Talk the Talk With Your Sound Engineer by Jake Hartsfield

Jake Hartsfield is a songwriter, producer, touring sound engineer and a new addition to the TuneCore Marketing Team.

One of the jobs most bands take for granted is that of their sound engineer – yes, I’m talking about the guy at the venue who sneaks around in a hoody, makes stupid jokes only he finds funny, and looks like he just woke up from a very long nap…

I’m one of those guys.  However, I would argue that I do not necessarily fit that particular stereotype.

The engineer in charge of mixing your monitors and mixing front of house (what the audience hears) can make or break your show.  If you can’t hear your own vocals in your monitor to sing in tune, or the kick and snare to feel the groove, you can find yourself struggling with the most basic elements of live performance – playing together with your band and singing on pitch.  Technical issues shouldn’t get in the way of the show, but the reality is – they often do.  Getting a good monitor mix during sound check is essential to allowing you to deliver your best possible performance.

Most large touring acts bring their own sound engineer(s) that they know and trust.  But don’t worry – every venue you play at will have someone there to run monitors and front of house if you don’t bring your own guy (or gal).  What’s important in those scenarios is how to interact with the engineer(s) so you can get the best mix possible.

Always be courteous and respectful when working with the house engineer!  They basically have your career (at least for the night of your show) in their hands.  You wouldn’t want to make your doctor angry if he’s performing surgery on you.

Know your input list and have a stage plot

If possible, type it up and print it out – or better yet, email it to the production manager or engineer at the venue before your show.  It makes your job and the engineer’s job a lot easier, and you’ll come off much more professional.

Your input list is literally a list of the inputs your band will need/use on stage.  For example: kick, snare, high tom, low tom, overhead Left, overhead right, Fender Twin (amp 1), Blues Jr. (amp 2),  Bass DI, Bass mic, Lead vocal (stage right), BGV (stage left).

Draw up a clean sketch of your stage plot including drums (draw each piece of the drum kit), where your amps will be, where you will need power, where you’ll need vocal mics.  It’s also a good idea to label your inputs by number on your stage plot to correspond with your input list.

What to ask for in your monitor mix

You need to be able to hear yourself, and you need to be able to hear the core elements of your band.  Don’t be afraid to ask for more or less in your monitor, but be very polite – the engineer is there to help you, but he doesn’t like being yelled at any more than you do.  What you don’t want to happen is for your engineer to purposefully sabotage your mix because you called him a “lazy good-for-nothing jerk” before the show.  As true as this accusation may be, you must NOT say this to his face.

A general rule of thumb is:

• Set up your equipment quickly and be attentive to the sound engineer’s questions & requests
• Ask for kick and snare
• Ask for your own vocal or guitar
• If you are a guitar player, hide your ego and DO NOT turn your amp up louder than you need it to get good tone.  You are hurting yourself if you do.  By keeping your amp at a low to moderate level, you will be able to hear your monitor mix better and your engineer will be able to make you sound better.
• Keep it simple and clear – most sound guys want to get the sound check done as quickly and as effectively as possible

Front of House

This is the mix that the audience hears through the main loudspeakers.  You generally do not have much say in this since you are on stage, but it’s always a good idea to bring along a friend (or your manager) to stand back during sound check and make sure everything sounds good.  In my opinion, (and when I mix), the most important instrument is the lead vocal, and 2nd is the kick and snare drum.  If there is a good balance between these three instruments (and you can hear the vocal clear and loud), you can usually rest assured the rest of the mix will sound good.

But be careful.  Sound engineers do not like being told HOW to mix, especially from your friends.  Be tactful in how you approach your engineer when you are asking for a better front of house mix.  If you have a manager or someone who can pretend like they know what they’re talking about, have them talk to the engineer. Just make sure your audience can hear and understand your vocals.

Advanced monitor mix tips

These tips might be useful to remember if you want to sound like you know what you’re talking about.

• Kick drum – you may want to ask for more “attack” at 3 to 5 kHz if you can’t hear it clearly enough
• Vocals – If it sounds muddy or too bass-heavy, this is usually due to the “proximity effect” which boosts the low end response of a microphone when you get closer to it.  Instead of backing away from the mic, ask for less low-mids around 300 Hz.
• Acoustic guitar – If you know your acoustic has good low end response when you plug it in, you may want to mention that to your sound engineer, and be wary that it could feed back easily in your monitor if you do not roll off the low end around 100 Hz or 200 Hz.

Politics

Like it or not, there can be politics involved when it comes to how your band gets mixed.  If you are opening for a larger band, there may actually be a dB level written into the contract for your show that sets a limit for how loud you can be, so that the headlining band sounds “bigger and badder.”  Hopefully you will not have to deal with any of the ugly things that can come out of this, but you should be aware of some of the…not so fun stuff.

If the engineer for the headlining band is also mixing your band, he is naturally going to want to make his band sound better (it will also help him keep his job).  Sometimes, the only way a desperate engineer may know how to do this is to make your band sound worse.  Dirty?  Yes.  True?  In competitive situations…often yes.  The answer?  Make friends with the other band and the engineer before the show, and hopefully you can avoid this type of situation.  If it happens, it happens – just forget about it and move on.

As you will learn (or have already learned) in the music industry, it’s all about building relationships and *who you know.  You never want to burn any bridges,  and you don’t want a burning bridge to come back later and try to light you on fire.  So, always treat everyone you meet with respect and you will often see it reciprocated.

*Networking, networking, networking.  This is one of the most vital aspects of your career, apart from your music.  Meet the right people and you will go far.

Comments

[minceur]

Nice post. I was looking for this kind of post.
I got what i want. Thanks for sharing. Its very useful.

[spiele]

Pretty cool post. I just came by your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your posts.Great advise here.Just wana say please share the other like this.Thanks for sharing such a nice advice here...
spiele

[Philipb]

Incidentally, at an extremely large (& sadly missed) touring sound reinforcement company I used to work for, delivering anything less than 100% for the opening act was grounds for discipline.

How else could we sign new acts?

[Philipb]

As a compatriot of Jake's I agree wholeheartedly with this article & would like to add emphasis to a couple of his points.

Paperwork is essential & make sure it's accurate. A good sound crew may well set up your stage from the rider long before you arrive. Nothing is worse than having a hour or so's work negated by the advance paperwork being inaccurate. Expect to see a less than "fired up" attitude from the crew if their careful prep comes to naught.

Also, don't ask for things you don't need. Open vocal mics without singers do nothing but degrade both the house & monitor mixes. A common mistake I see amongst new acts is asking for everything & then not using it. Remember, the local engineer does not know your show so he will have to leave these mics open all the time "just in case." If you do have specific mix needs, give the crew a set list with notes of what's needed when.

Finally, make sure your gear works. Nothing will motivate a crew to be on "your side" more than well functioning, clean backline. Fixing problems is part of our job but you showing up with an amp that looks & sounds like it's been out in the rain for a week will not win you any support. A drummer whose heads predate Buddy Holly will not find much of a sympathetic ear when discussing his drum sound!

[Lee Shaw]

Another great article, giving me a few things to watch out for, I'm a Songwriter / Producer of sorts (self producing) and stuck in the no-transport zone, Need to get much lighter equipment to make live shows possible, and because of playing EDM I'm still developing a cool stage show, I'm taking this time to learn as much as I can and this site is more and more informative every time I come back!
If you like groups like Aqua, Cascada, Kaskade, check us out sometime, tell me what you think? - Rythmik Love - http://www.rythmiklove.mymusicstream.com

[Robert]

[If the engineer for the headlining band is also mixing your band, he is naturally going to want to make his band sound better (it will also help him keep his job).]

That's just not true. Certainly, there are a few FOH guys that I have run into who play that game, but they are few and far between. FOH mixers want to do their best at all times, because their reputation is on the line every time they stand at the board. The FOH market is very competitive, and quality is the bottom line. Only a fool would do a bad mix on purpose.

Now, sometimes there are limitations that are beyond the FOH engineer's control. The post mentions db limits for openers, which are both official (in contract) and unofficial (the headliner's "people" telling you to turn the opener down). Often, that's enough to sabotage the FOH sound in small-medium clubs. When the FOH is not significantly louder than the stage noise (monitors, drums, amps) then the sound in the club becomes muddy. An opening band can compensate by bringing their stage volume down, which gives the FOH engineer more options under the db limit.

There are other limitations beyond the FOH engineer's control, however. The most significant is that they don't know the opener's songs. A FOH mixer will always do a better job if they are familiar with the material.

[Robert B]

Wonderful..! This just made me a little more secure when it comes to accepting more gigs as a FOH tech. :) Thanks!

[Jack Jones]

This is awesome! I'm an engineer and I think this is really going to help me on the road. Printing now. :)

[Tyz]

Very good article,
although I don't agree with a tech deliberately making the opening bands sound worse. Anyone who does this, in my opinion is a twonk and would only result in degrading the event.
I always get every band to sound the best they can.
That's why I mix.
cheers
Tyz

[Amira]

Great article, Thank you for sharing much needed knowledge!

[Michel]

being a recording and mastering engineer for many moons now this is the most well put package of info about the subject i ever read (other than my own instructions to the artists working with us lol ;-) )

[Jimmy]

Very well written with some great advice! :)

[Patrick G]

As an engineer myself I have to say you're spot on. Professionalism and courtesy are two things often overlooked in this business.

[Tori]

Great, practical and much needed advice