Members wesg Posted July 10, 2015 Author Members Share Posted July 10, 2015 Boy, Andy - working with guys like Calloway and Basie must have been a real treat. I'm not as familiar with Bob Hope's bands, they are not well-represented online and my online recollection is watching them on TV as a youngster on ships of some kind. Maybe USO Navy stuff? I did sound for another gig with this band last night...it posed some real challenges, but I think I got really nice results. The gig was a town park deal, where the town has a circular, raised concrete gazebo with a 2' knee wall, huge concrete pillars, and only one entrance. Space was VERY tight. The gazebo also has a weird roof, that comes down into a point in the middle. I guess it is to help the acoustics or something, but it really makes the piano sound boomy if I don't re-EQ. [Gazebo image - https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/t31.0-8/10534986_557123704398107_2213596373093202059_o.jpg - different band] This time I worked with the same singer as in the video I posted a couple of months ago. I gave her a beta 58 and threw a pair of 57s in front of the woodwinds, no mics at all for the brass or drums, other than leakage. One thing I changed up was monitoring for the rhythm section. We have been having a hard time hearing the front row when playing outdoors. Last concert, I talked the sound guy into giving me a vocal/reed mix in a wedge, which helped me a lot, but the drummer still complained that he couldn't hear the horns well enough on the shots. This time, there literally was no room for a wedge so I stood the speaker on-end for side-fill. It worked really well, so well in fact that the drummer couldn't stop talking about what an improvement it was for at least 20 minutes after the gig. I didn't provide any monitoring for the singer, but I placed one of the main speakers in the gazebo, about even with the trombones (2nd row), aimed so that it was pointing off to one side a bit. I filled out coverage with a second speaker next to the gazebo with a bit overlap in the middle. My goal was to try and cover about 120 degrees of the park with two speakers having 80 degree horns. The speakers were only about 15 feet apart due to space constrictions. The singer was happy with the mains-as-monitor setup, I had no feedback at all, not a peep, and she was able to help me tweak her level and the piano's level since she was in a location to hear better than I. I'm starting to enjoy these gigs. I do a lot of work but I'm learning a bunch. Now I have a rock band gig Saturday and another big band gig Sunday. I can't get over how busy I am this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike M Posted July 11, 2015 Members Share Posted July 11, 2015 Now I have a rock band gig Saturday and another big band gig Sunday. I can't get over how busy I am this year! Careful.....you might just start doing more sound-provider gigs than playing gigs..... Mike M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted July 12, 2015 Members Share Posted July 12, 2015 Bob Hope usually traveled with a rhythm section or maybe just piano and bass player (piano player also the music director) and picked up the rest locally. Reading charts is pretty standard for these gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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