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It's money mate - if I put two engineers on the job it will cost far more than putting one engineer and having a crew guy come in for the in & out.. client's aren't interested in paying the extra for something they don't understand or see the benefit of..
Also - seriously, have you tried doing 32 channels of monitors on an iPad?! try grabbing the fader of the mic that's feeding back in a hurry..
On jobs that warrant it, we do a digital split with Yamaha CLs at FOH & Mons, with two engineers - but there is no way most of the community type festival gigs will pay for it.. Most of them are happy on spec with 24ch and a 4 way monitor mix!
Me - Strums one minor 7th chord set clean.
Sounddude: That's great thanks, keys next.
Erm, nope.
Me - Turns on distortion wah and delay and wails some high notes.
Now you have the full spectrum and amplitude of my sound.
Many sound guys who are guitarists (or empathetic to a band) will most likely ask if you're using any other settings to cycle through them, most, as was the case at the festival I played, do not. I know they're on a tight schedule but if you're not happy with you're sound you won't play well, and if you don't enjoy playing why bother?
The amount of times I've switched to a lead tone only to be lost in the mix and have to faff around with levels mid song I'd rather know I'm good from the start. Plus it looks (and sounds) unprofessional (if that's important to you).
I've also learnt never to expect monitors, let alone a decent monitor mix, so I normally put my amp on a stand near me as a faux monitor just to hear what I'm playing.
Festivals are great fun but as a band you are really on the edge unless you can afford to take your own engineers and kit even then with such tight change over times usually it does come down to we'll get a mix in the first song and call your monitors as you need them.
The best advice for bands is know exactly what your doing and how your equipment works and that it will work when needed then smile sweetly, go with the flow and enjoy the experience. The other thing that really helps is be nice to the crew at all times and be prepared to compromise, they know what is achievable with the PA they supply which is not necessarily what you think you can expect unless of course you have paid for all the things you want..
When I was a bass player and asked what monitor mix I wanted I told them I only wanted to hear bass drums and lead vocals. They would smile and put lead vocals in the wedges.
As a guitarist, if there's a keyboard player and or acoustic guitarist not using backline I'll have a bit of that but mainly lead vocals.
As stated you can hear bass, drums and electric guitar very well, perhaps too well.
2. one of the things used to do in an old band was for big gigs, we'd go through the set instrumentally with no vocals rehearsal before the gig.. Tightens you up massively as a unit.
3.Walk around a bit if you need to hear something..
You don't need the battery to last 12 hours, we use power banks in pocket when needed so you can keep working while charging. We take 2 iPads anyway but it's generally one for FOH, one for monitors. I stay by the side of the stage during the first 5 numbers or so, if there is a problem then I'm there and able to change it.
If there's a solitary guy running PA then fair enough, he's got enough to do FOH but it bugs me when I see 2 or 3 PA guys at FOH and no one mixing monitors
The main reason I haven't enjoyed *any* of our festival appearances is because of the cabs on stage. They nearly always provide a full stack, so I end up plugging into the top cab and I end up stood in the beam of the cab for the entire slot, and it ruins my mood and my performance. After playing 4 or 5 of them and having the exact same experience each time, I would seriously consider using IEM's and a modeller for those kind of shows.
The drummer and bassist loved them though, so there is that.
As to running monitors off Ipads tablets etc yes you can do it, we do if push and budget comes to shove, however to do the job properly you need an experienced engineer on stage with virtually the same desk as front of house on analogue splits so there is no head amp sharing. Unfortunately this is rarely the case due to budget constrictions of smaller festivals.
as always, it comes down to money!
it seems very much that different geographical markets have very different expectations (and preparedness to pay!)
I prefer the 'top cab' sound, but if you don't, then don't do it if you have the choice...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
At those lesser festivals, as with the majors, the crowd is just there to have a good time - hopefully in the sunshine - so following @ICBM's advice is the right approach. It might all sound crap on stage but usually the PA guy(s) can be trusted to get a decent FoH sound, which is what really matters.
This - very much this. All the decent festivals I've played have been crewed by competent guys who you don't even need to ask to change stuff much.
Whereas, conversely, all the village fetes that call themselves festivals now are crewed by a bloke from the pub who owns a desk and some big speakers. He is there to talk to girls, don't expect a lot of help.
I tend to think you just need to manage your own expectations and make the best of it you can when they're tricky ones.
Am I weird in that respect?
No wonder I never became a rock star...
[/geek]
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
No wonder I never became a rock star and my back hurts.
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