• 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.

Tony Levin and the 3 Drummer Mix

CryingBass

CryingBass

Gold Supporting Member
Apr 8, 2016
5,970
10,272
#1
Saw King Crimson at the Chicago Theatre last night. Excellent seats.

But if you ask me, Tony Levin's playing was largely muffled by the THREE huge drum sets most of the time. God I really miss Bill Bruford. 1/10th the gear, 10 times the sound!

Do any of you guys play in multi-drummer bands, and if so, do you have trouble punching through the mix?
 
#3
Bummer about the mix at that show. I keep wanting to like this latest iteration of KC, but annoying stumbling blocks -- such as your report & similar ones with teh same complaint, or, even more compellingly, that crappy Live At The Orpheum disc they released in '15 -- continue to give me pause. Also, fwiw I've heard various Crimheads talk about how the whole notion of the three drummers "fronting" the band is an intentional approach to not just their staging but also how their sound is mixed/perceived, so perhaps what you heard was what they wanted. Sigh...

CryingBass said:
Do any of you guys play in multi-drummer bands, and if so, do you have trouble punching through the mix?
Click to expand...

I don't now, but on a number of occasions in the past I've played in bands with multiple drummers, and I never had trouble being heard ...onstage. I have no idea what it was like out in the house. Then again, we weren't playing venues the size of The Chicago Theater so we were almost certainly dealing with a far more modest PA.
 
#4
Bob_Ross said:
Bummer about the mix at that show. I keep wanting to like this latest iteration of KC, but annoying stumbling blocks -- such as your report & similar ones with teh same complaint, or, even more compellingly, that crappy Live At The Orpheum disc they released in '15 -- continue to give me pause. Also, fwiw I've heard various Crimheads talk about how the whole notion of the three drummers "fronting" the band is an intentional approach to not just their staging but also how their sound is mixed/perceived, so perhaps what you heard was what they wanted. Sigh...



I don't now, but on a number of occasions in the past I've played in bands with multiple drummers, and I never had trouble being heard ...onstage. I have no idea what it was like out in the house. Then again, we weren't playing venues the size of The Chicago Theater so we were almost certainly dealing with a far more modest PA.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I think they had a pair of those new QSC "cardoid" subs flanking the middle drummer - cant get enough of that mud!
 
#9
Maybe you had a bad seat or they didn't mix the room well. Tony Levin always sounds like gold on the live board recordings. Though I will say that I have both the new Live in Toronto they did a year or two ago with this band and the "official bootleg" Absent Lovers from '84 and the bass on the earlier recording just kills versus the other.
 
#11
Pat Harris said:
When I saw Crimson in NYC with Bill on kit/synths, Tony's bass tone was incredible and fit beautifully into the three drummer sound. The show was one of the most sonically "dialed in" I've ever seen. Sometimes the best seats for visuals aren't the best for audio, IME.
Click to expand...
I saw back-to-back shows of the 2014 tour in Philadelphia, and this was my experience. I had very different seats for the two shows, and the sound --including Tony's -- was just astonishing in both places.
 
#12
Reviving the thread because I bore witness to King Crimson last night in Austin at the Bass (like the fish) Concert Hall. This room has notoriously bad sound even after a multi-million dollar renovation. The legroom was pretty great, though.

Amazing show.
Pristine sound, full, loud, and clear.
It was the tour opener and they crushed it from the opening notes.
Definitely go to a show if they're coming near you. It's an experience. Video and audio cannot capture or replicate what it's like to be in the room.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bob_Ross and Lobster11

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back