Rotti
Fractal Fanatic
I've always heard two dominant theories regarding dialing in tones for live use...
1) Make the FOH engineer's life easy. Do all your hi/lo pass, EQ, compression, gating, etc. to your signal before it hits the board. Include a ~3dB level bump for leads. Make it so that he plugs you into a channel and forgets you're there, free to go grab a beer (pitcher) and kick back.
2) Give him the freedom to do what he's paid for. Give him the most huge, unprocessed tone you possibly can. Let him find your place in the mix, bump up your fader when the solos kick in, dial in your delay to tempo where he's feeling it, etc. Labor intensive, but I'm told some sound guys appreciate this.
Where do you guys stand on this? Obviously, if you have a regular engineer that's "your guy," option #2 makes a lot more sense, because he's intimately familiar with your set.
I'm talking about walking into some venue with whoever house guy you've never met and doesn't know your set or your sound at all. Which way do you guys go? Has that way been working out well for you or failing? Do you maybe mix the two methods into some amalgamation (i.e., you gate & compress, but leave the tone wide to be EQ'd at the board, or maybe you still take control over your "color" effects, delays and such)?
Thanks & Gig'em!
1) Make the FOH engineer's life easy. Do all your hi/lo pass, EQ, compression, gating, etc. to your signal before it hits the board. Include a ~3dB level bump for leads. Make it so that he plugs you into a channel and forgets you're there, free to go grab a beer (pitcher) and kick back.
2) Give him the freedom to do what he's paid for. Give him the most huge, unprocessed tone you possibly can. Let him find your place in the mix, bump up your fader when the solos kick in, dial in your delay to tempo where he's feeling it, etc. Labor intensive, but I'm told some sound guys appreciate this.
Where do you guys stand on this? Obviously, if you have a regular engineer that's "your guy," option #2 makes a lot more sense, because he's intimately familiar with your set.
I'm talking about walking into some venue with whoever house guy you've never met and doesn't know your set or your sound at all. Which way do you guys go? Has that way been working out well for you or failing? Do you maybe mix the two methods into some amalgamation (i.e., you gate & compress, but leave the tone wide to be EQ'd at the board, or maybe you still take control over your "color" effects, delays and such)?
Thanks & Gig'em!