An extension of my thread https://homerecording.com/bbs/gener...ting-opinions-mic-placement-jazz-trio-319869/
So, the guy who is "producing" this little thing has been dealing with some frustrating work stuff (he's a house builder- get the picture?) and it's turned him into something (more) of a control freak. This, and other, concerts are being put on by the fund-raising committee at my little UU church, and he's become the FR committee chair. Weeks ago, he announced (more like "declared") that the concerts have all been scheduled and acts booked, etc. etc. I told him then I was happy to run sound for them. The guitarist in the jazz trio asked me to do it for this one, and I said yes, and then promptly forgot who had actually asked me.
Last night, the guitarist asked me again if I was going to run sound, and I told him yes, again, and that I hoped to record the concert, if it was alright with him and the other performers. He said he was sure it would be fine.
So, I headed over there about 4 pm, and the trio is rehearsing. Producer Man is there, too, but I really didn't think too much of it- I'm there to do my job, I neither need any help nor expect any interference. Two mics have been set, run direct to the little PA system- no way to control them from the somewhat bigger board in the rear of the room. I'm bring in gear, cleaning my work area, setting a few things, and some feedback develops from the bassist's rig, an acoustic/electric bass guitar and amp. He's apparently had trouble already with that, and is wondering out loud what to do about it, and that maybe he should play his upright. I told him I can take care of that- bring the upright and we can mic it (turns out he has a pickup on it) and I can control feedback from the board. He's happy. The other two musicians are happy. Producer Man is... well, I have no idea if he's happy or not, nor am I paying much attention to his mood.
I then unplug one of the two set mics- it's way over on the other side of the dais, nobody anywhere near it- intending to run it through the big board. P-Man asks why I unplugged it, and I said because it was not being used and I need to run it through the big board, and he starts to get pissed at me. His query turns sharp, so I say, "So, plug it back in." This really pisses him off, and he starts into a diatribe about how I am complicating the whole thing, it was fine like it was, what I am doing WILL cause problems, yada yada yada. I tell him, a bit flip I guess, that I have 36 hours to fix any problems that come up, and now he gets REALLY mad. "No, you don't," he says, "You got until 9pm tonight to get ANY problems fixed," and then he says we need to talk. Outside we go, and he lights into me like flies on shit. He's pissed about what I said inside, pissed about how I said it, pissed because I am fucking everything up, pissed about the very fact that I draw breath, apparently. I realized that what I said was rather incendiary, and I start my reply by saying that I am sorry I came on strong about that, that I should have known better because somebody at the church did the same thing to me just a few days ago, and I should have expected that my reaction (which was almost, word for word, the same as hers was, then) would have resulted in the same results, etc. He didn't even HEAR me, nevermind LISTEN. I try to tell him the live rig will be set first, and I will only set the recording rig as time permits, but he's not listening to a damn word I say- and then we are off to the races. He's saying he doesn't trust me (WTF??), how we had problems every time I ever did anything with sound there (to which I remind him of just SOME of the times everything went smooth as silk- and he says "A fucking bluegrass band, so fuckin' what?") and demanding that I get the live-sound ready to go, and if I don't, he's gonna rip it all out and they will go all acoustic. I try my best to tell him I will get it done, in plenty of time, but he's just not listening to a single, damn word I am saying- he just repeats his demands. Finally, I have enough verbal abuse, and I tell him I am WELL going to do it the way it needs to be done, and if he does not like it, I will stand back and let him do whatever the fuck he wants to with it.
Now, I am pissed, too. I walk to my car to get whatever it was I came outside to get, and when I get there I realize I didn't need ANYTHING out of my car- I came outside to receive the honor of him ragging on me.
As I am headed back to the door, the minister is standing nearby, and he has heard the whole thing. I am so frustrated I vent in his direction, throwing a "fuck" AND a "God Damn" in, just for good measure. The minister ask me if I would be okay with meeting with him and P-Man to try to come to some resolution, and I say yes.
That meeting actually goes rather well. I get my apology spoken (although I frankly don't think he listened any better,) and P-man and I come to some sort of understanding- basically that he wants the live sound to be ready on time, and I tell him I will do that. (DUH!) Oh, when he says he wants the rig to need no hands-on re-sets during the show, I tell him that's no problem, that I will set an extra mic so that IF anything goes wrong with the two, there is an extra. For some stupid-ass reason (not his idea, I guess) he fucking HATES that idea. Yeah, right, whatever.
So, I did my job, got the live sound rig set and adjusted, set the recording rig, etc. It's a thing of beauty in it's direct, simple effectiveness, if I may say so, myself- nothing out of the ordinary, almost everyone here would not even notice. Just what I would have done if I had not had to put up with his outrageous bull shit.
I haven't decided if I will A) mix a CD for the members of the band, and say fuck his god-damn fund raising committee- if he makes copies of the CD he can expect a HUGE bill from me, or B) present him with a master CD, telling him he is welcome to make copies to sell- spoken with honey fucking dripping from my voice.
I am getting fed up with the crap that goes on there, anyway- P-man was on the leadership development committee that allowed the previous treasurer to serve way past the term limit prescribed in the by-laws, and then huranged my GF into taking the post (it's driven her crazy, she put the LDC on notice that she will NOT be serving another term.) Oh, term limits apply to the LDC, too, but the same egos that fucked that up royally are still there. Committee chairs hand-pick who they want on their committee, giving lip-service to the open-committee policy and then find back-door ways to drive others out. I send an email to the vice-president of the board, requesting an AV committee be developed, complete with full justification and core staff- AND a clear statement that others are welcome to help, and it took a full MONTH and three reminders before she got back to me.
Like I said, I almost said "Fuck It," tonight.
So, the guy who is "producing" this little thing has been dealing with some frustrating work stuff (he's a house builder- get the picture?) and it's turned him into something (more) of a control freak. This, and other, concerts are being put on by the fund-raising committee at my little UU church, and he's become the FR committee chair. Weeks ago, he announced (more like "declared") that the concerts have all been scheduled and acts booked, etc. etc. I told him then I was happy to run sound for them. The guitarist in the jazz trio asked me to do it for this one, and I said yes, and then promptly forgot who had actually asked me.
Last night, the guitarist asked me again if I was going to run sound, and I told him yes, again, and that I hoped to record the concert, if it was alright with him and the other performers. He said he was sure it would be fine.
So, I headed over there about 4 pm, and the trio is rehearsing. Producer Man is there, too, but I really didn't think too much of it- I'm there to do my job, I neither need any help nor expect any interference. Two mics have been set, run direct to the little PA system- no way to control them from the somewhat bigger board in the rear of the room. I'm bring in gear, cleaning my work area, setting a few things, and some feedback develops from the bassist's rig, an acoustic/electric bass guitar and amp. He's apparently had trouble already with that, and is wondering out loud what to do about it, and that maybe he should play his upright. I told him I can take care of that- bring the upright and we can mic it (turns out he has a pickup on it) and I can control feedback from the board. He's happy. The other two musicians are happy. Producer Man is... well, I have no idea if he's happy or not, nor am I paying much attention to his mood.
I then unplug one of the two set mics- it's way over on the other side of the dais, nobody anywhere near it- intending to run it through the big board. P-Man asks why I unplugged it, and I said because it was not being used and I need to run it through the big board, and he starts to get pissed at me. His query turns sharp, so I say, "So, plug it back in." This really pisses him off, and he starts into a diatribe about how I am complicating the whole thing, it was fine like it was, what I am doing WILL cause problems, yada yada yada. I tell him, a bit flip I guess, that I have 36 hours to fix any problems that come up, and now he gets REALLY mad. "No, you don't," he says, "You got until 9pm tonight to get ANY problems fixed," and then he says we need to talk. Outside we go, and he lights into me like flies on shit. He's pissed about what I said inside, pissed about how I said it, pissed because I am fucking everything up, pissed about the very fact that I draw breath, apparently. I realized that what I said was rather incendiary, and I start my reply by saying that I am sorry I came on strong about that, that I should have known better because somebody at the church did the same thing to me just a few days ago, and I should have expected that my reaction (which was almost, word for word, the same as hers was, then) would have resulted in the same results, etc. He didn't even HEAR me, nevermind LISTEN. I try to tell him the live rig will be set first, and I will only set the recording rig as time permits, but he's not listening to a damn word I say- and then we are off to the races. He's saying he doesn't trust me (WTF??), how we had problems every time I ever did anything with sound there (to which I remind him of just SOME of the times everything went smooth as silk- and he says "A fucking bluegrass band, so fuckin' what?") and demanding that I get the live-sound ready to go, and if I don't, he's gonna rip it all out and they will go all acoustic. I try my best to tell him I will get it done, in plenty of time, but he's just not listening to a single, damn word I am saying- he just repeats his demands. Finally, I have enough verbal abuse, and I tell him I am WELL going to do it the way it needs to be done, and if he does not like it, I will stand back and let him do whatever the fuck he wants to with it.
Now, I am pissed, too. I walk to my car to get whatever it was I came outside to get, and when I get there I realize I didn't need ANYTHING out of my car- I came outside to receive the honor of him ragging on me.
As I am headed back to the door, the minister is standing nearby, and he has heard the whole thing. I am so frustrated I vent in his direction, throwing a "fuck" AND a "God Damn" in, just for good measure. The minister ask me if I would be okay with meeting with him and P-Man to try to come to some resolution, and I say yes.
That meeting actually goes rather well. I get my apology spoken (although I frankly don't think he listened any better,) and P-man and I come to some sort of understanding- basically that he wants the live sound to be ready on time, and I tell him I will do that. (DUH!) Oh, when he says he wants the rig to need no hands-on re-sets during the show, I tell him that's no problem, that I will set an extra mic so that IF anything goes wrong with the two, there is an extra. For some stupid-ass reason (not his idea, I guess) he fucking HATES that idea. Yeah, right, whatever.
So, I did my job, got the live sound rig set and adjusted, set the recording rig, etc. It's a thing of beauty in it's direct, simple effectiveness, if I may say so, myself- nothing out of the ordinary, almost everyone here would not even notice. Just what I would have done if I had not had to put up with his outrageous bull shit.
I haven't decided if I will A) mix a CD for the members of the band, and say fuck his god-damn fund raising committee- if he makes copies of the CD he can expect a HUGE bill from me, or B) present him with a master CD, telling him he is welcome to make copies to sell- spoken with honey fucking dripping from my voice.
I am getting fed up with the crap that goes on there, anyway- P-man was on the leadership development committee that allowed the previous treasurer to serve way past the term limit prescribed in the by-laws, and then huranged my GF into taking the post (it's driven her crazy, she put the LDC on notice that she will NOT be serving another term.) Oh, term limits apply to the LDC, too, but the same egos that fucked that up royally are still there. Committee chairs hand-pick who they want on their committee, giving lip-service to the open-committee policy and then find back-door ways to drive others out. I send an email to the vice-president of the board, requesting an AV committee be developed, complete with full justification and core staff- AND a clear statement that others are welcome to help, and it took a full MONTH and three reminders before she got back to me.
Like I said, I almost said "Fuck It," tonight.
