When "Things Happen" On A Gig....

Recently, I worked a gig at a local bar on a night when there were 4 bands scheduled to play. It was not one of my better gigs that I have ever worked before! Let me tell you about it.

I was mixing sound for one solo guitarist/vocalist and three other rock bands at a local bar/club. I was using the in-house sound system for the show. Unfortunately, I had technical glitches during each set that night. Problems arose during the evening but, I tried to fix them to keep the show going. Most of the problems were centred on bad microphone cables and some questionable gear in the sound system.

During my time mixing the bands, I was also having a bad night. Some songs during the sets sounded okay, and others did not work for me, the audience or the band. Needless to say I was having some issues and was trying to fix things on the fly and keep the show going during the night.

Eventually, I got thing under control by the last band set and got through the gig. After the show was over, I went to each and every band member that I could find and apologized for less than stellar performance with the sound mix during the evening. Almost everyone from the bands said not to worry, that I had done a good job with what I had to work with. It was not a perfect night but, I did make it through it.

Once I was finished with tear down and cleanup of the stage gear, that was when the show's organizer decided to talk to me about my performance that night. At first he made some comments about how the night turned out and then started on with 20 questions about my abilities as a sound technician. I felt like I I was getting lectured by this guy about every little mistake that happened that night. He asked me why I was having so many problems during the night and I answered, "sometimes things just happen". Well, he DID NOT like my answer and that is when he started grilling me on my performance as sound tech.

After about 20 mins, I was starting to get frustrated with this guy because, I had already admitted that I messed up during the night and I apologized to him for poor performance. Finally after getting a lengthy lecture for the guy, he mention that he was reluctant to pay my money for the show but, he had to. Then he tossed an envelope at my on the table and then walks away.

I picked up the money, grabbed my toolkit and left the bar. Now I was feeling like a crapbag and pissed at the same time. For a quick minute, I thought about just giving the guy his money back and trying to forget about the gig. I reconsidered when I thought about all the time I spent that day getting the stage ready for the bands, time spent mixing the bands, and waitng until after the bar closed to get my money. I ended up keeping the money because, I was there for the whole show, and I did the best I could with the house system and the gear that I had available.

The other part of the story is the house system in the bar. Over the time I have mixed shows in the place, the owners have fixed/replaced a few things with the system but, it is still not the best it could be. The problem I have had working at this venue is the equipment problems that I deal with whenever I work a gig there.

Everytime I had mixed a show at this bar, there is always something that is broken, non-operational, unplugged or missing. It is very frustrating when you go to use a stage monitor and find out that the input jacks are broken and the monitor cannot be used. Or when you go to use the house mixer and find out that a bunch of gear has been unplugged from the system. It is the problem of "too many cooks in the kitchen" scenario working with the house system.

Talking with other local sound techs who have worked at the gig, they have told me that they choose not to work gigs there anymore. They just didn't want the hassle of having to work with a house sound system that is always broken down. I don't know if I will ever work there again but, if I do, I am going to ask for more money for my time.

Do You Want To Get Paid For All Of This?

Recently, I found a great article on Prosoundweb all about the art of getting paid for work as a sound engineer.

http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/do_you_want_to_get_paid_for_all_of_this/

I had a couple of bad experiences recently when it came to getting paid for the work I did on a show. This article has opened my eyes with great ideas and suggestions on how to get paid for the business of sound work and not get burned!

Up until this year, I have worked as a freelance sound engineer and never had any problems when it came to collecting my money on show day. For one show, I worked for a local sound company covering a show date and after the gig was done, the owner of the club did not pay me. This began a month long of calling the club owner and leaving messages about my money.

Nothing worked and since I didn't have any kind of contract on paper I figured that I was screwed. I contacted the owner of the local sound company and he offered to pay me my fee after the club owner would not. I was grateful to get my money however, I likely will not work again for the club owner.

Another gig I worked, there was a lack of audience in attendance. Without any money coming from ticket sales at the door, there was no money available to pay anyone involved with the show. I remember standing outside the venue after the load-out and the organizers telling me "sorry, we can't pay you any money for your work." That was an eye-opener for me!" This was the first time I did not receive the money I was promised for working the show. I thought the show was a write-off until the guy who organized the gig decided to come around and give me a little less than half of the money I was supposed to receive. At that point, I was thankful to get the smaller amount. It was better than nothing at all!

After reading the article, I realized that I SHOULD be using some sort of contract when booking shows in the future. Another thing I learned is that I SHOULD ask for a deposit for the gig. The deposit protects me against problems with the gig. Like cancellation of the show, lack of ticket sales, etc. A fellow sound tech company owner suggested that I SHOULD ask for my money up front BEFORE I start unloading and setting up gear. If the client, does not have the money before the show, then I do not work the show.

With one band, I work gigs for them on a regular basis and I have always gotten paid for those shows either on the show day or within the week. Luckily, I have worked for the band for many years now and they are always good about getting me the money.

Here is the weblink to the article:
http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/do_you_want_to_get_paid_for_all_of_this/

Allen & Heath QU-16 Rackmountable, Digital Mixer

Okay, here is the new Allen & Heath QU-16 Rackmountable, Digital Mixer!

I was checking out some new products on the Allen & Heath website and I discovered the QU-16 digital console.
Currently, I work with local band "Borderline" using their own sound system which contains an Allen & Heath Mix Wizard WZ316:2 analog mix console.The new QU-16 digital mixer would make a perfect upgrade from the current mixer in the system. I like the idea of having everything you would need all packed inside this mixer.

Here is a picture of the new Allen & Heath QU-16 digital mixer:

There is also a introduction video of the mixer with a quick run through of the mix console fixtures:

First Time Mix on a Yamaha 03D Digital Mixer

Coming up on August 1st, I will be mixing sound for a two band gig using an older Yamaha 03D Digital Mixer. The bassist in the feature band owns this console and a QSC powered speaker system to go along with it. The owner Dave told me that he will give me a crash course through the operations of the console before the show. He said most everything is already saved in memory as scenes making my job a little bit easier.

Just wanted to ask which of your sound engineers out there either own or have mixed on the Yamaha 03D digital consoles. If you have, I would surely appreciate and tips or hints or shortcuts into the operation of the mixer. Personally, I am just starting to mix on the occasion digital mixer but, the majority of my gigs are still mixed on an analog console. To help myself out, I downloaded the user manual for the Yamaha 03D console so that I read up on it and get a head start into mixing on that console.

In case you are not familiar, here is picture of the Yamaha 03D from a product brochure that I downloaded from the Yamaha website.

DPA d:facto Vocal Microphone A Hit With London Clubs

So here we have a new condenser, vocal microphone on the scene proving very popular with the vocalists and engineers in the London clubs. With the regular industry standard vocal mics in use daily, it probably is hard for vocalists to try using new gear. Of course, the sound quality is the number one thing that they should be concerned with during their performances.

Here in Canada, I have not yet worked with any musicians, or artists that are currently using the DPA d:facto microphones. It is the usual suspects like Shure, AKG and Sennheiser in regular use. Maybe these DPA microphones with gather some attention "on our side of the pond.", once engineers here get a chance to try them out on a show.

I remember the first time I mixed show using Audix microphones instead of Shure, I did noticed a difference kind of vocal sound in my mix. Now Audix mics are becoming just a popular as the industry standard Shure mics on shows. Maybe DPA d:facto microphones could be the next popular standard vocal mic of choice.

Here is a link to an article that I found on the Prosoundweb site talking a bit about the DPA d:facto microphones in use in the London clubs.
http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/dpa_dfacto_vocal_microphone_a_hit_with_london_clubs/studyhall

Stage Power Cable Assembly Idea

This past weekend I worked as a sound technician at a local club mixing sound with 4 separate acts. During the setup of the band gear onstage, I was asked a few times if I had an AC extension cord for their equipment. The venue only has a few cables to use but, has a couple of wall-mounted power strip bars on the upstage wall. This setup is great for the backline musicians but, for the front line performers there is nothing permanent. So, usually you have to run separate AC cables across the front of stage to where each performer requires the power. Sometimes musicians will just use power bars joined together by plugging in one to the next. Obviously, this is not the best way to hookup power.

I was thinking about a solution for power that allow every performer to have an AC Drop near their location using just two specially designed power cables. It is simple. Take the standard design of a regular power bar with 8 AC outlets on it and stretch it out into a 50ft AC drop cable. Run one of these cables to the front line musicians and one to the backline musicians and you are set. Now, I used 50ft cables as an average length cable with 10ft spacing between each duplex outlet box. (see my diagram below) Of course you could make the cable assemblies either longer or shorted depending upon your application and use.

 The cable design would use a standard 15 amp rated u-ground plug on one end and standard 15 amp duplex outlet receptacles in each metal box. The limitations would be the total available current from the AC source outlet. With gear like EFX pedalboards and standard instrument amplifiers, you should have more than enough current to run it all with these cable assemblies. This cable setup would reduce the amount of cabling "clutter" onstage for a neat and clean stage appearance.

Now, it's time to go out and price the parts required to make these cable assemblies. Once I get the pricing, I will report back to you with an update. Cheers!

Peavey :: EU™ 112M

Recently, I had a chance to use the Peavey EU 112M stage monitors on a gig. The band Borderline that I work for was trying a couple of the new monitors to see if they really liked them. The Peavey EU 112M is a great sounding stage monitor with a low profile design. The enclosure features a rounded grill cover giving the cabinet a streamlined appearance.
For the gig, I actually daisy-chained two EU 112M's together and the signals were fed from channel A of a Peavey CS1200 power amp. It was a single monitor mix fed to both EU 112M's.
After some adjustments to levels on the monitor mix graphic EQ for output level, I had the EU 112's singin' pretty well.
After the gig, the guys in the band decided that they would trade in there older Peavey monitor speakers for the newer Peavey EU 112M's.
If you are interested in finding out more info about the stage monitors, please click on link below to view cut sheet for the product.

Peavey :: EU™ 112M