Of Sound Men and Ethics

Dan Beller-McKenna · From: Durham, New Hampshire, USA

Let me preface my remarks by stating that I respect good soundmen, and I accept equal blame for the difficulties of mixing pedal steel through the house system. I need to get better about limiting the range of my volume pedal, among other things. That said….

Every club in and around Boston seems to have its own house sound system replete with house sound man. It matters not the size of the room. I have played rooms so small that you could hear my steel unamplified from across the room. Never mind: everything gets miked through the board and amplified to extreme volumes lest the neighbors two blocks away be deprived of a chance to hear the performance. The sound man, of course, gets paid off the top of the door take before the band gets its measly share. If there are multiple bands, individual members get to divvy up a smattering of tidbits. (Picture a flock of pigeons fighting over a few cast bread crumbs while a dog sits gnawing on half a loaf; …. but I digress.)

This would be less lamentable if the soundmen had any clue of how to deal with a pedal steel; alas, they usually do not. Tomorrow night I will have the pleasure of performing in one such establishment. I might get lucky and encounter a seasoned audio sound reinforcement professional with oodles of experience mixing a steel. More likely, however, I’ll be greeted by, “Whoa, dude! A slide pedal zither. Far out, dooooood! I’ve always wanted to mix one of those.” I will then be faced with a decision. By default, I can simply accept that I will only be heard on the few solos where the entire band is turned looking at me as my hands move furiously over the stings, and there’s no chance that I should not be the single focus of attention at that moment. Alternatively, I can employ a radical method to which I have turned in grouchier moments. While the soundman isn’t looking, I can simply disconnect the mike from its cable and turn my amp up to a relatively ear splitting volume (remember those poor neighbors two blocks away who would otherwise miss hearing the slide pedal zither).

So: what does it make me if I take this step? Am I a bad team player, a grouch, a diva? Is this unethical? Or, on the contrary, are ethics suspended where clueless soundmen are concerned? Am I a hero? An urban legend?

These things weigh on my mind. A little.

Dan

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

I'd use EXTREME CAUTION if I were YOU!

For such an act as you herein describe, You could be labled "a RAY MONTEE" and that'd not be good for your reputation or musical career.

I'd give your thinking some more time.....to more accurately assess the situation about which you're
troubled at this moment.

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

you're a hero, dan.

Bud Angelotti · From: Larryville, NJ, USA

Here's another angle to the soundman thing. I've never seen this addressed. Also, this is not the soundman's responsibility but the players. Here goes. Imagine your volume is a gas pedal. You have a certain amount of throw to take you from 0 to fully on. Now, when playing at home, I play at a certain comfortable level, usually with headphones. The loudest it gets is whatever I've set in the phones,thats fully floored with the volume pedal. Now, when playing out it's ALWAYS louder than it would be at home practicing. So, fully floored is louder. It just is. So, the THROW of the pedal from 0 to fully on is more sensitive. Everything gets MORE touchy as the volume goes up. Whats this mean? I dunno. It's not an easy job for the player even if he/she DOES know what they are doing. What I try to do is warm up my ears, like an athelete would warm up before sports. I play real LOUD music in the car, if possible, before the gig. Huh?

Mark van Allen · From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA

Really a very good question, Dan. There is difficulty in relying on/ trusting to the professionalism of soundcrew only to hear at end of set that you were buried, unhearable... or too loud.
I still don't know a one-size-fits-all answer other than we're all supposedly there to support the songs, vocals and overall presentation, so starting from a standpoint of cooperative musicality always seems best.
The negative experiences do tend to wear one down, however.
One more reason why carrying a soundman who knows the material as part of the band makes sense when possible.
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Dan Beller-McKenna · From: Durham, New Hampshire, USA

Ray, please call me Ray.

Bud, I like your idea. Of course if we try this we'll all be even more deaf even faster than we're going to be anyway.

I do think part of the problem relates to what you're talking about though. The one really sensible sound person I've encountered recently, took the time to listen the first set and then make recommendations. (The less sensible ones simply turn the steel down as soon as they hear a swell, leave it there, and then tell you after the set, "Got it just right boss, we're all set.") He diagnosed the problem from my end: too much variation between my backing volume and my soloing volume. His solution? Play louder when I'm backing and just a little louder than that when I'm soloing.

Fortunately, tomorrow night I'm the third band out of three (watch me scramble for my bread crumbs when it's over!), so I have two sets to get my ears "warmed up" and try to assess whether the sound guy is "live mike" worthy. Mentally, though, I'll have my fingers on that mike cable, ready to yank!

Dan

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

Franklin · Posted 6 May 2012 6:21 am

In those situations, I put my amp in a chair and angle my guitar and amp slightly toward the singers microphone.....I unplug the amp mic' right before the set starts.....The lead singers mic gives enough increase to the house...Most of the time they never notice....PF

Clyde Mattocks · From: Kinston, North Carolina, USA

I always tell the monitor mix guy I don't want any steel in my monitor, I want to hear my amp. Then when the set starts, the steel will frequently be wide open, killing me in my monitor. Once, I tried to tell him and he insisted it wasn't in the monitor. Then about the last few notes of the set, he came over and listened. "Uh, yeah, it IS in the monitor."
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Bo Legg · Posted 6 May 2012 9:07 am

Paul I'm going to try what you suggest, but if I get caught I'm confessing "Don't blame me, Paul Franklin told me to do it"! Smile

Dave Hopping · From: Aurora, Colorado

I think Dave Grafe nails it in talking about musicians who play cheap or free and then wonder why the venue treats their work as though it was as close to worthless as makes no difference....OK,that's the nature of the business and activism about the artificial constraints that give rise to all the cheap/free gigs does not seem to occur to musicians,so it does seem as if we're stuck with pay-to-play,and the amateurish sound reinforcement that goes along with it.

Each player has a choice whether to do work for groups who take that kind of gig,or he can just stay home and save money while looking for outfits that specialize in the other kind of gig-the kind that pays.Harder to find,but that kind of work does exist,and it can be found if you know where to look.

Stuart Legg · Posted 6 May 2012 9:26 am

I'm Bo's secret weapon when it comes to sound men.
I'm usually in a wheel chair or walker when I'm at Bo's gigs.
Believe me when a guy in a wheel chair starts getting loud and in your face in a crowded club about he can't hear the Steel, the volume mysteriously goes up even though he'll claim he didn't change a thing.

Charles Curtis · Posted 6 May 2012 9:49 am

Once locally, I went to a gig with a good friend and IMO he is one of the best psg musicians that I've ever heard. This night I was his "roadie" (like to have broke my back carrying his D-10); anyway during one of the sets I wandered back in the audience and I couldn't hear the steel. I asked the guy what's going on? The next break I told my friend what was going on so he went to the guy, and the soundman said something like, "well you know when you hit that pedal, it's really loud". So I took my chair and sat next to my friend where I could really enjoy the steel. Anyway, IMO, my friend was the best part of the show.

Bo Legg · Posted 6 May 2012 10:26 am

My experience is that I only see sound systems in the larger clubs and I've not seen a really good sound man at any of them. When stars come in they do their own tweaking or bring their own system.
It amazes me that there is a small venue that would go to that expense.
The smaller venue wants you to bring your own. They regulate your volume with the threat of being fired and never playing there nor other clubs they might be in contact.
My main complaint is not the volume it is the EQ and the idea that has been spread around that the steel should be put into the board with no effects.
But the singers are using the built in effects and the guitar player has a pedal board with multiple effects.
That is really not the sound mans fault. It comes from PSG players that spread that BS around about how they just play straight into the amp implying that a really good player don't want or need no stinkin' effects.
PS I should be so lucky and be labled "a RAY MONTEE"

Dan Beller-McKenna · From: Durham, New Hampshire, USA

True words all around. I do think we PSG players are partly to blame by making to wide a difference between our low and high volume. Being the good soldiers thatw e are, we try to keep the volume low and out of the way most of the time. But if the soundman tries to set our level to that, he might freak out when we ramp up the volume significantly for a fill. Down goes the slider; bye-bye goes the steel in the mix for the rest of the night.

Dave: I have this same problem in small rooms or large rooms, top-end-high-paying clubs and play-for-the-door dives; I don't think playing for peanuts is at the root of this problem.

I think one of the biggest problems with stage volume generally is the monitors. If they are loud and full, the players are naturally inclined to turn up to match them. If the soudnmen could keep the monitors lower, I think stage volume could be better controlled.

Dan

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

Well,,,,, I have been known to advocate flashing your revolver at the soundman,,,,,

I carry a Lloyd Cd, and if he has time, I ask him to listen. The revolver viewing can help getting him to listen to the cd! My backup volume is 1/3 pedal, my fill and solo volume is around 2/3s, the remaining travel is for sustain. Tell him it's an "expression" pedal, like a Hammond organ. DO NOT tell him it's a volume pedal! If worse comes to worse, I don't even bother to unplug the mic cord, I just play over it, relying on a friend in the audience to tell me when I'm loud enough.

Bill Moran · From: Virginia, USA

Ben Lawson · From: Brooksville Florida

Our "best" sound man also does sound for "Blood Sweat & Tears". Overall he's does OK but not great with us. When one of the other guys does sound its a little inconsistent. We were forced to use in-ear monitors for a few years until we all complained enough, now we have the latest version of the HotSpot units. They're powered and have EQ's.
That being said, the only time I really liked what the house guy did was at the now defunct Church St. Station in Orlando.

Brendan Mitchell · From: Melbourne Australia

One of my pet gripes is playing a small room with everything miked ! Jeez, they'll put 1/2 dozen mikes on the drums sometimes when all that is needed is mikes for the vocals . The front of house is so loud to start with the stage volume goes up because you can't hear yourself and it turns into a vicious cycle .

Dan Beller-McKenna · From: Durham, New Hampshire, USA

Well, this time the joke was on me: only the vocals and acoustic guitar went through the PA and the sound man was a nice, reasonable young fellow. Now, the bartender was another story....

Dan

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

I have my vocal mike on a boom, and when I'm not singing (which is most of the time) I swing it around towards the steel amp. The sound guy rarely notices, and his attempts to turn me down are thus foiled. Evil Twisted

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Dan Beller-McKenna · From: Durham, New Hampshire, USA

I should try that, Bob!

Dave (Grafe), I was referring to Dave Hopping's comment.

Thanks for all the great feedback here, folks!

Dan

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