The importance of the sound engineer

[Aahzz]

So I’m in Heritage Bank Arena in Cincinnati. Brought my mother, sister, and daughter to see Halestorm and Evanescence. Opener was Lilith Czar, and I *think* they had potential, but all I could hear was bass and kick drum with a bit of lead vocal. The guitarist might as well have stayed home for all he could be heard.

 

[Aahzz]

Halestorm, on the other hand, is kicking serious ass. I would not want to follow them. My mother, who will be 81 n a little over a month, is lightly headbanging.

 

[RickP]

Makes all the difference. Bad mixes just ruin a show for me, on either side of stage front!

 

[Wakester]

I had the exact opposite experience at a Tim McGraw Faith Hill Concert. The opener was crystal clear and well balanced. Once Tim and Faith came on the Bass was way overloud and overdriven. I walked out after 3 songs it bothered me that much. Having been a semi-pro sound tech I was baffled as to why they ran their boards that way.

 

[Tucson Thump]

I ended up walking out on a Jackson Browne concert at intermission because of the sound, and I was sitting literally right in front of the soundboard. Way too much bass in the piano muddying everything and I couldn't understand most of what he was singing.

And then there's when he spent fifteen minutes talking to some guy in the third row who wanted to be his buddy ... Browne sounded like he was having a stoned conversation in someone's living room. Oh well, perhaps the acoustics in the Fox Theater were better when a third of the audience left.

 

[aphantomvaper]

Halestorm is the shiz-nite! I need to see them.

 

[Aahzz]

Halestorm is the shiz-nite! I need to see them.

They’re awesome live, I highly recommend it.

 

[aamefford]

I have a theory that a lot of FOH engineers may have been good at some point, and hearing damage has changed what sounds good to them to the point it just doesn’t sound good. Then ther are the many who never were good. Leaving just the few that are. Most recent so bad I couldn’t “hear” the band, just the noise - reliving my wife’s early teen years at an Adam Ant concert 5 or 6 years ago. Yeah, we don’t get out much. We’ve seen Queen with Adam Lambert a couple of times since - stellar mix both times.

 

[DISTORT6]

In general, opening bands don’t always get 100% of the P.A.

 

[Aahzz]

Evanescence is sounding good, but they’re not Halestorm. One guitarist was just playing an SE Mira.

 

[gush]

I've done sound reinforcement for years and one thing that annoys me to no end is poor sound quality.

It is so bad that as soon as we hear awful PA my wife knows what's coming.

What baffles me is at speaking type engagements there is ZERO excuse for bad sound. If a speaker sounds like a muffled mess then FIX IT!!! With digital boards there is really no excuse.

How hard is it to walk the room and just LISTEN???

We had our company Xmas party Dec 10th and they had a "professional" sound company come in. I could not understand ANY of the speakers and finally just walked up to the board and asked if they could EQ some of the low mid out? They looked at me like WHAT????

DRIVES ME NUTS

 

[László]

I can't sit in a venue where the mixer is clueless. Just can't do it. The experience becomes more of a pain than a joy.

 

[Aahzz]

I can't sit in a venue where the mixer is clueless. Just can't do it. The experience becomes more of a pain than a joy.

Luckily for us and sadly for them, Lilith Czar only got an 18 minute set. I gave them a listen this morning on Spotify, and really wish I could have actually heard them last night, I like what I'm hearing.

None of the bands were mixed well, but Halestorm was at least pretty good/average on the sound front. Evanescence was OK, they just needed to have Amy Lee's vocals higher in the mix.

 

[gush]

I can't sit in a venue where the mixer is clueless. Just can't do it. The experience becomes more of a pain than a joy.

EXACTLY

 

[László]

EXACTLY

I also feel the same way about lossy data-compressed files like mp3s, modeling amps, and bad recordings and mixes.

Sadly, I'm just that guy. I sometimes wish it didn't bother me so much, but it does.

 

[bodia]

Yuck. I’ve been to plenty of shows where the sound was just crap. Can’t stand it.

 

[11top]

Gotta consider the venue acoustics, too.

 

[Wakester]

Saw Lorrie Morgan at the Riviara Theatet in North Tonowanda NY today. The sound was absolutely spot on amazing. I could see Lorrie and the drummer cueing the sound team for more or less of something in the in ears, but the house was perfect.

 

[Aahzz]

Gotta consider the venue acoustics, too.

Very true. In this case, I've seen a ton of shows in what is now Heritage Bank Center, formerly US Bank Arena, formerly Riverfront Coliseum. It's an arena, so obviously tends towards the boomy side, but I've seen more acts do sound well there than not.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Gotta consider the venue acoustics, too.

Yeah, posts before I saw this, I was thinking… “most of those places were designed for basketball and hockey and are HORRIBLE acoustically.

That said, one of my worst was an outdoor concert. Worst Dream Theater experience I’ve had. All you could hear was bass and drums, no guitar and almost no vocals, very little keys. I was standing right next to the mixer! After 4 songs of it, I looked over at the sound guy and said “can you hear guitar?” I can’t hear guitar at all, almost no keys and vocals. It’s all bass.” He nodded and never touched anything. Within 5 minutes, I witnessed 3 other people come up to him and say “turn the guitar up” or I can’t even hear the vocals or guitar” and he never once touched anything. So I did what any amateur sound man would do. When I met Petrucci back stage and he asked me how I liked the concert, I said “you guys were as awesome as ever, but the sound was absolutely horrible.” When he asked how, I told him, and I told him that myself and multiple others complained about no guitar or vocals, and he just shook his head.