Is it just me or is the sound at Rock gigs just getting worse? Went to see black stone cherry in Wolverhampton last night and as a show it was awesome but the sound was appalling. The bass drum and toms were so 'boomy' which together with an over loud bass and muddy guitars meant the whole thing turned to mush. You could barely pick out the guitar riffs during the quiet songs and when things got rocky it was just a wall of noise. It certainly wasn't too loud just a sludge of bass frequency noise. Several people complained to the sound man afterwards. Unfortunately the last 6-7 gigs I've been to have been like this and its putting me off going to anymore. The equipment at the disposal of these sound crews has never been so good so why the crap sound. How in a hall holding 800 or so can a band sound like they are at the other end of a field? Maybe its always been like this but when I was younger I never noticed as was at the front rocking out, but now im older and stay further back to soak it all in, it is really pissing me off!
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"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
Mind you, I've been to gigs where all you can hear is bass, drums and vocals - guitars have disappeared. How is that a mix? Some of these guys have absolutely no idea what they're doing.
If it were me, I'd put everything through two MOTU 8Pre's so I get 16 channels max, and I'd process using VST's and then go back into the FOH speakers. I wouldn't even bother using a console, or any outboard. Really not necessary.
That would give you some amazing EQ possibilities, paralell compression, and all that... I'd mix just like you would in a studio situation.
If it were me, I'd learn how to mix with volume faders, 3 band EQ per-channel, a couple of aux sends for reverb and delay, another couple for monitor feeds and a stereo graphic EQ to pull out problem frequencies. Then I'd learn how to position mics well to avoid feedback/ pickup pattern pitfalls. I'd learn how to position mic stands to do their job and be stable without falling over, while staying out of the way of the band.
I'd learn how to make friends with the band so we could collaborate on issues like stage volume, layout, monitor mixes. I'd make them feel comfortable performing on my stage.
I'd learn how to listen, how to move round the room to evaluate my mix from various positions, how the sound changes as the room fills up or empties.
Then when I could get great mixes and bands were comfortable performing on my stages, I'd bring in other things like compressors, gates, feedback suppressors, etc.
I really think people start arse about face when they begin engineering and start with the compressors, fun toys, 6 band parametrics etc. The tools distract from what's really important, IE delivering a mix where everyone can be heard and working with a bunch of strangers to make the gig great.
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
One venue that seems to consistently get things right, in my experience, is the Robin 2 in Bilston.
For those not familiar with the place, it's a medium-to-small sized venue, mostly tribute bands and people like Walter Trout, Joanne Shaw Taylor, who I guess play the blues club circuit, and then people like Go West, Toyah etc who are, let's say, in the twilight years of their careers.
BUT they just seem to give a toss about getting the sound right, it's as simple as that.
BlackStone Cherry played the Wulfrun Hall by the look of it, This is not a huge venue so I wonder if there was a case of the band just being too loud? The level coming off the stage making it difficult to manage the sound in the room, especially for the first rows.
Although when I were a lad I was a regular at gigs in the Civic Hall ( part of the same complex as the Wulfrun) and the best sound was often to be had in the foyer with the doors shut.
The actual mix is in fact the easy bit, the complicated part is setting and tuning the sound system for the room. Lot's of contractors will install and tune the system and then fit a lock in the digi controller or screw a panel over the controls. Unfortunately no matter how idiot proof you make the system, someone is going to come along with a better idiot sooner or later. Re-tuning for the DJ being the prime cause especially when the system is under sized or the DJ is already deaf.
If the adequate system is tuned flat(ish) and the high frequency units are above head height and all delayed back to the stage/ kick drum. Then proper mic placement usually means you hardly need to move any channel Eq, a little dynamic control maybe, set the monitor mix for sure and then mix on the faders.
This does presume there are no 'special' parts to the mix or unusual elements to the performance (like the cello player swings from a trapeze and wants distortion on his pickup signal).
Of course the real world is full of clapped out badly spec'd systems in rooms better suited to the storage of wine rather than the consumption. The old school skills of undoing all the 'fixes' and 'improvements' to get the best of the analogue crossover and trouble shooting why something doesn't work as designed are dying out (or were never learned).
Less is more.
Mix with what you have not what they had at wembley.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I think this is true to an extent. But the sort of EQ's you get on a basic entry level console are often wholely inadequate. You turn down the bass control to manage the low end, and you just lose everything. So they turn it back up again and think "fuck it" - they know exactly what they want to do, but they're not willing to lose the entire low end to get the clearness they want.
You could do so much with just a laptop and enough inputs, and most people these days are way more comfortable with software than they are hardware. That's the sad truth of it.
You could have a gate for every microphone. Sidechain on the kick+bass. Parametric EQ on every input... save it all as a Pro Tools, Cubase, or Reaper session. Load it up as the band sets up the stage.
No different to using an Axe FX in a live situaiton really. Just new technology, new ways of doing things.