mikel Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 We were back in the Geordie Delta last week and took in the Americana music on Friday afternoon and evening. Had a great time and listened to some very good bands, but the music was spoiled to a certain extent by the FOH mix. It was a line array with subs and the bass drum sounded like woooom, no attack or delay just an electronic sounding noise that was so loud it made your chest rattle with every BD beat. I presume there may have been something wrong with the setup of the PA as when the bassist, who was playing an upright, hit a note around those frequencies it made the same muffled boomy noise. The rest of his undoubtedly great playing was inaudible. Anyway, enjoyed the afternoon immensely, despite the sonic overload by the dick on the mixer. In the evening we decamped to the Sage properly and took in the Stax Academy gig. Some wonderful performances by talented kids, and great to hear all the old Stax stuff again. Got tickets to see The Shires in the big hall at the Sage in the evening. I am not a big country fan and only know about two of there songs but they put on a great show and the musicianship was superb. Cant comment on the bassist as the main show had the same problem as the outdoor stuff, another over loud and indistinct BD sound. It completely drowned out the poor bassist and may as well have been a £100 Stixx kit for all the tone that was evident. They were session musos backing the duo so they had the best gear going and the drummer had an un drilled bass drum so he was obviously concerned about his sound. What is it with even pro sound guys? If I had been a band member I would have complained bitterly about the quality of the FOH sound. Bear in mind this was a big show by a best selling popular act playing to a sold out venue. Anyone else had experience of top line gigs being spoiled by a diabolical mix and way over the top BD sounds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 (edited) [quote name='mikel' timestamp='1500996708' post='3341624'] Anyone else had experience of top line gigs being spoiled by a diabolical mix and way over the top BD sounds? [/quote] All. The. Frikking. Time. If the drum kit isn't louder than everything else...and the the kick louder than that it's just not right, it seems. Edited July 25, 2017 by ahpook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 [quote name='mikel' timestamp='1500996708' post='3341624']...a big show by a best selling popular act playing to a sold out venue... [/quote] It's sad, but I think there's a clue in there somewhere ^. No, I don't understand it, either, but, then again, I don't understand Coronation Street, either, so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivansc Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 I have this theory: Most FOH engineers are called something like "Doof". For reason! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Maybe we should start letting the bands, venues, and the PA hire companies know that we don't think much of their FoH sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 I can't comment about the indoor stuff, but I believe the outdoor gig had to be mixed from the stage. Nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikel Posted July 25, 2017 Author Share Posted July 25, 2017 [quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1501004325' post='3341732'] I can't comment about the indoor stuff, but I believe the outdoor gig had to be mixed from the stage. Nightmare. [/quote] Aye, the Shires gig was mixed just in front of our seats, so we had the best sound in the place. God knows what it was like in the rest of the hall. Outdoors was mixed from the stage but nowt to stop the sound engineer or the monitor mixer stepping out front to check what it sounds like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 This seems to be a recurring pattern amongst many genres/areas, bass drum with no actual attack, just made ridiculously loud to compensate. At one gig we played I asked the sound man to add some top-end to the kick drum as our drummer is pretty fast, and all the other bands had a bass drum that was just booming and he said he "knew the room". So why make everyone sound sh*t then was my question (asked after we`d played, I do have some sense, sometimes). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikel Posted July 26, 2017 Author Share Posted July 26, 2017 (edited) [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1501005919' post='3341744'] This seems to be a recurring pattern amongst many genres/areas, bass drum with no actual attack, just made ridiculously loud to compensate. At one gig we played I asked the sound man to add some top-end to the kick drum as our drummer is pretty fast, and all the other bands had a bass drum that was just booming and he said he "knew the room". So why make everyone sound sh*t then was my question (asked after we`d played, I do have some sense, sometimes). [/quote] Aye. Its strange that sound guys almost insist on a ported head on the BD "So they can get the sound of the drum", then make it sound like an electronic dance pulse. Edited July 26, 2017 by mikel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 [quote name='mikel' timestamp='1501066412' post='3342162'] Aye. Its strange that sound guys almost insist on a ported head on the BD "So they can get the sound of the drum", then make it sound like an electronic dance pulse. [/quote] ... and get sent away, as far as I'm concerned. The sound of my drums come from the resonant heads, not from any port, tuned or otherwise. Deal with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikel Posted July 26, 2017 Author Share Posted July 26, 2017 [quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1501078707' post='3342313'] ... and get sent away, as far as I'm concerned. The sound of my drums come from the resonant heads, not from any port, tuned or otherwise. Deal with it. [/quote] And me. Most of the tone comes from the rezo head and I refuse to put a hole in mine. Any decent sound guy should be able to simply amplify the sound a drum produces, within the limitations of the room and equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 As I said in another thread on the subject of poor sound at gigs, I don't go very many "big" gigs and at all of the recent ones I've attended with one exception the sound has been excellent and appropriately balanced. Strangely enough the one band that had a very poor sound were the middle band in a 3 band gig and both the band playing before and the headliners had a great sound, so they (or their sound engineer) must have wanted it to sound that way. If I was to attend another big gig with poor sound I would make a point of mentioning it on the band's Facebook page, and probably also find out who was doing the PA and let them know too. Maybe this current trend in crap sound is being perpetuated because no-one is complaining directly to the bands or the PA companies. If enough of us do so maybe they might take some notice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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