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Old 12-12-2018, 12:18 PM
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TBman TBman is online now
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Default When something goes wrong at a gig and no one says anything....

Not me, I was a spectator, but we stopped into the Twin Doors in Maywood NJ just last Saturday and there was a band playing who were excellent.

The only problem was that the singer didn't have his mic turned up higher than the guitars so all you heard was mumbling. There was only one song, Aqualung, where they did this megaphone effect to the vocals where you could actually hear the singer.

We left in the middle of a song so I wasn't able to mention it to the band on their break.

Someone didn't do a sound check? You would think one of the employees there would have pointed it out long before we had arrived.
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Old 12-12-2018, 12:38 PM
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I was at a Bruce Hornsby concert at the Paramount in Peekskill. The venue has an excellent sound system. For the first few songs there was a slight crackling sound from the right speaker bank which went away for the rest of the concert. I spoke to the sound engineer after the concert and complimented him for cleaning it up. He told me that the crackling was in both the R&L speakers and he was not happy about it. Obviously a good engineer who takes his job seriously!
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Old 12-12-2018, 12:48 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TBman View Post
We left in the middle of a song so I wasn't able to mention it to the band on their break.
It' always frustrating to listen to a performer whose sound can be easily improved. But it's also frustrating as a musician to have audience members giving unsolicited "helpful" suggestions. "Dude, turn up your guitar!" "Cut the 20Hz frequencies on the tambourine," etc. IMO, if you have to say anything, say it to the soundperson.

Last edited by Kerbie; 12-13-2018 at 07:04 AM.
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Old 12-12-2018, 12:56 PM
tippy5 tippy5 is offline
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I would never leave half way on any band playing Aqualung.
One of my top 5 guitar solos of all time. Pinch Harmonic artifacts, distorted compression from an amp on 11. I would leave after the solo.
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Old 12-12-2018, 04:38 PM
Steadfastly Steadfastly is offline
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We were on a boat dinner cruise this summer and the same thing happened. It was just a singer and keyboard but the singer got drowned out much of the time with the keyboard player. I wondered about the sound check as well.
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Old 12-12-2018, 04:47 PM
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It amazes me how many very competent people but musicians and sound techs try to bury the vocals in the mix. I had to fight this in the mixing of my last CD. He kept trying to lay the vocals where you had to really listen to hear them. The majority of the listening public want the vocals to be up front and clear because they want to be able to sing along. Never have understood burying them.
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Old 12-12-2018, 06:50 PM
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I've seen sound men from the largest sound company in the states make some really bush league mistakes. But what can you do?
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Old 12-12-2018, 06:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tippy5 View Post
I would never leave half way on any band playing Aqualung.
One of my top 5 guitar solos of all time. Pinch Harmonic artifacts, distorted compression from an amp on 11. I would leave after the solo.
Hearing you loud and clear about that solo tippy!
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Old 12-13-2018, 06:51 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tippy5 View Post
I would never leave half way on any band playing Aqualung.
One of my top 5 guitar solos of all time. Pinch Harmonic artifacts, distorted compression from an amp on 11. I would leave after the solo.
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Hearing you loud and clear about that solo tippy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by tbman

We left in the middle of a song so I wasn't able to mention it to the band on their break.
I would never leave in the middle of a Jethro Tull tune.....
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Old 12-13-2018, 07:03 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Goat Whiskey Picks View Post
It amazes me how many very competent people but musicians and sound techs try to bury the vocals in the mix. I had to fight this in the mixing of my last CD. He kept trying to lay the vocals where you had to really listen to hear them. The majority of the listening public want the vocals to be up front and clear because they want to be able to sing along. Never have understood burying them.
Yep, and it's not just singer-songwriters who want their vocals heard... tell the engineer to go listen to any commercial song, 'hit' song on the radio, especially from way back when... you can always hear every word.
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Old 12-13-2018, 07:23 AM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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The Royal Albert Hall in just about the prestigious auditoriums in the UK.
I saw a very famous and much beloved American "kinda country" sing with an outstanding band play there and she had an opening act of another perfectly good female "kinda country" singer whose sound was, frankly, unlistenable. (we left our box to get away from it).

It was so bad and the main act was so good that one coldn't help but wonder if the difference might have been deliberate.

That couldn't ever happen could it?
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Old 12-13-2018, 07:58 AM
Nymuso Nymuso is offline
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I see it as incumbent upon the performers and the sound techs to balance the sound, consequently I would never offer an unsolicited opinion.
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Old 12-13-2018, 08:29 AM
varmonter varmonter is offline
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Ultimatly the sound techs responsibility.
If the band is running their own sound
it was probably just a case of poor sound
check and the instruments turning up after
the set began. Lead singers like to be heard
and they should be up front in the mix.
Telling the lead singer he was muffled would
probably fix the issue. Like telling the lead
guitarist he's not loud enough...
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Old 12-13-2018, 08:47 AM
J Patrick J Patrick is online now
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....having done a fair bit of live sound engineering I am compelled to come to the defense of sound techs..yes I know there are hack sound guys just like there are hack carpenters and hack musicians...hacks aside...on many occasions I have had bands and solo musicians preside over sound checks and insist on some pretty dreadful mixes...rarely do they intentionally bury their vocals but their lack of experience especially at a sound desk in a noisy club environment. can be a problem.....vocals might sound clear in an empty room but fill that room up and the vocals are the first thing to drop out of the mix...especially when players turn up their rigs to overcome the crowd noise..when the vocals are maxed out you can”t turn them up without feedback....

....when sound mixes are poor in clubs it’s usually on the musicians...that said..a brilliant sound tech can do wonders..but only if the musicians are willing partners...all in all it’s a pretty thankless job...and even though there are well intentioned and often valid comments from the listening audience...they are not usually appreciated because a good sound tech knows very well if the mix is good or not...and they know a lot more about why it sounds the way it does than anybody else...referring to the OP’s observation that the vocals weren’t turned up high enough...it’s far more likely that the instruments were up to high...
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Old 12-13-2018, 08:50 AM
815C 815C is offline
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One of my favorite (sarcasm) things to hear after hauling thousands of dollars of gear to gig, and having invested decades into my playing is, "We couldn't hear your guitar at all."

Seems we are all at the mercy of the sound man.
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