What Makes A Sound Guy
Home > Home Recording Forum > Live Sound Reinforcement > What Makes A Sound Guy
Posted on Jan 14, 2004 01:29 pm
Sds2000
Member Since: Jul 17, 2003
hey guys
just wondering i want to do sound engineering as my life as a carea as what ever you want to call it. Was just wondering what YOU think makes a sound guy good ???.
Cheers
[ Back to Top ]
Jan 14, 2004 01:36 pm Patience to deal with the childish egos of some bands, showing up on time...all the time, and being sober...being familiar with a wide range of instruments, ability to think on your feet and be prepared (i.e. "crap the cord just went to hell" or "the battery just died") are some of the attributed required...
el musicoFreeleance Producer/Engineer/GtrMember
Since: Aug 11, 2002
Jan 14, 2004 02:41 pm like DB said, thinking on your feet in times of disaster is a must. knowing others that record in your area can help... if something goes wrong with a mic or something you might be able to call on them for emergency assistance.
but IMO, i believe that a good sound guy must know his stuff. learn about about what compression does , learn how to eq (narrow q when cutting, wide when boosting and boost to make something sound different, cut to make things fit). i guess just read as much as you can about everything pertaining to tracking and mixing and practice what you learn. nothing speaks more clearly than experience. if you absorb all you can and apply it then it soon becomes second nature, thus helping you to act and create, instead of reacting to things that happen to you.
oh yeah... learn how to listen to clients. it can be hard at first because they may use the terminology incorrectly. if someone says they need their guitar part louder don't immediately rush to the fader and boost the level, as it may just need a better place in the frequency range.
also, take as many different jobs as you think you can, whether it be live sound, voice overs for commercials/animation, a genre you would never listen to, etc.
sorry to ramble on, hope this helps
Jan 14, 2004 06:07 pm how can one become a live sound guy, having never been through a school program for it? i want to run the board at live shows.
Jan 14, 2004 06:36 pm I think dB said a mouthful. I ran live sound for many years. Towards the end I was starting to lose my patience. I worked with some bands that were so easy to work with... and then there were the other bands that were not. Here are some sayings you may want to keep in mind:
"I can't make crap smell like roses"
"I'm a soundman, not a miricle worker"
"Can you guys turn down"
".... No, I'm the lightman... the soundman is the one pushing all those buttons over there"
"please get away from me. I'm on paroll for manslaughter and I don't want to have to go back to jail for killing you"
A good ear doesn't hurt. Knowing the gear your running is very helpful.
If it sounds good then the band is great.... if it sounds bad it's your fault... at least that is what everybody will think. Are you sure this is really what you want to do?
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
Jan 14, 2004 06:43 pm ".... No, I'm the lightman... the soundman is the one pushing all those buttons over there"
Now, that, that there is some serious comedy.
Jan 14, 2004 07:32 pm cant speak for SDS, but...i need to do something, so yeah. i like faders.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Jan 14, 2004 09:20 pm As dB stated Patience is a huge asset. You dont say if your looking to do live or studio stuff but here are some things that probably made it easier for me. I learned to play several instruments. I learned electronics, and learned how to make broken things work again, I purposely tore some apart just to see what made them tick. I learned to not take things for granted. I never limited myself to doing things by the book or the normal way, meaning I experimented every chance I got.
There is much more but I will leave with just two more.
I listened to every type of music I could get my hands on be it live or recorded, from the day I could twist a volume knob it has been nonstop listening and learning.
And finally, I dedicated a major portion of my life to being a part of this industry in one form or another, no matter how big or small, I did whatever I could to be part of music, my own, or someone elses, and I never gave up.
Jan 14, 2004 09:26 pm "If it sounds good then the band is great.... if it sounds bad it's your fault..."
Truer words have never been spoken.
Jan 15, 2004 12:34 pm Yeah fortymile.... it can be very rewarding. It's like any job, even if you love doing it. It will still have a dark side to it. I never really wanted to run live sound, it just kind of happended. I recorded a demo for a band and it turned out pretty good. They started booking gigs and asked me to do live sound for them. When I was running sound for that band I was aproached by a guy from another band about running sound. They were giggin' every weekend... it was a good gig for me and the extra money was nice....CASH!!!! The next thing I know I'm neck deep in debt trying to pay off an EV MT-4 system and six Crown Macro-Tech amps. I had two partners in that venture who I eventually bought out... It was a long difficult road.
I guess if all I would have had to do was walk in, eq the room, ring out the monitors and go, it would have been a blast. Luggin' equipment around, seting it up, tearing it down, risking my life to tap on to a breaker box live, dealing with the mega-ego's, watching band members leave with the pretty girls while I was lifting a 400 lb. MT-4H off the MT-4L, I found no joy in any of these things.
Jan 15, 2004 12:37 pm I thought I wanted to do live sound, then I did it, and realized it sucked (for me anyway) and stopped doing it...just ain't my bag...late nights, moody people, drunk people, egomaniacs, everyone and their dog telling you how the mix "should sound" even tho they don't know an aux send from a light can...
**** 'em.
Jan 15, 2004 01:23 pm I'm agree 100% dB! After a while of doing live sound, I had enough. I used to have one guy stand back by the board while I did sound. His only job at that point was keeping the drunks, idiots, and morons away from me. I have to say he was pretty good at it.... running sound became a little bit more peaceful after that.
Jan 15, 2004 02:06 pm even tho they don't know an aux send from a light can...
haha.
Jan 15, 2004 02:23 pm it sounds...alright.
except for lugging equipment around. how much can a live sound guy make?
Jan 15, 2004 02:24 pm for local bands or small clubs...maybe $100 a night if you're lucky...depending on the area...
Jan 15, 2004 02:40 pm My favorite is the guy that tells you you should scoop the mids on everything. Every show I do the same guy comes up and tells me to scoop the mids on at least 3 things...
Then there was one show when I didn't have monitors. I hear this from the singer... "hey can we get some more vocals in the monitors??" And I'm sitting there thinking to myself "Umm, what monitors?" as he's going "check... check... check... ok that's much better!"
Jan 15, 2004 07:41 pm Yeah to make any real money you have to get beyond the club scene. If you own your own PA you can make more... But then you have this huge investment your sitting on. And your never done buying gear. We had about $25,000 ivested, we were charging $250 a night for a normal night. (the going rate was $175 around here back then) The most I made with it was $600 for one gig. Then of course what are you going to haul it around in? Renting trucks gets mighty expensive. I bought a Ford LN-600 box truck with a lift gate on it. Now you have to maintain a truck and your gear. Now your down to one meal a day sleeping in your truck, and some singer wonders why your flipping out when he dropped a beer on your $400 monitor.... As he says briliant things like "Dude, I said I was sorry man... it was an accident, you need to take a major chill pill".
Like I said... the running sound part of it was OK... it was all the other things that went along with it that got to me. I'm not trying to discourage anybody from doing something they enjoy. Guys do make a living at it. It's not for everybody... I guess it's not for me. I never miss it, I never will miss it, I'm so thankful it's over. But, just so you know there is a little more to it than just pushing faders and turning nobs. I have an EV-MT-4 system I'm selling... six Crown Macro-Tech power amps, 100 foot spool of 4 gauge wire, power distro, 2 MTX crossovers.... interested?
Jan 15, 2004 10:16 pm i know, i was kidding about the faders thing. i dont see how i could make money at this given my current state of knowledge. and i need a career, like now! i always wanted it to be related to music, but i fear it's beyond me.
Jan 16, 2004 01:01 am "and some singer wonders why your flipping out when he dropped a beer on your $400 monitor.... As he says briliant things like "Dude, I said I was sorry man... it was an accident, you need to take a major chill pill"."
Or when mics get slammed around... god I hate that.
Jan 16, 2004 04:17 am thats why every soundman carries nothing but SM57's :-)
Jan 16, 2004 04:50 am And I'm no exception to that rule... haha.
LokiCone PokerMember
Since: Apr 07, 2002
Jan 16, 2004 07:11 am I do live sound for my friends band at almost every show he plays. It's a good deal because I get in free to the show. his bands not that big right now so I'm not getting paid, but I get to go up there and chill with my friends, plus play with my mixer and stuff for a few hours. The only thing that's annoying is when we tell the venue we'll be bringing our own soundman and he's sitting there like "thats what you're mixing on? Where are the 57's" and gets the whole elitest attitude because we're just a bunch of kids having a good time. Yeah....
Jan 16, 2004 06:08 pm Hehehe..... yup, nothing like the old SM57. I think they should change the name of them to S & M 57. I don't think there is another mic out there that can take it and dish it out like a 57. They are true road warriors.
Jan 17, 2004 12:53 pm SM58's are more popular around here, SM57's just can't handle live and active vocals/vocalists (uni-directional vs. omni-directional), and typically only get used for instruments/drums. Otherwise, they're basically the same mic...
And yes, the life of a live sound man is a unique one, but you get good, and tips + after parties get to be the spice of life ;)
W.
Jan 18, 2004 12:17 am And then there's nights like friday where you walk out the door with $600 in your pocket... :-)
Jan 18, 2004 09:38 am niiice!
hey i'm really enjoying this thread. i've read it all the way thru several times now.
i've never done anything professional sound-wise, but i used to set up mics and record band practice back in the day. when i first got my mixer about 15 months ago i decided i'd use it to get a better take on band practice using multiple mics, got everything set up and sounding good, the mix was sweet in the headphones, hit record on the minidisc and we jammed on and off over the next few hours. finally it's getting late and we;re wrapping things up, i go to start taking down the gear and i realize the mixer's outs are going into the minidisc's OUTPUT jack !!! i had a whole MD full of silence!! i was so pissed. we'd really rocked that night too, and i had my cousin down from PA to fill in for vocals, man, what a buzzkill.
i will NEVER make that mistake again lol
Jan 18, 2004 10:01 am I've done stuff like that way too many times...
flame...bringing sexy backMember
Since: Jul 01, 2002
Jan 18, 2004 10:02 am i recorded an album to minidisc through the headphone jack the other day...
WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Jul 26, 2007 02:05 am I've only done it a couple of times. Once helping out for a Maynard Ferguson gig and once for a former rock band. The experiences were bipolar. At the Ferguson gig the musicians were seasoned trained stage musicians. They knew their part in the process and left the rest up to the sound man. That was a joy. The rock band was four people with different perceptions of 'their' sound, an ego war, and I want to play anyway I want and you fix it so it sounds good out there. That sucked.
Jul 26, 2007 10:24 am I'm with Waldo on the durability of the SM58 over the SM57. I've seen more than one case of a 57 getting its capsule snapped cleanly off by rough handling.
A good sound tech is worth his/her weight in beer. Unfortunately, there aren't enough of them that are worth the expense; at least there weren't when I was touring. I remember a gig in Sydney, Montana where the bartender fancied himself to be an expert. He intoned, "I never knew a musician that didn't dream of being a sound man."
That was hilarious to the band, as we were thinking that we'd never met a sound man that didn't dream of being a musician.
Good choice on adding the live sound forum, dB.
fren hie29http://www.mpaudiovisual.comMember
Since: Jul 13, 2007
Jul 28, 2007 12:41 pm What make a good sound guy??? that's a pretty broad question #1 no feedbacks ha ha ha !!
#2know the basic FOH gear inside out Q,comp etc..
#3use smart live
there's way too many elements that make a good sound guy but the basics have already been mentioned.
Jul 29, 2007 04:35 am sorry, i havn't read any of the above posts, but had to chime in...the answer is ears and heart (in that order).
glnflwrsHead KnockerContributor
Since: May 20, 2007
Aug 04, 2007 09:51 pm There are three things that make a soundman good...
1. Experience
2. Experience
3. Experience.
One thing will make him even better...
Ears.
