2012 In Review

Here's another year in the books.  And music-wise for me this year, it's been quite a bit different than past years.  Since everyone does their end-of-the-year wrap ups and "best of" articles about now, I felt somewhat obligated.

So, in no particular order in my Top-10 Music/Gig moments of 2012

1. In March, The Rhythm Dawgs take their first extended break in their 13 year history
2. The same Rhythm Dawgs reunite in December and play to a packed house, basically picking up exactly where we left off.
3. After roughly a year, I parted ways with Triple Play. Still love the folks and will support the band wherever I can....things just weren't panning out like I had hoped.
4. I did my first major PA upgrade in 10 years, discovering the beauty of digital consoles and modern power amps that weigh a fraction of what they used to.
5. Proved that it's possible to get frost bite from bass strings by playing an outdoor wedding reception back in February.
6. Once again confirmed at the same gig that the more upper class a venue is, the more they treat their bands like crap.
7. Via the Michael Ingalls Band, have seen first hand that Motorhead is a guilty pleasure that more people than let on really really like.
8. Drank the Apple Kool-Aid and found out that iPads are all they're cracked up to be...especially when they let you replace 3 large notebooks of music.
9. Proved to myself once again that I'd much rather play with good musicians who are great people than great musicians who are full of themselves.
10. Rush will finally be inducted into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of fame. That doesn't have anything to do with me, but it's freakin' cool!

So, what's ahead in 2013 for me?  The Rhythm Dawgs will be playing out albeit at a much reduced pace from previous years.  In the next week or two, I'll be starting work on an album with Michael Ingalls which should be cool.  And I'm planning on continuing writing these tidbits weekly.  Oh yeah, I'm sure there will be a new gadget in there somewhere.

Thanks to all who have taken to reading this blog...it's much appreciated.  And to all my friends, band mates, clients, and lurkers out there I wish you all the best in 2013.

Until next year, keep the meters out of the red.

Ken

 













Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area. You can reach Ken at itsjustlogistics@gmail.com

Is The Party Over There????

'Tis the season.  Whether it's office parties, house parties, or Grand Openings this is the time of year a lot of bands find themselves in the position of getting out of the clubs and performing at privately hosted functions.  It's a welcome change of scenery for a lot of us, and it's usually better money than you'll pull down at a club.  And of course, there's the opportunity to play in front of people that haven't seen you before (and possibly recruit some new fans).

But these affairs can also be royal pains in the neck.  If you're lucky and it's a pretty big shindig, then likely the host will have hired someone to put the party together for them.  Those people will usually have had experience dealing with bands, and have some idea what goes into putting on a great performance.  But then again, there are folks who while they might be good at planning appetizers and center pieces, may have never dealt with a band (or think it's the same as a DJ), and then be totally shocked with you roll in with 20 or 30 road cases.  This is where you have to be as much a diplomat and counselor as an entertainer.

I've played parties at those two extremes and everything in between.  So in the spirit of the holiday season, let me pass along to you a few of my survival tips for playing private affairs:

You're Not The Center Of Attraction
Just get over it now.  As much as our fragile egos want to think it's all about us, it ain't.  Unless you're an established artist, your importance falls somewhere between the crab dip and the door prizes.  Depending on the agreements (and you got everything in writing, correct?) you may be anything from background music during dinner to the jukebox for the company limbo contest.  No, it ain't about us tonight, it's about the guests and making sure they have a good time.

Take Your Usual Set Up Schedule...Now Double It
Hotel gigs are the most notorious for this, but be ready for delays at any party.  I've waited two hours for the stage to be erected, only to be delayed another hour because the party planner wants everything moved 12 inches to the left.  You'll wait on dance floors, decorations, and sometimes skit rehearsals.  On second thought...better triple your setup time....she might want it all moved back where it was.

Find Out Who The Boss Is Early
That's the wonderful thing about private parties...you'll get conflicting information from several well meaning folks.  This is why when I book these things I specify that there's one person for me to deal with throughout the night.  And that's either the person writing the check or an appointed representative that has the authority to make decisions on the spot.  That way, when the cousin of the CEO's neighbor's brother comes and tells you to move something, you simply say "I'd be happy to do so...I just have to clear it with the boss".  

Make Sure They Know What They're Getting
Once the deal is put together, I send 'em a contract, rider, and stage diagram.  They're required to sign everything and send me a copy back.  Make sure they know exactly what you need in order to put your production on (stage size, power, set up / tear down time, sound levels, etc). That's saved my bacon many times, but two that really stick with me are: 

• The event coordinate starting raising holy hell with us when we put the front of house console in place.  "That can't go there...it's ugly.  Does it have to be out front?".  Well lady, that's why it's called "Front Of House".  I pulled out the contract package and showed where the client had signed off on it.  I said we would be happy to pack it up, along with everything else, take our money and leave (that's how it was spelled out).  That ended that discussion.
• I booked a company Christmas party with a young lady, making sure she understood we're a rock-n-roll band (and including that in the contract).  We got the deposit and contracts back and thought we were good to go.  We show up for the gig and start rolling in.  The owner of the company comes up and says "Y'all don't look like a country band."  Well Billy Bob, there's a good reason for that.  He tried to start a fight with us for misrepresenting ourselves, but I showed him the contract his representative had signed.  The asshole wrote us a check for the balance and sent us on our way (fine).  He also fired the girl that hired us right there (not cool).  His company went bankrupt in 6 months.  Karma, baby.

Now, don't get me wrong...if the client needs something moved or changed and we can do it in a reasonable fashion then fine.  In the case of setting up front of house, I've suggested to event coordinators that they could drape the racks with table linens and add other decorations to the area as long as it doesn't impede our sound man.  That's smoothed over a lot situations.  But putting artificial Christmas trees on the stage that we have to maneuver around...I gotta draw a line there.

Make Sure You Know What You're Getting Into

If there's anyway to advance the gig...do it.  Go to the venue and look it over.  If you're playing at a hotel, talk director to the special events manager.  Find out where you're loading in and out from (don't assume it's the closest door...we had those blocked by catering before).  Ask if they've had other bands with production similar to yours and find out how they set up.  

 

If you're playing a venue that's out of town, talk to the manager there.  Most places that host a lot of parties will be able to send you a drawing of the room with dimensions, location of power, and load in/out locations.  It's better than nothing.

 

And review my post from September 30 (Before You Leave For The Show).  Don't be a rookie and have to ask for an extension cord.

Trust, But Verify
If you've negotiated for the client to provide sound & lights for you, be sure to get the name of the company / person providing that and call 'em at least 2 weeks prior.  Just because you send a technical rider to the client doesn't mean they're going to send it to the sound company.  

 

One such incident happened several years ago.  I negotiated sound and lights for a party we were doing.  I sent a very detailed rider along with the number of channels we needed (16 minimum), mics, monitors, effects, etc.  Being the thorough guy I am, I called the sound company 2 weeks early and asked what they were bringing.  The guy on the other end of the phone said something to the effect of "they said there was 4 of you in the band, so I figured I could just bring a Peavey 6 channel mixer and we'd be good".  When I asked if he had seen the rider, he said that the client had attempted to read it to him and he quoted a price, but they said that was too much and asked what was the cheapest thing he could bring (yet, they thought nothing of a $3000 ice sculpture for the affair).  

I called the client back, and tried to explain how that was going to severely limit our ability to deliver the best performance we could, but they just said "oh, we just want some noise to fill the background at the party".  At that point I told them that we were not the band for their event, cancelled the gig and sent their deposit back.  As Kenny Rogers once said "...you've gotta know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em."


Be Prepared To Be Interrupted
You know that killer set list you wrote out?  Be ready to toss it out the window.  Between awards, door prizes, "thanks for a great year" speeches and such, count yourself lucky if you get to play 3 songs in a row.  But hey, they ain't paying you by the song...so just smile and take the money.  I can recall one Christmas party I played where we contracted for 3 hours.  By the time the evening was over, I think we had played 9 songs. 

You're Not A Guest
As a rule, I don't approach the guests about anything.  Now, if they come to me and strike up a conversation, I'm more than happy to talk to 'em.  But it's their party, let 'em enjoy it.  And don't assume you've got access to the open bar or buffet unless you're specifically told that it's cool.

Welcome To Amateur Hour
If the function is like 99% of the ones I've played, you're going to have a room full of people who are not very good at holding their liquor.  The drunkest and most abusive a-holes I've ever played for are 7-figure company executives with 4 shots of tequila on board.  Keep in mind that these folks will have no recollection of what they did the next day, and unless they try to get physical with you best just to nod your head every now and then like you're agreeing with them, and then excuse yourself.  

"Thank You...Good Night"
Wrap the show up at the agreed upon time, and no encores unless your "boss" says OK.  Then load up and get outta there.  The guests who haven't passed out yet are lookin' for the hook up, and the rest of the hired help for the party want to get out of there too.  Don't linger and talk.  If someone asks how to hire you, hand them a card and explain you're on a dead line to get out but you would love to talk to them next week about their event.  Nine times outta ten, you're never going to hear from 'em.

Private parties can be fun if you don't stress over 'em, and as I said are usually much better money than club gigs.  Just be prepared to earn it.

This year has been a little unusual for me.  My band of 13 years, The Rhythm Dawgs, took a break in March and just picked back up a couple of weeks ago.  Consequently, I've done more "band hopping" this year than I have in quite a while, and also played a lot fewer gigs than the typical.  I was thinking about sharing some of my "lessons learned" for 2012 in next week's installment.

Until then, Merry Christmas (there...I said it).  And this time, just for the holidays, you can let the meters go into the red a little.

Ken

Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area. You can reach Ken at itsjustlogistics@gmail.com
 

Go Go Gadget...

A few weeks ago, I did a post on some of my "must have" gadgets I keep in my tool box.  With us being in the thick of gift giving now, I thought I would throw out a few more of my favorite things to get me through a gig.  And by the way, I'm not compensated in any way for this...these are just things I like and consider quite handy.

LED Flash Light
Man, when these things came out I thought they were a bunch of hype.  Was I ever wrong.  My son gave me one about 5 years ago, and I wouldn't take anything for it.  And here's a real kicker...I've only changed the batteries in it once in that time (and it gets used a lot, even when I'm not gigging).  The color rendering on LEDs is so much better for actually reading the back of a power amp in a dark club.  The Maglite XL50 is the replacement for what I'm carrying.  About $30 at Frys.

Cab Grabber Mic Holder
If you're a sound man, or a guitarist who mic's up his cabinet then you'll love this.  It's a fairly new offering from Audix, and will run you about $50.  But then you've got something that holds the mic in place and you don't have to worry about knocking over a stand (and I'm all about getting rid of as many mic stands on stage as possible.  You can find 'em at Musician's Friend online.  And if Santa doesn't bring me a couple of these, I'll use any cash I get to score some.

 

 

Portable Guitar Work Stand

I've got a pretty nice bench at home where I can work on my guitars, but every now and then you find yourself having to restring at a venue.  Rather than try to balance your guitar in your lap and support the neck at the same time, just grab this little gizmo from your work box and set your guitar neck in it.  From Planet Wave, the Headstand Instrument Workbench Stand is one handy little tool.  You can find 'em for $10 at all of the major online music dealers.

 

 

Music Management Software

A lot of musicians I know are carrying iPads...myself included.  I originally got mine for remote control of my mixing console, but it's morphed into a whole lot more.  My iPad has now replaced 3 large notebooks of charts and lyrics, and made them more usable on stage then ever before. 

 

There are several programs out there, but the one I'm using is called OnSong (http://www.onsongapp.com/) , available for iPad, iPhone, and iPod.  It not only lets me organize all of my lyric sheets, but also lets me build sets and then scroll through the songs in order.  You can import Word, PDF, and most image files directly, but the magic really happens when you take the time to put your cheat sheets into Chordpro format.  Then, you've got display control of the fonts for the chords and lyrics separately.  You can even transpose the key of a song on the fly.  It's the best $8 I've spent in a long time. 

 

The program also supports Bluetooth pedals that will scroll the page and advance to the next song hands free. 





 

 

Mic Stand Drink Holder

'Cause you know you're gonna drink something. Saves you from spilling your beverage into your amp or knocking it over on the floor. Plus, you don't have to bend down or turn your back to the audience (unless that's part of your stage persona). There's lot's of 'em out there for $10 to $20.

 

 

 

Hope this gives you a few ideas.

 

Next week, we'll talk about something a little different.  This is the time of year a lot of bands are getting out of the clubs and into private parties.  They're two very different gigs, and we'll discuss how you should be approaching each one.

 

Until then, keep the meters out of the red!

 

Ken

 

 



Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area. You can reach Ken at itsjustlogistics@gmail.com

 

OK...Let Me Hear The Kick

PA in place...everything tested and working...monitors set.  Now, it's time to build the mix that you'll be presenting to the audience this evening.

If you've got 3 vocal mics, this is going to be real quick.  If you're fully mic'd up with all the instruments going through the PA, this is going to take a bit.  

Before you start mixing, you need to have some idea what you're going for.  It's no different than if you sit down to draw something.  If you just start, there's no telling what you're going to wind up with or even when you're done.  If you're a band member that running sound, you should have some idea what you want to sound like.  

If you're working with a sound man, take a moment to convey some idea of what you would like in the house mix.  If you're a country band, you don't want a death metal or funk kick drum dominating the mix.  Likewise if you're a rock band, you don't want the vocals 12dB in front of everything else.  Try to put it in general terms, such as a well known band.  One of the best examples I've heard was from Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens when he told the house sound man "make it sound like The Beatles...just louder".  That gave the sound man an instant point of reference to start his mix.

For vocals only, get things balanced and intelligible, add a dash of reverb and away you go.  Don't get really hung up on a lot of effects on the vocals unless you have a way to turn them on and off.  Otherwise, if you're talking to the crowd between songs with a lot of echo on your voice, it's just silly.

And don't forget to use the low-cut on your inputs if you have it.  I pretty much use it on everything except kick, bass guitar, and keys.  Your voice has no useful information below 100Hz...the only thing down there in a vocal mic is rumble and bleed from other instruments.

If you're running instruments through the PA, there are entire books written on various mixing techniques.  How you set this up, again, depends on the band, the style of music, and the room.  

Just remember that unless you're in a huge room, you're not trying to displace the stage sound completely with the PA...you just want to build on it.  The idea is just help the instruments project into the venue.

Somewhere down the road, we'll go a little more in depth on different ideologies of building a mix.  For now, just keep these bullet points in mind:

• Make sure the vocals are present and intelligible.  People like to hear the words to the song so they can sing along.
• If you're a Cookie Monster-vocals death metal band, you can forget about the above
• Fortunate enough to have a stereo PA?  Keep the vocals, bass, kick, and snare in the middle and pan guitars to the side.  If you have keyboards and enough channels, run 'em in stereo and pan 'em 9:00-3:00.
• If you're playing to a dance crowd, then a solid kick drum in the mix is very advantageous. But keep in mind that the kick you hear on a lot of recordings is either electronically generated or is a result of a complicated chain of multiple mics / EQs / Compressors.   It's more important that you make it work well with the bass guitar than it is to have this huge monster sound all by itself.
• In reference to the above, don't burn 50 minutes of your 1 hour sound check on the kick drum...nobody has ever left a show humming the kick drum part from a song.
• If you notice you're cutting the same frequency on every channel, then you've got an issue with the house EQ.  Make your system adjustments there...not on the individual channels.
• The idea is to make the instruments fit together like a sonic puzzle.  If you have both the kick drum and the bass guitar trying to dominate the low end, it's not "heavy"...it's just mud.
• Likewise, if you have 2 guitar players with similar tones then you just wind up with a bunch of white noise.  EQ them slightly differently and pan them if you have the option.
• You can always cut what you don't want, but you can't add back what isn't there.  Guitarists who insist on scooping all of their mids out are guaranteed to be totally covered up by the drums in the PA.  The midrange is where the majority of a guitar's sonic information is...don't throw it away before your sound man has a crack at it.
• Once sound check is done...don't touch the input levels on the channels!!!  If you do you've not only jacked up the main mix but the monitors as well (unless you're using a separate monitor board...and if you are you don't need these articles).

Having a sound man is a luxury, that you can't always afford.  Heck, there are some rooms I play that there wouldn't even be a place to set up a front of house console without knocking out 15% of the seating.  And running back and forth between a mixer on stage and listening out front is a pain as well.  

But there are a lot of technologies out there now that let you drive your console by remote control.  Behringer (those guys again) just introduced their X32 digital console that lets you set the fader levels through an iPad wirelessly.  Presonus steps that up a notch with their Studio Live consoles by giving you access to every channel function via iPad remote.  I just built a new PA around the Studio Live 24.4.2...it's an amazing piece of gear that not only sounds good, it replaced the equivalent of a 24 space rack of compressors and EQs.

Granted, those solutions will set you back from $2000 up to over $15,000.  Mackie, however, has broken the $1000 barrier with a 16 channel host frame that uses an iPad as it's user interface and mixing engine.  The DL1608 is a game changer...it's the first digital mixing system I know of at that price range and in a small console format.  If you're looking to upgrade or replace your mixer anytime soon, you at least owe it to yourself to look at some of the digital solutions.

That's enough for today.  I gigged last night and still have to clean my instruments and gear.  

Next week, we'll take a step away from the heavy duty tech stuff.  A few weeks ago in the "What's In Your Tool Box" post I talked about a few of my go-to gizmos that I have to have in my tool box.  I'll share a few more of my "gotta have" things next week...still in time for you to drop hints for the holidays!

Until then, keep the meters out of the red!

Ken

Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area. You can reach Ken at itsjustlogistics@gmail.com

More Me!!!!

In our last episode we got the stage mic'd, did a line check to make sure everything was connected and working,  and now we're ready to start making some noise.

 

Now, there are two schools of thought in the audio world as to what you do next...dial in the monitors or start building the house mix.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

 

Building the house mix first does get the most important thing out of the way first.  However, you're asking the musicians to perform without monitors.  I've been on the stage end of this arrangement, and I can tell you that it's uncomfortable...especially in a big hall.  And as far as I can tell, the only other advantage to it is that it lets you build the monitor mix on top of what you're hearing in the room.

 

Personally, I prefer to get the monitors out of the way first.  In my book, the advantages are:

• The performers can hear themselves and will play/sing with more confidence
• The house mix can then be built on top of the monitor bleed off of the stage

What happens now depends on how many monitor mixes you have to deal with, and how much is actually mic'd up and going through the PA.  As a bare minimum, you hopefully have 2 monitor mixes...one for the vocalists and one for the drummer (who, since he/she is usually in the back won't be able to hear the PA as well).

 

I like to get the vocalists set first.  And here's a secret I'll let you in on when you're dealing with one monitor mix across several vocalists...there has to be one person louder than everyone else.   Logic would dictate that the lead singer (or whomever is singing the bulk of the songs) would be that person.  But, if one of band members is doing this job then he'll likely make himself the loudest.  It never fails.  Trying to make everyone "even" in the mix will only result in a volume spiral throughout the night.  Someone has to be the king of the mix, so make the decision and get over it.

 

The drummer's mix depends again on how much is actually mic'd up and going through the PA. If you're mic'ing everything, then they usually like a "full" mix...almost what's in the front of house with their kick and snare on top.  Some guys just need vocal cues, and maybe a guitar if they're not close to the amp.  In most rooms the bass is next to the drummer so putting that in the monitor is redundant.

 

If you're in a position where everyone can have their own mix, you don't have to make near the compromises.  And it's not near as expensive as it used to be to have multiple mixes...a lot of consoles now in the $500-$1000 range have 6 or more aux sends.  Just keep in mind that the more stuff you put into a monitor mix, the better quality your monitors have to been.   Putting kick, snare, bass, 2 guitars, and all vocals into a $60 Pyle monitor is just going to leave you disappointed.  The idea is not to displace what you're already hearing on stage, but only add what you can't hear.

 

On the vocal monitors, you're probably going to have to do some kind of EQ on them to suppress the feedback.  We previously discussed the importance of pointing the monitors at the null point on the mic, but that only gets you so far.  To really crank the monitors, you're going to need either a graphic or a parametric equalizer.  Graphic EQs are a little easier to understand and set, but in my book the parametrics are more powerful.  

 

If you're using a graphic EQ, the more bands you have the more "surgical" you can be about your cuts.  First, I usually cut everything below 100Hz and above 12kHz.  Unless you've got drums and bass in the monitors, there's not really any useful information there.

After that, the process is pretty simple...raise the volume of the monitor just until it starts to feed back, and then start pulling down sliders.  After a while, you develop an ear and kind of know what frequencies to grab on the EQ.  Once you find the frequency, just pull it down 4-6dB...don't bottom it out all the way.  Extreme EQ moves introduce other artifacts, and there's just no need to cut anymore than you have to.

 

Up the volume, and repeat.  You may have to bring down the same frequency, or a different one.  

 

So...when are you done?  Once you've touched about a third of the sliders between 100Hz to 12kHz...STOP.  You've reached the point of diminishing returns.  All you're doing after that is just turning everything down.

 

For setting a parametric EQ, I'll up the gain on the mid-high band about 6 dB and then sweep the frequency.  If nothing feeds back, I'll turn everything up and repeat.  Once I find a frequency that feeds back, I'll cut it 6dB.  Then if you have a bandwidth control (also known as "Q") I'll alternate between turning up the monitor and adjusting that until I can get the most volume with the least amount of bandwidth.  I'll repeat for the the low mid and high bands as well.

 

I've been asked about in-ear monitors.  I'll tell you that I think their great personally, and I've been using them in some of my bands since around 2004.  The take some getting used to.  Scratch that...they take a lot of getting used to.  But my hearing was taking too much damage from stage volume so I had to do something.

 

If you decide to go this route, keep in mind that you can't share monitor mixes.  You're also shut off the room, so if you're mixing yourself from the stage you have to have at least one person that's not using them.  Otherwise, you have to have a front of house sound man.   I've built a couple of in-ear systems for bands, and if there's interest I'll cover that in a future article.

 

It's been a long time comin', but next week we're ready to tackle the main mix.  We'll look at mixing from the stage as well as using a sound man.  And we'll touch on some new technology that I'm using now that will give you the best of both worlds.

 

Until next time, keep the meters out of the red!

Ken

Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area. You can reach Ken at itsjustlogistics@gmail.com

Check 1, 2...

The next time you're in front of your mixer or console, take a look at all the knobs. You've got the usually bass, mid, treble, and maybe a frequency sweep if you've got parametric EQ on your board. There are probably Aux sends, Effects sends, and the overall channel volume. But one knob I've never seen on a board is a "Sucks" knob. You know, something you can turn down if the sound sucks (or turn up if it's your last night as the band's sound man).

So if the sound coming into the board sucks, there's not a 1-knob solution to fix it, is there? There's only so much you can do with EQ (and extreme EQ moves have their own drawbacks). So what's a sound man on a budget supposed to do?

If you have a crappy sound source or a crappy mic on it, you're pretty much just trying to polish a turd from then on.

Bad sources...sometimes we can do something about that, and sometimes not. If you're trying to mic up a drummer who has a kit that the heads haven't been replaced in this century or doesn't know how to tune them, your hands are tied. Likewise, the guitarist who thinks that a $100 Fender Squire into a Behringer distortion box and a Roland Cube is "his sound" is going to come through like an ice pick to the forehead. But at least you can avoid making it worse than it already is.

And for the musicians that have great gear and know who to use it, so much the better.

A great guitar tone can be ruined by putting a cheap (or damaged) mic in front of it. Likewise, your vocalist could wind up sounding like the speakers at Sonic Drive-In with a $19 no-name mic. No, these days there are a lot of great mics for under $100, and those mics will last you for years if you take care of them.

It's no secret that I'm an old school Shure guy when it comes to mics. In fact, I've done shows with nothing but SM-57's on everything (including the kick drum), and it sounded pretty darned good. An SM-57 will set you back $80, but for the money there's not a better mic in my book for guitar, snare, and toms. Some vocalists like 'em too.

For vocals, the $100 SM-58 (very similar design to the 57) is the industry workhorse. When you see bands on arena shows that could use any mic they wanted still using those for vocals, that's says something. Plus, they're tough as anything....you can darn near pound a nail with 'em and then start singing (note: Please don't try this yourself...I can't be responsible for your mic if you do).

I've also got to give props to Audix for their offerings in vocal mics now...I'm starting to see a lot of them on major shows. In one of my bands, the lead vocalist has started using the OM-7, which was tailor made for a rock-n-roll band with a lot of on stage volume. You get right up on the mic, and it punches right through. But, it's designed so that it doesn't pick up a lot of instrument bleed when you step away from it. It's pricy (about $230 on the street), but if you're a singing guitar player with a loud amp right behind you it's the perfect mic.

I like good ol' dynamic mics on male vocals, but for females I really like to put a condenser on them. One of the best I've heard is the Shure Beta 87C. Great output and a wonderfully open top end. You do have to be a little careful with it...it's got a lot of reach and will pick up the drummer's cymbals very well (which may or may not be a good thing). It's about $250, but if you're a female vocalist and serious about your sound you owe it an audition.

If those prices are a bit much for you, then look at Shure's PG series of mics. They're about half the price and pretty close in quality. Truth be known, the PG-56 has become my new favorite on toms. It's a compact design with a built-in stand adapter. In fact, for about $65 you get the mic and a rim-mount mic holder that attaches to the edge of the drum. For the average drum kit, that's 3 or 4 mic stands that just disappeared from your stage!

If you're wanting to mic the kick drum (and this actually should be the first drum to get attention), then take into account what your PA system will support. If you have a couple of speakers on sticks with 12 inch woofers, you're not going to be able to carry any appreciable amount of low end through them. You could stick a 57 in the kick and pick up a little bit of the beater sound just to help convey the presence of the kick, but that's about all.

But, if you've got some decent full range cabinets and some subwoofers then you've got some options. There are a lot of mics out there now optimized for kick drums. They already have an EQ curve built into them that has a cut between 200 to 400Hz, and a boost up around 3-5kHz.

My favorite kick drum mic is the EV 868, but a lot of people like the Audix D6. The AKG D-112 is a long time standard for mic'ing kick drums as well (I used them back in the 80's). You're looking at around $200 for any of these mics, but they will save you a lot of time at the board trying to dial in a decent sound. The D6 is probably the most aggressive sounding, followed by the 868, with the D-112 being the most mellow of the bunch.

Most sound guys don't worry about overhead mics on a drum kit except on a big stage, but they're missing a lot. A couple of condenser mics up over a drum kit add a lot of space and air to the sound...it really opens it up. In fact, in smaller rooms I'll bring the overheads up first on the board, and then use individual mics on the drums to fill in.

Again, you could spend hundreds (or even thousands) on those mics, but for club and regional work I've found some really good, inexpensive options. I know I rag on Behringer a lot (but hey, most of their rack mount gear that I've bought has crapped out on me). But one thing they got right was the C-2 condenser mic. It's an omni directional with a nice flat response. And get this, you can get a pair of them for about $60.

I know that this post read like a Shure and Audix commercial, but I'm not making any money from 'em. This is just the gear that I've had experience with and has had a good track record with me.

And oh yeah..last week's trivia question....

Q: What's the best song to end your sound check with?
A: The first song of the night!

Think about it, whatever tweaks you make to that tune means that you're starting from much more of a "known" point. Of course, if you're running late and have to sound check in front of an audience this doesn't work. In that case you want to check with a "dense" song....lots of vocals and heavy instrumentation....unless you're an acoustic band:)

Next week, let's get our hands on a console and get the monitors for the band set up.

Until then, keep the meters out of the red!


Ken

Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area. You can reach Ken at itsjustlogistics@gmail.com

Ready, Fire, Aim!

So, we're at the point where we've arrived at the venue, loaded in the show, and got everything hooked up.  It's time to fire up the sound system and see if our preparations have paid off.  If you've got good power, checked all of your cables, and didn't break anything on the way to the gig you should have something that resembles audio oozing out of your speakers now.

What happens now depends on just how elaborate your sound system is.  If you're simply putting vocals through the PA, it's going to be quick and easy.  However, if you're mic'ing up an entire band, then you've got as much as 16 (or more) channels to adjust and then mix all together (I've done regional bands in large clubs that filled up a 48 channel desk).  So, in the next few weeks we'll be covering setting up this aspect of the show, starting simple and getting more complex.

But before we start building a mix, what can we do to make sure it sounds as good as we can make it?  Well, it might surprise you that the physical placement of mics and speakers can make a huge impact.

First, your main speakers.  This may seem really basic, but a lot of bands miss this.  Make sure your speakers are pointing at the intended audience.  If there's a dance floor or "listening" area in the venue, that's what you want to cover.  You do not want to be blasting the bar area.  If bartenders can't hear, they can't take drink orders.  If they can't take drink orders, they don't make any money.  It goes downhill from there.

Having your speakers pointing straight out from the stage area is frequently what you don't want.  Why?  You know those horns in your main PA speakers?  Yeah, the things that spit out all the treble....they work just like a nozzle on the end of a garden hose.  So your sound doesn't shoot straight out, it's in a spray pattern anywhere from 60 to 90 degrees wide.

So while your speaker may look like it's "aimed" at the audience, you could still be directing a lot of acoustic energy where you don't want it...like the above mentioned bar.  Yeah, I know...it looks cooler to have 'em pointing straight out (and I've had to fight this battle).  But I ask you this...did the audience come to see you perform or stare at your PA?  Yeah, that's what I thought.  Now, you go tease your hair and let me finish my job here, OK?

Sending a lot of sound into a wall is not necessarily a good thing either...especially if it's a hard surface or worse yet, glass. 

I recently had an experience setting up a band in a club where one wall perpendicular to the stage was mirror.  All of the vocal mics were set up behind the main speakers, and all of them were behaving well except for the lead vocalist's mic...it was feeding back like crazy.  There were no monitor slants on stage (the band all used in-ear systems), and the mics closest to the mains were not having problems.

Finally, I starting suspecting that we were having reflection issues off the glass.  I used a laser pointer, and starting from main speaker near the mirrors, I scanned down the mirror.  At the edge of horn, I got a laser reflection that shot right back to the lead vocal mic in the center of the stage.  BUSTED!!  We angled that speaker cabinet in about 20 degrees, and the problem was solved.  The entire system sounded better in the back of the room as well.

 



If you're using monitor slants on stage, then this "aiming" thing gets really important.

First, you should be using cardiod patter mics (we'll do a post on just mic patterns on down the road).  For now, you just need to know that a cardiod mic is the least sensative to sound coming from the connector end.  So, you want to aim the monitor down the back of the mic in order to get the most volume from your monitors without feedback.

You'll still likely need to ring the monitor out with EQ (another post).  But this will get you started.

Don't forget about reflections coming off of the ceiling and back wall of the stage.  If you have a monitor feeding back when the performer steps away from the mic, that's likely your problem. 

I had that problem with one band in a normally problem-free room.  The back wall of the stage area was carpeted, but the band had hung a large metal sign directly behind the drumer and the lead vocal mic.  Every time the vocalist moved away from the mic, it was feedback city (and when I turned it down, it wasn't loud enough).  Moving the sign was not an option (egos at play here).  But, what I was able to do was angle the top of the sign out from the wall and moved the reflections down away from the vocal mic.  Unfortunately, I started getting all kinds of crap in the drum mics then and wound up pulling everything but the kick and snare out of the mix.  But hey, it was much more important to have that sign on the wall so the 5 people in the club knew who these guys were.

Here's one I came across earlier this year.  I had set up and rang out the monitor for one of the performers in a band.  I had it nice and clear and loud with no feedback.  However, he steps up to the mic and it's starts squeling uncontrolably.  I'm looking around at what could have changed, and after a few minutes it dawned on me.  He was wearing a cap with the bill down low over his eyes.  When he stepped up to the mic, the sound was reflecting off of the cap and into the mic.  He normally doesn't wear a cap during performance, so I had him take it off.  The problem went away.   So from that, we take away:

Ken's Road Tip #81:  Sound check it like you're going to play it.

That includes checking at the volume level you intend to play at (or actually, a little more).
It's a lot less risky to turn a system down during performance than turn it up to a level you haven't checked at.  And remember that people are really good sound absorbers, so they're going to soak up some of the sound during the gig.  At least, I hope you have an audience to do that. 

Next week, let's talk a bit more in depth about mics, and why you use certain mics in certain applications.  We'll talk about why they are one of the most important investments you make in a sound system.

And I'll leave you with a trivia question....
Q:  What's the best song to end your soundcheck with?

Send me your answers at itsjustlogistics@gmail.com.  Whoever gets it right gets a shameless plug and shoutout next week.

Until next time, keep the meters out of the red!

Ken
 

Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area. You can reach Ken at itsjustlogistics@gmail.com

Higher Ground

Last time, we talked about AC power and its obvious importance and impact on your show. If you look at a North American 120 volt outlet, you see three connection points....known as hot, neutral, and ground. The hot and neutral both have to be there in order for power to be delivered to your gear. But it's that third connection, the ground, that can either save your life or play havoc with your show.

Ground loops...almost everyone has heard of 'em. But, do you actually understand what's happening and why it's causing that loud hum in your equipment? Those of you who do...go get yourself a beverage and meet us back here in a few minutes. Everyone else, get ready to roll us your sleeves and delve into this mystery.

Remember Road Tip #3 from last time?

Thou shalt have one and only one path to ground.

First, lets dispelled a very common misconception about ground. Ground is a reference. It's not a value. So, most folks assume ground is zero volts. Well, it may appear to be in a lot of instances. But if you measure the potential between two different ground points, you're going to see a voltage of some magnitude. This is because we live in an imperfect world.
 

OK, here's a really common place for a ground loop to occur.  If you have a sound board out

front and your power amps on stage (as you should), then electrically it looks like this:

The natural thing for your sound man to do is to plug the console into the nearest outlet, but this is what you wind up with.  With a current flowing on the ground, the 60 Hz (50 for some parts of the world) will wind up being introduced into your main signal.  The further away the console is from the amps, the worse it is.  So, how do you fix it?

You have to break the loop somewhere.  And this is where people get into trouble.  They put one of those 3-to-2 wire adapters on either the amp or the mixer (which should just be outlawed because I've never seen anyone use them correctly).  Everything gets quiet and they thing they've fixed the problem.  And while technically they have "fixed" it, they've introduced a very serious potential problem.  

 

The ground wire in an AC power cord is generally 16 gauge wire, which means it can handle 13 amps without failing.  The ground wire in the mic cable that's connecting the mixer and the amp, however, is probably more like 22 or 24 gauge (as the numbers get bigger, the wire gets smaller).  The max current that wire can take is about 2 amps.  At that point, it's probably going to burn up.

 

So, in the event of a short, your ground wire in the mic cable has a good chance of failing...leaving the chassis of mixer energized.  Then when you touch it, YOU become the path to ground.  Not pleasant at all.

 

So, how should this be dealt with?  One way is to plug the mixer into the same outlet as the amp.  This means running an extension cord along with your snake, but if you've prepared your cables correctly then it's no big deal.

 

The best way is to lift the ground on one end of the audio cable (the blue wire in the diagram).  This is what I will do in permanent installations.  Typically, I'll leave it grounded at the console (since everything has to run through that) and lift it at the amp.  That's really the best solution, since everything now has a solid AC ground connection and the loop is broken.

 

There are other solutions available that will accomplish this with varying results.  Using an isolation transformer in the audio link will break the ground loop as well.  This is how you would use a transformer to break the loop in an unbalanced audio line.

The transformer couples the audio (the process is called "mutual inductance" if you really want to get your geek on and Google it).  But sinces there is not direct connection between the two devices, there is no loop.

The only downside to this is that unless you use a high quality transformer, your audio quality will suffer.  By the way...if you've ever wondered what's in a passive DI box, you're looking at it.

There are also "ground filters" out there which use a variety of methods to treat ground loops.  That are IMHO at best band aids, and at worse tourniquets (and you know what happens if you leave a tourniquet on too long).  Let the ground connections do their job protecting you...fix the loop on the audio side.

And now, the question of "why does the mic shock me"?  If you have your mic plugged into a mixer and then into an outlet, then all of those components are at one ground potential.  Then, you plug your guitar into your amp and the amp into an outlet.  Now you've got all of those things at another ground potential (unless you plug them into the same outlet as the mixer).  

So when you have your hands on your strings (which are also grounded on most electric guitars) and walk up to the mic and touch it with your lips, you've just completed the ground loop.  That wonderful tingle you feel is the current flowing!

How do you fix that?  There are a few things you can do.  Some people advocate putting capacitors in series with the ground wire in your guitar going to the bridge (and ultimately the strings).  I won't go into the math behind this (email me if you want to see it), but it still goes against my mantra of not jacking with a ground wire.

I've seen some guys carry their own "uni-ground" power distro systems.  It amounts to a series of outlet boxes that plug into an outlet close by, but only use the hot and neutral.  The ground wire then snakes between the boxes and ultimately ties to one plug.  It works just fine on paper, but it's a cluster to carry around and deploy.

The one sure way I've found over the years to solve the "gettin' shocked by the mic" syndrome is to use a wireless device...either with the mic or on your guitar.  Then, you've absolutely broken the ground path between the guitar and the amp.  There are some really decent wireless guitar systems out there now for under $200 (unlike my first one I got in the mid 80's for $2000).  Plus, you've got one less cable to tangle up on stage.

Next week, let's get back into the audio world (because let's face it...it's a lot more exciting than talking about power and ground).  In fact, I see a few weeks in sound world coming down the pipe.

And I've received a couple of emails asking this, so I'll bring it up here.  If there's something specific you would like to see addressed, let me know.  I've got a list of topics I'm planning to write about that goes into mid 2013, but they're in no specific order.  Feel free to drop me a line any time if there's a problem or situation you're trying to work through.

Until next week, keep the meters out of the red.

Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area. You can reach Ken at kcarvertx@gmail.com

More Power To You!

Ask any working band what's the most important thing they need for a good show, and they'll likely name off a myriad of items, substances, or mental states. And while something can be said for all of that, they'll likely miss something much more basic.

Namely, electrical power. 

Electricity...juice, power....whatever you call it everything from your vintage Marshall to your modern PA system needs it. We don't think about, because most of the time we just plug in and it works. But like the liquor you get from the bar...it can vary wildly in quality. And sometimes, how you plug everything in can make a difference as well.

When going into a new venue (or one I haven't played in a while) the first thing I do is assess the power situation. The things I want to know are: 

  - What outlets are live and wired correctly
  - What outlets are on what circuit breakers.

The first is pretty simple if you have an outlet tester like we described last week. The second is a little more challenging, but with the proper tool can be accomplished. This is where I break out the trusty circuit sniffer.

This device is actually sold for the purpose if identifying what breaker controls an outlet (and that's a handy thing to know if the breaker panel is accessible). But what I'll use it for is to figure out what outlets are on the same breaker. For the purpose of finding shared outlets, just plug in the transmitter and go around to different outlets with the "sniffer". If it beeps, the two outlets are on the same circuit. No beep...you've found a separate circuit.  Quite the handy thing to have...it will set you back about $40 at Lowes or Home Depot.

Electrical codes (for the most part) say you can have up to 4 outlets on a single breaker. What we want to do (at a bare minimum) is to try to find at least a couple of different circuits...especially if you're carrying any appreciable amount of lighting. The idea here is to get your sound on one breaker and the lighting another.

The advantage to doing this is two fold. First, you're more likely to trip a breaker with a lot of lighting than you are with your sound gear (unless you're just carrying an insane amount of both). If you do blow the lighting breaker, you don't stop the show completely.

Second, lighting tends to be more of a noise maker as far as the power line goes (it's referred to as Conducted Emissions in UL speak). Keeping your sound on a separate circuit helps keep some of this garbage from coming out of your speakers. We'll talk more in a bit about electrical power quality. For now, we're more concerned with quantity.

Grounding is one of those things that everyone has heard of, knows it's important, but really can't explain. There have been volumes written on the subject, and there can be some really hairy mathematics associated with the principles. If you want to know that stuff, it's out there. However, this discussion is all about putting a show on...not a math lesson.

A functioning ground performs a couple of important functions for us.

• In the event of an internal short in a piece of gear, it gives the current a return path other than you!
• It gives the noise, buzz, and hum that your cable shields pick up somewhere to go besides your amp.

The first is an obvious safety issue. This is why you've always heard that you shouldn't defeat or remove the ground pin on an AC plug. I know, this is where you tell me "...but my stuff hums if I don't do that." We'll talk more about that next time, but for now know that the reason you have a hum is because you have multiple ground paths and you have violated the cardinal rule in audio system grounding:

Ken's Road Tip #3 - Though shalt have one and only one path to ground.

  

Some clubs and venues have the power thing figured out. They will have a few dedicated circuits on stage for the bands use. Where you have to be careful is in those venues where bands were an after thought. If there are outlets on the stage area (ie; corner of the dance floor), it's quite possible they were run from the beer cooler, air conditioner, or the signs on the outside of the building (I've seen this one first hand). While your sound checking, listen to your gear for changes in sound quality, hums or buzzes that come and go, or any other gremlins that might plague your performance.

Of course, short of carrying your own power distribution system and pulling your power from the electrical service entrance (this is how we did it when we were carrying 64,000 watt lighting rigs), then you're at the mercy of the club wiring. The best thing you can do it make sure you have some decent amount of power conditioning/filtering between your equipment and the outlet.

Lets talk about what constitutes "decent" power conditioning. A decent power conditioner will provide a path to ground for noise that is on the lines prior to getting to your gear. It will also function as a clamp for any high voltage spikes that come along. Spikes...I've seen them as high as 300 volts on a 120 volt line. They happen when motors or compressors (the refrigeration kind) start and stop. They typically only last a fraction of a second, but the detrimental effects are cumulative. You want the conditioner to take the brunt of this abuse...not your gear.

  

A "decent" power conditioner is not one of those strips you get for 3 bucks at the check out line at Walmart. Those things might have some clamping in them, but they're typically so slow to react that the majority of the spike gets through before they kick in. Nope, this is one of those times where you get what you pay for.

Personally, I like the power conditioning gear from Tripp, Furman (not the RackRider stuff...it's crap unless you rebuild it), APC, and Monster. Whether you get the rack mount stuff or the power strips, make sure that you've got something protecting your investments.

Here's something that doesn't get mentioned much...power conditioners wear out! Yep, you read that right. Remember when I said that the damage from spikes adds up over time? Well, there's a component inside power conditioners that absorbs these spikes (it's called a "varistor" if you're curious) that does break down over time.

So how do you know when it's past it's prime? Some of the better conditioners have an indicator to tell you. For my stuff, I have the ability to check it on a test bench (which I do twice a year). For everyone else, I would recommend replacement every 5 to 10 years or if your gear has gone through a major electrical event (noticeable power surge, nearby lightning strike, etc). It's a lot cheaper to replace a couple of hundred bucks worth of power conditioners than it is a few thousand dollars worth of gear.

With more and more gear being essentially dedicated purpose computers, it's getting more and more important to deliver clean power to your equipment. One thing we haven't talked about is voltage regulators. These are a different animal from conditioners, in that their purpose in life is to make sure that you actually have 120 volts delivered to your gear...not 105 (less than optimal), or 140 (really bad).

Regulators actually turn the voltage up and down as needed to keep a consistent output. The really good ones use a multi-tap transformer, but they can be heavy and are expensive (typically north of $500). The less expensive ones perform the function using solid state devices, but the downside is they introduce their own noise. If you're carrying any significant amount of digital equipment (keyboards, mixers, etc) you owe it to yourself to look at adding voltage regulation to your set up. They even make a difference with tube amps, and help cut down on that "man...my amp sounded great earlier...what happened" syndrome.

Next time, we'll wrap up our discussion on power by going into more detail on grounding and the potential issues (there's a pun in there) that you can run into. And we will attempt to answer that age old question, "Why is my mic shocking the $#!+ out of me?"

Until next time, keep the meters out of the red!

Ken

Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area. You can reach Ken at kcarvertx@gmail.com