Hearing Yourself on Stage

  • Thread starter Thread starter BedeDazzle
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BedeDazzle

BedeDazzle

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So I'm cheating a little, because this is not a recording question. I just played another show at one of my favorite venues in town, and was reminded of some of the problems I run into even at pretty decent venues--no matter how I try to communicate to the sound guy, my bandmates and I are surrounded by sonic-confusion on stage.

All I really want is a pretty even mix/approximation of what's going on through the floor speakers. I always make attempts to communicate with the sound guy, but we never seem to get anywhere!

I'm not brand new to playing shows--I've been playing with moderate frequency for the past seven years, but I can never knock it out of the park the way we do in rehearsal, because the stage is so disorienting.

Anyone have personal breakthroughs/experiences/advice?

What kind of set up do you think one would need for gtr/bass/drum/vox where you cold mix yourself and bypass the sound guy?

It just seems like it should be a lot simpler than it ever is!

Thanks,
Eric
 
Time for everyone to get inears and you mix that yourselves. Y off of that through a monitor mixer (rack mount is good) and give the front of house guy those feeds.
 
Live sound.. The art of damage control.

I hear ya though.
 
IEMs can help, but then you are better off with lots of separate stereo mixes that have to be precisely set since you're completely dependent on them.

The first step in getting a good mix on wedges is controlling your stage volume. Turn down as much as possible. If you can't get the tone you want from your amp at a reasonable volume then it's the wrong amp for the gig. The second thing, if your stage volume is still loud, is to sing with lips on grill, otherwise when you turn your vocal up in the wedge you also get all the other stuff bleeding into it. Third, raise guitar amps on chairs or stands, and/or tilt them up at your head. If possible move them around to your side or even in front of you tilted back at your face. This last bit really depends on how much the band will rely on the amps vs. the monitors to hear other players. If everything is miced and you have enough separate mixes available then use your amp just for you and put it in the monitors for the others. If the band has to share mixes then you might want to aim your amp across stage and keep it out of the monitors. Also, check out the Weber Beam Blocker.

Are you rehearsing with wedges? I recommend setting up as much like on stage as possible, drums and backline behind the front line of players/singers. The less that changes from rehearsal to stage the less you have to adapt and the more you can concentrate on performing.
 
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