First Big Gig Axe II: Tips From FOH Guy

DarrenD said:
The only complaint I really have is that the guitar solo should have maybe been turned up a little & the keys turned down.
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I don't know if this applies to you specifically....
but quite often, mixes straight from the desk tend to be keys and vocals heavy
the reason is...
guitars and bass generally have their own on-stage backline [or some sort of monitoring] and the drums make plenty of noise acoustically

this means that the FoH is mixed along with the sound coming directly from the stage..

the overall result on the desk is that the guitars / bass / drums need a little less level with respect to the keys [if they DI and therefore rely only on the monitors] and the vocals..

generally, the bigger the venue, the more augmentation all instruments will need.. and as a result, a stereo recording straight from the desk will be more balanced....
and likewise, the smaller the venue, the more unbalanced the mix will be [generally the bass and guitars will be in there just to glue them into the mix overall rather than to reinforce them through the PA]

EDIT: another thing is.... the mix is a little dark.. but then, what you hear from the desk is not a great representation of what the public hear.. cos they hear the PA speakers... and they of course will have an impact on the sound...
as a result.. I'd imagine your live tone to be at least a little bit brighter than what is heard in the recordings...
 
oh yeah... forgot to mention.. I think the soundy is talking crap...

it don't matter how the signal is generated... signal is signal... if it needs EQ... it needs EQ...

my only thought regarding 'mojo' [an unfortunate choice of terms] is that speaker cabs may tame and smooth out the highs...
some lower end modelling units when DI'd can sound a little 'waspish'.. dialling out the low end will emphasise this...
unfortunately, he may be tarring the Axe with the same brush...
the issue here is not one of analogue v digital...
it's more about, irrespective of the nature of the technology, high end kit v lower end kit..
and he seems to have failed to notice the difference, or allowed preconceptions to cloud and therefore guide his judgement
 
I would have thought, that if he mic'd your FRFR with a 57, then unplugging an plugging the mic cable into your direct out, might have been a bad idea, as he probably wouldn't have known what a Pad or Trim is... 8-/
DarrenD said:
Yeah, I did that as soon as I saw it. I didn't say anything nor did he say anything to me about that.
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here's a thought [as I've never done this - I've always mic'd my cabs]

could a mic'd cab simultaneously sounding with a DI out the back of the Axe create similar enough waveforms to cause phasing or comb filtering??
 
Uh. Ahem. I'm laughing real loud here. I'm a pro foh guy and that dude was an ass. Eq is eq and micing your frfr was the funniest Shit I've read in a long time. Always, regardless of what any one says, tell them your line is the xlr out back and to first run your line flat and eq if needed only. The axe fx 2 sounds stellar live! Much better than 9 0% tube/analog rigs.
 
jplebre said:
he did what?
after that I stopped reading this thread. Don't think there's much of a point. This guy clearly doesn't know anything behind the "engineering" in sound engineering.

Risking throwing more logs to the fire, micing a FR is not a solution. Most of them have x-over points way too low to get the full spectrum of the guitar (limited as it might be).
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I said the exact some thing about the 57 on an FRFR speaker. The second you saw that you should know the guy has no idea what he is doing. He mic'd a woofer speaker then said the tone was too bassy over all. That really should have been the end of this thread for sound advice on your patches. You had a mic on a bass speaker and if you just unplugged that I'm sure your tone would have taken 5 seconds to adjust at the board.
 
Dudes a douche. Don't listen to that dinosaur bullshit, bastard is stuck in the tarpits and just screaming in hopes someone will pull his ignorant ass out....
 
svl said:
Dudes a douche. Don't listen to that dinosaur bullshit, bastard is stuck in the tarpits and just screaming in hopes someone will pull his ignorant ass out....
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Wow, who said it was a bastard? Not as much as you, I'm sure!
Your outlook on the world is like your guitar and tie: black & white.
 
clarky said:
here's a thought [as I've never done this - I've always mic'd my cabs]

could a mic'd cab simultaneously sounding with a DI out the back of the Axe create similar enough waveforms to cause phasing or comb filtering??
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Any time you have more than one driver, you have phasing and comb filtering going on somewhere. Doesn't matter whether it's going direct alongside a miked cab, FOH alongside a miked cab, FOH alongside stage monitors...whatever. It's just one of many strong cases for limiting stage volume.

As far as running a direct feed alongside a miked cab, I'm guessing that's something you'd want to test out to make sure it sounds good before turning it loose on a paying audience. :)
 
Boise is a pretty backwater place. The sound men working here are mostly the very, very bottom of the barrel.
 
Maybe his desk has a line in and he plug the axe in to that and he would not have all the eq possibilities or a nrmal channel strip.
 
Clarky has it on the mojo thought. I would not blame the sound guy. The soun dguy has probably been abused by Line 6, etc., and he can just hear the high end artifacts getting highlighted when he thinks of cutting the lows, and it is a repulsive thought to him.
In the past I think it has been easier to EQ analog gear or mic'd speakers. No amount of EQ fixes a bad digital sound, unless it is already heavily filtered/smoothed by analog gear.
 
I think it is more of a mosquito sound than a wasp btw.... this for the low end units that is.
 
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