Members James Clausen Posted September 28, 2015 Members Share Posted September 28, 2015 Went to a music festival in Columbia, MO Saturday. The board got dialed in with the first act and the mix just got better all day, until the last act. Dwight Yocum came out, I suspect that his front of house guy went to the board, and the mix went into the toilet. I have seen this happen before, where an act that should have been a great show turned out to be captive to a front of house mix that was just wrong. The larger irony is that the musicians on the stage are hearing their stage mix rather than front of house and are under the impression that they are sounding great. We wind up being a captive to one person in the crew to present our art and if that individual does not have the ears or technical chops to present us in the best light the whole show suffers. Understandably, a lot of people left early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 The show had Dwight Yoakam as the headliner, and the sound person was clueless? That's become pretty uncommon - at least at that level of the game. OTOH opening acts getting the short end of the stick - no (or very brief) soundcheck, less attention to their mix, shortened time for their set, etc. etc. - that stuff happens all the time. And yes, bad FOH mixers do exist - especially in smaller clubs and venues, and they can wreck a show. The only alternative is to have your own sound person, but even then, not all clubs will let them mix your show, even if you have one. Still, if nothing else, they should be familiar with your material and can talk the other person through the mix - "here comes the guitar solo", or "the singer is going to start screaming on the next verse, so you might want to duck her levels a bit"... etc. etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members James Clausen Posted September 28, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 28, 2015 I thought so too. Mids got scooped, guitars were all jangle and no body, vocals were sibilant and feeding back, couldn't hear the kick and the cymbles were in the front, piano was tinny. The only thing that seemed to be dialed in was the bass. I don't know what happened but Lucinda Williams set right before Yokums was right on the money. It hurt to listen to the change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Lucinda Williams AND Dwight Yoakam? That sounds like my kind of show! Where was this at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members James Clausen Posted September 28, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 28, 2015 Columbia Missouri. The Roots, Blues and Barbecue festival runs for three days every year running two stages and an eclectic mix of music and artists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted September 28, 2015 Members Share Posted September 28, 2015 My first thought would be some sort of equipment issue that couldn't be sorted out 'cause the show must go on. An old pro like Yoakam would surely have someone running right to him telling him the mix was a disaster. Other than that, maybe the usual FOH guy got sick or something and the job quickly handed over to a newbie with the instructions "DONT TOUCH ANYTHING AND DON'T MAKE ANY MISTAKES!":) nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Columbia Missouri. The Roots' date=' Blues and Barbecue festival runs for three days every year running two stages and an eclectic mix of music and artists.[/quote'] Sounds like a fun time - sorry the sound wasn't very good for Dwight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philboking Posted September 30, 2015 Members Share Posted September 30, 2015 Unfortunately this is all too common. There are time I dread what the FOH guy will do to the sound of my favorite artists, especially at festivals. I hate it when the subwoofers are cranked 20 or 30 dB louder than everything else so my liver jumps an inch every time the kick drum is hit. I hate it when the sound guy is so busy BSing that he pays no attention to his job and completely misses turning up a solo, or can't be bothered to try to get an even barely passable mix. Too loud, I can handle that with foam earplugs. Too crappy of a mix, all I can do is head off the the beer tent and wait for the frustration to pass... and hope the next act sounds better. A lot of times I'll head up to the stage and try to listen to the stage mix, which is often a lot better balanced than what comes out of the mains. My motto on (most) sound guys: "Just because they're paying you doesn't mean you are a professional in any sense of the word" To give credit where credit is due, there were a few shows in the last decade I've seen where the mix was magically perfect:Deep Purple with a 70 orchestra at Ravinia Pavilion in Highland Park ILAll the shows I've seen (even open mics!) at CSPS in Cedar Rapids IA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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