Missing home.

[JGbassman]

One of my bands played a short set tonight, a charity for March of Dimes, and we were one of three bands on the bill. Pa and backline provided, just show and go after a quick sound check for a quick 45 min set.

My amp was an SWR combo model with 210's, PA wasn't bad, and sound engineer was a nice guy I got to know a little before the show (always a good idea)

During sound check, the little amp was lacking for a rock group, and my DiMarzio equipped p bass was way too hot for it regardless of how much input gain and bass I took out. Long story short, I really had to lighten up on my touch to not constantly overdrive it. The monitors were pretty weak and the sound out front was pretty thin from what I'm used to hearing. I could tell the rest of the band wasn't liking it too much either. No one could Hear each other hardly at all, and the sound was just off. The guys are all seasoned vets, so not a word was said, we just took one for the team.

After the show, each one of my band members came up to me and said how much difference the sound was from my mix (I run sound for my band normally on our own FOH) and how not only can they always hear everything, but how much lower the stage volume was when I run everything. They all said they really missed our mix, and how you really miss something when it's not there.

This really stunned me. I had no idea they appreciated what I did so much. First of all, I'm nowhere even close to being even an apprentice sound engineer, I just fiddle with knobs until I get close to a sound I like. I'd consider myself just on the good side of being dangerous.

Running sound from stage while playing is definitely stressful, and I'm constantly listening for rogue frequencies and sonic weirdness I had not anticipated, let alone tweaking it as the room changes. My short experience has only raised my level of respect for the actual engineers that make it look so easy.

This isn't a self-inflicted pat on the back or ego boost for me, but more of a nice feeling knowing the hard work I've put in when I stepped up to do this for the band is being noticed and appreciated. Just when ya think the guys you work with are total jerks, they go and do something like this.

Next week we will be back "home" where I will dial in the mix and make the guys happy little campers during out romp in the limelight. Sure it was nice doing a quick set and out, but I missed my amp, the stage sound, and kick the foh puts in your chest when that kick drum gets thumping.

I guess there's no place like home. Call me Dorothy from now on...

Peace

 

[Nephilymbass]

One of my bands played a short set tonight, a charity for March of Dimes, and we were one of three bands on the bill. Pa and backline provided, just show and go after a quick sound check for a quick 45 min set.

My amp was an SWR combo model with 210's, PA wasn't bad, and sound engineer was a nice guy I got to know a little before the show (always a good idea)

During sound check, the little amp was lacking for a rock group, and my DiMarzio equipped p bass was way too hot for it regardless of how much input gain and bass I took out. Long story short, I really had to lighten up on my touch to not constantly overdrive it. The monitors were pretty weak and the sound out front was pretty thin from what I'm used to hearing. I could tell the rest of the band wasn't liking it too much either. No one could Hear each other hardly at all, and the sound was just off. The guys are all seasoned vets, so not a word was said, we just took one for the team.

After the show, each one of my band members came up to me and said how much difference the sound was from my mix (I run sound for my band normally on our own FOH) and how not only can they always hear everything, but how much lower the stage volume was when I run everything. They all said they really missed our mix, and how you really miss something when it's not there.

This really stunned me. I had no idea they appreciated what I did so much. First of all, I'm nowhere even close to being even an apprentice sound engineer, I just fiddle with knobs until I get close to a sound I like. I'd consider myself just on the good side of being dangerous.

Running sound from stage while playing is definitely stressful, and I'm constantly listening for rogue frequencies and sonic weirdness I had not anticipated, let alone tweaking it as the room changes. My short experience has only raised my level of respect for the actual engineers that make it look so easy.

This isn't a self-inflicted pat on the back or ego boost for me, but more of a nice feeling knowing the hard work I've put in when I stepped up to do this for the band is being noticed and appreciated. Just when ya think the guys you work with are total jerks, they go and do something like this.

Next week we will be back "home" where I will dial in the mix and make the guys happy little campers during out romp in the limelight. Sure it was nice doing a quick set and out, but I missed my amp, the stage sound, and kick the foh puts in your chest when that kick drum gets thumping.

I guess there's no place like home. Call me Dorothy from now on...

Peace

Over the years I’ve played shows all over the east coast and as far away as mobile, Alabama (I live in NC) if you haven’t played a venue before you never know what you’re gonna get when it comes to the PA situation or the stage (if there even is one lol) When the situation isn’t ideal we just try to make the best of it. Usually if we’re talking to each other before or during the show saying things like “make sure you’re energy is good” or “get the crowd into it.” Truth is we actually expect each other to be energetic and put on a good show and that’s basically just code for “the PA sucks” or “the monitors suck” lol. But we’ve seen other bands over the years literally complaining about a venues sound at that venue and it’s just not a good thing to do. Your band will get no benefit for having said it wether it was direct to a venue owners face, or if it was overheard and passed on to someone who works for the venue. One thing I will say that does help is having a modular style rig. For example both our guitarist and I both have two cabs. If we’re concerned about the PA support were likely going to run two cabs each and crank our stage volume up and Some people don’t like that either but we’ll just use the excuse that we have hearing problems. Some places might take you completely out of the PA. But really sometimes the PA is so bad it actually sounds better to crank bigger rigs and not be in the PA and have FOh focus more on vocals for example.

 

[JGbassman]

Over the years I’ve played shows all over the east coast and as far away as mobile, Alabama (I live in NC) if you haven’t played a venue before you never know what you’re gonna get when it comes to the PA situation or the stage (if there even is one lol) When the situation isn’t ideal we just try to make the best of it. Usually if we’re talking to each other before or during the show saying things like “make sure you’re energy is good” or “get the crowd into it.” Truth is we actually expect each other to be energetic and put on a good show and that’s basically just code for “the PA sucks” or “the monitors suck” lol. But we’ve seen other bands over the years literally complaining about a venues sound at that venue and it’s just not a good thing to do. You’re band will get no benefit for having said it wether it was direct to a venue owners face, or if it was overheard and passed on to someone who works for the venue. One thing I will say that does help is having a modular style rig. For example both our guitarist and I both have two cabs. If we’re concerned about the PA support were likely going to run two cabs each and crank our stage volume up and Some people don’t like that either but we’ll just use the excuse that we have hearing problems. Some places might take you completely out of the PA. But really sometimes the PA is so bad it actually sounds better to crank bigger rigs and not be in the PA and have FOh focus more on vocals for example.

I hear you on that, and having a reliable backline is a luxury that can quickly be taken for granted. When I toured we almost always used our backline and traveled with a dedicated sound engineer. Those two things made a huge difference in the consistency of our sound. I've been pretty lucky in the past with provided backlines, but every now and then you would get a klunker. The amp I used yesterday was a good amp, it just wasn't enough wattage or speaker surface, compounded by it sitting on the floor almost behind the drums... Our drummer runs in ear monitoring that he brought to the gig, and even struggled with those.

I know many sound engineers hate hearing the instruments coming off the stage, but I've found its not that hard to mix the sound with the foh as long as the sound isn't bad. I will actually do this with my bass from time to time. As I run a very mid heavy stage sound, if it bleeds out front, I just prop up the sound and add some lows for warmth from the foh. By blending the two together I can have a good stage sound that compliments the foh sound. It's very doable.