It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
Locally with other bands the Mackie DL series and the Behringer Xair is popular, for £550 or so they are hard to beat
R.
Eqd Speaker Cranker clone
Monte Allums TR-2 Plus mod kit
Trading feedback: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/60602/
"Here's the DI socket - stick yer XLR in there mate"
"Oh, cheers, yeah, cool"
End of story.
Knowledgeable sound engineer uses isolating DI box on bass player to avoid known problems with some DI implementations.
End of story.
Eqd Speaker Cranker clone
Monte Allums TR-2 Plus mod kit
Trading feedback: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/60602/
I'd still use a DI box though, for unknown amps.
R.
Eqd Speaker Cranker clone
Monte Allums TR-2 Plus mod kit
Trading feedback: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/60602/
R.
Eqd Speaker Cranker clone
Monte Allums TR-2 Plus mod kit
Trading feedback: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/60602/
R.
Eqd Speaker Cranker clone
Monte Allums TR-2 Plus mod kit
Trading feedback: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/60602/
Thing about doing sound is, if it all goes swimmingly then the band were brilliant, if it goes badly it’s the sound engineers fault.
As to engineers do bear this in mind, if it’s a proper job and set up, the guy providing the PA has invested far more than any musician in his gear and as it’s his income so has a vested interest in getting it right but can only work with what he is presented with. The problem I see with the younger engineers just out of uni with degrees is they can only work with what they’ve been taught and aspire to, therefor if you don’t provide a digico desk and DPA mics they whinge, and think the gig is below their level.And if a cable goes down somewhere in the signal chain they are completely knackered! (Tip for evaluating any musician ask them to explain the signal chain)
The thing I find most baffling about some sound engineers - including many at big, professional venues - is that the mix is crap. Why? Anyone who has ever listened to recorded music instinctively knows what a good mix sounds like - basically one where you can hear everything and nothing is overpoweringly loud. So why do so many live mixes consist of overpoweringly boomy kick drum and bass, and inaudible muffled vocals? Sometimes with either harsh or muddy guitars thrown in for good measure.
"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
I understand that you don't always get a sound check, e.g at festivals, but on more than one occasion I've heard engineers sorting out the drum kit one piece at a time before getting a rough, overall mix. Half a song of kick drum! Bonkers!
R.
Eqd Speaker Cranker clone
Monte Allums TR-2 Plus mod kit
Trading feedback: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/60602/
Can't disagree with this
The other one I don’t get it obsessively labouring over the mix at sound check in a vast empty room, completely discounting in the effect that a room full of people are going to have on the treble response of said room once the crown get in.
That and spending about 40 minutes on the kick drum and 10 seconds on the rest of the band
One thing people sometimes don't take into account though is most live mix's are a compromise. High frequencies lose their energy in air quicker than low frequencies ...that means sometimes you can't have too much treble half way down the field without killing the people at he front with an over bright harsh mix. The only way to overcome these physics problems is to use high steerable arrays but that can cost a lot in rigging, setup time and hire cost.
It's not about the gear either, I saw the Eagles at the old Wembly stadium some years back. I can't remember the support act, some young artist on the same label getting exposure. But they let loose a youth opportunities lad for the support and it sounded awful, bassy, indistinct, painful etc. 30 mins later the Eagles took to the stage and it sounded like the album in mix and quality. OK they probably had a longer sound check with the headliner but the support singer was to tracks!
The other thing is that every show I go to lately is just too loud, even with my obsessive use of earplugs. Even a good, well-balanced and rich mix sounds shit when it deafens you. Maybe venues have overpowering subs that touring sound guys don't know how to balance so everything just gets pushed up, maybe they're used to bigger, better rooms in London/Manchester/wherever, but I feel like I would have a much better time at the last few shows I've seen if they turned it down a touch. What kind of dick-waving mentality means you HAVE to be pushing against the ceiling of the legal noise limit? It's not even like it's big amps turned up and sounding glorious, it's just sterile PAs pushing out a crushing volume.