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Marsupialized wrote:there are sound girls too you know

Hear, Hear!

GBV had a pretty funny short song on a seven inch split with the Grifters called "Hey Mr. Soundman". I shall try to recall some lyrics from memory.

"Hey Mr. Soundman
I don't know your name
you don't know mine either
you lie to your friends, I'll lie to mine
let's not lie to each other."

Well, I thought it was pretty funny. Soundmen are like people. Some of them I would like to sit down and have a nice meal with, and some I would like to choke the dogshit out of. And some are just whatever.

If he tells me to turn down, I know it's going to be a lame show. What annoys me about most soundmen is the way they want to make a live mix sound like a cd and they seem to want/expect total control. It just ain't that kind of a beast, soundude.

sunlore wrote:My experience = Dreadlocks, big trouble.

Also, bald head = big trouble.

^ what about mullets?

stephensolo wrote:Some of my most miserable professional experiences as a musician come from dealing with a bad sound guy.

Unfortunately you live in Tampa where most of the sound guys are holdovers from the glory days of the Tampa metal scene.

m.koren wrote:If he tells me to turn down, I know it's going to be a lame show.

You have to understand, there are certain scenarios where the stage volume can get a bit overwhelming. It is, of course, the sound guy's job to make the band happy but it is really hard to accommodate the wishes of the band when twenty of their friends are yelling at you because they can't hear the vocals over your pegged 100W tube head. As a general rule, I never ask bands to turn down unless there is a really good reason. Things are different when I am working for a band, not a club, though. Depending on the type of music I may ask for a bit more control and, as a result, a little less stage volume.

There are many different types of sound guys just like there are many different types of bands. Imagine the ratio of good to crap bands the sound guy has worked with over the course of his career. Now imagine the ratio of good to crap sound guys you have had to work with. Chances are his numbers are much, much lower. This might help to understand the attitude some sound guys take towards bands, although it does not make it excusable.

Shake his hand. Say hello. Don't act like a rockstar. There is no reason to be smug. I guarantee it will go a long way.

Jon

Never met an intentionally dickhead soundguy. Give'em props for dealing with lots of rockstar wannabees. All of the ones that I've dealt with have been helpful.

The fact that I don't like playing with stage monitors is a different story. I can never get enough drums. I will gladly turn my shit down as long as I could hear more of those fucking drums.

Interestingly, I don't think of live sound engineers who are reasonable, nice people as sound guys. They're just people. They only become sound guys in my mind when they are being dicks. I can't explain why that would be, but there you go.

Some good, some great, some really annoying and burned out.

Actually, some of the the good and great are pretty burned out too. I think that just comes with having to listen to so many terrible band filled with stupid people. My friend/bandmate that did monitors at the Crocodile Cafe definitely felt that after a bit.

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. It always sounded great in that place, and he never demanded anything of my bands (turn down, turn up, point your guitar at the wall, etc.). I think tmidgett noted some where that Jim never asked Silkworm to turn down when they played through a full stack and an SVT.

I can't think of one sound guy who's ever been a prick to a band I was in.
Some are not as into it as others but none outright pricks. Chicago seems to have a lot of really great soundpeople, I can't think of one who's been any less than cool in this city. A few not very good or experienced, but in those cases they are usually more than happy to let me take over for the night.