When the mix goes south

[YamahaGuy]

I am blessed to be a part of a big band. We have more guitar players than we need, bass, drums, keys, a violin and several vocalists. We use most of the channels on our Allen and Heath Zed 22FX. Our "sound guy" is a nice guy but seldom comes to rehearsal, and at some point while consulting the guy in the band who owns the board, managed to destroy the mix. To compensate, I've adjusted the FOH speaker system which bandaged the problem but people were getting lost in the mix, the keys were too loud, can't hear drums, it was a mess. They had my vocal mic (a condenser) cranked up to 10 on the high band EQ. It was SO BAD.

So, I reset the FOH to more or less default settings, set everything flat, started over channel by channel, and got a really good mix before too long with the help of my cans and wireless devices to save from running back and forth.

Our soundguy wasn’t there at practice tonight. I hope he doesn't kill the mix again.

The point: if the mix is bad, don't be afraid to start from scratch.

Also, I learned ( finally ) that EQing is just as much about subtracting as it is boosting.

[Petty1818]

My main board is the QSC TM16 and in my band, I do the sound. I like doing the sound but also hate it as it requires a lot of running around before the show. I often find I am already a bit exhausted before we even play.

Anyway, with the TM16, I can give each channel a name and assign it to a specific instrument. In my particular band we have a girl who plays fiddle, accordion and mandolin, myself who plays acoustic, mandolin and octave mandolin, another guitarist and a bass player who goes direct with the bass and also plays an electric bass drum. We all sing as well so four vocals.

The beauty of the TM16 is that it remembers and saves settings. What's crazy to me though is that we often play this same venue which is quite large (300+ people) and everytime we go and set up, even with the settings the same as the last show, things sound different. I often have to adjust monitor mixes and in some cases like our past show on saturday, gain/levels will be so off that it's as if I had them turned all the way down. It's very strange how things can be so different. That's the downside of mixing live sound!

[Robin, Wales]

I'm not an experienced sound guy. I have run open mic's, and ran the desk for a jazz festival and an international dulcimer festival. And I ran the sound for our bluegrass band for 8 years. But nothing professionally.

I sort of work from a KISS principal of stating the overall aim first before getting into the weeds. I just ask myself "If I was a member of this audience, right here and now, what would I want?" And that will change for every gig/venue - as they all have different needs.

For example: Quite often that answer will be "nice, clear vocals". So that's where I will start. Get the vocals and harmony singers sounding good. And then bring in everything else behind and in support of the vocals. It's pretty simple really.

Another example: if nothing was amplified at all, many folk and acoustic bands naturally balance (a bluegrass band for example) it's how acoustic instruments and voices have worked together, balanced and blended throughout history. So, don't mess with that, use it. Think about ways to evenly "lift" that natural balance. I may look to provide stage sound reinforcement rather than a direct feed from each instrument.

Finally, I don't obsess over spl. For me balance is way more important than pushing for overall volume. I turn stuff down, and give my audience and venue a chance! If the audience wants to listen to you, then they will. If you are basically there as background music, then be background music. It's surprising how low you can go with overall pa volume and still give everyone, both performers and audience, a great night out.

[Stepan Axman]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

I'm not an experienced sound guy. I have run open mic's, and ran the desk for a jazz festival and an international dulcimer festival. And I ran the sound for our bluegrass band for 8 years. But nothing professionally.

I sort of work from a KISS principal of stating the overall aim first before getting into the weeds. I just ask myself "If I was a member of this audience, right here and now, what would I want?" And that will change for every gig/venue - as they all have different needs.

For example: Quite often that answer will be "nice, clear vocals". So that's where I will start. Get the vocals and harmony singers sounding good. And then bring in everything else behind and in support of the vocals. It's pretty simple really.

Another example: if nothing was amplified at all, many folk and acoustic bands naturally balance (a bluegrass band for example) it's how acoustic instruments and voices have worked together, balanced and blended throughout history. So, don't mess with that, use it. Think about ways to evenly "lift" that natural balance. I may look to provide stage sound reinforcement rather than a direct feed from each instrument.

Finally, I don't obsess over spl. For me balance is way more important than pushing for overall volume. I turn stuff down, and give my audience and venue a chance! If the audience wants to listen to you, then they will. If you are basically there as background music, then be background music. It's surprising how low you can go with overall pa volume and still give everyone, both performers and audience, a great night out.

Amen to that!

[Chriscom]

As Petty points out, one of the major beauties of many digital boards is being able to save settings--even if they have to be altered when live, at least it's a place to start.

But then again there's nothing sweeter than seeing every control with your eyes, without having to dive into an interface under pressure. I wonder if some of the really pro-level analog studio mixers could save settings.

One of our friends in the local scene is a sound guy, a good one, and started running sound at open mics and jams as a favor, partly because we was going crazy, partly to drum up business. That worked, he's running sound for a fee now for some local bands and is sort of on retainer at a local venue. One of my other buddies asks for my suggestions for his loud country/rock band, which I'm happy to do, but all I can really tell him is which instrument or voice is getting buried--I don't know much about EQ trickery for different sound-source frequencies and all that.

Some of the more successful local bands have their own sound guys, and it's usually, not always, a good sign. One common denominator is that even with a good balance, everything can just be too loud. Some of these guys have had their ears pounded for so long, they don't know how punishing it is, even if they're running a board out front.

And yeah there's a difference between being the reason and being background music. One of the best tips I ever got here was how raising your volume in front of a noisy crowd often just results in everyone talking louder. As a solo guy I run my own, and one time a friend asked me to to go 11 as more happy boisterous customers came in. Let me tell you what will happen if I do that....

[Brent Hahn]

One main thing to know is that you shouldn't approach it by getting the band balanced and then making the vocals outshout the band. That never works.

It also helps to have people aiming their amps at their own face, not their own ankles. Even if it looks less cool. Bass amps, btw, aren't really aimable.

As for EQ, unless you're touring with a convoy of semis, your PA mixer has cheap EQ that sounds bad when you try to boost mids and highs. And so do non-deluxe PA speakers. So don't do that.