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Singers asking the audience how things sound?

#41
Didn't read all the posts (sorry) but my 2c:
a. You are right. You shouldn't get undermined like that and asking the audience to critique a show on-line is extremely bad stage etiquette.
b. If anyone has genuine concern about sound - they should get a full-time sound guy who can monitor the show and make adjustments, or if things are bad enough, instruct the players how to play together better. A band needs a certain maturity and experience to carry a show well without a full-time soundguy. A good ensemble would know how to balance themselves across songs and intensities, but most bands need some help with adjustments now and then.
 
#45
two fingers said:
Ask SOMEBODY. But it's still silly to ask the entire audience! As @LBS-bass said, there will be as many opinions as there are audience members. For every wet blanket saying "turn it down" there will be a party hard guy saying "Crank it up, man!!!!!".

Asking the audience ANYTHING over the mic, other than "You guys having a good time?", is a recipe for disaster.
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Like I stated before, the context of the gig matters. I didn't say take a poll.
 
#47
I spent many years traveling as FOH and monitor sound dude. There is nothing more infuriating than a singer asking "how's it sound". A bit different when the bass player is running sound and I 100% agree with his comments so far. Have a trusted person or 2 to give an indication if a change needs to be made. Ideally the bass player/sound dude would be wireless and can take a quick walk out in the crowd to get a sense of how it sounds(ideally the bass is super loud :) ) .
If your singer decided to not heed your suggestion there a quick way to fix it and it really helps the band dynamics and relationships. If he asks again, wait a song or 2 and then ask the audience how the singer is doing :)
 
#48
bfields said:
This is why the best approach is audience-customizable mixes: bring a large banner spelling out any steps (including passwords) required to sign into your digital mixer. Audience members can then fight each other for control of the faders.
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Just have 'em bring a tablet. There's a darn good chance the passwords are all factory defaults. :roflmao:
 
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#53
As said, if you have someone whose opinion you trust, great. But asking the entire audience to listen for sound problems? Hmm, a bar full of people + alcohol, what could go wrong? I'm going to break tradition here, usually the proper phrase is "Fire the Drummer." but in this case, "Fire the Singer."
 
#54
Very unprofessional of your singer, I run sound full time for one band and pull triple duty when I play in mine. (Bass, sound, lights). Both bands have never done anything like that ever. During the breaks we do go and get feedback on the mix from trusted audience members. I take the feedback given by the audience with a big grain of salt if I'm just mixing but will usually act on it when playing. When I play I do venture out into the audience often to check on things but my IEM are monitoring the mains so I catch anything that's off right away. We used to have one of the members of the band I mix for do sound but he isnt very good with the digital stuff so it's just easier if I do it. We have also worked with a professional sound person in the past but had not been happy with his mixes.

My 2c would be the same as what other people are saying and that a chat with the band laying out that asking the audience anything other than "hows it going" or "let's do a team drink" is very unprofessional and ruins the bands image. I would try and get someone else to run sound for you so you can enjoy playing. Maybe someone's spouse or kid if they are old enough and interested? Setting the EQs in soundcheck and just having them move volume faders is often easy enough for most people to handle.

Best of luck.

YMMV
 
#57
two fingers said:
Ask SOMEBODY. But it's still silly to ask the entire audience
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Yes. my initial thought : what a t - totally Stoopid thing to do. Let me illustrate.
Would you ask :Let us know if
You don't like our set list
The color of our instruments
Our clothes
The bassists tone
That we don't have a keyboard.
Oh yes you will get a perfect consensus of opinion on all, yup :rollno::rollno:

A wise person once said, try to please everyone, and you will please no one.

Discrete input from someone who is
A. Experienced and knowledgeable and,
B. Objective.
:banghead::banghead::banghead:
 
#58
s0c9 said:
Heck, 98% of the audience are tone deaf. The other 98% are sound engineers :)
Never, EVER, EVER ask the audience how you sound!!

Somebody thought these guys sounded great!
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Off topic, but is that a military base? I would think the mix would be the last thing to worry about if you had to worry about incoming.
 
#60
The problem is the singer went about it all wrong. You never ask the whole audience. What you do is during break recruit a focus group. Get them in a room and get their opinion. You then take that back to the band and sound person for implementation. Repeat the process during your second break to see if the changes created a more positive experience for the focus group.

That's how a pro does it.
 

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