Best and Worst Soundmen
A good soundman is thing of beauty, to be treasured and nurtured with beer. They can make or break a gig, and are worth every bit of hard earned cash to hire.
A good soundman makes things run like clockwork, taking line-up changes in their corded, jeaned, or even cargoed, stride "going from a two piece accoustic to a 6 piece deathmetal band with 5 vocalists? No worries mate!".
A good soundman is an honest judge of music, they tell you when you are good, and shut up when your not.
A good soundman wears earplugs.
It is a fantastic job, but someone has to do it well.
Who are your favorite soundmen? They deserve a mention. Who are your most hated soundmen? They desrve a hazing. Do soundmen perform better in cargo pants or jeans? And why does Riff Raff (Warren) bother trying to do the sound at Bodega?? And who likes the ginger haired, tea cosy wearing soundman at Bodega?
May favorite soundman is Blair in Wellington - with the dreds - often wears Urban Camo Cargo Pants - I'm sure this is an important part of his overall skill. He is a nice guy, competent, does not stuff around - I think he is genius - good one mate.
Comments
//May favorite soundman is Blair in Wellington - with the dreds - often wears Urban Camo Cargo Pants - I'm sure this is an important part of his overall skill. He is a nice guy, competent, does not stuff around - I think he is genius - good one mate.
Blair has done probably 30 or so gigs for us in the last 3 years and I can easily say that the man is a god. He's easy to work with, knows his shit, is actually interested in getting good sound on AND off stage and doesn't charge through the nose.
I have the upmost respect for the man - he is truley a paragon of brilliance!
He's also just recorded some demos for one of my bands and it sounds great! You should also check out the band he plays bass in - No San Pedro - they're acidic cactus rock!
Also very high on my list is Nick McGowen - though I've only had him do sound on 2 or 3 gigs we've worked with him heaps in the studio and he is brilliant.
Right thats my 2c worth!
Oh yeah both Blair and Nick have worked with The Dukes of Leisure which has too be a challenge for any tech - 3 gats, 2 bass, drums, percussion, synths, harmonica!
Blair is a good guy and I agree with everything said in this post. He is reliable, trustworthy and competent. He mixed at least 25 gigs for me last year and each event sounded 'superb'.
Blair, my compliments to you.
Regards,
Tane McLeay
Swooshsmack Band Promotions
[ www.autumnstone.co.nz ]
Blair the Moose is a legend.
Nice guy (if you're nice to him,) big sound (often VERY loud - which is entirely appropriate for Valve rock gigs,) great attitude.
lee prebble. someones going sing out on him sooner or later.
easy going, polite, knowledgable and has a good rhytmn (for all those quirky over dubbed delays).
trinity roots mixer, i think his name is aidan?
i really appreciate the amount of oomph he can generate from the system. starting with the drums then bass.
if a phat gig is in question this man is the answer!
hidee beast does a good job too. tho' i haven't seen him mix that often he was always particular to the sound on and off stage.
nice and gentle like. classic camo wearer too.
on the international scene north island has oceania. any tech will have good words to say about a frank.
hard working and will show the tourists through the entire setup, clear and precise.
south island has red acoustics. good bunch of lads with good nous.
nelson has grellis and sands.
they rule and i have all respect for the hard working mofo underground!
salute.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Hopefully lots of people will be able take advantage of these sound guys.
Regards - Tane
// lee prebble. someones going sing out on him sooner or later.//
He is fucking great in general
But unless you're artists he's worked with (Black Seeds, Phoenix Foundation) he doesn't do sound all to often.
Hidee when i've seen him, has done some nice mixes
Brendan Moran seems to be able to do some nice work as well, i've quite enjoyed the sound out of the gigs he's mixed
Pete Jamison used to do a lot of gigs, now he mainly does stuff out of Latino's, he's another one with a sharp ear
Have to agree with you there Lee is great, we were lucky a few times to have his fine ear guide our sound! Brendan and Pete are great also. I haven't been to Latino's for a long time - will have to have dinner there! Mmmmmmmmmmm, must be time for PIZZA!
//Thanks for sharing your experience.
no worries bro'.
my guff is the lights. so often have the chance to see various hum-scum at their work... i mean soundmen (and woman).
can definately appreciate how critical the job is. pays off bigtime when it works.
all love and hard work none the less though.
nick mcgowan got a mention there and should probably get another.
paddy free deserves a mention too.
worked with a matt hopping doing pitch black (their soundy).
that was one of my favourite gigs. out of circumstance and feel more than anything.
it'd ruled tho' and folks were stoked.
which is the best thing...
kia ora.
Blair and Tim are GODS!!! They have always put 200% into their work. Blair has done so many gigs with my old band Saliva Twist and my new one Miss Conduct, You rock blair.
Jessie from Looma has done some great sound - it seems he's mastered the art of creating big sound rather than just loud.
I can't stand it when everything gets cranked up into a big loud smashy mess.
I also like Taip. He is really reliable and produces a nice 'phat' sound! Not neccessarily loud but BIG! He is also a good guy! Apparently I am a school teacher because I "exclaim" profusely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !! !!! !!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not a soundMAN but sound WOMAN ... how about the seldom seen but fantastic chick sound engineer Gil Eva Craig?
I believe she mostly works with stylus 77 ...(7 suns? i think their new name is?) ,although I saw her mixing the Deville Brothers at Bodega recently.
she is also a great studio enginer has the best analogue setup in welli as well as protools. She mixed the accelerants album and I think is doing the stylus 77 album.
Another engineer I like is the guy that mixes Fat freddys drop...always sounds wicked. never seen him mix anyone else though.
gil is good...nic mcg can solve any problem and had great atste in cool effects, brett stanton has great experience and is a reliable bet, lee prebble is a genius (who wont do live sound for anyone other the b seeds and fair enough, he must save his ears for the studio), hiddee is good...i've never worked with taip but he seems good and he is a really nice dude.... there are a few people doing it who i think are shit, but bad sound guys kinda don't stay sound guys coz who would hire them.
I reckon the thing is to not make things too loud. lots of good sound dudes mix indigo way too loud coz they can and it pisses me off. in fact i'm a grump prima donna and can get quite shitty at sound guys.
this guy in hamilton told will to play his congas harder when will said he wanted more in the fold back.. i snapped at the guy saying 'don't tell us how to play, thats bullshit, if we want more fold back in the percussion then thats what we want"..and then i turned into the incrdible hulk and ate a curry. Actually at that same gig(it was on low hum tour) Craig terris had a hissy fit and stormed out
yes nic mcgowan is a smart fellow.
i like that guy.
good composer too.
the soundtrack for raewyn hills 'white' is awesome.
Nic is excellent, yes... and so nice... and he can make Sea Monsters and Daleks with wild abandon.
I reckon I'm the best.
but seriously. If I've learnt one thing, just get a vocal PA and 2-3 mics. Unless you're playing in a huge room, this is fine. I find in a 200-300 capacity room, a decent vocal pa does better then fine. Bands know how they should sound. They plug in, turn amps on, get levels right, i turn vocals up, maybe mic the kick and we're away laughing. Fuck subs, screw eq-ing, you got to keep this shit real! ;)
Tom Burton in auckland is great cause he doens't mix too loud. I find 9 times out of ten indigo is too loud, but the house guy.. (mark?) at the kings arms usually get it right. Tom Bell in dunedin is the most patient guy (and unbelieveably good cunt) in the business which i believe to be the most important quality.
oh yeah...as a matter of note, something on this last tour I've found that is the first time I've EVER encountered it.
Connan from the mockasins HATES foldbacks. he doesn't just want to not hear himself, he doens't actually want foldbacks anywhere near him. haha..this confused most sound guys, but boy does it make life easy working with a band like that.
Anyone else hate having foldback? I've never encountered it before...
As a classical musician I prefer the balance and blend to be achieved aurally with each player taking responsibility for their levels however I do accept that there are circumstances where adjustments need to be made by a third party.
I have always told my senior students particularly the electric students that a musician knows that the volume control can turn to the left! They are taught that by achieving good balance and blend at a lower level it is much easier to increase the gain whilst still achieving overall quality sound.
In classical music balance and blend are two of the fundamental elements of ensemble music. Too many people forget that amplifiers and PA systems are for the reinforcement of sound that is first attained naturally!
prob with that is that musicians often think that when playing through a PA that they can turn their amp up to any level on stage cause it is just affecting their on stage sound. Prob is, they turn up, then everyone else turns up, the levels are often louder then the PA even needed...then shitler. This happens more often then not.
If all the bands are under the realisation that their is no instrumentation going through the PA, you sort out levels in soundcheck and then the bands stick to them, if someone does turn up..me or sound guy, gives them the turn down signal, or jumps on stage betweens songs and turns down for them.
I don't know if that is quite true. The conductor in an orchestra acts kind of like the sound guy - balances things and has an ear from the audiences perspective.
I agree that some small venues overdo their sound (like Valve - ear bleeder material). What you seem to be saying is that it is the musicians responsibility to make sure they sound good with eachother. I think this is true, but I don't agree with the purist view that the soundguy should not contribute or have some responsibitly for the overall sound of a band. The soundguy can only enhance what you have. If you sound crap or have a crap sounding instrument there is not much that can be done. When playing at volume that requires third party equipment, you need a third party person to operate it. It is like their 'instrument' is the filter through which your music comes through. I see working with a good soundman is like a colaboration to make good music - they are another piece of the equation - just like a good conductor.
I'm not sure who I was ranting at...I got carried away with that post and missed the point of what you fells were saying. - I agree - some people use volume as a substitute for good sound. But it sure is fun playing loud!!
You are very correct regarding the conductor. Sorry I was initially referring to small ensembles like bands, = string quartet. But a large band or orchestra and the conductor does influence the balance. In an orchestra a first violin section is like accoustic amplification of the 1st violin part. All of the 1st violins have to balance and blend with each other. The conductor might then balance that balanced and blended section with all of the other sections that are doing the same.
In a good orchestra you don't have to do that kind of micro-management the musicians still generally get it right on their own. The conductor really controls tempo and dynmaic of the whole.
You are right though about the collaboration.
Are you the Nick from Island Bay? Cause I like your sound engineering if you are!
I'm Nick formaly of Karori, and currently rejoined the ranks of Hutt Scum - I live in Avalon.
Becasue Nick of Island Bay unfortunately could not make it, I would like to accept this compliment on behalf of Nick =D
yeah. pa's can be nice. All i know is that if i see a band play through a vocal pa with a couple-o-mics in a decent room and then see the same band play through a big pa where each tom is miced and guitar amps and bass amps are miced and the subs make it sound like some sort of stadium show, 9 times out of 10..the small PA will sound mint and the big pa with everything going through it..shite. Theres too much to go wrong. leave it for the stadium I say.
Keep it simple simon. Mic whats needs to be mic'd.
i simple pa can be good and i have done sound myself for bands i'm pklaying in at the time...this is ok but not ideal...really what yer sayin blink is pretty much bollocks. 200 to 300 caqpacity places what like dogs boolicks of bar bodega? just vocals? bafooey....at least you need kick and snare and its nice to have a little of everything through a really good sounding pa (like from college hill or western audio) and having good monitors is essential.....conans gone crazy!!!!!
yeah. kick is all good and yeah, the dogs bollix sounds mint with 3 mics. 2 vox and a kick. I wouldn't do it any differently. Dunno bout Bodega, I haven't done a show there for yonks. 150-200 capacity places like O'Flah's, Basement, Diggers etc.. I do all with just 2 vox (or more vox if needed)and kick. When you have a bigger PA is these small rooms. I don't think I've never bothered mic'ing a snare, it usually cuts through everything else anyway.
I guess its all personal preference.
// at least you need kick
check out my first post on this thread, you'll see i said that i like to often mic the kick. for really small shows I don't bother, but for 100+ its good to.
Chris Tate and Chris Gee from College Hill in Auckland are great sound guys. And they have the best P.A system in New Zealand. Pity most bands cant really afford to pay large amounts of money for extra P.A for gigs. It can make such a difference having good monitors and mics if only that.
Paul Crowther is great as well. But he doesnt really do much live sound anymore which is a pity.
Braden Page from College Hill is also good, he can make any venue sound including hard ones like Studio.
sound >good<
:-)
Agreed. Bradens the man.
Greg too.
Greg - who's last name I do not know, and who he works for, I know not either.
Haha.
he works for college too, everyone at college rocks basically :-)
so ah can anyone tell me why batrider sounded so much better in a dodgy bar at vic uni through a portable pa than they did on saturday or tuesday at indigo which i thought had a good pa?
Because Indigo has it up too loud and the mix on those nights was muddy as heck.
but i thought their pa was bigger than that? or is it just too big for my ears and my ears start distorting?
They tend to drive the PA waaaaay to hard on Tuesday nights - I stopped going because it got to the point where it was not worth becomming deaf for the next day just to hear a muddy mix of a band...
And the feedback last tuesday!
but it didnt sound that flash on saturday either.
To be honest I don't think much of the Indigo PA - all the times I've been to stuff there it's really muddy - don't know if it's the PA or the driver though.
I would just like to apologise to warren for mentioning him in my original post. It was no slight on his abilities as a soundman. I used his name because he is a well known figure to bands in wellington and thought invoking his name would provoke some interesting conversation regarding an interesting character.
I am sorry for any offence I have caused.
Did he threaten you with physical harm by any chance?