Does your band use a regular sound engineer? (1 Viewer)

[Beanstalk]

How important is it for a band to have their own regular sound engineer, that's familiar with your songs?

Can't really afford to pay an engineer for gigs considering we rarely get paid ourselves but would love to have a regular soundman, especially for the tunes that we use samples on...the levels are never right...thought it might be worth 'training' one of our mates to ride the faders at least, but would prefer an experienced engineer to be at the desk in case something goes wrong mid-set.

 

[siobhan]

from the gig on saturday and a gig i went to last week- the right sound engineer can make the BIGGESt difference to the crowd's appreciation of the band..

the sound guy at the boom boom rooms was excellent last week and the bands sounded spot on- correct balance of sounds a go go..
the sound guy in the hub on saturday wasnt too good and one of the bands suffered i thought- but then estel are starting to use their own soundguy and they were the best i ever heard- because that guy knew exactly how they're supposed to sound.
So i'd say it would be hugely beneficial to get one of your mates who knows your music to do it..

 

[Anthony]

the dream. you have to find someone who'll do it for nothing though.

 

[sparse]

my Pro's and Con's of getting your own engineer.

Pro's:
The Know your songs
They Know your sound
Easier to talk to

Con's:
Expensive - for smaller gigs you'll pay them more than you get paid
They don't know the gear in different venues
They don't know the room
If you travel it's an extra person/expense
They're not part of the band and sometime they can think they are.

Most in house engineers seem to be pretty good these days, just have a lil chat with them beforehand. "There's a sampler on the second song so whack it up real load or I'll break your fingers!"

 

[egg_]

They don't know the gear in different venues
They don't know the room

These can be big problems.
I don't know if getting someone to ride the faders is going to do you much good. Some house engineers are really sound, but some don't like anyone telling them how to do their job (and I've found the more poorly they're doing it the less likely they are to heed polite suggestions) and so you either need someone who's going to do the whole lot or just make the best of what's available

A good house engineer will, especially in an odd room (which most of them are), most likely do a better job than your own guy, unless your own guy knows exactly what you want and has the experience to figure out how to get it in any situation. There are lot of less-than-good house engineers around though. My 2c

 

[gugai]

I always have a house engineer working anyway as they know the room and i can blame them if anything gets broken. I've only fired one dude mad: ) and we haven't really had any problems with the others.
All hail Ollie Long Hair - Viking Sound Engineer to the Stars. .|..|

 

[Theseus Mock]

my Pro's and Con's of getting your own engineer.

Pro's:
The Know your songs
They Know your sound
Easier to talk to
You're guaranteed at least one fan in the audience

..

 

[Beanstalk]

These can be big problems.
I don't know if getting someone to ride the faders is going to do you much good. Some house engineers are really sound, but some don't like anyone telling them how to do their job (and I've found the more poorly they're doing it the less likely they are to heed polite suggestions) and so you either need someone who's going to do the whole lot or just make the best of what's available

Yeah that's what I thought...its just lately I've been noticing that the bands that I have been most impressed with, live, are the ones with dedicated sound engineers...and I'm not talking about big-time bands who you would expect to have engineers and roadies.

For representing your songs in a live situation, the expertise of a sound engineer is a pretty important link in the chain...arguably more important than a 2nd guitarist or triangle player...maybe bands should include a soundman as a member when they start up, and they can learn their trade just as a guitarist learns his riffs...

"...and what do you play?"
"Emm, I play the mixing desk"

 

[phil.b]

We use our own engineer occaisonally (i.e. when he's available, which is hardly ever!). Makes an almighty difference.
All of the right things in your monitor, knowing when things go loud and go quiet. It's like a holiday.
And if you have an engineer who does sound for a few bands, he's going to know most of the venues you play in..

Tis an expensive business though.

House engineers are pretty damn decent these days, has to be said.
Was fierce impressed with the engineer in the boom boom room, best I've witnessed in a good while.

 

[sparse]

When are they going to have digital desks that you can load in and save settings, surely this exists. What I mean is when the headline band sound checks at 5, gets their sound perfect, and then 3 other bands soundcheck after them wrecking the setttings. Why can't they just save and reload?

 

[Beanstalk]

When are they going to have digital desks that you can load in and save settings, surely this exists. What I mean is when the headline band sound checks at 5, gets their sound perfect, and then 3 other bands soundcheck after them wrecking the setttings. Why can't they just save and reload?

http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/live-sound/mixers/buying-guide.php

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

The sound changes so much when the places fills up with people that recal is of limited use in the kind of venues that concern the likes of us.

There is one kind of recall that can help - not many dudes seem to know about it, though.

 

[Beanstalk]

There is one kind of recall that can help - not many dudes seem to know about it, though.

The pen and paper is dead in the Audio world Pete...get with it! You're such a whore for vintage equipment like this.

 

[scully]

When are they going to have digital desks that you can load in and save settings, surely this exists. What I mean is when the headline band sound checks at 5, gets their sound perfect, and then 3 other bands soundcheck after them wrecking the setttings. Why can't they just save and reload?

Hiyas
I do gigs in all different venues and on my own PA and this thing doesnt really exist ie the levels not being the same , lets say you have a 3 bands with drums bass 2 guitars and 3 vox this been the most common, you use the first 13 channels for the first band ie the kite on 1-7 kick, snare, rack, floor 2 overheads and hi-hats then bass and 2 gtrs and 3 vox giving us a total of 13 channels now when the next band comes up you move everything except the drums and bass (because the kit will mostlikely be the same fo all the bands and the bass usually stays the same unless tha band need something comletely different)up the desk(usually you can do this on the back of the desk) so you plug the 2 gtrs in to channels 14-15 and the voxs into 16-18 this gives you completely new channels to work on and doesnt affect the first bands settings, and the same for the 3rd band so gts go to 19-20 and voxs in 20-23. Then during the gig there may be some minor tweakin to be done due the the crowd changing the sound of the room. And the Room is so important i have done gigs in rooms that have been amazing carpeted floors with long curtins on the walls these are always very easy to EQ and sound amazing, this makes life so easy, but i have also done sound in places whrere the rooms are shit and very hard to EQ and to EQ the monitors are even more diffucult there is only so much you can put into monitors before it feedbacks no matter how you EQ them, so the room is probley the most important factor in a good sound and a decent eq once the the room is EQued properly it makes everthing else easy. Most venues you go into the room is already EQued so you dont really need to go and mess with unless you can hear something you dont like, but sayin that i usually change it anyway depending on the band too ie electronica versus country and westren quite a big difference.

 

[classic seanc]

How important is it for a band to have their own regular sound engineer, that's familiar with your songs?

Can't really afford to pay an engineer for gigs considering we rarely get paid ourselves but would love to have a regular soundman, especially for the tunes that we use samples on...the levels are never right...thought it might be worth 'training' one of our mates to ride the faders at least, but would prefer an experienced engineer to be at the desk in case something goes wrong mid-set.

I've found that it's very important. Makes a huge fucking difference, unless you're one of these just-sounds-like-every-other-fucking-band type bands. Getting someone who isn't dedicated to it can be frustrating, as in, if they're only able to do it when they're free. If that's the case then don't bother.
Finding someone who'll do it for nothing is another challenge, but a mate o mine did a sound engineering course and at the time he was mad to find a band he could do sound for, just for the experience. So, I dunno, put up an ad in TBMC or something.

 

[Beanstalk]

...a mate o mine did a sound engineering course and at the time he was mad to find a band he could do sound for, just for the experience. So, I dunno, put up an ad in TBMC or something.

Aye, would do that if we were based in Dawblin.

 

[classic seanc]

I don't have all the answers man

 

[egg_]

So, I dunno, put up an ad in TBMC or something.

With very few exceptions you will be approximately one zillion times better off with a house engineer than with someone straight out a sound engineering course.

the bands that I have been most impressed with, live, are the ones with dedicated sound engineers

Probably they're also the ones who are the best rehearsed, who gig most often, and who have put a lot of time and money into their sound ...

I suspect the key, really, is to rehearse in an environment that fairly closely resembles a stage, or else to just get in a lot of stage time. We can be a pretty erratic band live, and we're always dodgiest when we haven't played a gig in a while, no matter how much work we do in the practice room

 

[classic seanc]

With very few exceptions you will be approximately one zillion times better off with a house engineer than with someone straight out a sound engineering course.

Errr, yeah. Yeah that's fair enough. But given time the rookie sound guy will get to know what your band sounds like. They're not going to be brilliant straight off the bat no matter how experienced they are. Sure, getting someone who's inexperienced is a compromise, but I'm thinking about it as far as what's practical. Also the enthusiasm of the engineer.
The house engineer is usually on hand to make sure there's no major fuck-ups as regards the room and equipment though, isn't he/she?

 

[ernesto]

The house engineer is usually on hand to make sure there's no major fuck-ups as regards the room and equipment though, isn't he/she?

yes. and we get paid for it. generally being an assistant to the dedicated band engineer or doing monitor mix