Re: DON'T TRUST THE SOUND MAN

["MediaOne" <clifsound@mediaone.net>]

vERY GOOD POINT imo-

oM
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Sottilaro" <sine@zerocrossing.net>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2001 11:04 AM
Subject: Re: DON'T TRUST THE SOUND MAN


> While we're on the subject, WHAT THE HELL IS THE DEAL WITH ENGINEERS THAT
FEEL THEY
> NEED TO DRIVE THE SYSTEM TO THE POINT OF DISTORTION?!  I know I'm not a
spring
> chicken, but even in my youth I found it nessacery to wear some form of
ear
> protection to many shows.  I left a Beck show because all I could  hear
was a
> barely sonic rumble and an annoying hiss.  The fault of the venue?  NOT.
The
> opening band sounded fine.  Who does the sound person think they are
helping when
> they go for volume at the expence of sound quality?
>
> I had a funny experience once, as a sales person in a home audio store.
The
> owner/engineer of a local recording studio, Pyramid Sound in Ithaca NY,
was in
> looking at some higher end speakers.  As I took him around our selection,
he
> immediatly perked up WHEN I PLAYED HIM THE BRIGHTEST SPEAKERS WITH THE
HARSHEST
> HIGH END WE HAD!  The speakers, IMOP, sounded horrible.  They were some
lame "3d"
> deal.  Totally lacking any clear midrange.  Anyway, as he was enjoying 
>the
sound,
> along came in one of the local heavy metal guitarists!  He immediatly
said, "yeah,
> I love these speakers too!" and they bonded with their common lack of 
>high
> frequency hearing.
>
> So there you have it.  Maybe the engineer thinks you sound GREAT and that
they're
> doing a really swell job.  There is no accounting for taste.  The hearing
impared
> have just as much right to enjoy music as the rest of us.
>
> Mark
>
> Mark wrote:
>
> > Most PA setups don't do stereo for the reason that (especially outside)
you've
> > got people all over the place that want to hear the full mix.  If 
>you've
got a
> > lot of stereo information going out, you risk that people on one side
are pretty
> > much not going to hear half the mix.  Aside from my webcasts and small
cafes, I
> > always go mono in larger clubs.
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > whiteoakstudios wrote:
> >
> > > I just give the sound man a stereo feed and use my own in-ear
monitoring -
> > > at least then it sounds good to me and I just tell the sound 
>man/woman
to
> > > pan hard right and left, with no eq.
> > > It takes a real idiot to mess up those instructions - though last 
>time
I
> > > played out of doors and followed the above I came down from stage and
asked
> > > a freind how it went and he said"fine but I though you could have 
>done
more
> > > with stereo placement". I replied that the sound was bouncing all 
>over
the
> > > place - turns out the PA man runs it all in mono!!
> > >
> > > Gareth
> > >
> > > just got in from my gig opening for SUGAR DADDY AND THE BIG BONED
> > > GALS.....went in 2 hours early for a sound check....."we supply all
the
> > > speakers etc.".....the sound guy took all my inputs and rearranged
them in
> > > my
> > > mixer and sent it out to his console.....for about 2 mins this 
>sounded
ok
> > > (total sound check) but i was worried and not quite happy.....i am 
>not
a
> > > great or even good player, but i do pride myself in "my
sound".....WELL,
> > > 8:00
> > > o'clock comes and the first note i hit sounds like *shit* and i begin
to get
> > > worried.....this is nothing like what we had set up and his
configuration
> > > totally freaked me, things were not where they should have
been.....where
> > > was
> > > the sound guy, NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.....yikes, the show must go on and
no one
> > > wants to see a 53 year old man cry, although i was sweating like a 
>pig
in
> > > the
> > > sahara, so thankfully they could not see my tears.....IT WAS AWFUL, i
had no
> > > control of anything, boy does that make you feel like being
> > > adventuresome.....then after cutting it about 10 mins. short everyone
comes
> > > up and says "wow that was cool " and LIES to that
effect.....thankfully the
> > > WILD TURKEY (sorry no scotch) kicked in and i did not burn my guitar
and
> > > rang.....i will never play through someone elses system again.....in
fact,
> > > this solo thing is getting to weird, i need other warm bodies to help
the
> > > tunes out.....sorry for such a goofy post but if i cant share this
with you
> > > all who can i share it with.....:(m
>