tallchris wrote:Speaking of which, it's been talked about in other places here, but Jim Anderson from the Crocodile is without a doubt the best sound guy I've ever had to the pleasure to "work" with.

What's Jim up to now that the Croc is gone? I mixed there a few times and he was really great to work with.

steve wrote:If a sound guy with a 10kW PA tells a guy with a 30W guitar amp to turn down, he's a bad sound guy.

lol


If I had to guess, I'd say when 'the sound guy' is a dick he is likely to be either:

a) a musician who would rather be on stage himself
b) a failed musician who is bitter towards those who may "succeed" where he didn't

or

c) A washed up sound guy. "Hey man, I did sound for Nirvana 20 years ago, so don't give me any of your bullshit!"


Generally speaking though, most live sound engineers who have been in the industry a while are pleasant and quite competent.

More so than ever with countless "recording engineering" diploma mills pumping out "graduates" every six months in a shrinking industry, attitude is crucial. If the "sound guy" isn't enjoying his job, there are 100 people lined up to take his place.

Step aside mullet man!

Argyreia Nervosa wrote: A washed up sound guy. "Hey man, I did sound for Fleetwood Mac 30 years ago, so don't give me any of your bullshit!"

FYP

From where I stand (as a 'sound guy'), there is an important distinction between the two types of live sound tech - house guy and freelance guy.

I'm a freelance guy, so my work consists of going to different venues with different systems, but pulling mixes for a small number of bands who I have already established a working relationship with.

House guy, on the other hand, works in the same venue night after night, with a variety of bands many of whom he has never heard before. This can cause a problem when said band gives no information to house guy and expect him to provide a result which they desire.

As a result, house guy can become jaded about his work and will expend the least amount of energy and time tailoring the mix for any band. He may become so embittered that freelance guys who show up to his house get treated like morons. An experience which I remember vividly was at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney (approx 1000 capacity), where house guy informed me I was not allowed to use the compressors or gates, nor was I allowed to patch in any of my own. Needless to say, this is an extreme situation and the house guy in question has a reputation for being a colossal bastard.

On the whole, I would say freelance guys are NOT CRAP. House guys are also NOT CRAP with a maximum waffle factor. There are too many differences from one guy to the next.

If you're a band who cares about their FOH sounding great every time, don't expect house guy to do it for you - get freelance guy to do it instead. If you must use house guy, be polite and informative - work with him not against him.

that damned fly wrote:everytime i played a show where there was a soundguy i ask him to mic my cabinet instead of running a D.I. i was usually met with the response of "it won't sound right/it won't sound good." i fired back with, "i'm ok with that."

this happened to me all the time when I lived in Richmond. I used to bring along my own D112 just to make sure I wasn't DI boxed. Also it was about convincing mr. soundman that the head and cabinet was my sound, not the bass. This rarely was a problem anywhere else.

that damned fly wrote:

m.koren wrote:I'm also annoyed about the whole D.I. thing with bass. I am DEAD SURE that I don't want a D.I. bass as my sound. Not the highs, not the lows, not the mids, and certainly not the ugly transients that go with it. The soundguy then goes and sends the D.I. alone out to the FOH. He insists that that's what bass is SUPPOSED to sound like (that's what they've actually told me a fair number of times). And yeah, it's amazing how few of them are actually musicians.

fuckin' A right.

everytime i played a show where there was a soundguy i ask him to mic my cabinet instead of running a D.I. i was usually met with the response of "it won't sound right/it won't sound good." i fired back with, "i'm ok with that."

I have never understood why bass is ALWAYS run through a DI. I've never thought it sounded good. Sound guys never run guitar through a DI.

matthewbarnhart wrote:

tallchris wrote:Speaking of which, it's been talked about in other places here, but Jim Anderson from the Crocodile is without a doubt the best sound guy I've ever had to the pleasure to "work" with.

What's Jim up to now that the Croc is gone? I mixed there a few times and he was really great to work with.

My bandmate who did monitors for the last three years said Jim has just been relaxing. He'd been doing front of house five to six nights a week for over 15 years, so he definitely deserved a break. He did sound for us in January and was doing well.

He's apparently donating all the live recordings from the Croc to the University of Washington Libraries as part of their permanent archive. Awesome.

BClark wrote:i never was all that upset with a sound guy. tell him to not touch any knobs/sliders while youre playing, and to just adjust it right in the sound check....

i find it hard to believe you never had a problem with a live sound guy if you actually did tell him something like that.

From where I stand (as a 'sound guy'), there is an important distinction between the two types of live sound tech - house guy and freelance guy.

i work as a freelance soundguy and as a house guy in my hometown.

House guy, on the other hand, works in the same venue night after night, with a variety of bands many of whom he has never heard before. This can cause a problem when said band gives no information to house guy and expect him to provide a result which they desire.

well, there is a thing called myspace. a local soundguy worth a dime will check the artists profile.

As a result, house guy can become jaded about his work and will expend the least amount of energy and time tailoring the mix for any band. He may become so embittered that freelance guys who show up to his house get treated like morons.

that depends a lot on the venue the house guy is working. if it is a well known club with a tasteful booking the house guy will mix good bands in a big variety of styles. this can be an important advantage and in the long run the house guy will be way more experienced than the "freelance only" guy.

There are too many differences from one guy to the next.

again, i work in both positions. do i have a problem now?

If you're a band who cares about their FOH sounding great every time, don't expect house guy to do it for you - get freelance guy to do it instead.

and again this depends on the quality of clubs you are visiting on tour. over the decades i saw quite a few guest engineers which did a bad job. plus the house guy perfectly knows the room and the p.a. system.
well, he should know.

I'm also annoyed about the whole D.I. thing with bass. I am DEAD SURE that I don't want a D.I. bass as my sound. Not the highs, not the lows, not the mids, and certainly not the ugly transients that go with it. The soundguy then goes and sends the D.I. alone out to the FOH. He insists that that's what bass is SUPPOSED to sound like (that's what they've actually told me a fair number of times).

simple: always mic up the cab and use a d.i. too. it is a good thing to have options. sometimes the mic signal is killer and sometimes it is just a boomy hell. most of the bands in our club come from foreign countries and have to deal with rented backlines that often are in a bad shape. in this situation it is a good thing to have something like the sansamp bass driver d.i. at hand.
sorry for my bad english and greetings from germany.

odeon wrote:i work as a freelance soundguy and as a house guy in my hometown.

Out of curiosity, where do you work in Muenster. I will be there in May at Skater's Palace, working sound for a band.

Jon