Bad Sound Guys/System

[mendzel]

What do you do with terrible sound systems and sound guys that are almost as bad? Assume that you are absolutely not allowed to use your own sound system...

The sound system:
- Horrific speakers for monitors
- In-ear monitors compress too much to hear anything other than the loudest instrument/voice

The sound guys:
- Poor EQ-ing (EQ'ed my BF styled Tone King like a boom box V)
- Will not leave the settings alone! It's ridiculous to constantly hear them adjusting levels during songs! I keep forgetting words, notes, etc because the level bouncing is so distracting!

[Fleabiscuit]

Maybe sit down and have a conversation with the sound guys, explain your concerns, and be very clear in telling them what you want? And/or bring in your own sound guy to ride herd on them?

[Stormbringerpurple]

I had a similar problem recently. I knew the guitar was way too low in the speakers system but the FOH sound guy made a terrible mix for my monitor and I did not want to get that terrible guitar sound any louder.

turns out the house mix was much better but he kept me at bay with the lousy monitor mix.

I should have done what i usually do and what I suggest you to do: TURN YOUR AMP UP AND USE IT AS A P.A.!!!

The Sound guy would have screwed up my vocals in revenge but at least I would have blown the place to bits....

[mendzel]

Originally Posted by Fleabiscuit

Maybe sit down and have a conversation with the sound guys, explain your concerns, and be very clear in telling them what you want? And/or bring in your own sound guy to ride herd on them?

The sound guy was a freaking know-it-all....

[cubba]

As a sound-guy I can see both sides of the story.
Bands can often be too loud or too immature to deal with getting a good stage sound
or they have an attitude before they even get to the place.
Sound-guy's (which is a funny term, but let's stick with it...)
can be equally immature or similarly in need of an ego check.
I play live too and have to deal with all types when I'm on stage or behind the board.
I think you should do as someone mentioned prior and discuss the issues sensibly with the sound-guy.
If that doesn't work, go over his head and talk to the club owner.
Not willing to do that?
Then you need to be prepared for the worst:
Have your own in-ear monitors.
Have someone working for you out in the audience,
telling the soundman what you need to hear coming from FOH.
It wouldn't hurt to give him $20 from the band money.
I'm not encouraging that, but it might make him work harder for you,
but that's if he's even remotely capable of doing his job well.
Always have your gtr amp angled up or towards you that you can hear it coming off the stage
(hopefully not beaming directly into the vocal mic, which has the most gain applied to it of any mic being used).
As a sound-guy, I tell the band exactly what I need from them and exactly what the limits of the system are.
Usually we meet somewhere in the middle and all goes well.

[Glo®bz]

Originally Posted by cubba

Always have your gtr amp angled up or towards you that you can hear it coming off the stage
(hopefully not beaming directly into the vocal mic, which has the most gain applied to it of any mic being used).

That is what I do... I used to have a 4x12 back of me or side of me when possible. I MUCH prefer my current setup with one lonely 12" speaker but angled up in front of me. I have it on a stand just for that. Feels a lot more comfortable and at lower levels to boot.

[jonc]

talk to the sound guy ahead of time and unless he's a total a-hole you should be able to find a middle ground as Paul suggests. that said, i'm always prepared to be completely disappointed so i have backup options in place. one of these is to make sure the band knows the songs really well and that the singers know exactly what each other are singing and how they're singing it. I.E. does everyone pronounce the words to the song the same way?

just a couple of thoughts.

[BassMent]

Oh man, that's a tough one. I agree with those who have commented that an in-depth discussion well before the gig starts is key.

We had a nightmare scenario like this recently. We were told we had a "professional sound guy" with a "900-watt professional system," and we were told to show up an hour in advance to get things dialed in. The whole scene had been hyped as "very professional" and "nothing we can't deal with." Now, we're not super complicated to mix. I play typically four or five instruments (electric, acoustic and nylon guitars, mandolin, dobro), and am accustomed to having to unplug one to play another. Our other guitarist has a very loud Guild dreadnaught that needs to be mic'ed. All three of us sing, and our vocal harmonies are our bread and butter, so the vocals have to be pristine.

We knew this guy was used to singer-songwriters (one guitar, one mic), so we got there TWO hours early and started setting up to make things as easy as possible for him. But he was completely flustered the whole night, and we never got a decent mix either out front or in the monitors, despite the fact that he seemed to be making on-the-fly changes during every song. As a result, I spent the whole night making micro-adjustments to my onboard eq's and stomp boxes, our harmonies fell apart several times, and our fans told us, "You guys sounded weird tonight...." The recording taken straight off the board was, needless to say, utterly useless.

So yeah... plan ahead, never assume, and in the event that you're stuck with a crap system or crap sound guy or both, suck it up and rock as hard as you can.

I'll tell ya, as much as I HATE schlepping and setting up and tearing down my own sound system, we always sound GREAT when I do....

[Swain]

Give them some Ex-Lax, and have your own sound guy fill in while the house's guy is "indisposed".

Tell the sound guy you need something different. If that doesn't work, tell the owner about the lack of cooperation from his employee. If neither does anything to rectify the situation, don't play there again. And be sure to tell the owner and manager that you "really enjoy the club", but that you just can't justify getting paid to sound that bad. So, as a favr to the club and to yourselves, you either need your own sound guy and/or system, or that you'll see them next time you're a customer, because you won't be playing there anymore.

[klasaine]

If it's a sound person that i've never worked with before(?) ...
I give them 20 bucks UP FRONT.
Seriously, and I say as obsequiously as possible that, "I'm handing you this now because I don't want to forget after the show because I'll be packing up, etc.".
It usually helps - ?