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- 1. F.O.H. All Access (The Real World of Live Audio)
- 3. PERFORMANCE AUDIO IS NEVER ABOUT THE SOUND SYSTEM, THE SOUND OPERATOR, OR EQUIPMENT, AND SHOULD BE INVISIBLE AND TRANSPARENT TO THE PERFORMANCE CONTENT. ANYTHING ELSE IS FAILURE.
- 5. 2 Hostility between sound men and performers.
- 6. 3 Inadequate music education.
- 7. 4 Inappropriate gear, or gear being used inappropriately.
- 9. 1) they're star struck or wannabees who will do whatever they can to be near performers, hoping that it will give them access or future entree to music stars, and
- 10. 2), there are so many of these folks competing for sound jobs and preying on the technical ignorance, laziness and greed of so many venue owners, that the pay is driven down by supply and demand to the point where educated technical sound people won't work for the low wages.
- 16. Ring Out The Monitors
- 17. Ring Out The Room
- 18. How To Eliminate Monitor Feedback Feedback occurs when an audio signal "hears itself" on an nearby speaker, creating a loud noise at a specific frequency. What You Need: · Monitor Speakers · Graphic Equalizers (EQ) · Monitor Mixer or FOH Mixer with Aux Sends · Amplifiers · A good ear and/or RTA
- 20. If you're mixing in a small club, chances are the monitors will be mixed from the front of house console. You'll be sending the monitor mixes through the auxiliary, or aux, sends. The output of those sends - however many you have free - will go to a power amplifier, which is attached to a monitor speaker. The purpose of these is, of course, for the performers on stage to hear themselves better.
- 21. Part of understanding this is understanding what the individual on stage will want to hear. At very least, they'll need to hear what elements of the stage they can't hear naturally.
- 22. Most drummers tend to want everything in their mix, with an emphasis on kick drum, bass guitar, and any guitars onstage. Guitarists tend to want any other guitarists onstage in their mix, along with plenty of kick drum and vocals. Bassists tend to want lots of kick drum and some guitar. Vocalists? Let's just say, they love to hear themselves. And lots of it. Of course, it's always a good bet to ask the performer what they prefer in their mix, and then work from there.
- 23. Mixing In-Ear Monitors In the last few years, the trend for major players to migrate from floor wedges to in-ear monitors has opened the door for several great-quality products to emerge on to the market; heavy-hitters such as Future Sonics have released superior quality universal earpieces featuring their signature sound quality, and audio equipment companies such as Shure and Sennheiser have released affordable versions of their expensive transmitter/receiver combos. It's never been easier to "go in-ear"; however, mixing in-ear monitors is a much different process than mixing wedges
- 25. One technique I prefer to use is sub-grouping On a lot of boards, you'll have the option to group channels together to one fader, with the ability to insert a compressor across the whole group. This way, you can compress the vocals all at once (saving you valuable compressor room if you're limited in the number of comps you've got), and you can also double-bus - meaning, put the vocal in the subgroup as well as the channel itself - to get some extra gain.
- 26. Mixing Live Sound with VCA's When mixing live sound, chances are you've got a lot of inputs to manage, especially if you're in a situation with multiple vocalists or a full drum kit. Traditionally, you can use audio sub-grouping to control multiple channels with one Fader However, many consoles -- especially digital consoles -- have VCA's alongside or in place of subgroups.
- 28. For a good small room, I prefer to mic the kick drum, as well as the snare. Toms generally don't need any amplification, as they're generally not played enough to warrant dedicated channels. If you're in a club that holds, say, between 250 and 500 people, you may need to mic them.
- 29. Overheads and cymbal microphones are of low priority. Even some small clubs that hold less than 1,000 people may not need amplification on the overheads. Sometimes, I'll mic the high-hat in a small room if the drummer plays it softly, but generally, it's not necessary.
- 30. Here's another tip: if you've got a loud snare, but still want to add reverb to it, you can switch the reverb send on that channel to pre-fader instead of post-fader. That way you can still send the snare signal to the reverb unit while not actually putting any in the house!
- 32. Acoustic guitars are a different matter. Sometimes, you'll find players with an acoustic amp, but those generally don't cut through the mix well. Putting a DI box out for the acoustic is the best way to get the best sound; you'll need to carefully EQ it to avoid feedback. I always keep a Feedback Buster - a specially-designed round disk of rubber sold in most music stores - to lend to guitarists who don't have one. These block the majority of the frequencies from entering the guitar's sound-hole , which prevents the major feedback problems you usually get.
- 33. Hearing Loss
Editor's Notes
- Live performance sound is definitely NOT a glamour profession. It pays insulting wages, requires hard physical labor and long hours, and is highly technical. Nerd heaven in fact. To be even half-way decent at live sound, operators MUST have college level study of physics, acoustics and electronics, AND comprehensive knowledge of hundreds of types of music, along with appreciation of all those types. It also requires the operator to selflessly subjugate ego and defer to the task of supporting the art and making the artist comfortable. People who can not or will not see the job in this framework, are NOT QUALIFIED to be live sound operators, and should do performers and public alike the favor of seeking a non-destructive occupation. PERFORMANCE AUDIO IS ABOUT CONVEYING ARTISTIC INTENT FROM PERFORMER TO AUDIENCE, WHERE THAT INTENT IS SUCCESSFULLY COMMUNICATED TO THE AUDIENCE, "COMMUNICATION" BEING THE TRANSFER OF PERFORMANCE CONCEPT, CONTENT IDEAS AND CONTENT EMOTION. PERFORMANCE AUDIO IS NEVER ABOUT THE SOUND SYSTEM, THE SOUND OPERATOR, OR EQUIPMENT, AND SHOULD BE INVISIBLE AND TRANSPARENT TO THE PERFORMANCE CONTENT. ANYTHING ELSE IS FAILURE. This means that everything a sound operator does, must be in service of art, not ego. That work may not be very glamorous most of the time. People who don't understand this or who aspire to be stars, or who are dabbling in live sound for the wrong reasons, belong in other vocations. While reasonable people can understand the logic, others can be star struck and driven to continually be near musical artists, despite their technical ignorance, with the unintentional result being non-optimum performance presentation that actually victimizes the artists by misrepresenting them to their audiences.
- The first thing you'll want to do before any performers get there is ring out the monitors. Ringing out the monitors is a simple way to reduce feedback. Feedback occurs when a loop forms between the signal source (in this case, a microphone) and an output source (in this case, the monitor wedge), and it's, simply, a pain to deal with. We'll assume that you have graphic EQ on each monitor mix. If you don't, then these adjustments will be tricky. You can accomplish something similar by cutting frequencies on the master channel, but be aware that those adjustments will affect the house mix, too. Start by turning up one microphone - a dynamic microphone, similar to what you'll be using throughout the stage - in one of the monitors until it begins to feed back, which sounds like a high or low pitched vibration. Once it begins to feed back, reduce that frequency in the graphic EQ until it's no longer feeding back. Keep up that process until you can apply a great amount of gain to the microphone in the wedge without feedback. But watch out - take too much out, and you'll kill the dynamics of the wedges.
- If you've ever used wedge monitors in stage or in the studio, chances are you're familiar with the issue of feedback. Feedback can be both bothersome -- annoying both the crowd and your own ears on stage -- but it can be dangerous; in fact, feedback can hit at the highest signal volume that a speaker is capable of, causing permanent hearing damage. Feedback occurs when an audio signal "hears itself" on an nearby speaker, creating a loud noise at a specific frequency. Following these steps, you'll learn how to eliminate feedback onstage. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: 30 minutes Here's How: Have the right equipment. Aside from your mixer, monitors, and amplifiers, you'll need a graphic equalizer (EQ) on every channel. You'll wire the send from the board into the EQ, and then into the amplifier. You need to be able to access the EQ from your mix position. If you're working in a studio environment, be aware of what effects the EQ will have on both wedge mixes and your headphone mixes. Identify the frequency feeding back, and why. Usually, feedback starts as a hollow, echo-like sound, then graduating to a piercing, high-volume squeal at a specific frequency or set of frequencies. Also, figure out where it's coming from -- if it's a specific microphone, sometimes some easy EQ on the individual channel can clean up the mix. Is it in the monitors, or in the house? Sometimes, feedback occurs in the house mix. If you suspect feedback in the house, turn the overall house volume down until it goes away; then, follow the upcoming steps to remove the feedback. If it's still there, chances are it's in a monitor mix. Identify the frequency. If you're bad at this, you might want to buy a handheld RTA (real-time analyzer). However, if you can, find the frequency with your knowledge of what frequencies are which. Typically, monitors will feed back in the 3.5-5kHz range on the high end, and around 630Hz on the mid-low end. Now, using the graphic EQ, reduce that frequency range in 5 decibel increments. If you've found the frequency, and reducing it introduces another range of feedback, you need to look at your gain structure again. Normally, any hot-spots can be eliminated quickly; if it's continuing after your first sweep of EQ, it's something that can't be fixed by EQ. If EQ will not stop feedback, your channels going into the monitors may have their gain too hot. Re-do your gain structure, paying careful attention to what signals are going where, and how hot the signals are in your channel meters, and your problem will, more than likely, go away. What You Need: · Monitor Speakers · Graphic Equalizers (EQ) · Monitor Mixer or FOH Mixer with Aux Sends · Amplifiers · A good ear and/or RTA
- Whether you're on stage or in the studio, mixing in-ears is a much different affair than mixing wedges. In this guide, it's assumed that you're familiar with the equipment necessary for mixing in-ears, and you have a mixer and an in-ear system, either wired or wireless. If you're a stationary musician (drummers, keyboard players, pedal steel players), a wired system is considered the best choice for both convenience and budget. For others, a wireless system of the highest quality you can afford is a great option. Also, don't forget the added cost of the monitor earpieces themselves; getting the best quality earpieces you can, whether custom-molded or universal-fit, is equally important. Many times, the included earphones with off-the-shelf systems offer relatively poor isolation and frequency response compared to even moderately-priced earphones purchased specifically for that purpose. Hearing conservation The first thing to remember is that in-ear monitoring is all about hearing conservation as much as it is quality monitoring. Taking your monitors off the stage and into your ears presents an interesting problem; while in-ear monitors have the ability to offer greatly reduced sound pressure level (SPL) exposure, you can actually damage your hearing even worse with in-ears if done wrong. Remember, with wedge monitors, you have sometimes over 100 decibels of SPL coming at your head from several feet away; with in-ears, you could potentially push just as much relative SPL through speakers much closer to your ears. In fact, many times touring sound companies -- while gladly providing top-quality in-ear monitoring equipment -- will refuse to provide an engineer for the artist, insisting that they supply their own, because nobody wants to be responsible for damaging a top artist's hearing with poorly executed in-ear mixes. ]Many in-ear units offer fairly good limiters built into the beltpack, but it's never a bad idea to consider something external. The first part of your signal chain you should consider investing is a brick wall limiter for this very purpose. There are high end models -- such as the Aphex Dominator and DBX IEM processor -- but any quality limiter, such as those built into the relatively inexpensive DBX compressor/limiter combos, will work, especially when used in conjunction with built-in limiters. The purpose here isn't to compress or restrict the signal, but catch any unexpected feedback or transients from entering the earphone signal. Stereo or mono? If you have the resources to run a stereo mix -- meaning, a stereo transmitter/receiver combo and a stereo auxillary send from your mixer -- then by all means, mix in stereo. Mixing in stereo has a distinct advantage on in-ears; you'll be able to set your mix in a way that mimics real life. If you're a lead singer, you'll want your vocals to be in the middle, but the guitars and drums can be panned around you just as you'd hear them while standing on stage. Mono does have advantages. First, if you have a lower-end transmitter and receiver system, you will get a much stronger signal if you broadcast in mono. This is an advantage, especially in large cities where there are less clear frequencies to choose from. Mono also has the advantage of being simple; if you don't have a stereo aux send, it's a lot easier to just use one instead of try to balance two separate sends as a stereo pair. Mixing the mix The first thing to remember is that, while many artists that use in-ears prefer a full mix, on a small stage, this won't be necessary. Many times, you'll want a very simple mix on a smaller stage -- just vocals, a little guitar (or other instrument the mix owner is playing), and kick drum. Remember, the loudest sounds always win at the mic, so you'll get enough bleed from the vocal mics to hear everything else clearly. On a larger stage, the sky's the limit. Just remember to communicate with your artist, and ask specifically what they want. If you're mixing in stereo, keep in mind that everything they want panned will be the opposite of what you see. If you see a guitar on the left side of the stage, they'll want it on the right side of their mix, because when they're facing the crowd, that's how they hear it. Start with kick drum, overheads, and bass guitar. Once you get a solid foundation, you can add the vocals. Make sure that you avoid sending an effects send at this point -- make sure your artist is feeling comfortable just hearing the rhythm section and their own voice. Then, color in the rest of the instruments they require. Remember, they'll always want their own voice and their own instrument on top of everything else, so make sure you don't bury the important signals. I tend to avoid putting snare or close-miced toms in a mix until the artist feels comfortable and asks for it. Sometimes, hearing a loud snare crack suddenly can be scary! Adding ambiance In a larger room, you'll soon find that your artist may feel isolated. This is very common; in-ears, by design, offer exceptional ambient noise reduction, which in turn can make a player feel cut off from the world around them. First, consider adding a crowd microphone. Some like to put two on either side of the stage, in stereo, to give a wide sound; I prefer a single shotgun microphone at the base of the microphone stand in front of the lead singer, pointed at the back of the room. This gives a perfect "localization" -- the artist knows that the ambiance they hear is happening right at their feet. Always remember: the artist is your customer. Listen to their needs, and you'll be fine
- Subgroups and VCAs work on fundamentally the same principle: you assign individual channels to a subgroup or VCA group, and you can then use a single fader to control grouped channels at once. Subgroups offer the ability to sum several signals into one group, through a single additional amplification stage, and then routed via panning to the left and right master bus. This works great, except for two things: first, it adds one extra step of gain to the signals routed together, and two, it can cause issues when all the electrical signals are routed together into one circuit. When a channel is assigned to a VCA, instead of summing the channels into a single subgroup, the VCA controls the fader voltage level without summing the actual signal to one singular circuit. Your signal remains pure, and you maintain your routing preferences on the channel without any additional gain or assignments necessary. Of course, you lose the ability to insert effects into your group, which you have on a traditional subgroup setup. However, with VCAs, you have much more versatility -- you can mix mono or stereo tracks together, and on digital boards, apply helpful automation to your VCA groups. When mixing on a VCA console, I'll usually make four VCA groups: one for drums (minus toms, in stereo), one for toms (because some songs require more presence in the drum kit), one for guitars, and one for vocals. I'll also sometimes have an extra VCA for auxiliary instruments or backing tracks. This allows me to mix multiple channels easily without reaching across a large console, and also maintaining signal integrity across the whole signal chain. That isn't to say subgroups aren't great, too -- in fact, my favorite trick on drums is to insert a high-quality stereo tube compressor across two subgroups (one for left, one for right; remember, subgroups are generally mono), bus all drums to those, and bring it up behind the original drum tracks. It adds body and punch where it's needed the most! Mixing with VCAs -- or their little brother, the subgroup -- can be rewarding and translate into less stress and better mixes come showtime.
- Hearing loss happens when you listen too loudly for too long. Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL)—it’s definitely not something you want: · It's irreversible. · Can happen to anyone at any age. · Symptoms may be temporary but damage is permanent. It's how you listen that counts. We're definitely not telling you to pull the plug on the music you love. We just want you to rock smart now so that you can enjoy a lifetime of listening to great sounds and hearing your friends and family. You can prevent NIHL by controlling the volume and your exposure to loud sound. Turn down the volume if you notice any of the following symptoms: · Voices suddenly sound muffled and are hard to understand. · You experience ringing, buzzing or fluttering in one or both ears. · Your ears hurt after being in a loud place. · Your hearing is suddenly super-sensitive to noise. If symptoms last longer than a day, you should visit your doctor or an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist. What can you do to listen longer? · Limit your exposure to sounds of 85dB (decibels) or louder. HINT : If you need to shout to be heard, your hearing is likely in the danger zone. · If you're in the danger zone longer than the guidelines recommend (see pie chart above), be sure to use ··earplugs or trendy earmuffs. · Take 15-minute "quiet" breaks every few hours. · If you play a musical instrument, avoid practicing at "concert levels." Put a reasonable amount of space between you and your amps. Care to look inside? Here's a whirlwind tour of what happens inside those mysterious appendages attached to both sides of your head. When sound, a.k.a "acoustic energy," first enters your ear, it travels through your external ear canal to your eardrum, causing it to vibrate and then: · The vibration travels along to a series of three bones in your middle ear chamber—the anvil, hammer, and stirrup. · The vibration of your middle ear bones transfers the sound energy to a small membrane that is the entrance to your inner ear. · Your inner ear contains approximately 15,000 microscopic cells, "hair cells," that respond to the incoming energy and transfer it to your brain so you can understand the sound. Those 15,000 tiny hair cells of yours are built to be tough, but they can be permanently damaged when they're blasted by extreme sound. The damage to those tiny hair cells is what causes you to lose your hearing.