Members Tomm Williams Posted October 21, 2012 Members Share Posted October 21, 2012 I've had a busy two weeks with several different events I've either completed or I'm advancing for and it's given me a few tidbits of wisdom. 1--Everybody's a F***ing soundman. On rare occasion, I get "input" from a well meaning person about what they think I should be doing. This used to make me want to kill them. Anymore, I just engage the person in friendly chatter and forget what they said about one second later. 2--Trust your ears The more I do this, the more I begin to understand why some folks get so irritated with lack of attention to detail. Unless you're totally deaf, you should be able to decipher what's going on and achieve balance. 3-- Sometimes the talent really understands sound Three of the events I worked with in this time-frame really knew what they wanted. It was a pleasure to work with this level of talent. 4--It's easy to get overzealous with knobs I'm figuring out that knobs left at Zero is not a bad thing given the right situation. 5--Knobs can save your ass Knowing when and why to turn the knobs can equally save your ass. 6--Nothing beats experience Time behind the console beats the hell out of time on the forum------------hands down. However, time on the forum can make time on the console a lot easier. FWIW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stunningbabe Posted October 21, 2012 Members Share Posted October 21, 2012 What....no 'smiley' EQ setting?? LOL... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted October 21, 2012 Members Share Posted October 21, 2012 Ah grasshopper, it will soon be time for you to leave this place. (from my favorite TV show.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted October 21, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 21, 2012 Other random thoughts Sometimes a mic has a specific area where it shines. Case in point the Sennheiser 431 Profipower, this mic is killer for Jazz type vocals but frankly I can't find another use for it. It has this way of taking the edge off of the vocals, perhaps even could be said that it looses some detail. But for Jazz, it seems to be a good thing. --Watch out for the band moving the mics when you're not looking. Was using a pair of Michael Joly modded MXL 603's on the string section. had them wrung out, sounding good. after an intermission I start hearing FB. When the players returned to their chairs, one of them moved the mic to get to her seat (close seating/miking/stage) didn't occur to her that this would be an issue. Mixing from 100' away on a black stage, took me a minute to figure out WTF!!!! Now she knows. --Don't assume singers understand the relationship between the mic-monitors and feedback. Had one singer who cupped the capsule to the point almost couldn't see it, another would relax during solos and let her arms fall down (pointing the mic straight at the monitor) Senn 431 in both cases and it wasn't a huge problem but again----------they didn't know. Moving singers............had one performer at an event that tried to walk to the front of the stage to sing. (she performs at a keyboard) I didn't know she intended to do this.......her mic cable was pinched under the monitor so she had to sit at the keys for this number. Moral of story, shame on me for not covering that in the advance. She didn't mention she would be doing this but it was my responsibility to ask. Wireless for everybody!!!!!!!!!! It's becoming very apparent that the details planning and execution of this stuff goes well beyond what most would expect. Some acts are simple with low expectations. Make noise, drink beer, have fun. Others are more like planning a shuttle launch. Details, details, details. Really understand why upper-level operators charge so much money. It isn't just because of the expensive {censored} in the trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted October 21, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 21, 2012 Originally Posted by Axisplayer Ah grasshopper, it will soon be time for you to leave this place. (from my favorite TV show.) And Stu to reply to something you mentioned concerning the Heil PR40. I did set the kit up with it but for reasons unknown it sounded horrible. Switched to an EV868 and everything was fine. Have to check it out as there must be something wrong with it. Did find out that a Beyer M201 makes an outstanding flute mic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted October 21, 2012 Members Share Posted October 21, 2012 Strange that it sounded bad. I used mine for the first time Friday night. We were running late for curtain because they managed to get electricity to the venue (15K sq foot tent) at the last minute. I told the drummer I was trying smething new because of time. I threw up the new Earthworks SR40 mics as OH and put the Heil PR40 in for kick. I flattened all EQ and brought up the system ready to figure out what I needed for EQ with the new mics.....and the answer was nothing. All channels stayed dead flat except I added a little extra 60hz for the Heil. I am so used to D6 on kick that the Heil sounded a little lacking. I think it was actually probably more accurate but my ears were not ready for that. The kick was very strong, just in a different range than i am used to. I may never mic individual drums again after this test. I had 400 people or so for a dinner in the huge tent. I used 4 QRX212s over 4 LS1208s. I also used my new Blizzard Q12a pucks. Only had 4 of them ready to use, so I put a Megabar on tope of the T bar, and 2 Pucks under it for each side of stage. I was amazed that the 4 pucks could completely light a 30x20 ft stage in a tent that size, but it worked. PA sounded better than it ever had because drums were simply amazing. I have never heard anything like through my system. Every cymbal hit, hi-hat hit, and even floor toms just sounded perfect. I am out of words for it because it just sounded like I was standing directly in front of the drums in a live room without any PA, but much louder. I was floored. I am certain that if you didn't like the Heil on kick, either it was placed wrong for that mic or drum (maybe part of my issue Friday) or it is damaged. I think I am going to love it. I KNOW I love the new Earthworks mics. They have me re-thinking every single mic I own. You always hear that transducers are the most important part of any system. I know thats true, but until I made this huge jump in mics, it was always a minor improvement. This made a night and day difference in my system to the point I may have to sell every mic I own with the goal of buying only top tier mics from now on. My Beta87s, SM86s, Audix OM6s, etc all sound very dead and flat after hearing the good stuff. I foresee lots of new mics this year..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted October 21, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 21, 2012 Yeah buddy on the 3-mic setup. I originally intended to try the PR40 with a pair of AT3035's as OH's. After getting to the venue, I realize the horn section is about 3' from the drums. I switched to a pair of SDC's placed under the cymbals to pick up the toms a bit better. After a little adjustment, they sounded great and the balance was quite respectable. I can't say I'll never use individual mics on a kit again, but this isn't the first time I've gone with 3 mics and had very nice results. I bought the 40 used so I suppose there could be an issue. When I got it, all I did to test it was to speak into it. Gonna plug it in again this week and see if it was the mic, me or a ghost in the machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted October 21, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 21, 2012 Also, doesn't Earthworks make some really $$$$$$$$$$ vocal mic? (like $900?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted October 21, 2012 Members Share Posted October 21, 2012 Yea, they do. The SR40V (I think that is right) is more than that, but is supposed to be fairly nice.... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted October 21, 2012 Members Share Posted October 21, 2012 Originally Posted by Axisplayer Yea, they do. The SR40V (I think that is right) is more than that, but is supposed to be fairly nice.... ;-) For that kind of money, I would expect it to deliver a "happy ending" after every show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted October 21, 2012 Members Share Posted October 21, 2012 A good portion of my experience is used to un-do what event planners try to screw up production-wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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