I feel like somewhere along the line, we went gravely wrong with live sound reinforcement. In my roughly 20 years (so far) of playing gigs in some shape or form, Ive observed mostly discouraging trends on this front. Poor sound reinforcement is so ubiquitous that most musicians seem resigned to it to it as though we dont know it could be better. For this reason and others, theres not much dialogue on the subject, so Im here to start it. Here are some often-violated concepts that I feel should be sacred tenets of live sound reinforcement. Feel free to disagree or to add your own. 1) Low end is not a competition, at least not for most music. 1a) Bass drum is PART of the instrument drum set, and ideally will be represented this way (as opposed to a detached source of loud, large thuds to rattle the subs). 2) What makes the music work should never be sacrificed for what makes the sound reinforcement work. People come to hear the music, not the sound reinforcement. Inquiries and requests are OK. Demands and attitude are counterproductive. 3) Good musicians give better performances when they balance themselves acoustically as an ensemble. Dynamics within the group are EVERYTHING when it comes to artistic expression, and should not be sacrificed for control of individual elements. Telling an instrumentalist to play unnaturally quietly relative to the loudest acoustic instrument (typically drums) will result in poorer, less expressive performances than if the sound reinforcement personnel work around the realities of ensemble blend. 4) The gig is sound REINFORCEMENT. Please dont bring a bazooka to a knife fight. In many rooms, louder instruments like drums and electric guitar might need no reinforcement at all. This is OK; ideally the musicians are professionals and can be trusted to balance themselves. 5) Each ensemble will have a unique sense of dynamics. Set and forget compressors, gates, and other dynamics processors will do grave harm to the music of instrumentalists who play with dynamic subtlety, as will attempts to tinker with the balance of the ensemble by mandating stage volumes before hearing a note of the music being played. The volume of your hits is very inconsistent is never an appropriate thing for an audio professional to say to a professional drummer. Most likely, that is precisely the point. 6) This one is for the musicians, too-- floor wedge monitors most often do more harm than good, and its never appropriate to ask an instrumentalist what they need in their monitor before a note of music is played. Its also inappropriate for an instrumentalist to attempt an answer. They dont know! This question posed at the wrong time will inevitably elicit some inane response like A little of everything, I guess? which when obliged will, of course, upset the delicate acoustic balance onstage among the ensemble. Musicians-- try seeing how little you can get away with in your wedges, specifically on small stages or small rooms. Wed be surprised how often just a little lead vocal is the best sounding solution of all. 7) Its not the guitarists or bassists fault if you (or your boss) specd the wrong amplifier for the room. A low-ceilinged 250-cap room needs a Princeton Reverb, not a Twin or a Marshall stack. Logic would dictate you can just turn the big amp down! but reality is, of course, more complex than that. If a guitarist (as many do) gets their overdrive sound in part from a device that overloads the input of the amplifier, a step on the pedal with a big, high-headroom amp will result in a louder sound than a step on the same pedal with a smaller amp. Also, most tube/valve amps do not sound their best when at unnaturally low levels, so dont throw us shade because you specd an inappropriate backline. 8) Each human body offers approx. 5 sabins of acoustical absorption. For this reason, a full hall sounds and feels very different to play in from an empty one. THIS (even more than the energy of a real show) is why musicians tend to play louder in the set than the soundcheck, and why sensitive, listening musicians will often dig in more or even grab a knob to turn it up a touch once the set begins. Theyre actually fighting the bodies in the hall! Please know and understand this. Were not all idiots with no self-control. Were sensitive listeners adjusting to the CURRENT realities of the room. Think about setting your gain structure up with this inevitability in mind. 9) Thinking about the above... what good are long soundchecks really doing anyone, anyway? Musicians-- soundcheck or no, you still probably dont want to make the single your opener! 10) It doesnt need to be so damn loud. It really doesnt. If you look around and 85% of your audience is wearing earplugs, then you have probably brought a bazooka to a knife fight. Thanks for listening! I look forward to the erudite refutation of (or agreement with) the above by the other professionals I know!
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 00:36:52 +0000
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