[Dixielandjazz] Secrets of Good Sound Revealed

[Will Connelly]

Like the rest of you, I have suffered through loud and lousy sound  to 
the point where I'd wished Edison had invented fire instead of electricity!

The Sweet and Hot last year was so bad in this respect that despite 
really fine musicians, I left and vowed never to return. The Hot Jazz 
and Alligator Gumbo Society I co-founded 25 years ago this month is also 
guilty these days of hiring some young. long haired rectal orifice sound 
"engineer" who couldn't do a correct mix on scrambled eggs.

There are some tricks to doing good sound:

Many venues can do without amplifiers altogether!  It's absurd for a six 
piece band to use amplification in a room significantly under 1000 
square feet. Hire bass players and drummers  who are sensitive to the 
environment  they're working in and have the wit and sensitivity to 
adjust their acoustical outputs accordingly.

Speakers should be  as high as practical. Floor mounted speakers in 
front of or to the sides of the bandstand virtually guarantee lousy 
sound balance in the room.  There is a very good reason why speaker 
riser stands were invented, and it was not just to give roadies hernias.

For the front line, use omnidirectional microphones (like ElectroVoice 
DO-54s) instead of the customary SM-58s or other cardioid pattern mikes. 
Set them about a foot and a half from the bells of brass and reed sound 
hole midpoints. Two blessings rise from this choice: the players can 
move their horns somewhat during play, as they tend to do naturally, 
without materially affecting pickup or running into the bass boost 
proximity effect of cardioids, and omnis will result in feedback 
earlier, which forces the sound man to keep levels at least a little 
lower.  Do not worry about crosstalk: if the horns are a yard apart or 
so, it will be in no way objectionable (unless the guy next door can't 
play!).

Next, begin with all faders except the master at zero, and the master  
at about a one quarter setting.  Now today's child , rock trained 
engineers start with bass and drums and set them  so they are as loud as 
they can make them without pinning the VU meters. You can do the same if 
you wish, but once you've found the maximum settings, reduce them by 12 
db. Then add piano and set the gain for a good balance in which the bass 
and drums do not dominate and overwhelm, but do what they are supposed 
to do: provide rhythmic support to the ensemble. Now bring up the horns, 
with the lead horn (typically cornet/trumpet).just slightly stronger 
than the clarinet and trombone. You are striving for a blend here, with 
the song melody (which is, after all, the heart of the music being 
played) clearly enunciated and defined without being overpowering.

In stage work,  soloing musicians will  typically  work closer to their 
mike on their solos.  This tightening up provides  the desired dynamic 
boost.  In a studio, and bearing in mind that a recording provides a 
listener none none of the visual clues that occur in live settings,  I 
routinely boost the soloing horn by 4 to 6 db during the solo to insure 
that the solo is always at the top of the mix. When the solo's over, 
return the fade to the ensemble setting.

Now we come to the master gain: the sound man's goal should be to 
augment, not overpower, what the band is doing. That means that  the 
sound level should be the lowest that provides reasonable audibility in 
the center of the room . You will never satisfy everyone, but a sound 
man who forces anyone in the hall to wear earplugs should be summarily 
shot.

And there you have the Gospel According (not accordion) to Saint Will.

Will Connelly
Producer/engineer, Star Jazz Records; producer, Some of That Jazz TV 
series with Billy Butterfield; producer/engineer  Heppkat Records; 
producer/engineer, Leo LaJoie "Professional Men" recordings;  
producer/supervising engineer jazz concerts  at the Bailey Concert 
Hall;  Parker Playhouse and Vero Beach Auditorium and member and former 
treasurer, Audio Engineering Society, Hollywood, CA