Sound man etiquette

[W. M. Hellinger]

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?

 

Depends I suppose.

 

I happen to like flat black, primer gray, and gun metal gray (being the 3 colors of rattle can paint I'm always stocked up with). However, Liz seems to take a dim view of my common suggestion for "fixing something" by "painting it flat black".

 

Oh... and one of the absolutely coolest colors of gels I have is brown... don't get to use them all that often, but they are very cool (as far as I'm concerned)... makes the stage look like an old-time brown & white photograph. Great stuff with old-time fiddler type shows.

[JohnMCA72]

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

I dare say, most are at least OK at getting the process started (at least willing to try)!

[6Imzadi]

Yeah, what is chartreuse anyway?

[SomeoneYouKnew]

So we went to see a friends band play last night, and the young sound man whom I have worked with before was having some issues with the sound. It was a bit muddy and lacked vocal clarity. Well, my wife and at least two other people (who know I am a sound man) kept asking me to step in and help him. I told them that if he asked for my help, I would help him. But until he asked, I wasn't going to just step in and start fixing things or even offer suggestions to him. My boss was also there and he wouldn't either. Eventually the sound man did approach my boss and asked for his opinion and for help. So by the second sets start the PA was tuned much better and the mix was much improved. Anyone else get prodded by friends to fix a mix for a sound man who isn't doing such a good job? If so, how do you handle it?

Sounds right to me. He knew who you were. He knew you were capable if he wanted your help. It was his call.

 

 

I've had outsiders suggest that I step in when a soundman had a poor mix. I've told them in no uncertain terms that would be rude. They and I, should just mind our own business.

 

A couple of times I've had bands I've worked with in the studio ask me to work with their soundman. I've been very careful to make sure we were properly introduced before proceeding. I made a quick map of all the control settings on the board, then explained why I made each change as I made it. He's free to map out the present settings and revert to what he had. Or start from where we are now, and make additional changes. After all, it's his job. It's his mix.

 

Those situations usually go pretty well if you aren't overbearing or unnecessarily critical. The kid learns a little and when all is said and done, he can now make better decisions on his own.

 

Live sound is a pain in the ass anyway. Band members tend to always turn up, not down. So the stage volume escalates and becomes a nuisance to what you're trying to accomplish with the house mix. Half the battle is getting the band to behave and trust you to make them sound big out front.