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How do you get your Sound Guy to look up

#21
When I'm solo, I stare at the performance for the most part. Given I've been married 30 years, the anatomical stares are somewhat less a distraction ... I drink water on the job for the most part... If it's a 2 man job, I go up and ask discretely between songs a few songs into the first set... You guy's ok ? Anybody need more monitor ? Less monitor ? I also use a talkback mic to ask when necessary. It is generally pretty easy to see when folks are disenchanted with something... A sound guy that doesn't try to follow up in that is not paying attention...

The blinky light idea seems kinda limiting and I can't imagine having a patent granted on it ...

I have occasionally folded my request into a public service announcement. 'hey, let's hear it for Rick the sound guy and while you're at it Rick can you turn the diva down in my monitor ? Thanks Rick!'
 
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#22
FronTowardEnemy said:
We have a sound guy, actually 2. We run in ears and have a talkback mic set up on stage that only the band and sound guy can hear through. It is great and highly professional.
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We used to run in-ears. We actually use ProCo Panic Buttons. We can mute the signal to the board and FOH. Channel B runs into a 6 cannel rack mixer.. It works as a fully function talk back so only the band and FOH can hear it. We used our mic's to talk to each other and the FOH guy (if he has his headphones on). But we have since ditched our in-ears (most certainly not my idea or my wish)..
 
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#23
Have you thought about installing one of these?

Screen Shot 2015-04-02 at 1.25.29 PM.png
 
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#27
Mike Gordon from Phish already has exactly what you're talking about on stage. Light switch in pedal form that signals the sound guy when he steps on it.

My guy runs his digital board via iPad. So he's always walking the room out front. Constantly mixing. We rarely need anything from him because he's 100% on his game. When we do, we raise a hand in the air, and point to what we want. Super low key, no one notices but him. He knows what we mean every time.
 
#29
MattyH said:
Mike Gordon from Phish already has exactly what you're talking about on stage. Light switch in pedal form that signals the sound guy when he steps on it.

My guy runs his digital board via iPad. So he's always walking the room out front. Constantly mixing. We rarely need anything from him because he's 100% on his game. When we do, we raise a hand in the air, and point to what we want. Super low key, no one notices but him. He knows what we mean every time.
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I would like to find out more about this
 
#30
iriegnome said:
I would like to find out more about this
Click to expand...

It's in his rig rundown pt. 2. His light is set to alert his bass tech, but hey, not everyone has a bass tech! Haha. He's also got a second one that turns a little fan on and off for himself.

I'd love something like that but like I said, my sound guy is always on the move, mixing from all over the room. A light going off near his board would never be seen anyway haha
 
#31
The problem is making each members light maybe be different colors so your guy knows who is signaling him. But once you get his attention you're back to doing hand signals on stage to him anyway. That's why Mike Gordon also has a talk back mic right behind his cabinets going to the monitor tech for stage volumes. They have hand signals but he says it's for the more detailed settings and stage needs.

Sound men are just that. Men. Not robots. There's gonna be some give and take there. Sometimes he's not going to be able to get to your needs right away because he's doing 10 other things. Every gig I play I gain more and more respect for my sound guy. The kid turns it into an instrument all its own, that takes as much talent as what we're doing on stage. If he takes a minute to get to my needs it's cause I know he's busy. Now, if he's lazy, and not paying attention, that's a whole different story.
 
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#35
Tell your sound guy to look at the stage at the end of every song, and tell the band that if anyone needs to send him a message, that's the time to do it. It's not like you can give him hand signals when you are playing, and you can put up with just about anything until the song is over. FWIW, when I am alone at a FOH gig, when I know I can leave the board for a minute I make my way to the floor in front of the stage and make eye contact with everyone in the band, point at their monitor and look at them questioningly.

And yes, many larger systems have attention lights, usually between the monitor guy and the FOH guy.
 
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#38
You say you don't like the hand signal thing. So what do you do once you turn the light on? How do you communicate with your soundman? Seems the best solution is both a light & a mic that only he can hear, it can be one of those with a switch so as not to always send stage noise to him (fidelity shouldn't be an issue since those type mics usually aren't the best). Put it by the drummer to "hide" it & have him be the designated go between.
 
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#40
Launching into a bass solo makes everyone go get a drink or go to the bathroom (unless they play bass) lol. I just remind them that the monitor desk is side stage, not foh. Or, if i'm doing a small gig, change requests are made in between songs. How are you going to articulate needs with hand signals when you are playing?
 
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