totally out of line. The typical gig where this occurs is either a big festival or perhaps a battle of the bands type situation, where there is only 10-15 minutes between each performance. During this short time interval, one band is getting off stage while the other is getting on, and you want to spend as much of it as possible dialing in the channels and mixes. This means you don't have time to waste dealing with unfamiliar gear that may or may not be adjusted well.

To avoid this sort of a surprise, you should contact the sound company well before gig day. This gives you the opportunity to negotiate, and if negotiation isn't an option, at least you know what to expect.

IMHO a £20k PA is pretty basic.

 

[Discount Bassy]

I am not a sound guy by trade, but have some rudimentary knowledge of sound production on a personal scale. I have found that when I am recording different instruments and equipment in my home studio, there are often knobs and methods of quantitatively measuring sound that can be used to make adjustments to the interface device/mixing console. I find this method more useful that setting my levels first and then finding instruments to match.

 

[Lammchop93]

Sounds like he is not a sound man. I’d refuse to work with him.

 

[Aidenn7]

someone ran a meatbox into a pa he had

 

[s0c9]

There is an otherwise nice venue that my band played several times, they had a baked in crowd, paid a little and even gave us beer, for originals bands that is really good. But the soundguy was similarly unreasonable, to the point that is and the other band that got us these gigs have all agreed to stop playing there.

If the venue asks you back..tell them the reason WHY you are declining. Owner will hopefully correct the problem.

 

[sean_on_bass]

Setting up for a gig the other night the sound guy refused to take a DI off my Helix and insisted i use their backline amp (a keyboard amp) that he miced up. He said the PA was worth £20k so couldn’t risk the bass player blowing it.

I think he was being ridiculous, what are your insights?

What was the nature of said gig? That sounds so wonky i feel like there HAS to be details i am missing.

 

[Wasnex]

I am not a sound guy by trade, but have some rudimentary knowledge of sound production on a personal scale. I have found that when I am recording different instruments and equipment in my home studio, there are often knobs and methods of quantitatively measuring sound that can be used to make adjustments to the interface device/mixing console. I find this method more useful that setting my levels first and then finding instruments to match.

I was a pro sound guy.

You would probably be surprised by how badly people can and do adjust levels between different patches. Additionally, level matching varies from gig to gig. What works for a loud gig may not work for a quiet gig. This is also true for tonal balance and how much of the wet signal should be used for different effects. So for each gig, as a player you really need to be able to step through all of your patches and adjust level, wet/dry, tone, etc.

Unfortunately, there tends to be sort of a circular aspect to this problem. You make a change to your patches and this forces the audio tech to adjust. Then the audio tech's adjustment may force you to make another change...on and on.

Maybe the OP is the rare exception and knows how to quickly mitigate these problems. And maybe the audio tech has been burned by several people who do not. It's also possible the audio tech was an idiot or lazy. I don't really know as I wasn't there. About all I can say for sure, is the problem is probably a lot more complicated than some of us seem to think it is.