whats a good mic to monitor a live band??

  • Thread starter Thread starter 60ndown
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How big is the venue? In smaller venues the sound guy is at the mercy of the stage volume as the PA is not loud enough to make up for the over loud guitars, bass or drums coming off stage. He may not even have any snare mic in the PA.

Alan.
 
witzendoz said:
How big is the venue? In smaller venues the sound guy is at the mercy of the stage volume as the PA is not loud enough to make up for the over loud guitars, bass or drums coming off stage. He may not even have any snare mic in the PA.

Alan.
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Yeah, that too.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
That's what you get at small time gigs because there isn't any money in it to draw a decent sound person .
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i dont agree, you suggest that unless big money is involved good sound cant be had, thats simply not true, a simple system used by someone who enjoys and understands sound and tone and music, can be made to sound good, ive done it 1000 times with a $20 boombox (sometimes just facing it towards the wall/corner and listening to the reflected sounds is best)

currently i have 2 beliefs about this situation,

*flame suit on*

1.'sound guys' are working in venues because they are willing to accept low pay and long hours, NOT because they are any good.

2. 'sound guys' get the work because they own the equipment, NOT because they are any good.

lots of music has been recorded over the last 100 years with terrible production and lots of money spent,

and some was beautifully produced with very little financing.

great sound has little to do with money and a lot to do with passion.

imo :)
 
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60ndown said:
maybe i should consider getting a job as the local sound guy?
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That was my thoughts some 35+ years ago and I never looked back.
Going into production was the best move I ever made. ;)
 
mixsit said:
I guess this part

Giving FOH a line or lines with certain portions pre mixed -AKA stems.
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you mean the band have their own mixer, and set levels and gains, and just have the foh guy amplify the 2 channels?

great idea.
 
60ndown said:
1.'sound guys' are working in venues because they are willing to accept low pay and long hours, NOT because they are any good.

2. 'sound guys' get the work because they own the equipment, NOT because they are any good.


great sound has little to do with money and a lot to do with passion.
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1) i know very few sound guys who are willing to work long hours for little pay, but that is the nature of the beast in small/mid sized venues regardless of your skill

2) this varies and in my experience is about 50/50. i've played a lot of gigs where this seems the case, but i've also played a lot more where the venue has spent it's own money getting a rig in and hired a sound guy on his or her own merit. as a lot of us have said, find your own sound guy who you're happy with and no matter where you go they should be able to get the sound you want.

passion can only get you so far. i'm passionate about sports, but that doesn't mean i'm good at any! granted, passion plays a huge part in the journey from going from "kid with a dream" to producer/engineer/musician and is the drive to get better at it and learn what to do/what not to do, but it's that experience and skill set that makes people good at what they do.
 
60ndown said:
you mean the band have their own mixer, and set levels and gains, and just have the foh guy amplify the 2 channels?

great idea.
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Well, maybe. It's not like it doesn't have it's own set of potential down sides. I would think it would presume at least a fair amount of working it out, and consistency from the band's end.
I never followed through with the idea. And really there's not knowing when it might actually be worth while..? Just lots of times where after it's too late, 'yeah, this could have been one.. :D

Wern't you were originally thinking monitor mixes though?
 
ive had several ideas in the last 3 weeks.

1. how best to record the band (rehearsals and live)

2. hearing the band while playing

3.the bands sound live, controlling it.

4.mastering the recordings

5.whats for lunch :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDgh9IBtIoc


mixsit said:
Well, maybe. It's not like it doesn't have it's own set of potential down sides. I would think it would presume at least a fair amount of working it out, and consistency from the band's end.
I never followed through with the idea. And really there's not knowing when it might actually be worth while..? Just lots of times where after it's too late, 'yeah, this could have been one.. :D

Wern't you were originally thinking monitor mixes though?
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mixsit said:
Well, maybe. It's not like it doesn't have it's own set of potential down sides. ?
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it's got major downsides.

To the OP ...... welcome to reality. First off ...... if you truly belive that you got excellent sound with a $20 boombox pointed into a corner ....... :rolleyes:.

I'm the rarity here at HR being a full time live player for 40 years and still gigging 6 nights a week. I do record and do session work butr my main income is gigging and always has been.
I can mix from the stage ..... so if you can ... do it that way.
I usually do.

Having said that ..... the fact is VERY few people can mix from the stage because they don't have the experience of translating what things sound like out front to what they sound like up on stage.
I have approximately 15,000 gigs under my belt ..... most of them also doing sound for the bands I'm in so I run out front ...... jump on stage ... make corrections .... run back out front ....... jumping up and down for a few songs.
Now I no longer have to go out front much since I KNOW what say, excessive treble in the vox sounds like bounced off the back.

But once again ..... 15,000 gigs of doing that.

Good luck with it but the way you describe things I'm gonna say that it's gonna be much harder than you think.

And while I'm at it ..... on your clips ....... I'd be more inclined to ask where are the drums on your rehearsal clip? Yes ...... the snare MAY be a little loud on the live clip but, as someone else pointed out, it could be just a loud snare not even going thru the PA. No way to tell.
But you need drums for live playing to propel the people ..... to get them moving.
Of the two clips I prefer the live one although neither is all that great.
 
60ndown said:
1.'sound guys' are working in venues because they are willing to accept low pay and long hours, NOT because they are any good.

2. 'sound guys' get the work because they own the equipment, NOT because they are any good.
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1) As soon as they get good they get better offers and they leave the crappy pay of the low level club behind and get replaced by another newbie or the guy who never got good enough to move on. Entry level clubs, entry level sound guy, bad sound. There are exceptions, but the trend is pretty strong.

2) True. There are lots of guys that loaded up daddy's credit card to get a rig that they rent out for too little money to cover the investment. Good gear, low price, unskilled operation, bad sound.
 
thanks,

do you just run left and right signals from your 'on stage' mixer to the PA and amplify them?

if no, how do you do it?



Lt. Bob said:
it's got major downsides.

To the OP ...... welcome to reality. First off ...... if you truly belive that you got excellent sound with a $20 boombox pointed into a corner ....... :rolleyes:.

I'm the rarity here at HR being a full time live player for 40 years and still gigging 6 nights a week. I do record and do session work butr my main income is gigging and always has been.
I can mix from the stage ..... so if you can ... do it that way.
I usually do.

Having said that ..... the fact is VERY few people can mix from the stage because they don't have the experience of translating what things sound like out front to what they sound like up on stage.
I have approximately 15,000 gigs under my belt ..... most of them also doing sound for the bands I'm in so I run out front ...... jump on stage ... make corrections .... run back out front ....... jumping up and down for a few songs.
Now I no longer have to go out front much since I KNOW what say, excessive treble in the vox sounds like bounced off the back.

But once again ..... 15,000 gigs of doing that.

Good luck with it but the way you describe things I'm gonna say that it's gonna be much harder than you think.

And while I'm at it ..... on your clips ....... I'd be more inclined to ask where are the drums on your rehearsal clip? Yes ...... the snare MAY be a little loud on the live clip but, as someone else pointed out, it could be just a loud snare not even going thru the PA. No way to tell.
But you need drums for live playing to propel the people ..... to get them moving.
Of the two clips I prefer the live one although neither is all that great.
Click to expand...
 
60ndown said:
thanks,

do you just run left and right signals from your 'on stage' mixer to the PA and amplify them?

if no, how do you do it?
Click to expand...
when I'm doing my own band's sound from stage I just have the mixer up on stage where I can get to it. So it's just like a normal gig but the mixer is on stage. And that's the majority of my gigs.

BUT , if I'm playing somewhere that requires using a large system for say, an outside gig or a club large enough that my own system won't do, or during bikeweek when lots of bands have to come and go to the same stage; I just let the sound guys do their thing and don't worry about it.
If they're great they're great and if they suck they suck ..... just the way it goes ya' know?
I don't sweat things I can't control.

Maybe I gig so much I'm blase' about it but really, whatcha gonna do? Truth be told ..... trying to bring in your own mixer in that sort of situation causes more problems than it solves imost of the time IMO.

But yes ...... even in those cases you could bring your own mixer and simply send them a signal.
 
The recorder "sitting on a table" is a poor reference source.

The drums are way too low in the first part of the clip. It's dominated by the bass and the vocal.

The second half of the clip sounds like the room more than anything else.

Also, that second half is by no means a good representation of a "bootleg" audience recording. At least not anything from about 1970 forward. Multi-gen cassettes of old Dead shows sound much better than that. I've literally listened to 10's of thousands of hours of audience recordings. That clip sounds like it was recorded in an airplane hanger.
 
c7sus said:
Also, that second half is by no means a good representation of a "bootleg" audience recording. At least not anything from about 1970 forward. Multi-gen cassettes of old Dead shows sound much better than that. I've literally listened to 10's of thousands of hours of audience recordings. That clip sounds like it was recorded in an airplane hanger.
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agreed..........
 
Hi! First of all you desperatly need to work WITH the sound guy -- I have been on both ends --- and if the sound person isn't told what you want --- that is your fault. If you still need a mic --- get a condenser--- more feed back through live monitors --- but not with headphones. If you put one on each side that should cover the whole stage pretty well. The best scenario would be for the band to purchase a monitor console and go inear. This way you have total control of your own mix !!! Good Luck ---
 
PS Any pro knows you just can't get a good mix to "run sound" from the stage --- no way !! Whay do you think ALL pro acts have a great sound person out front ???
 
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