Sound man etiquette

[stunningbabe]

I totally detest these 'soundmen' who looked down on me just cos I am a girl.
They have this stupid male ego that has no respect for us ladies. I'm no expert nor do I ever claim to be when it comes to doing sound, but I DO know it when the mixing's bad....and I do have some sense in knowing what needs to be rectified 'on the fly'.

[Rezrover]

I totally detest these 'soundmen' who looked down on me just cos I am a girl. They have this stupid male ego that has no respect for us ladies. I'm no expert nor do I ever claim to be when it comes to doing sound, but I DO know it when the mixing's bad....and I do have some sense in knowing what needs to be rectified 'on the fly'.

 

 

Probably cos some of these guys got their foot in the door because they put together a car stereo when they were younger.

 

I usually have to run sound and play but I have our mixer out front so I forget things depending on the gig.

I never act snide to anyone who has a valid opinion about the sound but someone who's hammered and has something to say, I still listen to make sure. You never know.

[agedhorse]

I totally detest these 'soundmen' who looked down on me just cos I am a girl. They have this stupid male ego that has no respect for us ladies. I'm no expert nor do I ever claim to be when it comes to doing sound, but I DO know it when the mixing's bad....and I do have some sense in knowing what needs to be rectified 'on the fly'.

 

 

Let me give you a bit of unsolicited advice... in the circles I work, nobody looks down at anybody based on their gender, but they do pick up on attitude. When the attitude screams "hey I have a chip on my shoulder", you reap what you sow.

 

Now before directing any attitude towards my comments, know that I work with women regularly, and one of my techs from 25 years ago is one of the lead automated scenery tech for Disney's theatrical touring division. She's respected by everyone she works with and gender never comes into play because she doesn't have an attitude nor does she need one. Doesn't matter what country she works in (she doesn't go to the middle east though) and is one of the top dog on every tour.

 

For everybody, think about this next time you have an attitude about somebody's gender, or whatever. If they are good, it doesn't matter what sex, color, persuasion etc. they are.

[philw44]

I've found the "you need to turn up the guitar" is usually just an opening line to the person explaining that they play the guitar. Then they talk about their band, former band , followed by various name drops of bands, people and venues. Then they mosey over the guitar player and start the whole thing over again with additional commentary on guitar and amps they own.

 

 

Oh god, i despise that.

[6Imzadi]

I had a couple sit behind me once who introduced themselves as sound people. I had never met them before. During break, I listened to them for a few minutes tell me about their band or other bands they mixed for. I never heard of the bands either. That was weird.

[Bugzie]

I take the "give a man a fish and feed him for a day. teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime" approach when asked. At a recent Irish Festival the sound man was having a problem with an accoustic act. He's accustomed to hard rock screamers and both fella's in this act are very good vocalists. When he asked what was wrong I just pointed that out to him. He figured it out and made a couple of small changes. I almost laughed when he came back out and one of the guys on stage looked at me and said "thanks, much better." The kid started glowing thinking the singer was thanking him.

[philw44]

Does anyone find that they listen 'differently' when they are mixing compared to just being a spectator?

It's kinda hard to explain.. but i feel my senses are better when my brain is relaxed rather than trying to *think* about what is wrong with the mix.

[Phil Clark]

I totally detest these 'soundmen' who looked down on me just cos I am a girl. They have this stupid male ego that has no respect for us ladies. I'm no expert nor do I ever claim to be when it comes to doing sound, but I DO know it when the mixing's bad....and I do have some sense in knowing what needs to be rectified 'on the fly'.

 

 

I try not to look down on anyone doing sound. It's a hard job. It is physical, technical and creative all at once (or at least in stages). We have a sound company we have worked with several times (we usually use our own PA as Jerry also has a sound company) and it is a husband and wife team. They are usually doing festivals with two stages, and he usually works the other stage as she runs things (and helps me) with my band. I have never heard her mix, but as a system tech, she is one of the most knowledgeable and courteous people it has been my pleasure to work with.

[malcatron]

From the flipside, as someone who is pretty new to running sound, if someone with genuine experience were to come up at a show and offer some advice it would be most gratefully received - as long as it was given in a friendly, non condescending manner. ie the person was being genuinely benevolent rather than stroking their own ego or trying to make me feel inferior.

[stunningbabe]

Let me give you a bit of unsolicited advice... in the circles I work, nobody looks down at anybody based on their gender, but they do pick up on attitude. When the attitude screams "hey I have a chip on my shoulder", you reap what you sow. Now before directing any attitude towards my comments, know that I work with women regularly, and one of my techs from 25 years ago is one of the lead automated scenery tech for Disney's theatrical touring division. She's respected by everyone she works with and gender never comes into play because she doesn't have an attitude nor does she need one. Doesn't matter what country she works in (she doesn't go to the middle east though) and is one of the top dog on every tour. For everybody, think about this next time you have an attitude about somebody's gender, or whatever. If they are good, it doesn't matter what sex, color, persuasion etc. they are.

 

 

I'll say Amen to that!

[stunningbabe]

I try not to look down on anyone doing sound. It's a hard job. It is physical, technical and creative all at once (or at least in stages). We have a sound company we have worked with several times (we usually use our own PA as Jerry also has a sound company) and it is a husband and wife team. They are usually doing festivals with two stages, and he usually works the other stage as she runs things (and helps me) with my band. I have never heard her mix, but as a system tech, she is one of the most knowledgeable and courteous people it has been my pleasure to work with.

 

 

I guess it's the people I met that are different. pro sound is still largely a male dominated industry..so I do understand that.

[Phil Clark]

I guess it's the people I met that are different. pro sound is still largely a male dominated industry..so I do understand that.

 

 

But your understanding doesn't make it right. Hopefully you will help open the door for many more women who want to work in pro sound and haven't been able to up to this point.

[Shaster]

I totally detest these 'soundmen' who looked down on me just cos I am a girl. They have this stupid male ego that has no respect for us ladies. I'm no expert nor do I ever claim to be when it comes to doing sound, but I DO know it when the mixing's bad....and I do have some sense in knowing what needs to be rectified 'on the fly'.

 

 

Out of the many years I've played, I can think of about six lighting techs I really thought were top notch. Three of those were woman (including my first wife).

 

And out of my top ten list of soundtechs I've worked with, two have been woman - and I don't see many woman soundtechs. So I guess that's saying something - just don't know what:)

[kurfu]

You know that {censored}ing guy that comes up in the middle of your gigs and talks a bunch of {censored} about mixing and sound like he know what he's doing and then tries to tell you how to do your job?

Don't be that guy.

[agedhorse]

Out of the many years I've played, I can think of about six lighting techs I really thought were top notch. Three of those were woman (including my first wife). And out of my top ten list of soundtechs I've worked with, two have been woman - and I don't see many woman soundtechs. So I guess that's saying something - just don't know what:)

 

 

Maybe that there's more money to be made in lighting?

[Shaster]

Maybe that there's more money to be made in lighting?

 

 

 

I'm not going to touch that one - probably 'cause I'm chicken!

[dennis a]

I guess it's the people I met that are different. pro sound is still largely a male dominated industry..so I do understand that.

 

 

http://www.midasconsolesna.com/pearljam.php

[Unalaska]

On the club level I can't think of any soundwomen. My wife, who has a great ear and does a great job mixing gets more attitude from other women than guys in the band.

[ckcondon]

Had a situation like this last night.

I'm out of town on business and a few of us met up for drinks a local watering hole. I heard they had live music and I always look forward to seeing other bands and what "works" in different areas of the country.

They were a 5-piece cover band with a soundman out front. Not a big bar, maybe 200-250 capacity.

They had a decent PA and good backline gear. The band was competent and played a lot of good, danceable rock from Bon-Jovi, Tom Petty, Lit, Green Day etc.

The problems were instantly obvious to me... The Vox were way too hot and you couldn't hear any guitar, especially during solos. The singer insisted upon playing a tambourine against a cowbell for many songs (which do not require either) into said hot mic.

I can understand having issues when running sound from stage, but with a sound guy out front it just seemed too loud and poorly mixed for the venue.

I know that it's not my place to say anything, but I really wanted to.

We left instead.

The band lost about 20 people who would have hung out all night because they sounded like crap.

[agedhorse]

Going back about 20 years, I did a some shows for the Chambers Brothers (great band BTW), and their road manager was a nasty bull dyke. I had a woman on my crew who was really good, organized and didn't make mistakes. The road manager had a huge chip on here shoulder and was rude as hell to me (I hadn't even met her yet and she was talking {censored} about me) and then she proceeded to rip my female crew member a new one. She was so rude that she said things that I had never heard before... really! She threw things around too. I have never heard so much nasty attitude out of a woman's mouth before, she would make a sailor blush. Had to tell the promoter that if he was unable to get her under control, we would have to pack up and leave because her abuse to my employee (including sexual harassment) violated all kinds of CA employment laws and I could not expose my empolyee to this.

The band told her to chill or take the night off, she chilled but was glaring and snarking under her breath all night. I later was told that this woman was a "problem child" on the road and she was being let go a few stops later when they were closer to her home.

[Telecruiser]

On the club level I can't think of any soundwomen. My wife, who has a great ear and does a great job mixing gets more attitude from other women than guys in the band.

 

 

This is just me, but I think women would be better at lighting as they have a much keener eye for colors then men do. Any truth to this?

[dennis a]

This is just me, but I think women would be better at lighting as they have a much keener eye for colors then men do. Any truth to this?

 

Maybe, but to suggest that someone is better at something because of gender is little better than suggesting they worse at something because of gender.

[agedhorse]

Maybe, but to suggest that someone is better at something because of gender is little better than suggesting they worse at something because of gender.

Well, there is the "having babies" thing which guys aren't all that good at

[Scodiddly]

This is just me, but I think women would be better at lighting as they have a much keener eye for colors then men do. Any truth to this?

 

 

The old joke is "why aren't there any women doing sound? Because they like doing lighting better". Lot of female lampies around, even if the gear (especially the cabling) is heavier to wrassle around.

[dennis a]

Well, there is the "having babies" thing which guys aren't all that good at

Yeah, looking at it from that point of view, you never hear the term "deadbeat mom".