Bad Gigs...

pistonsvox

Anyone have any disaster stories of playing or doin sound for a band?

Tonight had to work off 22 channels...3 guitars with a lot of effects.
People coming up to you saying wheres the vocals when youre trying to assign a vca to boost em as fast as you can...:rolleyes: Shoulda done longer soundcheck.

stressful career.

PaulBrewer

I once did a gig with a PA I built myself.

As I was a student at the time I'd no money and scrimped on making a Multi Core for my Mixing Desk (made from Tinplate and Wood!) , so there was one shield around the cores as opposed to them being individually isolated, including the the main FOH feeds.

So .... every time the band got rocking I'd get MAGNETIC Feedback with the output lines inducing feedback through the inputs !

It was years later when I kopped it !

dav nagle

pistonsvox wrote: »

Anyone have any disaster stories of playing or doin sound for a band?

Tonight had to work off 22 channels...3 guitars with a lot of effects.
People coming up to you saying wheres the vocals when youre trying to assign a vca to boost em as fast as you can...:rolleyes: Shoulda done longer soundcheck.

stressful career.

Most venues in Dublin have poor desks, lighting, sound quality in general that's why live engineering is not worth it at this level. A band with tons of FX are probably a mash of noise so I wouldn't take any responsibility. They probably need a manager to fire 2 of the 3 guitarists.

old gregg

Back in early 1977 I bought my first guitar + dodgy Vortexion amp and speaker, learned 3 chords, wrote a song, started a punk band with my brother (bass) and a mate (drums). We played a single disastrous gig in a hotel in Waterford that went horribly wrong because:

1) I'd only been playing for 3 weeks at the time so was pretty useless
2) the bass player had only started playing the day before the gig
3) the drummer had never played before going on stage with a borrowed set of drums
4) we'd been asked to wait out on the street prior to the gig because of the way we were dressed (standard issue early punk attire)
5) our band name was not very nice (some folks took offence)
6) we were not very good
7) the audience were mostly local farmers more at home with Big Tom than maybe one of very early punk gigs to take place in Ireland

3 mins is all we lasted before being thrown out on the street.

I felt we were more advanced than my then idols 'The Adverts' who only knew one chord according to the just released first single.

The equipment all worked fine though, the Vortexion was great for the feedback (guitar solo).

It was another 10 years before I played music in public again

pistonsvox

dav nagle wrote: »

Most venues in Dublin have poor desks, lighting, sound quality in general that's why live engineering is not worth it at this level. A band with tons of FX are probably a mash of noise so I wouldn't take any responsibility. They probably need a manager to fire 2 of the 3 guitarists.

ah now...whelans with the arcs isnt too bad sounding.. was up to me really to get that sounding right!

Rockshamrover

We did a gig years ago in a big school hall. It had a wide stage but it wasn't very deep.

Half way through a song the drummer started an unrehearsed solo which was totally out of time with the song. We looked around to see what was up.

The drummer had got a bit too close to the back of the stage and was trying his very best to avoid falling off. He had a look of terror on his face as he did his best to keep the beat going while falling backwards. It looked like one of those slow motion scenes from the matrix. He ended up in a heap on the floor and the audience, all five of them, went into convulsions.

Happy days.

krd

I wouldn't worry about it. Usually when the vocals are like that, it's because Generic indie band takes to the stage, and generic indie band singer's nads shrink, and he realises, he doesn't actually have a song. So his vocal drops off - you can up it and he'll drop more.

I have had far worse nightmare experiences than you - mine have been on stage. A sound man out for revenge (we blew one of his 'personal property' monitors a few months before - well our stupid singer did it) - cutting the monitors and bring them back - cutting instruments etc.

Karaoke men use this trick to make people lose it - messing with the monitor levels till someone goes out of tune - it's a pop idol staple.

In my experience - a decent sound man can get a good mix very quickly in a sound check - it can be ruined by the band asking for more of this and that - but they've the disadvantage of hearing stuff through monitors - which can sound like gick. So, to the sound man, it can sound crisp and clear and really good - to the band on stage it can sound awful.

I feel the chorus of a generic indie song coming on

I don't know where we're going.
you don't know where we're going
I don't know where we're going
And neither do you.

But I swear Piston - if I'm ever on stage and you screw up my vocals - I will calmly get down off the stage - approach the desk - introduce my sound man to the crowd - Then I will smash your %$^%^ face through the desk to the cheers of my paying public, who will believe it's all part of the act and the blood is fake and those knobs haven't actually gone through your eyes.

PaulBrewer

A friend of mine (who posts here!) is a keyboard player and used to torture soundmen at soundchecks by slowly fading in the sound of feedback ... and fading it out again afore soundman could work out what was feeding ... Class:D

Pa the Blah

pistonsvox wrote: »

Anyone have any disaster stories of playing or doin sound for a band?

Tonight had to work off 22 channels...3 guitars with a lot of effects.
People coming up to you saying wheres the vocals when youre trying to assign a vca to boost em as fast as you can...:rolleyes: Shoulda done longer soundcheck.

stressful career.

Take it in your stride, try to treat every gig with equal importance and enthhsiasim always give yourself ample time for setting up and sound checking and always think ahead to a full room or half empty one never mix for yourself! live engineers don't have the luxury of time, because of this our brains bypass thought process.. thus during a performance we don't think we just act :cool:
there's always pressure with live performances its part of the here and now of a live show, try not to let it stress you out, and Never let a band see you getting stressed out or moody if they do, your ****ed. once they've seen that expression on your face they'll start to lose faith in your ability. you need their trust so when you tell them to turn something down etc you have more of a chance they'll listen.
22 channels 16 channels whatever, if thats what you have, make it work! a mark of a good live engineer is adaptability there are no two gig's alike no two shows the same, have a standard.. and aim high.

Nothing wrong with most Dublin venues a good engineer can't handle, there's a decent enough standard in the smaller venues compared to similar venues in the states.

also rather than having too use an extra VCA to boost a vocal during a show you should try use a master VCA for the music so if your have probs with a vocal level during a certain song or whatever you can pull the band down a bit, if need be whilst boosting the vocal channel.


too many stories need beer too remember

krd

Another generic indie song coming on.

I don't where this is going
I don't know where this have been
I don't know about last wednesday
or,,, or ,,, the following Tuesday

You're vegatarian
I'm a carnivore
You're a vegatarian - you like vegtable meat
I'm a carnivore - we like different things.
I like to eat you
you like to eat other girls
Where is our relationship going
Where is our relationship going
where is our relationship going
Where is......

Sung in a low voice, that will drive a soundman up the wall - as he tries to raise the vocal - the vocalist becomes quieter.

Where is our relationship going?

You're a vegatarian
I'm a carnivore

You're a vegatarian
I'm a carnivore
You're a vegatarian
I'm a carnivore

I want too. I WANT TO EAT YOU

Dravokivich

PaulBrewer wrote: »

A friend of mine (who posts here!) is a keyboard player and used to torture soundmen at soundchecks by slowly fading in the sound of feedback ... and fading it out again afore soundman could work out what was feeding ... Class:D

heh...

i had a guy once complain i was spending too much time looking at the desk then "paying attention" to what was going on, on stage during a sound check / rehersal run so i could also learn their show...

little did they know i was actually looking for something causing a feedback loop....

love desks that have a little LED on each channel that lights up depending on the amount of gain going through them.

I woulda caught that ragged mate of yours farely quickly :P

- Drav!

pistonsvox

PaulBrewer wrote: »

A friend of mine (who posts here!) is a keyboard player and used to torture soundmen at soundchecks by slowly fading in the sound of feedback ... and fading it out again afore soundman could work out what was feeding ... Class:D

They actually kept doing that to me with their keyboard!

krd would ya like a square one to the face eh???:pac:

Well the soundcheck was a bit shoddy, didnt have time to get a good monitor mix cos they were all messin.

PaulBrewer

Dravokivich wrote: »

I woulda caught that ragged mate of yours farely quickly :P

- Drav!

Oh no you dehint ....

He used to do it when yer man was away from the desk .... that's how he had it going for so long !

PaulBrewer

pistonsvox wrote: »

Well the soundcheck was a bit shoddy, didnt have time to get a good monitor mix cos they were all messin.

Interesting point Piston.

Part of the soundman's job is controlling the stage ....

A nice wave of screaming feedback will silence the unruliest of bands !

You need to take control , both to do YOUR job, but also make them sound good.

Every one is a winner ...... WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

pistonsvox

Thats my only weakness, im terrible at getting people to do stuff haha:pac:

Id just blast surfin bird through the wedges until the be quiet
bbbbird bird bird b b birds the word...