Wired Melody

Frequency Isolation

2010-06-24T03:27:00.000-07:00

As the title suggests, in this topic we will talk about isolating audio signal. I believe in a very simple way of mixing an audio signal – “Frequency Isolation” is what I would like to call it. If you want a clean mix, make it clean as early in the signal chain as you can, the earlier the better. This is something we tend to forget because of all the technology we have at our disposal today. Digital consoles give us the flexibility of having equalizers, gates, compressor, filters, and all kinds of effects on every channel on the board and because of this luxury I have seen many drifting from the basics.

There are numerous ways of achieving a nice clean signal and I will elaborate on a few here.

1. Choose the right microphone. Most basic and yet the most effective way of getting just what you want. Every microphone has a specific purpose behind its design. Take time to read the specification sheet of mics that you use, they all have a response curve and sensitivity. See what suits your need best. Don’t go around putting a Shure SM58 on a Hi-Hat when you have something like a Shure SM81 sitting around doing nothing. Yes there are times when we are left with no choice and have to use the wrong mics but why so it when you have a better option.

2. Position the microphones right. Choosing the right microphone doesn’t do it all, placement of the microphone is equally important if not more. Too close to the source could be more disastrous than too far from the source at times. Play around with the distance, angle and placement over the source. Try not to get too close to avoid the Proximity Effect but don’t go too far allowing it to pick other sounds from around it. Right placement and distance will give you just the right gain structure on your console.

3. The right gain. Now assuming you have good cables and everything to get the signal to your console next would be the gain. Setting the right gain is most crucial to your mix. The gain will affect the output to the PA and will also affect your monitor mix. So once you set this there is a very small chance that you can change it without disturbing your monitor mixes. What is the right gain? Like every other answer in the audio business, it depends. Right gain according to me is something that will let me run my channel faders and master fader at Unity without feeding back. But again depends on your taste and situation.

4. Filters. Use whenever needed without thinking twice. Specially high pass filters, for example on Hi-Hats you don’t need any information below 500Hz, take your high pass all the way to 500Hz. Do this on all channels. Only two channels you won’t need is the Bass drum and Bass guitar, but again there are exceptions. Use wisely.

5. Equalizers. If you have decent sounding instruments, well placed mics and properly tuned PA you won’t need much of this. Try not to use too much of eq. Always cut frequencies, avoid boosting frequencies on the equalizer. You can even use Equalizers when you have fixed Low Cut filters to help take out the unwanted lows completely.

6. Go back to step 1. Go back and check where you can improve if you aren’t satisfied with what you get. Keep making mental notes on mic placements and other things you did when you get satisfactory output. Try and replicate it at various venues till you get a formula that works for you.

Hope this help in some way. Get back to me if you have any doubts or if you feel I need to correct something’s here. Happy Gigging!

Be the best Sound Guy the venue has ever had!

2009-01-12T22:55:00.000-08:00

Well we have had enough of teaching the band what to do, time for us as sound engineers to keep somethings in mind. So here are few things sound engineers should keep in mind. I wont be as elaborate as most of us will know what I'm talking about!

1. Make a check list of things you need at a gig, you can keep adding items at every gig till you have an exhaustive list! Some of the things I carry to my gigs are:

a) Test CD - a CD compiled with songs you are familiar with so you can test the PA before the gig and know how it sounds, what to tweak and stuff like that.
b) Headphones - Nothing at a gig is going to sound like what you are used to except this little piece of gear. Very help full if you are doing a mix that is also being recorded.
c) Write-On/ Marking Tape - label the board during the sound check so you know what channed is what, very helpful when you are working with a totally new board.
d) Marker - To write on the tape!
e) Assorted converters and adapter cables - for various situations. Some examples -
Dual RCA to Dual TS jack,
TRS toMale XLR ,
TRS to Female XLR,
EP to XLR,
EP to Dual RCA,
Male XLR to TS
RCA to TS converters
These are real life savers and are totally worth the weight and bulk carried.
f) Screwdriver Set
g) Wire stripper
h) Nose Pliers or regular pliers
i) Distance meter or measuring tape - incase you have to set delay speakers.
j) Torch - Inevitable, specially when you have a board without a desk light.
k) Assorted Music CD's or Ipod - helps at those delayed shows where the audience is getting restless!
l) Ear Plugs - Last but not the least! Comes handy when you have to do a gig out of no choice!

2. Try and meet the band before a gig, or get in touch with then a day before if that is possible and get a CD of them to give you an idea of what the band is like. Try and understand the band, each instruments importance and impact.

3. Avoid going exhausted for a gig, I know it is not the easiest thing on the list but it does help a lot. Especially avoid sleepless night before the gig, its all going to come out on the band in some way or the other!

4. Be polite to the band, its the same thing you expect from them. Put in that extra effort to be polite to them even if they are not ready to drop the "Rock Star" costume off, once you are polite they will automatically drop it!

5. Have a pattern for your sound check, follow your own rules for sound check at all your gigs so you dont miss out on anything. I usually go in this order

Check the system first with your own music, tweak if required
Drums - Kick, snare, hi-hats, toms, cymbals and then complete kit
Basses
Guitars
Keyboards
Other instruments
Only Instruments
Vocals
The whole band.

So I know I haven't missed out anything.

6. Do quick set ups, try and make yourself ready before the band arrives. Give yourself atleast 30 to 45 min of relaxed time for which you have to arrive before the band so you can do your system check in peace without anyone hurrying you up to sound check. After the band arrives they will insist on a sound check or the venue or even manager will ask you to do the sound check fast not giving you time to run your system check in peace.

7. System check, not always possible as all rental guys will not let you tweak the PA. Depending on your rapo with the rental owners and technicians and time, if you get a chance to check the PA, please do. Run your CD and see of they sound as they are supposed to, this is the quickest check you can do. If you have an RTA or Smaar Live, nothing like it. Dont forget the Monitors out!

8. Tweak your Monitors, this is crucial. All the volume of stage monitors is going to contribute to feedback and that is not something you are going to wish for at your gig. However remember not to tweak the stage monitors to sound smooth and like the PA, you're asking for trouble! Just EQ it for feed back, dont make it smooth else the band will keep asking you for more volume on the monitors, who doesnt like themselves sounding good! Keep it harsh to an extent so they ask only as much as they need.

9. Avoid too much Compression, avoid compressing any thing too much. Reduce the gain if you see the need to compress something too much. It'll will sound cleaner with less gain and less compression than a lot of gain with lot of compression, and too much compression will make the instrument player play louder then he needs to because he wont hear him self properly on the monitors and he wont hear the dynamic changes that he need to maks thus making his amps very loud spoiling the mix on stage as well as outside the stage.

These are just a few things I have noticed and have been able to remember while typing this. If you have more inputs please do post in comments, it will help other readers and me as well. I do remember something else I will post it. And if you want anything elobrated more for your understanding please do get in touch, mail me or post in comments with a reply email address, I will be more than happy to help you out.

So happy gigging, I'll post more soo!

Sound Engineer - Friend or Foe?

2008-10-30T02:16:00.000-07:00

What is the single worst thing a band can do to piss off the sound Engineer?

Ans. 1. Not show up for soundcheck. We guys don’t get paid by the hour so if we're there for your sound check, you sure as hell sould be there.

2. The Second worst thing to do is show up for the soundcheck, unprepared!

Sound checks are very tiring. Everyone want’s to be a rockstar these days, or more worse thinks he/she is a rockstar and feel important about themselves. Fiddling around with your processor or sampler and your practice amps is not going to make you a sound engineer, so when there is someone to tell you what to do to make YOU sound better, listen.

A very common mistake bands make is it to treat the sound engineer like he/she was there to do nothing but take your rockstar attitude. Treat them well and you get a good show. Remember you piss them off too much and you have a crappy show booked for you. Even the best sound engineer in foul mood can ruin your show for you, and there is nothing you can do.

As a musician you can help things by being prepared with what you have in your control well ahead of time, the sound engineers did not necessarily have a very good day until you came and landed and started asking for cables and adapters that your guitarist forgot or a crucial part of your drum kit that your drummer very usually forgets. Try and keep things organised, make a check list well in advance and dont be over confident about small things like your batteries for the processor, power adapter, or even converters for your power plugs and cables.

Remember do not put gear on top of mic cables, drop mics, swinging mics around by their cables, throwing around mic stands or stand on the monitors when playing solos, these are things that will so totally piss of the sound engineer, if you really want to do these things, carry your own gear. Avoid spitting or spilling drinks into gear, not only your but stuff that is on stage that doesnt belong to you as well. Its no fun rolling cables that are sticky with saliva or drinks or anything for that matter.

After you are done playing, make way for the next band, do not wait and chat. You would want the most time before you have to start playing so do the same for the next band. Neatly roll up your cables and start helping your drummer take his stuff off because he/she is the one who has the most to do.

And when you are done on stage let the engineer know, there is a lot more to do for the Main PA mix. Some tips that you can follow to make things easier:

1. Never ask for an instrument any louder than you need. It doesnt help, it'll just make the mix on stage difficult for you to listen to stuff that you really need to.

2. Keep your stage amps as low as possible and have then angled so they are pointed to your ears and not the back of your knees, it helps!

3. You really dont need the drums on monitors unless its a very big stage, so watch out when you are asking for drums on your monitors.

4. If all your instruments flood the monitors, you will not be able to hear the vocals. Dont ask for more vocals that you need, and never assume what the other band memeber wants on his monitors, let him ask for what he wants.

Well these are few things which make life easy for you and your engineer. Always remember, your sound engineer is there to help you sound better, listen to him when he is trying to tell you something.

The Cribbing Continued…

2008-10-20T03:35:00.000-07:00

Then after convincing about two dozen “band techies” that the PA is not yet on and there is more I will do before I let your friends on stage go for the mass slaughter!

The show finally begins with the “band techies” half convinced that I know what I am doing, and with me fully convinced that they have no clue of what happens at the console! Now that’s not the end of it, 5 min before a band goes live, a guy with long, curly, shabby, unkempt hair turns up carrying attitude that Roger Waters FOH engineer wouldn’t dare to, “Yo dude, sup!” he says, “I’m the next bands sound engineer, I’m mixing for them today. Cool gear!” The first few times this happened, I wondered if these guys fell off trees around the venue once the speakers were run full volume.

Anyway by the look of them, most of them were dazed by the number of knobs on the console. Few guys who tried to be honest, actually made statements like “Do you use all these knobs? I just mix at their practice session so it’s one keyboard amp, one guitar amp and the whole five piece band plugs into it. But don’t worry I’ll manage this console” Now how the hell am I supposed to let the console to them. So after a small conversation, I talk them into giving me instructions on the mix and I will execute them on the board, thinking it will make work easy. But hell no, I was wrong. I get instructions worse than what the “band techies” were giving. I have been asked to do all kinds of stuff, most of them sounded like pizza orders, here are a few – 1. Can I have a little spice on the guitar! 2. Can you make the vocals sweet! 3. Will it be possible to make the keyboards louder than anything else (when the keyboardist was actually not playing anything important or even consistent), When i ask why? Because he is a good friend, I never liked the guitarist or the vocalist!

Well I thought after being a live sound engineer for 5 years and a band member for over 7 years and all the qualification I earned, I was good at what I do, but hell no! This needs a lot more patience than any other job and yeah, no qualification is ever going to teach you how to manage these guys!

Time to crib

2008-10-16T04:51:00.000-07:00

Now its time to crib...crib about everything I've seen at my gigs till today...guitarists and drummers are not going to be happy, but hey, this is what happens to an engineer every time you guys get on stage.

A whole days work, sometimes two and finally the bands up for sound check, after a lot of fuss ofcourse. Fuss about what, doode its so hot, doode why is the stage so small, doode what time is the show, doode where can I get fags, doode why do the speakers look small, will the subs be enough, are we playing first, etc. now there are two possibilities I would know the answers to their stupid questions - 1. I was the organiser+security+MC+engineer+audience+a fellow band member, 2. I would have lost my mind and actually tried answering their questions.

Okay after all that they are on stage and begin making some noise, if you thought it was just the band members that were the dumbest, wait, now its their friends and groopies turn, both guys and girls. Before the band could start off properly on the PA system this is what they ask -

1. Why is the Guitar not heard?
2. Can't the bass drum be deeper, flatter, kickier, and punchier? (little does he know those terms are as good as they trying to say can I have a Pizza with a lot of highs and a little reverb and also some delay!)
3. How many dB can your speakers produce? (Not dB spl or any other reference)
4. Can you make the vocals nicer, smoother, crisper, sweeter, hotter, mellower, and what not!

I have one answer, PA is not yet ON!

Hey

2005-06-04T03:26:00.000-07:00

I am an live sound engineer located in India. I work in the live circuit here with a lot of bands and also play guitar and vocals for a band. I completed my audio engineering from SAE, Chennai, India.

Well this is my first serious attempt at blogging and am not sure how far it will go! Lets see, I'm a techie not good at stuff that needs a lot of typing and words...now that makes my life so much easier with this blog running!

I'm not going to write about every gig I do or every book I read or every stupid thing that I do. I'm going to put up stuff that I think every sound techie or musician should know.