But sometimes that's not the case. In downtown Austin it's fairly common for a venue to have a house sound (and sometimes lighting) system. And if you're lucky enough to be playing on a festival, it's almost guaranteed that the production is going to be hired in.
Of course, like everything else in the music biz there are companies and people that are really good at what they do and are equipped to deliver a professional product...and then there are those "sound companies" that are little more than "a friend with a lot of stereo equipment". When you've been doing this as long as I have, you can walk into a venue and in 30 seconds and have a pretty good idea what you have to work with.
So this week, let's talk about things you can do as a musician to make interfacing with a house or hired production team easier for all of you.
Plotting To Take Over The World
First and foremost, if you don't have an up to date stage plot...make one! It doesn't have to be anything fancy...just something that lets the sound guys know how many inputs they're dealing with and where things need to go. Here's one I did for The Michael Ingalls Band:
- How many mics/channels we're requesting
- The brand of mics we're partial to
- Starting points for what we like in our monitors
- Where we need AC power drops
- The frequencies our wireless gear operates on, just in case they use any wireless stuff.
If the sound man is worth a flip he will appreciate this because it makes his job faster and easier. But I'll warn you now that there are more than a few guys that have been mixing crappy bands in crappier clubs a lot longer than they should have, and they'll blow this off. Instead, they cop a "you'll get what I give you" attitude. They're burnt out and fed up with the endless parade of Prima Donna bands that come through thinking they're the next big thing. I feel bad for those guys, but at that point their putting themselves through it. All you can do is not be another one of those Prima Donnas, work with them the best you can, and play the best show you can. Then you decide if you want to go back to that venue again...or not.
Checkin' In
Since these guys are (hopefully) a lot more familiar with their sound systems than you are, let them run the sound check. All the pros pretty much do it the same way, build the mix from the bottom up starting with the drums. Standard sound check etiquette applies here...keep your instrument quiet while someone else is sound checking. You will get your turn.
The first step is usually a line check and EQ. Next, I like to see the monitors done. Finally, you play and let 'em build a rough house mix. I've run across one sound man that had us play before the monitors were up. I tell you, that's painful and difficult in a big room (and it was a big room). Sound guys...if any of you are reading this please don't do that to the bands you're mixing. You won't get a good sound check because we can't hear ourselves singing and will hold back. And speaking of monitors....
Monitoring The Situation
Sometimes this is the hardest part of the sound check...getting the monitors dialed in. Keep in mind that when you're setting up your monitor you'll likely have things too quiet (because the whole band is not playing). Remember that in 5 or 10 minutes, sonic chaos is going to be competing with that monitor slant in front of you...plan accordingly.
And again...don't everyone shout at the same time for something changed in your monitor. There's an old joke that applies here:
Q: What's the difference between a monitor engineer and a toilet?
A: The toilet only has to deal with one a$$hole at a time.
During the show, if you need something changed then use the universal monitor adjustment sign language. Get the sound man's attention, point the the source or person you need adjusted, point to your monitor, and then point up or down. If you're pointing to a singing guitarist, then mouth the word "vocal" or "guitar" while pointing at them. Otherwise, you don't know what you're going to get.
OK...but what if the sound man is reading a book or has walked away from the board to get a beer? See "burn out" above. You just have to deal with it.
A good sound man will have his eye on you during the show, and won't walk away from the console unless something needs to be fixed on stage. A good sound man will also not try to make you significantly alter how you set up and perform. Which brings me to...
One Bad Apple...
I played a show several years ago in Waco with The Rhythm Dawgs where there was house PA and lights. We got there early to set up, and geez...what a pile of crap. There were probably 8 different manufacturers speakers piled up on top of each other across the back of the stage. I thought it was just for looks, but the sound guy (who showed up about 15 minutes before we were scheduled to start) was going to use those as monitors. Really....monitors behind the band??? Nope...don't think so.
He also wanted us to break our amps down and move them to the side of the stage pointing in...and then tried to BS us with some mumble jumble about cross-fire phase cancellation resulting in a cleaner sound out front. (By the way, have I mentioned that a good soundman will not try to make you change the way your perform). At that point, I told him that if he had been there when he was supposed to be (over an hour ago), we would have tried to accommodate him. But now, our amps were up and were staying where they're at.
Then, no sound check...no line check...nothing. His excuse..."I know this room, I'll get you dialed in by the second song." He may know the room, but not the band. He didn't have it dialed in by the second set!
I really couldn't believe how bad this guy was...until I saw him across the street on break toking up. Later on he was bragging about how he was a "prescription drug and medical marijuana user". Sorry dude...the only thing you are is a stoner. Needless to say, we never went back.
The Friend With The Stereo
Sometimes you walk into a situation where you've got good well meaning people that have no idea what they're doing. Even worse, the equipment they bring is better suited for an iPod in a dorm room than mixing a band. I walked into one of those situations back in the 80's. The guy had a DJ mixer. Seriously...a Numark DJ mixer that he was going to do a 5 piece rock band with. His first question..."How many of you sing?". "Four" I told him. "Uh...I can only do two mics...can you work with that?".
No..we can't. So being the nice guy I am I pulled our 16 channel board and our mics from the truck. I then asked where the mains and amps were. He pointed to a Kenwood AM/FM receiver and two Sansui stereo speakers. "It kicks, man...just try it". We did, and the amp went up in smoke during the first verse.
At that point, I told the event planner that we could do one of two things...we could bring in our PA system (for an upcharge), or we could keep our deposit, leave, and promise never to come back. They took the latter, which was fine by us.
The point I'm trying to make here is that when you get into these situations, concentrate on what you have (not what you don't) and how to make it work. But sometimes...it's beyond saving. Yelling at people don't get it done. Either try to fix it, deal with it as is, or shake hands and walk away.
It Will Not Be Perfect
Even with the best gear and the best crew operating it, when you're playing on a hired or house system it's not going to be perfect. Period.
The big tours...there are usually a couple of weeks of pre-production somewhere to work out all the kinks. Two weeks...at least. For folks like us...we've got maybe a half hour. Maybe.
Do the best you can, be cool, and thank everyone at the end of the night. Be the band that the makes the crew smile when they see you walk in...not the band where the crew all says "geez...not those guys again".
It don't cost nothing to be nice.
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
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