Treeline
New member
Last weekend, I did live sound for a performance stage at a festival from about noon to 6 PM. It was outdoors on a college green. I had a good basic setup, used condenser mics (including a pair of SP B1s and a pair of MXL 603s) wherever I could and dynamics if it didn't make sense. I had four or five acts go through without a problem, and the sound was pretty nice. Well, make that awesome. I was extremely happy with the sound, and so were others. The mains were Mackie SRM450s, which kicked out more signal from the rear than I had expected they would. They were pumping out at near peak all day for about a thousand people and handled the crowd well.
The last act on my stage was a very accomplished bluegrass group, which has stringent sound requirements. They brought their own mics, a pair of AT4033s, and insisted on using them instead of the B1s, which I had EQ'd to pretty good stability. I respect that, particularly when the artist is knowledgeable. In this case, the artist has much more experience than I do. All instruments were acoustic, with the exception of the string bass, which had what appeared to be an SM57 taped to the tailpiece; I gave that its own channel and we had no problem. The vocals were clustered, as in the old style bluegrass band method.
I was worried about feedback, so suggested that they use the ATs (or one) for vocal coloring, and that I add the 603s right and left, as hot as I could get them, to pick up instruments and ambient vocals with better resistance to feedback from the back of the cabs. The cabs were maxed out to their cable lengths, and each was about 20' off axis from the corner of the stage. They elected not to use the 603s. I ran the condensers through my DMP3, instead of the rackmount ART they wanted (enough was enough) but later I learned that the ART has a limiter built in; it might have been a good idea to use it. We ran without the monitors.
From where I sat in FOH, it was a disaster. I later heard from others who said it was fine, but my ears picked up a great sound and no gain. The minute I tried to get any gain, the mics would go into overtime feedback. Worse yet, the group switched positions mid song and one of the mics went ballistic - so I knew I had really been pushing the limit. I couldn't stabilize it and they finished with the other mic and an increasingly irritated soundman. I am cetain the feeling was mutual.
They were over a half hour late, so there was no time to do a soundcheck. My graphic EQ is inadequate (10 bands on a Mackie CFX mixer) but everything had been perfect all day until this happened.
So - critiques, anyone?
Lemme have it. I need to know how to handle this group when I see it again, because I will sooner or later. (They are exceptionally good, by the way, and the plain fact is that I want to make them sound as good on stage as they do in the studio).
Assume: the ATs will stay even if they are unstable in the presence of the mains. They are part of the group's signature sound.
Assume: The cabs are moved as far away as they are going to get; my budget has limits.
Assume: I have to change something because they are invested in their way. I want this group to ask for me when they need sound, not groan if they hear I'm doing it.
What did I do wrong, and how can I keep it from happening again?
Thanks in advance!
The last act on my stage was a very accomplished bluegrass group, which has stringent sound requirements. They brought their own mics, a pair of AT4033s, and insisted on using them instead of the B1s, which I had EQ'd to pretty good stability. I respect that, particularly when the artist is knowledgeable. In this case, the artist has much more experience than I do. All instruments were acoustic, with the exception of the string bass, which had what appeared to be an SM57 taped to the tailpiece; I gave that its own channel and we had no problem. The vocals were clustered, as in the old style bluegrass band method.
I was worried about feedback, so suggested that they use the ATs (or one) for vocal coloring, and that I add the 603s right and left, as hot as I could get them, to pick up instruments and ambient vocals with better resistance to feedback from the back of the cabs. The cabs were maxed out to their cable lengths, and each was about 20' off axis from the corner of the stage. They elected not to use the 603s. I ran the condensers through my DMP3, instead of the rackmount ART they wanted (enough was enough) but later I learned that the ART has a limiter built in; it might have been a good idea to use it. We ran without the monitors.
From where I sat in FOH, it was a disaster. I later heard from others who said it was fine, but my ears picked up a great sound and no gain. The minute I tried to get any gain, the mics would go into overtime feedback. Worse yet, the group switched positions mid song and one of the mics went ballistic - so I knew I had really been pushing the limit. I couldn't stabilize it and they finished with the other mic and an increasingly irritated soundman. I am cetain the feeling was mutual.
They were over a half hour late, so there was no time to do a soundcheck. My graphic EQ is inadequate (10 bands on a Mackie CFX mixer) but everything had been perfect all day until this happened.
So - critiques, anyone?
Lemme have it. I need to know how to handle this group when I see it again, because I will sooner or later. (They are exceptionally good, by the way, and the plain fact is that I want to make them sound as good on stage as they do in the studio).
Assume: the ATs will stay even if they are unstable in the presence of the mains. They are part of the group's signature sound.
Assume: The cabs are moved as far away as they are going to get; my budget has limits.
Assume: I have to change something because they are invested in their way. I want this group to ask for me when they need sound, not groan if they hear I'm doing it.
What did I do wrong, and how can I keep it from happening again?
Thanks in advance!
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. To make it worse, she wanted to run around with the mic like Madonna. I tried to explain to her that this was a REAL bad idea to spring it on me at show time and I had grave misgivings about this being used as a hand held vocal mic and feedback. About half way through the first set between tunes I walked up on the stage and replaced the C-1000 with a 58 and basicly told her tuff shit. It's a hard call for sure between not hurting someones feelings or making the the whole show look like a bunch of idiots.