Sound Guys, They can't help themselves

SimonD

SimonD

Member
Just thought I'd post this pic of my stage setup. Notice the mic in front of my QSC box :). I gave them a direct feed to the desk but the sound guy was having none of it :). "Never heard such nonsense... etc. I'll just mic it up to be sure" :)

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super curious as to what you have your axe fx and monitor sitting on, looks like something I've had in mind for a while just never been able to find.
Thanks.
 
Sound guys are like bartenders. For that short period of time that they're needed, they act like gods. One time I had to play the "do you know who you're talking to" card and I'm definitely not that type of a guy. It's just that I spend most of my time fine tuning mic positions and creating these IR's that are being used in professional productions all over the globe but when I get to my own gig I see these guys who haven't showered in weeks (nothing wrong with that) throw a mic in front of the cab saying stuff like "ugh... I hate SM57s, I started using tom clip mics for guitars, so much better" and let alone miking an FRFR monitor. Getting your own sound guy would be the first step when taking things to the next level. Rant over. :oops:
 
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If anyone is interested, here are the Sketchup files for the road case. Sketchup is a free download from Google.
 

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Sound guys are a dime a dozen. Legit live audio engineers are a rarer breed. It's hard to find someone who has magic ears, tons of knowledge, experience playing and mixing most of the instruments on stage, and a healthy amount of patience and good attitude.

I could also say some things about guitarists ("I'll just go direct with my POD XT") and vocalists ("I'm not familiar with that Neumann capsule, I'll just take a 58, thanks").
 
Had that happen two years ago in Switzerland, too.
I finally convinced the PA-guy to let me go direct.
His argumentation was great, though: "Your guitar sounds great through your wedge, much better than through the PA, so let me mike your wedge"... My wedge was a NX-12SMA, his PA speakers some low-budget crap. He was sure those would sound like my RCF's when he'd mike it...
 
The flip side regarding sound guys on this side of the world is that they are young, inexperienced (usually) but always willing to listen and learn. No issues with plugging straight into the desk.. Some of the has actually heard of AXE-FX and they are getting all amazed and take photos of my AXE and post it on their Chinese blogs :D :D :D
 
It's funny, I had the opposite experience this past weekend. I run my Axe into a Matrix GT1000FX and a NL12 cab. I got on stage to do sound check, not really looking at my rig, and the drummer says "hey, where's your mic?", and I look back and there isn't one on the cab. I realize the sound guy has already plugged an XLR into Out1 on the Axe, and he says "that's a Fractal, right? Those things sound good direct". I was quite surprised, and impressed that he'd seen enough Axe rigs to know. He was very professional, and did a nice job.

I do plan to feed FOH directly, once I've had a chance to find some suitable IRs.
 
The only issue I've ever had is line vs. mic level. Most non-pro desks use 1/4" TRS for line inputs; not XLR.

I bring a dual mono Radial DI to convert Out 1 L/R from line to mic level. Then I can plug into the mic inputs of the stage box. Problem solved.

Out 1 L/R XLR -> Radial -> XLR -> stage box

I also carry XLR -> TRS adapters but have found most are reluctant to re-patch at the desk and change to a line input for the guitar channels.
 
Hmmm. How is going to sound when you are micing a FRFR speaker that already has the sound of a mic'ed cabinet?
 
bdrepko said:
Hmmm. How is going to sound when you are micing a FRFR speaker that already has the sound of a mic'ed cabinet?
Click to expand...

Like an extra layer of mic filtering... if he's using a 57, probably a ton of presence and relatively thin.
 
The one who knows what they're doing? ;) Refusing not to try a line level signal with the current state of modeling is extremely unprofessional. IMHO.
 
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