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Author Topic: Just a suggestion for entry-level engineers  (Read 8712 times)

Scott Olewiler

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Re: Just a suggestion for entry-level engineers
« Reply #10 on: April 13, 2014, 06:24:34 PM »

Pay attention at the gig! Just got off a corporate gig with a large group (6 singers, 2 gtrs, keys, bass, drums, perc, 2 horns) and the sound guy almost never looked up from his screen to see if we needed anything. He was next to the stage, and we had to constantly holler across the stage to get his attention during the night.
Also, it would have been nice if the mics and monitors had been checked BEFORE we started our brief sound check.
Maybe I've been out of the live sound business for too long, but (back when I was doing sound) I would always have the monitors at least tested with the vocal mics, as well as the mains, before the sound check started. And I ALWAYS went onstage to hear what the monitors sounded like. When time is limited getting a rough set-up can save a lot of time. If you start the sound check with everything set to "0", and you only have 10-15 mins for a check, maybe the floor tom mic should not be your first concern.

On band gigs I have a drummer friend work with me. I tend to be completely focused on the mix where he is always watching the band and ready to leap into action at a moments notice. I frequently will glance up from my iPad to see him swapping a faulty mic stand out or repositioning a drum mic.

I know I would not have noticed these things.


 He tries to refuse pay on some of the lower paying  or easy gigs because, in his words "you have all the knowledge". I feel he's my most valuable asset and make sure he takes the money even if I have to force it on him. When people we work with tell us we did a great job, I know it's as much about the service as it is the mix.
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We're here to deliver the sound equipment. Who has the check?

duane massey

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Re: Just a suggestion for entry-level engineers
« Reply #11 on: April 13, 2014, 10:28:59 PM »

Hand signals work great, and I use them when I am performing BUT the sound guy has to look up from his screen to see the hand signals. If I am playing a tune I can't just wave and shout until I get your attention, I'm playing a tune. Look at the performers, all night long.
I will not try to embarrass you by making comments on the mic or being visibly irritated onstage, but I expect you to do your job as well as I do mine.
On a slightly different pet peeve, if you're gonna stick a clip-on mic on my trumpet (which I don't particularly like), you HAVE to pay more attention to what is happening. Trumpets and saxes don't have volume controls, even if we can play louder or softer. So, on those rare occasions that there actually IS a trumpet solo, it would be nice to not have to try and overpower your drum mix for the first 32 measures while you look all over the screen trying to find out where that annoying screeching noise is coming from.
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Duane Massey
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sam saponaro

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Re: Just a suggestion for entry-level engineers
« Reply #12 on: April 15, 2014, 01:57:00 AM »

You can kinna expect some small engineers that dont got it together or have the ear.But what pisses me off is when I see a concert and the lead guitarist goes to a lead and the volume don't come up or the harmonies are out of balance  and you look back and the soundman is farting around on his laptop or talking.
I once seen Dickey Betts and it took three songs befor this guy turned the vocals up enough to here them.Rythm guitar Blaring and no lead guitar.We walked back to the sound booth and the guy is talking to his freind with his hands in his pockets......I usually don't bother sound guys but I had to say something.
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Mark McFarlane

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Re: Just a suggestion for entry-level engineers
« Reply #13 on: April 15, 2014, 05:17:50 AM »

...We are good at what we do, but most of that is because we pay attention to what we are doing.  That is after all that is what we are being paid to do...you know pay attention...

+ a bazillion. 

The jobs I lose are always for price considerations, I won't leave my house without a minimum.  I often drop by to see how the event is going and the sound guy(s) are usually texting or talking on their phones while the band sounds like crap.

Paying attention seems so obvious...
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Mark McFarlane

Steve Oldridge

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Re: Just a suggestion for entry-level engineers
« Reply #14 on: April 15, 2014, 09:39:03 AM »

I once seen Dickey Betts and it took three songs befor this guy turned the vocals up enough to here them.Rythm guitar Blaring and no lead guitar.We walked back to the sound booth and the guy is talking to his freind with his hands in his pockets......I usually don't bother sound guys but I had to say something.
I saw Dire Straits at Reunion Arena in Dallas many yrs ago while going to college - not the first time I've seen them - and paid handsomely for floor access.. The sound REALLY, REALLY sucked.. horrible mix FOH and the sound guy was basically reading a magazine with his feet up. I said something to him and was given the bird (no surprises there). That event is what convinced me that if folks like him can run sound, then so could I.  Other similar events during the remaining college years convinced me that I didn't want to do it for a living.
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frank kayser

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Re: Just a suggestion for entry-level engineers
« Reply #15 on: April 15, 2014, 10:41:01 AM »

+ a bazillion. 

The jobs I lose are always for price considerations, I won't leave my house without a minimum.  I often drop by to see how the event is going and the sound guy(s) are usually texting or talking on their phones while the band sounds like crap.

Paying attention seems so obvious...


So obvious that we have to repeat it and beat it into people's heads over and over.  I guess "seems" is the operative word... (sigh)


As has been said in various forms - paying attention and trying trumps great ears and skills out on a smoke break or sound asleep.


It's funny, sometimes I'm thinking I'm not paying attention "all that much", but realize otherwise when someone tries to talk to me about who-knows-what and I find myself anxious, inattentive and even angry at that person for the distraction from my - maybe we should call it DUTY vs. my job.
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Re: Just a suggestion for entry-level engineers
« Reply #15 on: April 15, 2014, 10:41:01 AM »


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