[Dixielandjazz] A Musician Sounds Off

[Jim Kashishian]

Ringwald has posted some of his pet peeves as far as sound, and especially
monitors, go.
Monitors are a necessity on a large stage, but can be, as Bob points out,
sinfully set up.
Not only that, you, as the performer, have no idea what the audience is
hearing, as that is a completely different mix often set up on a different
mixing board by a separate engineer!

I can tell within 3 minutes of a soundcheck if it is going to be heaven or
hell.  The good guys get it right immediately.  Start quivering when you ask
for more piano in your monitor & you get more drums instead!  Do NOT ask for
changes during the concert if that fault has already been exposed.  The guy
at the desk doesn't know where anything is on his board, and is liable to
take your monitor out completely or give you more than you ever wished for!

Nope!  Sorry "sound guy"...the one who started this thread.  Most of us
professionals are more often than not dealt non-professionals in the sound
department.  And, if they have charged the concert people for all those
stacks of speakers, reverbs, monitors, etc., by golly they will use every
single item even if it is not all necessary.

And, the best complaint that never seems to be solved is in telling the
organizers the band will show up at 7pm for sound but expect everything to
be up & running first.  Yes, yes, they say, and no, no is what we generally
find.  The sound truck has just shown up, or the gear is on stage, but not
wired up.  We have taken to telling the organizers that we'll be back after
dinner.  "What about the soundcheck?", they ask.  "Oh, that was at 7, wasn't
it?"  (Discussion taking place at 8pm!)

The solution, of course, is to have your own sound people, but that puts a
band into a different category, and with altogether different
problems...like having steady work to support all those people!

Jim