What do you think a sound check should consist of?

[:wave:]

I was running sound recently for a local charity event (I should note right up front that I'm no kind of professional soundman; I run my own sound onstage and I've read enough books and followed this forum long enough to have a lot of "head" knowledge of running sound, but very little sitting-at-FOH experience. This was a situation where I was the one who knew the most about it and the event didn't have the budget to hire a pro. Great event, nonetheless - good turnout for a good cause and a very welcome chance for me to get some hands-on experience running sound (and with some of the dealing-with-bands and dealing-with-audience things that I've read about here. (this whole post is turning into a parethetical interjection, isn't it? Oops.))), and I found myself really frustrated with what was passing for "sound check". Many of the bands would say "test" into the mike (or just hit it ), strum their guitar to make sure there was sound, and then think they were done. I'd ask them to bear with me since I'm very inexperienced and actually play something and most of them would play at about 10% energy. Then, when it was actually showtime, I spent part of the first song actually setting levels and over half of the bands complained about poor monitor mixes (either onstage during their set or afterwards to me).

 

Which brings me to my question - as a soundman, what do you need for a sound check? What are you listening for/adjusting most intently? And do you have any tips for getting the bands to give you what you need?

 

Thanks much,

[Unalaska]

This will be a long thread, so lemme start:

 

Line check as much as possible while still setting up. Listen to drum mics for ambience (i.e. solo on headphones, crank the gain to hear background noise), check out other inputs and stuff.

 

I like to ring out wedges first with vocal mics up and set to a gain that I expect to see. Afterwards, get the drum set done: kick, snare, toms, & overheads. Then bass, guitar keys & extra crap. Do wedges next (who wants what in thier mix). The first song can be hectic but not to bad if gains are taken care of first. If you're running wedges from FOH then be careful not to adjust gains too much or too wildly (see "How much power" thread).

 

There are tricks to running multiple bands but this will get you started...

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[where02190]

Typically I do a line check once things are wired up, getting input gains ballparked, setting hp filters, doing some eq I know I will want, rolling low mids of hats, setting dynamics, things like that.

 

If it's monitors from FOH, I take a vocal mic to the FOH, get an input gain and relative eq, then bring it up (from FOH) in the wedges, and do a rough eq from there (if the eq's are at FOH, my preference.)

 

I then will get the monitors tweaked out, or if there's a separate monitor console I work with the ME to get them happening.

 

I then do a more detailed drum check, if there's a drum tech or artists drummer is available. I have them play a groove with simple fills, I bring up the overheads with overheads, then add in whatever needs filling out.

 

After that, I prefer to hear the bass guitar and any other DI's instruments.

 

After this, if there is to be a full band check, I turn it over to the ME, and just follow him. At this point, assuming everything is working, and no one is absurdly overpowering onstage, I'm pretty much done, especially indoors in medium to smaller venues where the acoustics are going to change fairly radically anyway.

 

Honestly, I prefer to not do a full band check. I find my mixes come together faster if I shoot from the hip. I always use my own mic selection, so I know what they will do to a given source.

 

Unless there is a major issue, I walk away from the desk after 2 songs. If I can't get it in 2 songs, there's something other than what I'm doing at the console wrong that needs to be addressed. Anything more than 2 songs IMHO isn't soundcheck, it's rehearsal.

[Brad Harris]

Do it through your cans while the monitor tech is going through the wedges/inputs!

 

The muso's 99% of the time think your the best there is, and thats a good thing at the startish of the gig ....

 

 

While sometimes that works (if you know the rig, and have a separate monitor tech)

 

Generally, I do the same as where02190, but with a minor change, I'll stand at the wedge first before heading back to change the eq, its a minor detail, and also depends on how well you know the wedges your using.

 

 

Most of the time with some bands, its just a line check, and make sure vocals/horn wedges are happy (balanced level in the horn wedge with verb, single vox in each wedge, with verb - but I start the gigs out dry, until they ask for it). The first song usually is the sound check, and is in order in the first few bars or so for a decent mix, and usually a song after its dialed in as they usually sub in different backline muso's.

[BlackBelt]

I usually get the vocals up quickly-one or two "check" s in the each mic to check monitor level and FOH, then work on the drums-kick first, then snare, then add toms. Bass guitar is a one quarter note sound check, to make sure it's in the FOH.

then I toss in the guitars, which is my variable. my guitarists like to change amps from gig to gig, so I don't have anything dialed in on them. It seems like it's always a work in progress on them. The last show, one of the guitarists was actually sitting there noodling on his guitar during soundcheck. I usually am the easy-going guy, always quick with a joke and a smile, but the noodling had to go.

Then during the 10 minute break between 1st and 2nd sets, one of the guys goes up and 'checks' his guitar by playing one short barre chord note...not realizing that was the cue for the house system to go dead, because they were expecting us to be playing at that point.

Chimps I tell you. I play with chimps... I'm pretty sure they are maybe 2nd generation walking upright...

[Axisplayer]

What is this sound check thing you guys are talking about?

 

 

OK. I commit heresy regularly so let'g get this part out of the way first. I have three DRPA's in the system, two of which are for four monitor sends. The parametrics have long been dialed in for the boxes. Here's the heresy part....I set the AFS for 5-6 fixed freq's and let her rip. It finds the first 5-6 bad rings and takes them out. I put on a CD I know and walk the monitors to make sure it didn't kill any natural sound my monitors were ever capable of making. I never let AFS do anything after that if I got this far. I have 4x31 bands for on the fly stuff, but almost never needed.

 

On to the band....If you start the line check, and the amps aren't already too loud for any semblance of a decent mix, then you know the guys are sandbagging you...leave headroom in the gains or you will kill your monitor levels fixing it later.

 

Now ...I start with drums...5-10 seconds on each to get a sound I like enough to start with, things will change when the crowd shows up so why waste time. I get a rough balance on them. I have the drummer do a 15 second solo. I then threaten the drummer with death if he makes any more noise until the show. I mute his subgroup.

 

Bass guitar gets a line check. He's working, nothing in the way of freqs that suddenly take off like jets in the room, and the top and bottom notes are roughly the same balance or I will lightly compress to even him out...He's done.

 

Guitars?? I start with them lower than anybody thinks is enough knowing they will turn up as soon as the show starts. I don't want anything too loud at first, better that I have to turn them up then down....first line of speaker/ear drum defense.....do they sound like banshees screaming in 55 gallon drums with ice picks in your ears??? You can move on if it's a no.

 

Vocals....I have lead vocalist talk a few seconds to get a gain and a proper sound like. I then ask them to scream....reset gain much lower. Ask if vocals are OK in monitors. If they aren't later it's not my fault....I asked.

 

BG vocals get set about the same with a little less gain. Covers the unknown, and leaves room to fix things if needed. All mics are the same so if one sounds ok my guess/starting point is roughing them in nearly the same.

 

From there, show will start and during first 2 minutes i am either happy or I may not be all night. What I can fix gets done quick. Anything not done in two minutes is a major problem I either missed, or have no control over other than damage control.

 

If I had real time for a sound check (like that EVER happens) I would do things differently, but this has been my MO for the last year in combat audio and has gotten me through OK. I can do the whole thing in about 4 minutes if all go well...YMMV.

[agedhorse]

It really depends on the situation.

 

Festivals, where we are turning the stage in 10 minutes start to finish with 6-8 monitor mixes mean we do a line check at FOH while we are doing a combo line check and monitor "rough-in" on stage. Make sure the vocals are good to go then hit it.

 

If it's a "real" gig, then we will line check, rough in monitors, then get the drummer to start with bass player, get them happening together, add other instruments one at a time w/ monitors (sometimes FOH will go along with us) and then finish up w/ vocals, whicg should already be pretty close.

 

Yes, anything more than 2 songs is a rehearsal. I am so used to festival situations that I can usually get an acceptable mix in 12 bars no matter what. Effects are last on the list.