doing sound for a bar

yurtpoh

yurtpoh

New member
so i got offered a possibility of working sound for a bar.. now im only 20, but ive played guitar since i was 7 and drums since i was 12. ive been involved with music quite a bit in my life. the only thing is, ive never worked sound before. i know how it works, ive watched old acquaintances mix live shows before. i know what most of the knobs and sliders do. i know what a snake is. but im just nervous about accepting this offer because ive never done this before. any tips from anyone that knows what to do??
 
ok, a few questions. what sound system will you be working with? house PA? Monitor rig? how many inputs? outboard gear available? what size room? This is the first question on this forum I know I can answer. LOL. I spent years as a FOH/Monitor engineer. Is this a house gig meaning you will mix anything that walks in? PM me if you want. If you give me details I can help you. Thanks:D
 
yurtpoh said:
so i got offered a possibility of working sound for a bar.. now im only 20, but ive played guitar since i was 7 and drums since i was 12. ive been involved with music quite a bit in my life. the only thing is, ive never worked sound before. i know how it works, ive watched old acquaintances mix live shows before. i know what most of the knobs and sliders do. i know what a snake is. but im just nervous about accepting this offer because ive never done this before. any tips from anyone that knows what to do??
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How did you manage to get a possibility of doing sound in a bar without having done it before?

I do a lot of live sound, but I recall I spent a lot of time working with someone else before I decided I could go it alone.
 
gecko zzed said:
How did you manage to get a possibility of doing sound in a bar without having done it before?

I do a lot of live sound, but I recall I spent a lot of time working with someone else before I decided I could go it alone.
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LOL, you are correct. I spent years mixing for my own band, then on a whim I quit a job as a aircraft mechanic and walked into the biggest sound company in the area and told them I wanted a job. told them I would work for free for a month and if they did not like me so be it. I mixed the bar gigs for a few months then moved to the concert monitor rig. if you can mix monitors (16 plus mixes) you can mix anything. after about a year moved to FOH, never looked back. if he can get a house gig at 20, more power to him. we were on the road 300 days a year.:D
 
Learn how to set the input gain on the mixer in question. Get the manual and memorize what it says. Make the people on stage give you the loudest singing/playing they expect to give during the show. Then assume they'll get louder during the show than at sound check so set the gain a little low.

When building up your mix start with the vocals. If you've set the input gain correctly it may be a simple matter of pulling all faders (channel and master) down, setting the lead vocal fader to 0 and bringing up the master until the lead vocal sits on top of the stage noise*. Then you can bring in backing vocals and anything direct with no amp (keyboards, acoustic guitar). Finally bring in amps and drums if needed. Always consider turning things down rather than up when you can't hear something.

*If bringing up that master fader to 0 or so (making the meter bounce around 0dB VU) isn't enough to get the lead vocal on top then there's a gain structure problem downstream and/or there's not enough rig for the gig.

There's a million other critical aspects of mixing live, but the above will eliminate a huge amount of guesswork.
 
Ring out your monitors and read up on mic patterns. The biggest fight in live sound is usually feedback vs monitor volume...and it's a nasty fight at times... It'll make you want to hug the bands that come through with their own in-ear rigs, heh...
 
gecko zzed said:
How did you manage to get a possibility of doing sound in a bar without having done it before? .
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I'm always under the impression bar managers don't care who runs the sound board. No offense to the OP, but bars will hire anybody, evidently.

I used to run sound for a couple of bands here in Austin throughout the 90's. Dedicated to the bands, not the venues. I'm glad I am not doing that anymore.
 
no offense taken chilli lol, this caught me off guard too.. the offer is from a friend i used to jam with, he knows a guy whos looking.. ive played with my dads mixing board and PA quite a bit, and i used to play recitals at the place where i used to take lessons, i was good friends with the "teachers" (they were mostly all mid 20's - 30's), and they taught me a lot about live playing, but not much about live mixing (but they still taught me what they could).. ive mixed recorded audio on my computer quite a bit, especially recently after i bought PT11 and a guitar interface. and yeah i learned the hard way about turning the volume down rather than up for clarity lol. im not quite sure what setup the bar has.. i told my friend that i was going to wait, because literally the day he offered me, i had just applied at a local concert venue.. im waiting till tuesday (itll have been a week) to call back for a followup.. though im thinking about just saying "screw it" and going for the bar gig.. idk, i wont be that rash, but i gotta feel this out lol
 
Learn how to pretend to adjust something without actually making any changes when somebody asks for "more vocal in the mix". I'm only half joking. You'll be amazed how often the placebo effect makes them think they can hear an improvement.

Beyond that, all the advice above is good. The main thing (after having a basic talent for making music sound good) is to learn the pub system like the back of your hand--where all the tie lines are, what amps in the rack feed what speakers, every knob, button and fader on the mixer, that sort of thing. Doing sound for random acts you've never worked with before is challenging but can also be fun and rewarding if you approach it with the right attitude.
 
^^ I was gonna say something about attitude, too - it makes all the difference between a smooth, fun night and a godawful one. Be friendly and helpful and if possible - be ready for whoever is playing. If your lines are all run when the band gets there, then you just have to adjust the mics and get started sound checking... that can make the difference, too - running out of time before the doors open, because the band has 3 singing keyboardists and a saxaphone that you were totally unprepared for, and then having to wing it without a full sound check is the worst...

Oh and if they bring their own sound guy - don't be weird about it. Just get outta his way but be available if he needs something. Those are the best nights! Get paid to hang out in a bar all night, hell yea :)
 
Don't let on that you have never done it before, I have arrived at loads of gigs to be told by the sound guy that, "I don't know what I am doing as I just started" this does not install any confidence. By the way I always know when it is their first week of doing live sound.

Also a lot of muss know quite a bit about live sound (so think they do) so if you are having problems listen to advise and don't get flustered.

Take with you, a multi meter, a roll of gaffer tape, a pair of headphones, a DI and a spare mic.

Alan.
 
witzendoz said:
Take with you, a multi meter, a roll of gaffer tape, a pair of headphones, a DI and a spare mic.

Alan.
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Yes. This. ^^^^

(The gaffer tape is there so it can be stolen by the lighting guy. It's some kind of union rule or something.)

I'd add to the list a box of converters and adaptor cables. It's amazing how often you get asked to connect something non standard to something else non standard. Oh, and if you know how to wield it, a small, cheap soldering iron has got me out of trouble quite a few times as well.
 
Bobbsy said:
Yes. This. ^^^^

(The gaffer tape is there so it can be stolen by the lighting guy. It's some kind of union rule or something.)

I'd add to the list a box of converters and adaptor cables. It's amazing how often you get asked to connect something non standard to something else non standard. Oh, and if you know how to wield it, a small, cheap soldering iron has got me out of trouble quite a few times as well.
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And I forgot, a black marker pen and a roll of white electrical tape, this is to mark channels if needed.

Alan.
 
TyphoidHippo said:
^^ I was gonna say something about attitude, too - it makes all the difference between a smooth, fun night and a godawful one. Be friendly and helpful and if possible - be ready for whoever is playing. If your lines are all run when the band gets there, then you just have to adjust the mics and get started sound checking... that can make the difference, too - running out of time before the doors open, because the band has 3 singing keyboardists and a saxaphone that you were totally unprepared for, and then having to wing it without a full sound check is the worst...

Oh and if they bring their own sound guy - don't be weird about it. Just get outta his way but be available if he needs something. Those are the best nights! Get paid to hang out in a bar all night, hell yea :)
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Good advice, not sure what kind of acts you will be doing but if they can give you a technical rider (EQ needed, input list Ect) it is a big help. if you have the board space lay out the board the same way every time. example: Kick, snare, hat, rack, rack floor, OH L&R, bass, keys, guitar, vocals. Using the same channels lets you start with at least a basic EQ and mix. Same thing on the stage, set it up and keep it organized, label your cables and keep it neat. If possible touch base with the band to say hello and see what they may need. Beware of drunks that know how to run sound! if they ask for more bass, as mentioned here pretend! LOL. Good luck sir!:thumbs up:
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Get the manual and memorize what it says.
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Yeah. Make sure you really know all of your gear: how it works, what it's capable, and the foibles of your specific gear. (e.g. which monitor has intermittent issues with its jacks kind of stuff.)
Check your gear frequently to make sure it's all still working.
Keep spare of of all of the small, cheap stuff that breaks easily (or bands tend to wander off with) like cables and clips.

As to Chili's comment, it depends a lot on the bar and the market. I've noticed Nashville bars tend to have pretty competent sound guys. I suspect that's a combination of there being a glut of sound guys in this town and the fact that if you charge bands $100 for an incompetent sound guy, your venue's not going to have bands for very long.
 
Hoping that you work for little money.
In the bar situation the gig goes to the lowest bidder 95% of the time. Kinda like government spending.
 
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