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Permanent Sound Guy.

F

Floyd Eye

Inactive
Feb 21, 2010
7,392
75
St. Louis
#1
After running sound from the stage for the entire existence of my band ( about 3 years), I have now relegated my role to merely bass player and I am extremely happy about it.

We picked up a second guitarist a while back ( now we are a 4 piece) and he recommended checking out a guy his old band used occasionally. We met with the guy last week and I showed him all the gear and how I have it set up ( Turns out I was doing a pretty decent job of things, thanks largely to some of the guys here and at TGP). Let him run the entire rehearsal and he impressed us all.

Anyway, long story short, he will be our full time SE and will be DJ'ing dance music between sets. For any of you guys running your boards from the stage, just let me say this. Quit it. :D
 
#4
Well, we got lucky. This guy is local, likes our band and is friends with our new guitarist. Since he is running OUR gear and pretty much only has to show up, run the board and DJ between sets, he has agreed to do it for 60 beans a night and free beer. Which is more than reasonable. We would have been willing to give him an even split with the rest of us, but I have been watching a lot of "Pawn Stars" and have been working on my negotiating skills. lol
 
#5
Floyd Eye said:
Well, we got lucky. This guy is local, likes our band and is friends with our new guitarist. Since he is running OUR gear and pretty much only has to show up, run the board and DJ between sets, he has agreed to do it for 60 beans a night and free beer. Which is more than reasonable. We would have been willing to give him an even split with the rest of us, but I have been watching a lot of "Pawn Stars" and have been working on my negotiating skills. lol
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The only thing to keep in mind is that I have done deals in the past that included "free beer". Just make sure the 3rd set doesn't sound like crap because he's hammered.
 
#6
two fingers said:
The only thing to keep in mind is that I have done deals in the past that included "free beer". Just make sure the 3rd set doesn't sound like crap because he's hammered.
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Good point. I'm not worried though. He didn't ask for the free beer, but since it comes along with all the gigs we do he is included. At rehearsal the other night he declined all of my offers for a beer so I'm thinking he's not really a drinker. PLus he's an older dude who just doesn't seem like the "Drunk guy" type.

I gotta say, within 3 minutes of running my board he had our subs thumping way harder than I ever did and the vocals were much better sounding. I'm sure there are better sound guys out there ( who no doubt charge more than my band even makes for a gig), but this guy is pretty damn good. It's also very cool to have our own guy who will "Work for us", learn our music and be an interactive part of the band. It eliminates the ego element from some other sound guy experiences.
 
#8
Before we even knew how much it was going to cost us per night, we decided as a band that the money was WAY less important than sounding bad ass. The fact is if the guy had said $100 a night we would have agreed to it. Better sound equals better paying gigs.
 
#9
Floyd Eye said:
Before we even knew how much it was going to cost us per night, we decided as a band that the money was WAY less important than sounding bad ass. The fact is if the guy had said $100 a night we would have agreed to it. Better sound equals better paying gigs.
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Ok you've got a point there :) I partially blame the difference of region as cause for the difference in thought haha
 
#10
Egbert89 said:
Ok you've got a point there :) I partially blame the difference of region as cause for the difference in thought haha
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Good point. When we were first coming up it would have been very difficult for us to agree to hire a sound guy. The gigs weren't that great pay wise for one thing. I spent enormous amounts of time here and elsewhere picking the brains of guys like WalterW, Modulusman and other guys so I could learn as much as I could about doing it the right way. I did alright for a stupid bass player running it from the stage, but I think all of those guys I just named will agree that the "Right way" is to have a dedicated sound guy out front, regardless of the money.
 
#11
Floyd Eye said:
Good point. I'm not worried though. He didn't ask for the free beer, but since it comes along with all the gigs we do he is included. At rehearsal the other night he declined all of my offers for a beer so I'm thinking he's not really a drinker. PLus he's an older dude who just doesn't seem like the "Drunk guy" type.

I gotta say, within 3 minutes of running my board he had our subs thumping way harder than I ever did and the vocals were much better sounding. I'm sure there are better sound guys out there ( who no doubt charge more than my band even makes for a gig), but this guy is pretty damn good. It's also very cool to have our own guy who will "Work for us", learn our music and be an interactive part of the band. It eliminates the ego element from some other sound guy experiences.
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Awesome! Something similar happened to my band a few years ago. Same story. We were running from stage. A friend (who is also an amazing sound guy) showed up just to say hey at a sound check. After hearing our PA, he literally said "Go outside for 20 minutes. Don't come back in until I come get you." He went to the car and got a modern Jazz CD and put it in and just fiddle with our PA until it CAME ALIVE! Before we had been clipping amps and barely getting enough volume. By the time he was done it sounded like twice the PA working half as hard.

Enjoy not having the hassle!
 
#14
RE: "We would have been willing to give him an even split with the rest of us, but I have been watching a lot of "Pawn Stars" and have been working on my negotiating skills... The fact is if the guy had said $100 a night we would have agreed to it."

I hope he doesn't read this forum! He just might want to renegotiate.
 
#15
Out of the almost 30 years that I've been playing out, I played in a band for about 6-8 months without a sound man. I didn't like it one bit. I started playing clubs when I was 15, and I was spoiled right out of the gate with a well-established band, with a really nice P.A., along with a guy out front that knew how to run things. I hate standing on stage, without a set of ears that the band can't 100% trust out front. It would freak me out playing a 1 hour set with 60-80 more people in there than there was when the set began. All because that CAN change the mix. I know damn good & well it doesn't change it THAT much. But, the fear of sounding bad really would prevent me from having a good time playing.
 
#16
Floyd Eye enjoy having a sound man. I used to really enjoy "just being the bass player". Been two years now since we had a gig with a real PA.

It is fun running sound, but not as much when you also have to play.

But the only way we are getting a sound guy is if I give up my pay.... and I still am paying off the PA gear. So it is not happening anytime soon.
 
#17
The guy friggin' killed it last night. We always have a few trusted sets of ears out in the audience and the unanimous conclusion was that the guy is bad ass. He came up and tweaked volume knobs on all our amps at certain points in the beginning ( he turned mine up, which makes him alright in my book. lol) and everyone went on and on about how great the mix was. He had dance music pumping through my system between sets and jesus man, I never knew my system sounded that good. Friggin' subs are monsters. To a man, every single band member and all of our fan base and friends thought it was the smartest move we have made so far. So he will be staying with us.

As far as his pay, he is worth more and on gigs that pay better, we will pay him better and if it comes down to it we are all willing to cut him in as an equal member of the band. Nevertheless, it's just was just good business sense for me to ask him what his pay requirements were before making him an offer. I feel no shame about that. If he comes up at some point and asks for more pay, we'll give it to him.

We bought our PA a piece at a time, all with gig money, so it took awhile to acquire it, but it is all ours and paid for. The only piece of equipment currently in our possession that isn't paid for is the snake we bought last night. Perfectly working, older Whirlwind 16x4. Got it for $100. It will be paid off after the gig next Saturday night.
 
#18
our soundguy brings his own mixing board, his own front of house racks, and three brand new Crest 2800 watt power amps and runs our system with it. We pay him 50 bucks a night for indoor gigs, and 75 bucks a night for outdoor gigs.:D oh, and he is a badass soundguy as well.
 
#19
There are positives and negatives to both scenarios...in my previous band, we had a permanent sound guy...it was nice to show up 45 minutes before the gig, plug in and play as it was the sound mans responsibility to setup/tear down the PA. And it was nice to pack up my stuff and leave right after the gig. However, he took at least half of what we made each gig.

In my current band we run it ourselves and we can adjust it on the board, on our iPhones or iPads which is great. Does suck for the 2-3 hour load in/out but the extra money is nice.
 
#20
almightycrunch said:
our soundguy brings his own mixing board, his own front of house racks, and three brand new Crest 2800 watt power amps and runs our system with it. We pay him 50 bucks a night for indoor gigs, and 75 bucks a night for outdoor gigs.:D oh, and he is a badass soundguy as well.
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To be honest I would MUCH rather own the gear myself. You never know what can happen and I can always run it myself if I need to. ;)

I have no problem paying the guy $60 and I will pay him more when I can. The guy has texted me several times this week with helpful advice about setting up my racks ( very helpful advice as it turns out), and to ask me about songs to play in between sets, etc.. He is a very attentive sound guy, does a great job and is genuinely happy to be working with me and my band. I can't ask for anything more than that.

We gig Saturday night and will be running the system a little differently than I had it set up. I am very much looking forward to it.
 

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