• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

How do I convince the sound guy to turn down?

S

Summit

Jan 19, 2012
7
0
#1
I'm in an originals band. One that doesn't pull much of a crowd and as a result doesn't play in best venues. Nothing unusual really; building up an original music band is pretty challenging for everyone right now. There are plenty of places in our area that do cater to original music so we're never at a loss for where to play next. Unfortunately it's almost become a rule that the sound guys at these places are terrible. Two years ago when I had just started and was along for the ride I didn't mind or notice this. I was just happy to play. Now I'm doing the booking, I'm collecting pay, and I'm trying to make my band and myself sound better.

Here's the typical scenario:

First band goes on, they are wayyy too loud. It's usually rock music so some volume is normal but this is ridiculous. Everyone around me is taken aback. People are starting to move to the back of the bar, or even leaving. 45 minutes later everyone's ears are ringing terribly and now my band is up. We start setting up so I ask the sound guy to make us about half the volume he had the first band at. "Half?!" he replies, in the most obnoxious tone implying I am an idiot. He's the sound guy, he knows what he's doing, he's done this before. I talk him into it, finish setup, we do the sound check. I'm on stage now and I can't exactly tell if it's a good volume so I just hope he's doing what I asked. Few songs in and I can tell the volume is creeping up. By the end it's usually right back to where it was.

I don't get why this happens. The last show we played the first band was amazing but were so loud that their tone was completely crap. Feedback left and right. Every time the guitar started up I would wince and all the other instruments would be gone. Even if you're really really good, you will sound terrible when the volume is too high. There is no way around it. Everyone in the bar was feeling it. Lots of people were moving away and everyone sitting around me was commenting on it. Hell, the sound guy himself was even wearing earplugs. How you run sound with foam in your ears I will never know.

What do I do? I always ask extremely politely and am ignored. It's hard NOT to come off like a know-it-all with any request but I know everyone would appreciate it so I just bite the bullet. I'm tired of being forced to play too loud. Once we start into our set list I am hesitant to stop and make adjustments, i.e. ask the sound guy to lower the volume. I wanna put on a good show not being complaining on stage like a jackass. I'm not gonna tip him extra when I am barely being paid myself.

I would normally just only play where the sound guys are competent but it's like every place does this. When I don't forget to bring my own earplugs (Hearos) I can put those in and suddenly, like magic, the music is suddenly 10x better. I can hear the drums, the bass, the singing. There's no ringing in my ears to get in the way. It's amazing and I don't know why the status quo is to make everything as loud and fuzzy as possible.
 
#5
254 stringer said:
Go over his head an tell the club manager that its so loud all the beer drinkers are leaving.
Click to expand...

You can also ask at the time of booking whether you can bring your own sound guy.

Also, rather than telling him in the midst of gig chaos, the better route is to arrive early and have a cordial heart to heart before things really get going for the night. We do that with regard to our singer's level in the mix. You say, hey I'd just like to request that the overall volume to the crowd be set at a very moderate level. We've been having much better success with our draw and keeping people for the show that way. We'd really appreciate it. You can also give him a stage plot at that time and write a reminder about the overall level at the top. A lot of please and thank you really helps.
 
#6
Summit said:
Hell, the sound guy himself was even wearing earplugs. How you run sound with foam in your ears I will never know.
Click to expand...

I used to work for a sound company with some fantastic engineers (one used to do FOH for the Grateful Dead in the day and we did every major festival in the area). Every good sound guy wears earplugs. Your ears are your livelihood and you need to protect them. A bad sound guy will be bad with or without earplugs.

boristhespider9 said:
You can also ask at the time of booking whether you can bring your own sound guy.

Also, rather than telling him in the midst of gig chaos, the better route is to arrive early and have a cordial heart to heart before things really get going for the night. We do that with regard to our singer's level in the mix. You say, hey I'd just like to request that the overall volume to the crowd be set at a very moderate level. We've been having much better success with our draw and keeping people for the show that way. We'd really appreciate it. You can also give him a stage plot at that time and write a reminder about the overall level at the top. A lot of please and thank you really helps.
Click to expand...

This is really good advice. Even if you train a friend how to run a board you'll be better off than most bottom of the barrel club engineers.

Another thing to take into consideration is if you can keep your stage volume low then the sound guy doesn't need to compete with your amps. Sometimes, the volume keeps creeping up because the stage volume keeps creeping up and FOH needs to compensate.

In this case, the most likely cause of the volume creeping back up is either that the engineer really sucks or is drinking. Alcohol and running sound don't mix.
 
#9
I was at a gig on Sunday and the first band on also had everything turned up way too far. The sound was so distorted it was almost impossible to work out what they were actually playing. A load of people left until the next band came on. I very nearly did too and had I not bought tickets for the main act would have been very tempted to go elsewhere. They must have had some complaints in the break because the other two bands were playing at far better levels.
 
#11
What

What?

What?!!

ohhh OK.

Yah dude sorry cant teach old dogs new tricks.

Got payed and played with some of the loudest bands you have ever heard.

In my biased opinion a crap band is a crap band, nobody wants to hear it, rather if its too loud or really low in volume. nobody wants to hear it.

But a good band that is too loud, everyone still likes it.
So as long as your doing your best and putting on the best show in your life. Dont worry about to many things and let them distract you. People like control and things their way. Sometimes you just need to go with the flow because you cant control everything. And if you do, you can go insane. Or worse let it effect your performance.
 
#12
lakefx said:
Another thing to take into consideration is if you can keep your stage volume low then the sound guy doesn't need to compete with your amps. Sometimes, the volume keeps creeping up because the stage volume keeps creeping up and FOH needs to compensate.
Click to expand...
this might actually be the number one thing!

with some bands, if you tell the soundguy to turn it down he'll look at you sadly and just turn the whole mix off, whereupon it stays just as loud except now you can't hear the singer :scowl:

he can't make your band "half" as loud if the snare drum itself is still cutting people's heads off.
 
#13
Start shopping for another sound guy and have plan B in place when you have a nice-as-possible conversation with him about volume. Some sound guys are real jerks (and I am one as well). Me? I work for a paycheck. I will do my best to make a positive impact on your sound. But ultimately it's my job to keep whoever is writing the check happy. If that means lower volumes than I like so be it. If that means running your smiley face EQ and ultra "modern" bass tone in a mix sounding like a baritone turd, so be it. It's your dime.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back