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Topic: live tv performance question |
Jamie Lennon
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 23 Sep 2011 9:38 am |
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Hey I'm doing the late show here in Ireland. Got amp set great. But the tone from the monitor is so bright! What will the viewers hear at home? Amp tone or what I hear from the monitor? Thanks
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Mullen Guitars, Little Walter Amps, Benado Effects, D'Addario Strings
www.georgettejones.net |
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Chuck McGill
From:
An hour from Memphis and 2 from Nashville, R.I.P.
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Posted 24 Sep 2011 6:44 am
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| Jamie. Are you playing through an amp? If so do you need your steel in the monitor. The tone will effect your playing so have them reduce it so it's not so distracting. If your running direct then it's probably what's going to tv. Not good. |
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john widgren
From:
Wilton CT
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Posted 24 Sep 2011 8:22 am live TV
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I always try to control that which is in my capacity to control. I provide my sound and my effects through my speaker whenever that is an option. When onstage speakers are not an option I provide my (previously worked out in studio) sound and my effects as a preamp send to the control booth or remote truck. This way I am giving the engineers the best signal that I can. A good engineer will typically come up and listen to the instrument from my position, to hear what I hear, and just replicate that. They don't all do it, but the good ones do. If it's a "no speakers" situation, I always bring MY headphones to confirm my preamp send, and if the engineer is agreeable, get him to give my phones a listen, again so he or she knows what I'm going for. If this cannot happen I don't worry about it and hope for the best, knowing that what I'm putting out is good (or at least it's me). Wedges and hotspots rarely sound great, so I use as little monitor as possible (mostly for vox). I always keep my headphones in my (telonics) preamp, hooked up and on in case someone in the booth misses a cue, and fails to get me up in time. Grab em, put em on and go.
I never argue with sound engineers. If things go sideways as they sometimes do when you are live, just play and smile. I have had to play by the Braille method a few times on national TV, with no monitor or sound at all, and what came out was remarkably in tune in time and okay. Not great, but okay.
Sometimes an engineer will just put out a sound that is their pre concieved notion of what they think a pedal steel steel sounds like. If they don't really listen or care, all you can do is all you can do.
In my experience, most pros are great to work with.
_________________
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 24 Sep 2011 12:20 pm
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| No TV experience here, but when I'd get a studio call, and didn't know the engineer, I'd always take a Green or Hughey cd with me for them to hear. |
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Jonathan Cullifer
From:
Gallatin, TN
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Posted 24 Sep 2011 12:29 pm
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The monitor will sound different for 2 reasons:
The speaker is aimed more directly at you
Monitors have horns, emphasizing the high end
Monitors usually sound brighter than I am used to hearing myself. If you have a sound dialed in so that your amp is producing a known "good" sound, there isn't much to do. You might try moving the mic away from the center of the speaker.
I would tend to leave my amp alone, since you may end up chasing a good monitor sound at the expense of everything else (and hurting the sound that everyone really needs to hear). Also, if there is a separate monitor board, it will likely be EQ'd differently than the house or TV board. |
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Jason Hull
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Posted 25 Sep 2011 3:53 am Re: live tv performance question
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| Jamie Lennon wrote: |
| What will the viewers hear at home? Amp tone or what I hear from the monitor? |
Neither. They will hear their crappy TV speakers. |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 25 Sep 2011 8:23 am
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Raises a couple of Q's....Except for the fact that it's a TV show,Jamie's situation is not all that different from tweaking live sound-you just chat with the soundman and hopefully he gets it right,although we've talked at considerable length about how getting it right is most emphatically NOT a given. 
I think the tech questions I'd have on this one would center around whether Jamie's monitor is giving him the broadcast mix-that is,the equivalent of the FOH EQ,or whether he's getting a dedicated monitor EQ mix.If it's a hinky monitor mix,it'd be a good idea to hear the broadcast mix.It would also be good to know whether the performance is live-over-the-air or taped for broadcast later.If the latter,will someone be re-mixing the tracks?
Behind all that is a protocol question-do musicians performing on TV have the same access to the sound crew that we generally have on a live performance, or is there an unwritten rule against such interactions? |
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Bryan Daste
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 25 Sep 2011 8:32 am
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| I agree with John...the more you have your sound dialed in before it gets to the soundman, the harder it is for him to mess it up. In most situations you should be able to just put a 57 or similar on the speaker and go. And if you can use your amp for monitoring, even better! But if there's time for a conversation, and possibly even recording a tune and listening back, obviously go for it. |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 25 Sep 2011 9:19 am Another experience recounted................
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In my several years of television performing, it was my experience that the engineer or producer most always wanted to place MY AMP about 15-20 feet away from me, outside 'the set' so no one would have to see it.
Our best TV engineer, was an old hand at RADIO KALE and KPOJ and always did a bang-up job on the sound. The newer television guys had not a clue.
One night the producer came down from the booth yelling and screaming about someone playing a dog-gone radio during his show. It turned out to be my Fender 4x10 Bassman picking up a local FM Radio station. |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 25 Sep 2011 9:58 am
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A TV performance is a very high pressure situation that involves many very well paid people. The last person production wants to hear from is a backup musician concerned about there tone. My advice is to get a good sound out of your amp and then smile and say yes to everybody. TV is notorious for throwing absolutely rediculous problems at musicians.
_________________
Bob |
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Paddy Long
From:
Christchurch, New Zealand
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Posted 25 Sep 2011 5:35 pm
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Jamie - listen to Bob on this one ... just dial in your best sound that you can hear and leave everything else to the TV sound guys - you might be surprised how good some of them are (out this way at least) ... So long as your happy with what your hearing out of your amp thats all you can control!
Good luck witht he TV gig mate
_________________
14'Zumsteel Hybrid D10 9+9
08'Zumsteel Hybrid D10 9+9
94' Franklin Stereo D10 9+8
Telonics, Peterson, Steelers Choice, Benado, Lexicon, Red Dirt Cases. |
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Scott Malchow
From:
Minnesota, USA
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Posted 25 Sep 2011 6:49 pm
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| Bob H=Spot on |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 25 Sep 2011 8:24 pm
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| Bob Hoffnar wrote: |
| A TV performance is a very high pressure situation that involves many very well paid people. The last person production wants to hear from is a backup musician concerned about there tone. My advice is to get a good sound out of your amp and then smile and say yes to everybody. TV is notorious for throwing absolutely rediculous problems at musicians. |
"Shut up and play yer guitar" isn't very helpful.Might be nice for the OP and the readership if some of you TV-savvy players would proffer an explanation of how live sound is handled in a TV studio. |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 12:38 am
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I'm not sure of all the tech stuff that was happening in any TV work I have done. Mostly looked pretty simple for the TV studio stuff. Different compressor/limiters than I am used to seeing. For simulcast live concerts I think they just take a feed off the main board. Over in the UK and Ireland the pro sound guys tended to be great in my experience. You just jump off the cliff and hope the guy in charge of the net did his job. Not much more to it. If you want to spend more time in high pressure professional situations you keep your mouth shut and watch and learn. And don't screw up...
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Bob |
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Malcolm McMaster
From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 1:25 am
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Jamie, done a few TV shows in UK, some good some bad, it really is just luck of the draw.On one particular show sound was great in studio (as confirmed by a well known session player who was also on show, and sat in audience during show), but on broadcast it obviously had been remixed, my tone had been altered, and even worse my volume in mix had been raised, so that even in quieter passages it was right in your face and overpowering, the lead players tele sounded as if it was a tin can, and bass practically non existent.As others have said just get your amp sounding good to you and hope for best.
_________________
MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case. |
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Kyle Everson
From:
Nashville, Tennessee
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 11:08 am
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| Dave Hopping wrote: |
| "Shut up and play yer guitar" isn't very helpful.Might be nice for the OP and the readership if some of you TV-savvy players would proffer an explanation of how live sound is handled in a TV studio. |
Dave,
In my experience with live TV and radio performances, "shut up and play your guitar" IS the best advice one can get. If you show up with good gear and a good attitude, then there's not much else you can do. If a player isn't comfortable unless he can tune, tweak, and adjust his amp ad nauseum, then he probably isn't ready for these types of high-pressure gigs. The thing is, many pro gigs (sessions [to some extent], festivals, the Opry, and the aforementioned ones) are "throw and go."
Jamie, I watched the performance and you sounded absolutely superb.
respectfully,
Kyle |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 3:13 pm
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Shutting up and playing yer guitar is what pros do.Being advised to is a bit gratuitous,and most likely does not help the OP,who is well known as a successful professional.He asked for some insight into sound reinforcement as done in the television studio.Most of the insight offered so far relates more to the ascribed Clarke-orbit status of television production personnel than to the actual sound re-inforcement process.I'd find the latter much more helpful than the former.
For example,would a band(presumably some kind of national recording act) be able to have their sound crew man the sound system and feed a signal to the broadcast crew? Or does the band give their sound crew the day off and the TV production folks take over? Is a TV sound crew likely to have separate people working the broadcast,FOH,and monitor mixes? |
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Kyle Everson
From:
Nashville, Tennessee
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 3:49 pm
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Dave,
Generally the touring crew is on hand to assist, but the TV crew usually takes the reins. They handle everything pertinent to the broadcast. The musicians' only job is to show up and play. They mike the amps. They set the EQ on the board. They dial in the wedges/in-ear mixes. As long as the musician gives them a pleasing tone and an acceptable level, then he's done his part.
Jamie always has great tone. My post was not directed to his question because by the time I saw this, the show had aired and I knew he had figured out whatever it was that was bothering him, rendering such advice useless.
To reiterate my previous post, if you show up with good gear and a good attitude and give them an acceptable tone and level, then it is out of your control.
respectfully,
Kyle Everson |
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Jamie Lennon
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 4:03 pm
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Hey thanks everyone for your input. Set my amp so it sounded good, had a bright monitor mix but dealt with it, sounded great and was plaesed with the result. Here is the final product !!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4clpXdNx38
_________________
Mullen Guitars, Little Walter Amps, Benado Effects, D'Addario Strings
www.georgettejones.net |
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Elton Smith
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 7:24 pm
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We got some Tv stuff supposd to happen here shortly.I set my stuff the way I like it, then its time for the other guy to do his thing.Each man to his own poison.I play what I get ie what the sound man gives me.
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Reverend Avenger
Paul Reed Smith
Fender Telecaster
MSA S10 Classic
ShoBud
Old Peavy Amps |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 8:04 pm
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Back in the early '80's, a band I was in used to be the house band on a cable TV show in San Jose. I believe it was put on by the California Country Music Association (or something like that) and hosted by Roger Allen (who I think is a forum member or at least found me again through here). It was like everyone said. Just give them your best tone and they will do the rest. It's really not acceptable to interfere with them even if they are really blowing it. Not a good way to keep the gig. This was also the case on a weekly radio show I used to be on in the late '70's.
"Shut up and play" is the rule of the day.
_________________
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Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 27 Sep 2011 7:50 am
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| My usual custom is to make a point of introducing myself to whoever is running the sound, regardless of the type of gig. Make sure you get his name. Shouldn't be a problem to ask him to roll some highs off the monitor. After that it is "shut up and play your guitar". BTW - The producer will invariably focus on the bass during the steel solo. |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 27 Sep 2011 9:27 am
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Kyle-thanks for the nuggets of information.Since most of us won't be doing a lot of TV,what you TV-savvy guys have to share could be valuable in the event one of us non-TV guys gets the opportunity.
Tim echoes Bob H's point about how things often get scr*wed up,and I did see in Georgette's performance(Ultra-classy how she did the song in her own voice rather than Tammy's)that the highly paid,highly professional  sound crew managed to dime the bass and bury the backing vocals.While Bob's point about backing musicians being pros and doing their job silently with a smile is well taken,it is also part of the artist's management's job to take production to the woodshed for mistakes like that.Otherwise,how can production improve the professional skill set for which they're so well paid and for which they receive such deference? |
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Johan Jansen
From:
Europe
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Posted 28 Sep 2011 8:14 am
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Hi Jamie, it sounds a if they used noisegates on the steel, sustain is gone. From video's I've seen and heard from other performances of you in Europe, I know you always have a rich and sustainfull sound.....
A good technician at a TVshow is like winning a lottery.
Here is my sound on a show I did with Heather Myles for German TV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_b5kA3GDDY&feature=related |
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Jamie Lennon
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 2 Oct 2011 8:35 pm
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Yeah a noise gate was used I think.
_________________
Mullen Guitars, Little Walter Amps, Benado Effects, D'Addario Strings
www.georgettejones.net |
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