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[John Marsden]

Between band sets – when you put back ground music through the PA, do you alter the EQ so its sounds rubbish! Ie take out the highs or lows. So then when the live sound comes back on it will sound very bright and real?

I do notice that often at venues the back ground music is more akin to an lorry engine idling with no real discernible vocals etc.

What volume do you play the background / interval music at.

Currently – Rock trio play at ~ 102 db to 105 db front of house. To pub/bar space.
(Sometimes a vocal guitar duo at 96db)

Through Db 503 from Yamaha analogue deck. Ipod for music – usually some Spotify Indie playlist.
The FOH goes through a channel strip so I can mess about with it a bit if necessary.

Any advice much appreciated, thank you.

[Tim McCulloch]

Between band sets – when you put back ground music through the PA, do you alter the EQ so its sounds rubbish! Ie take out the highs or lows. So then when the live sound comes back on it will sound very bright and real?

I do notice that often at venues the back ground music is more akin to an lorry engine idling with no real discernible vocals etc.

What volume do you play the background / interval music at.

Currently – Rock trio play at ~ 102 db to 105 db front of house. To pub/bar space.
(Sometimes a vocal guitar duo at 96db)

Through Db 503 from Yamaha analogue deck. Ipod for music – usually some Spotify Indie playlist.
The FOH goes through a channel strip so I can mess about with it a bit if necessary.

Any advice much appreciated, thank you.

No, I don't routinely alter the pre show or set change music.  In one venue we work the promoter provides the pre show music and the bands provide the set change music.  I would not presume to make tonal changes unless directed to do so.

I expect some of what you're complaining about is from the source material.  I've had streaming stuff that sounds like rubbish over the PA but sounds "okay" over cheap ear buds.  It's possible that some recordings have been re-coded to from WAV to mp3 to AIFF back to mp3 again (or similar).  Could be lots of stuff.

As for level, it depends on the gig and audience.  If the audience is in a social mood I'd not try to get over them with the interval music.  If the performers want to use a more stimulating level then, well, it's their show...  My personal preference is to err on the side of low SPL and build up toward the start of the set.  Unless there is a specific band intro song I want the interval music to be lower than the live performance, how much depends on too many variable to list.  I think this is one of the things you develop a feel for.

[Scott Bolt]

Between band sets – when you put back ground music through the PA, do you alter the EQ so its sounds rubbish! Ie take out the highs or lows. So then when the live sound comes back on it will sound very bright and real?

I do notice that often at venues the back ground music is more akin to an lorry engine idling with no real discernible vocals etc.

What volume do you play the background / interval music at.

Currently – Rock trio play at ~ 102 db to 105 db front of house. To pub/bar space.
(Sometimes a vocal guitar duo at 96db)

Through Db 503 from Yamaha analogue deck. Ipod for music – usually some Spotify Indie playlist.
The FOH goes through a channel strip so I can mess about with it a bit if necessary.

Any advice much appreciated, thank you.

No; however, I do tend to make the background music less loud than the band ..... and that alone gives the perception to the audience that the band "sounds better".

In addition to that, recorded music tends to be quite compressed.  I use very little (if any) compression on the band live (perhaps a bit on the vocals).  This gives the drums and bass more impact when the band comes back on ..... also giving the perception of the band "sounding better" IMO.

[Stephen Kirby]

Most of the time "break music" keeps some degree of level but much less than the band.  It gives people's ears a break but keeps it from going from quiet background to full on when the band restarts.  I usually just have it flat to reducing the bass some.  A lot of pop recordings have fairly strong bass that is more than you'd (or at least I'd) have in a live mix.  So to keep the band from sounding anemic I roll off the lows on the break music.

[Dave Bednarski]

I usually just have it flat to reducing the bass some.  A lot of pop recordings have fairly strong bass that is more than you'd (or at least I'd) have in a live mix.  So to keep the band from sounding anemic I roll off the lows on the break music.

Same on the roll off.  People need a break.  I usually add a fairly hard compressor on the channel so if I am across the room and a track comes on thats hot its squashed until I can get to it (or not).  Though I've Pandora to have really consistent levels vs. the random iPod shuffle.  That paid subscription is worth every bit for ad free goto house music - at least in my world.

[Keith Billik]

Between band sets – when you put back ground music through the PA, do you alter the EQ so its sounds rubbish! Ie take out the highs or lows. So then when the live sound comes back on it will sound very bright and real?

I do notice that often at venues the back ground music is more akin to an lorry engine idling with no real discernible vocals etc.

What volume do you play the background / interval music at.

Currently – Rock trio play at ~ 102 db to 105 db front of house. To pub/bar space.
(Sometimes a vocal guitar duo at 96db)

Through Db 503 from Yamaha analogue deck. Ipod for music – usually some Spotify Indie playlist.
The FOH goes through a channel strip so I can mess about with it a bit if necessary.

Any advice much appreciated, thank you.

I try to avoid music of the exact same genre as the band, especially what may be "better" examples of that genre. For example, if I'm mixing a blues-rock band, I'm not going to play Zeppelin and Cream during setbreak. I'd rather the band sound fresh to the listeners when they start playing, and not be upstaged in the process!

Also - I've never tried this, but I remember Dave Rat saying (in one of his videos) that he sometimes adds a bit of reverb to pre-show music so that, by contrast, the band sounds much cleaner. Rat's always a great source of interesting ideas like that!

[Scott Levine]

I try to avoid music of the exact same genre as the band, especially what may be "better" examples of that genre. For example, if I'm mixing a blues-rock band, I'm not going to play Zeppelin and Cream during setbreak. I'd rather the band sound fresh to the listeners when they start playing, and not be upstaged in the process!

Also - I've never tried this, but I remember Dave Rat saying (in one of his videos) that he sometimes adds a bit of reverb to pre-show music so that, by contrast, the band sounds much cleaner. Rat's always a great source of interesting ideas like that!

I do lower the sound significantly so that people in the crowd can converse comfortably without having to lose their voice the next day. I am not their to compete with the live acts. I will usually take it down a notch to add to the excitement when an act takes the stage. What I choose depends on the audience as I do shows with a large number of cultures. I will say I get a LOT of inquiries when I play Robin Trower! 


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[John Marsden]

Not sure of the etiquet here, but just want to say thank you for the helpful replies.
I just picked up a DBX gorack (for the feedback supression function). Probably bit of a toy to the big boys, but its cheap and we're not famous yet.
Anyway I will try the compressor setting quite high during the interval on this as it sends to the main speakers, and turn down the volume as necessary.
The accoustic duo (The Balance) recently did a wedding and the bride gave us a list of 50 songs she likes. To check them out I made a spotify playlist. from it. This turns out to be quite a pleasant fun set of popular songs. And no blues rock to be heard in it, so I may use that for the rock band interval music!
The reverb idea sounds cool. I like all that subconscious stuff you can do to enhance the audiences enjoyment of an event, Hence the question really.
Thank you to everyone.

[Luke Geis]

My guess would be it depends upon a couple factors as to why intermission music sounds as it does. In most cases the PA is made to sound good for playback music and as the night progresses it may be altered to make the bands sound work better. A limited system with no sub groups or matrix outs would be an example. The PA will eventually have to be tuned to make the band have a similar impact to the commercial media we listen to everyday. Then when the commercial media comes back on it has a mid scooped, bass heavy sound. The commercial media already has a fair amount of that going on anyway.

I myself try and keep the intermission music low, so it does not become a focal point. I try and give the edge to the band in terms of volume and impact. I do not alter the EQ of the commercial media though. I simply reduce how much low end is sent to the subs via the subs aux send. I try and only play high bit depth or stream rate music.

I suppose there are some that will make the music sound less interesting as to add favor to the live bands, but not me. I am in the camp of simply trying to make the live band sound more like the commercial media they are more than likely desiring to sound like. I use a fair bit of compression in multiple ways and places. I can often get the crest factor of a live band around  -10db to -12db, which is pretty good. While I appreciate the untouched, dynamic and natural sound of a band, I find it to be difficult to get consistent results that others appreciate. A jazz band, hell yeah they are going to be untouched, an orchestra again will be untouched, but a rock, country or metal band is going to get squished a bit. I find that If I can keep the dynamics under control I can actually mix the band instead of mixing their inconsistencies. I have only met a few bands that really get the concept of staying out of their own ways. Nothing worse than a bassist / guitarist who's cranked to 13 and says I can't hear any vocals or other instruments....... Really? I wonder why.

As to what type of intermission music, I try and play a complimentary genre that DOES NOT contain material the bands play or emulate. Simple really unless you have a cover band that does all top 40's.

[Steve Garris]

I do lower the sound significantly so that people in the crowd can converse comfortably without having to lose their voice the next day. I am not their to compete with the live acts. I will usually take it down a notch to add to the excitement when an act takes the stage. What I choose depends on the audience as I do shows with a large number of cultures. I will say I get a LOT of inquiries when I play Robin Trower! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Funny, I do the opposite. I start out with low break music, but bring it up before the band starts. This is due to typically being in a small room, where the band can easily be too loud. I don't want people to be startled by the volume difference.

As far as EQ'ing goes, I always do a little EQ on the break music, but I eventually find myself chasing it. As the club gets busier I just leave it alone. I use Spotify, which is simple and easy, but really poor music quality and consistency between songs. I'm not running it loud enough for that to be a problem, and like others have said, you want the band to sound better than the break music.

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