Jump to content
Hamer Fan Club Message Center

Playing live with awful sound conditions. You done it?


Recommended Posts

We had a festival gig last weekend. Great weather. Outdoor stage. We were the third band of the evening and we did not get to do a soundcheck.

We set up our gear. Bass amp and other guitarists rig on one side of the stage. Me and my amp on the other side of the drum podium.

We go out and start the first song. It's a fast one, like Motörhead fast. Need to work on getting that riff nailed in with the other guitarist and bass player. Tight. Takes a while to understand what feels weird. I look a my monitor. I hear nothing. I have to rely on the vocals that go out of the PA. I hear them faintly. As I am standing slightly behind the PA speakers It feels like I am hearing the sound of the vocals a few milliseconds after the drums that are on my right side. Very weird feeling. I hear no bass. I hear the other guitar, but it's blurry and undistinct. I can't hear what he is playing, only that it's there. We get to the end of the song, with the end riff to be played in unison with the others. I don't know where I am as I don't hear where the 1 is exactly. I have to wing it completely, realising I could actually one beat off entirely. Total panic.

I tell the sound guy that the monitor is silent. He tries to fix it from his desk. We have to start song no 2. Monitor still silent during the whole song. Now I am irritated. Soundman comes up and messes with the monitor. No better. For the rest of the show.

This was the worst sound condition I have ever experienced. I think it was because it was outdoors. No sound comes bouncing back on stage, it goes out in to thin air. So the sonic experience on stage was completely different than on a club gig with bad, or no, monitors. I felt like I was playing blind for most part of the set. 

We got a lot of praise after the gig. People that I never seen before came up to us telling us we were really great. That feels good. But I did a lousy gig. Though I think I did alright with the circumstances. But I missed the start of the encore as I could not hear the other guitarists opening part correctly. That was audiable to the audience and that sucked. Still feel like shit over it.

You who did a lot of outdoor gigs, or just gigs with bad monitors or bad sound, what are your best tips to work around it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In a word, yes. I have never liked playing outdoor gigs that weren't staged in an amphitheater or similar venue designed for music performances. With my current band, we rely heavily on a good mix to get harmony vocals in tune  When it doesn't happen, it makes the gig more like a chore. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All you can really do is lock in with the drummer. Wouldn't have helped with the start of your encore tune though, but you do your best and try to trust that the FOH sound is on point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, MCChris said:

All you can really do is lock in with the drummer. Wouldn't have helped with the start of your encore tune though, but you do your best and try to trust that the FOH sound is on point.

That is exactly the guidance I received, if you can hear yourself keep playing and listen to the drummer. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes,  I usually take my own monitor and run out of my acoustic rig when the sound sucks.  That way there is at least one decent monitor on stage.  Sometimes my monitor sounds better than FOH depending on the crappiness of FOH.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As bass player, locking in with the drummer was my job.  Never having to solo saved me from the fate Disturber describes. 

I have been the sound man on secondary stages at several festivals with no time for a real sound check.  The first song was usually the sound check.  It taught me to work fast. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Steve Haynie said:

As bass player, locking in with the drummer was my job.  Never having to solo saved me from the fate Disturber describes. 

You mean all those bass solos we were subjected to in concerts weren't actually necessary? 😱😉

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, burningyen said:

Once you've exhausted all troubleshooting possibilities, just power through and pretend it doesn't bother you.

You pretend it doesn't bother you, but you just want to explo-o-ode. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've played hundreds of gigs.  I can count on one hand the number of times the sound was truly great.  Playing outside is definitely even more challenging.  Glad you got compliments from the audience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, fasteddie said:

Playing with a shit sound is character building.

BTW I've got tons of character.

Indeed, pretty much all of us here are on a level of public performance where shit sound will be a given. Gotta expect it and have your end of it locked down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My best tips are these three ones —as I’ve done every shitty venue around here:

1- Don’t ever trust the venue’s monitors. I either mic my own combo or use a Y splitter to my own combo, and then I make sure my combo is next to me and that I can hear myself. 

2- Get close to the drummer. Make sure you can hear and feel the beat, so you can always be locked to it.

3- Maintain visual contact with all the members of your band, so you can actually see what’s going on. Even if you cannot hear them all properly, their gestures and visual cues will keep you going.

That’s pretty much it.

PS: If you sing, the echo of the venue can be even more distracting. Ear monitors of your own might be a good solution. Need to learn to ignore the echo anyway though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I played my first gig when I was 17 and now I'm old. Definitely in the hundreds of performances now, and half were of the "well, I can sort of hear the bassist and singer" variety, a quarter were stellar and worth thanking the FOH guy, and the remainder ranged from bad to "the generator went out, can you do the set acoustic?"

The lower the stage volume, the better prepared you are for the crapshoot that is live sound. I know it's not practical for a traditional rock band, but when I Am a Rocketship became a duo with a Mac doing the drums and bass, we were able to handle anything on stage. The guitar is now quiet enough that even if the vocal monitor is gone we can hear each other. If you have a loud drummer, a couple guitarists hittin' it hard into 50+ watts and a bassist with an SVT you'll be having a blast rockin' out but if anything goes wrong with the monitor mix you'll be struggling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, polara said:

Yeah, I played my first gig when I was 17 and now I'm old. Definitely in the hundreds of performances now, and half were of the "well, I can sort of hear the bassist and singer" variety, a quarter were stellar and worth thanking the FOH guy, and the remainder ranged from bad to "the generator went out, can you do the set acoustic?"

The lower the stage volume, the better prepared you are for the crapshoot that is live sound. I know it's not practical for a traditional rock band, but when I Am a Rocketship became a duo with a Mac doing the drums and bass, we were able to handle anything on stage. The guitar is now quiet enough that even if the vocal monitor is gone we can hear each other. If you have a loud drummer, a couple guitarists hittin' it hard into 50+ watts and a bassist with an SVT you'll be having a blast rockin' out but if anything goes wrong with the monitor mix you'll be struggling.

What polara said.  

If you do in ears - and they're working - it'll be better. 

But, when you're rehearsing on your own, occasionally make those changes, so you hear only everything else but you and concentrate on playing your part. Then, when you are in those situations, it won't be as much of a bother.  There are a lot of parts to go wrong in a live situation.  Being outside adds more.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mon-It-ors? What is this mon-it-ors?

It's been my experience at some really low budget outdoor gigs that if you treat it like a practice session and aim all of the on-stage amps across the stage instead of facing forward, you might be able to hear each other play. You still won't hear each other sing, but at least the drummer can figure out what you're playing. Locking into the drummer only works when the drummer can tell what's going on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, zorrow said:

My best tips are these three ones —as I’ve done every shitty venue around here:

1- Don’t ever trust the venue’s monitors. I either mic my own combo or use a Y splitter to my own combo, and then I make sure my combo is next to me and that I can hear myself. 

2- Get close to the drummer. Make sure you can hear and feel the beat, so you can always be locked to it.

3- Maintain visual contact with all the members of your band, so you can actually see what’s going on. Even if you cannot hear them all properly, their gestures and visual cues will keep you going.

That’s pretty much it.

PS: If you sing, the echo of the venue can be even more distracting. Ear monitors of your own might be a good solution. Need to learn to ignore the echo anyway though.

No 2, I rely on that always. But the difference playing outdoors made this very difficult. The drum sound kinda just went up in the air too. I could not feel the beat like I usually do. Last gig, at a small club, I had no monitor at all. But I stod by the drum kit so I had it locked down all the way through the gig. No problems at all. 

No 3. Usually do this to, this stage was difficult though and I stood on the left side. I am always on the right side, so I was off my usual visual spot. I had the wrong side of my wing man facing me. Next time I will be on the right side again, I'll defend that side with a knife if I have to. haha.

The thing I forgot too was to make my guitar faces. If you can't hear what you play and don't know where you are in the song, just make your best guitar face. Then the audience will think you are a pro, no matter what.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The same thing happened to me when we played a outdoor show in a no walls just a ceiling seating area.. Never got the sound right..

 

Me.. In Action..!.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have had bad sound on numerous occasions.  Valves going, bad mixes, wind/outdoors.  It totally ruined the way I played on each occasion as I got frustrated.

Ever since I have gone direct to FOH mixed with FRFR cabs on stage for monitoring I have had next to zero problems.  

The Axe FX has taken a big chunk of the problems away from me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Every outdoor gig, well nearly every, has had pro sound that I loved. No issues....indoors is a different story. Crap systems, crappy sound techs or band members who can handle it but then prove they cannot, etc. etc. I have to hear myself and stand close to the drummer...I once asked Greg Martin of the Kentucky Headhunters if they always had pristine sound and he described the same issues as all of us. Coulda fooled me. Those boys are TIGHT

I hate not hearing the vocals cleanly and clearly. I like to play off them, but gotta hear em in order to do so. Not being able to hear leads to volume issues on little indoor stages.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, DBraz said:

I have had bad sound on numerous occasions.  Valves going, bad mixes, wind/outdoors.  It totally ruined the way I played on each occasion as I got frustrated.

Ever since I have gone direct to FOH mixed with FRFR cabs on stage for monitoring I have had next to zero problems.  

The Axe FX has taken a big chunk of the problems away from me.

You've never had a bad sound at my house.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...