03/29/2020
5 Things Your Sound Guy HATES
Live sound engineering can be a thankless job. On its best nights, it’s a decent way to make a living. On its worst nights, it’s enough to drive an even-keeled seasoned professional to utter mental disintegration. There are egos and infighting onstage, backbreaking setup and tear-down, and of course, there’s the miserly pay.
WHEN YOU PUT THEM IN THE HOT SEAT
I still shudder thinking back to a show I played as an energetic high schooler. I couldn’t hear my vocals through my wedge monitor. And rather than, you know, living with it, I put our sound person on blast between songs: “Hey sound guy — can I get some more vocals up here?” No joke, the entire crowd shot bewildered glances back in his direction. In my mind, it was a perfectly innocent request, but I can still see the blood rush to his face in that moment. The damage was done, and no amount of thanks and grace could repair the rift I’d created. Can you really expect someone to go out of their way to make your vocals sound their best after you’ve just insulted them from the stage?
Now that I’ve done sound and tech work myself, I totally empathize with that guy I put the spotlight on. Nobody likes to be put in the hot seat. Whether it’s a missed cue, a dropped solo, or an audio track that doesn’t play at the right moment, the last thing you want to do is wage war against your sound person. They are, after all, the middlemen and women between you and your listeners. Instead, roll with the punches and take every opportunity to reward a good attitude and to acknowledge work well done.
WHEN YOU NOODLE BETWEEN SONGS
Not only do sound people hate noodling — you know, ripping and riffing when you’re not supposed to be — but it drives the other performers onstage crazy. My stage-worn ears simply can’t handle trying to hear what the director or sound person is telling me over the clatter of crash cymbals and the constant din of a guitarist dialing in their amp. This is especially taboo during soundcheck. The best advice we can give young players is to set up, tune up, and shut up. Wait for the sound person to call on you, give them accurate levels, then wait for the rest of the band to finish checking before you even think about strumming another chord. This is not the time to dial in your pedals, tune up your snare, or work out your bass solo. Keep this same respect going throughout your performance, and not only will your sound tech thank you, but your bandmates and audience are guaranteed to have a better time, too.
And, speaking of accurate level checks…
WHEN YOU SOUNDCHECK TOO QUIETLY
Sound techs see it every night: the timid vocalist checks her levels with the quietest verse of the softest song of the evening only to go full Aretha when the set kicks in. The rhythm guitar player checks with his amp on “2” and swears his mix is perfect, then cranks up to “11” halfway through the first song because he claims he can’t hear himself. And just when you, as an engineer, think you’ve got your gain and compression reined in, all the meters start hitting the red, and suddenly your board becomes a red-hot, flashing mess.
As an entertainer, it’s important that you know your performance predilections. Do you have a tendency to eat the mic once the courage kicks in? Be sure to give your sound person a taste of your louder side. Do your stick heights creep up higher and higher as the night rolls on? Then check with a heavy snare hand so there’s no risk of overloading the board. Trust us — learning your stage habits will enhance your band’s live sound and save your sound person a heap of grief.
WHEN YOU MISHANDLE THE VOCAL MIC
Whether it’s metal singers cupping the mic or balladeers with bad depth perception, poor vocal technique can be a blight on an otherwise red-letter performance. The best thing you can do for your sound team is to find a stage microphone you like and learn it like it’s an instrument. Record yourself and study the results. How does it color your voice when you sing into it off-axis or at a distance? Can you switch hands or transfer it to a stand without setting off a nuclear explosion? Can you maneuver around it in such a way that keeps your levels and tone consistent even as your vocal dynamics change?
Fact is, there is no plug-in or fader technique that can altogether solve bad mic technique. A good mix engineer can compensate for poor technique, sure; but considering everything else they have on their plates at any given moment, it’s a much more sustainable solution for the performer to know their equipment and how to wield it. It’ll take some time, but practice makes perfect.
WHEN YOU LINGER ONSTAGE AFTER YOUR SET
Opening bands, we have some unfortunate news for you. That sea of people flowing toward the stage near the end of your set probably isn’t there to talk to you. Even if you played a killer show and have a die-hard fanbase to attend to, don’t socialize from the stage. Instead, make a quick retreat with all your gear so the later acts can make their way to the stage. This will help keep the show running on time and give backliners a greater opportunity to get in a crucial final check before showtime.
Even if you are headlining, be sure not to dawdle inside the venue after the show. Your engineer and the event staff have families to go home to and personal lives to get on with. Don’t be the band that bellies up to the bar until all the crowd has cleared out. Instead, be courteous in packing up and don’t be afraid to lend a hand to the setup crew. There are always stands to tear down, speakers to dismount, cables to coil… on second thought, only volunteer for this step if you know the right way to coil a cable. No engineer wants their cables wrapped up the wrong way. Trust me.
Building a reputation for yourself as a group that knows the ropes and isn’t afraid to help move the show along will keep you in high demand with any venue you frequent and in good stride with the techs who have the power to literally make or break your career.
