Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Sound man: Friend or Foe
Well; he better be your friend. This is true, especially if you are the vocalist. If you cannot hear yourself on stage, you don’t want anyone else to. Have you ever been to a show where you knew the singers were good; but they sounded terrible? Know you know why. Odds are; they couldn’t hear their own voice. It’s advisable, to do pretty much whatever it takes, to get the sound man on your side (maybe beer and pizza, as a token of your appreciation). The only other option, that I am aware of, is to have your own in ear monitor system to control the feedback. I hope this helps you have the success, you deserve, as a singer. Many of the great artists I have taught; have benefited from this advice.

I agree. most bands hire a friend to run sound and its kind of on the job training. Then god forbid they get drunk or go out and smoke a joint during break! Then when you get back up on stage for the next set they want to impress the chicks by constantly turning knobs LOL! Another choice you have is to run sound from the stage but that can be very stressful I know I did it for several years. Then I trained my wife to mix the band after I sound checked everyone she is a natural. Now days we are lucky enough to have a friend that has joined the band as our soundman. We treat him just like a member he gets an equal cut! He is a musician and has run million dollar sound systems so he knows sound. He has also purchased a state of the art sound system and is even buying lights to give our light show a boost. He has 4 Shure PSM 900 IEM's and each member in the band gets their own personal mix!

SingFromFeelStudio wrote:Sound man: Friend or Foe
Well; he better be your friend. This is true, especially if you are the vocalist. If you cannot hear yourself on stage, you don’t want anyone else to. Have you ever been to a show where you knew the singers were good; but they sounded terrible? Know you know why. Odds are; they couldn’t hear their own voice. It’s advisable, to do pretty much whatever it takes, to get the sound man on your side (maybe beer and pizza, as a token of your appreciation). The only other option, that I am aware of, is to have your own in ear monitor system to control the feedback. I hope this helps you have the success, you deserve, as a singer. Many of the great artists I have taught; have benefited from this advice.

If I have to coax a sound man to do his best...Then It'd be easier for me to just fire his ass and replace him... Seriously,, WTF has happened to solid work ethics...?
If I do sound as a profession... why the F***K would I need to be bribed to make sure the singer 's voice levels were correct?? jeez....

Because sh*t happens Dog.

Any decent singer that is serious about what he is doing will
have a wireless monitor in his ear. Without it Murphys Law
Will take over.[/b]

I make it a point to be friendly with the sound man wherever we play. But we've driven more than a couple crazy! One quit when our drummer set up his kit backwards (his back facing the audience).

KLUGMO wrote:Because sh*t happens Dog.

Any decent singer that is serious about what he is doing will
have a wireless monitor in his ear. Without it Murphys Law
Will take over.[/b]

Yes I suppose sh*t does happen... But I would gladly take one sound person who will at least try his/her best, to practice the craft in the interest of the band he's'she's working for... than top have 10 perfect sound persons who are indifferent to the band, and "need" to have their asses kissed..
I'm just sayin...

jimmydanger wrote:I make it a point to be friendly with the sound man wherever we play. But we've driven more than a couple crazy! One quit when our drummer set up his kit backwards (his back facing the audience).

A good spirited and experienced sound engineer would never let that throw him off.. In fact I have a high school buddy in Albuquerque who now owns a sound & lighting Company...He's done work U.S. and Abroad...and he never has a problem with adapting on the fly... FOr him, its part of the excitement... (Of course as long as he gets paid just the same, what is agreed upon...)

Everything has changed with the advent of Bose L1 towers.

I set them up, turn them on, and hear everything exactly as the audience does. No need for a soundman ever again.

Expensive compared to cheap systems, yes...but worth every penny to know that you are going to sound great every time you pust the "on" button.

I kinda have a love hate relationship with soundmen.

Weve got a guy that has worked with us off and on for years, when he listens to me and just gets it set and keeps things in check hes cool.

But the more ocmfortable he gets with us, the more he decides to play the knobs, so currently we are soundmanless, which is fine.

I like having someone paid on hand in case something does bug out, so I dont have to just stop and fix stuff, I also like having help at the end of the night unwiring mainly, I dont mind moving cabinets cause weve got everything on wheels or use a dolley, but I cant stand unwinding and packing cords at the end of the night.

I ran sound for years myself, and the problem is at the end of the night when your ears are blown, you tend to overdoo everything, and of course a few beers probably doesnt help either.

I think for most club work there is no reason for a soundman, just keep your levels in check and respect your fellow players. I know I was one og the loudest guitar players in my neck of the woods for years, but Ive learned that volume doesnt mean tone, tone is tone and loud is loud.


Who knows 6 monthes from now I may be using a soundman again,but for now Im doing double duty.

"A winks as good as a nod to a sound man"

yod wrote:Everything has changed with the advent of Bose L1 towers.

I set them up, turn them on, and hear everything exactly as the audience does. No need for a soundman ever again.

Expensive compared to cheap systems, yes...but worth every penny to know that you are going to sound great every time you pust the "on" button.

Don't leave me hanging here man.
I want a detailed description of how your using said towers.

yod my band used 2 l1s & 4 bass bin with a small mixer for the last 4 yrs & i say your right . ive had a lot of musicians sit in & react poorly to it but i believe they just have a hard time accepting the truth about their volume & vocal issues

sans check some of my posted pics you can see the l1 towers & subs on the back line I admit it takes some getting used to but its hard to beat the ease of set up & sound quality of these things in smaller clubs (no monitors needed )

and here is the upgrade ouch!
http://k-array.agiprofessional.com/prod ... d=CLLQwfHz