So the sound man says

Larry Behm · Post by **Larry Behm** » 12 Mar 2016 1:13 pm

So you pack $6K worth of gear into the club, get there 3 hours early, put on your best boots, and the sound man is overheard saying since there was not time for a sound check he will "teach them a lesson"and then proceeds to chat with their friends or just sleeps on the sound board.

Makes you want to spit little green onions. Jesus come and get me, I think I have had enough.

DG Whitley · Post by **DG Whitley** » 12 Mar 2016 2:22 pm

Larry, the immediate solution to that problem is to fire him on the spot. With that type of attitude he doesn't need to be working for any band IMHO.

Having been one myself, if he was worth anything at all, he could have "dialed" it in about halfway through the first set. Yeah, might have been lousy at first, but you get there. You're not always going to have time to do a sound check, but regardless if you did, acoustics change as people come in and out and the ambient noise level changes. You have to be aware of that.

All the above just in my humble opinion, YMMV.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 12 Mar 2016 2:48 pm

What if the soundman works for the club?

DG Whitley · Post by **DG Whitley** » 12 Mar 2016 2:55 pm

I would agree Richard, not much you can do about that one maybe other than say it's not worth it.

Don't know the scene where Larry is, but if it's as lean as the one here, then you have to make up your mind to put up with it or, as I said, scratch the club off your list. Probably not an option these days, just depends on how fed up you are I guess.

Jeff Porter · Post by **Jeff Porter** » 12 Mar 2016 3:43 pm

Sound man? Most Portland venues don't even have those anymore. You're usually on your own.

Ray Montee (RIP) · Post by **Ray Montee (RIP)** » 12 Mar 2016 5:17 pm

The PA our bands used to use had a one toggle switch, a small red light, four knobs and one hole for a single microphone.

Worked that way for years and always sounded both great and adequate........

Singers moved closer or away from the mike for the volume and the rest of used our volume knobs in order to maintain an acceptable balance.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 13 Mar 2016 11:53 am

4 knobs??? You had one of the deluxe models.

Les Cargill · Post by **Les Cargill** » 13 Mar 2016 12:04 pm

Just think about how much damage he could have done had he paid attention.

Mickey Adams · Post by **Mickey Adams** » 13 Mar 2016 2:12 pm

3.5 years at BillyBobs, with a deaf soundman....

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 13 Mar 2016 2:35 pm

Why wasn't there time for the sound check?

Just curious.

Wally Moyers · Post by **Wally Moyers** » 13 Mar 2016 3:42 pm

Mickey Adams wrote:3.5 years at BillyBobs, with a deaf soundman....

I played BillyBobs with Johnny Duncan back in the late 80s several times.. They had a Peavey monitor console to the side of the stage. One day at sound check it had a big piece of duct tape on the back that said "Yamaha PM1000". I ask the monitor guys what was up with that, he said that when an artist sent a rider that specified a certain brand mixer they just changed the tape and gave them what they asked for... I think that was the attitude all the sound guys they had there back then...

Jim Fogarty · Post by **Jim Fogarty** » 13 Mar 2016 6:15 pm

I used to be over-helpful, friendly and solicitous with soundmen, in an effort to make the whole thing work easier.

Now, I'm still polite and do what I can, but make it very clear.....it's their job to amplify the music properly, not our job to make their life easier.

Dustin Rigsby · Post by **Dustin Rigsby** » 13 Mar 2016 6:59 pm

I worked a little for a sound company. We NEVER acted in this manner. We tried to give the customer the best sound possible. Freakin' ridiculous ! That's a jerk that should be run out of the business !

Jack Aldrich · Post by **Jack Aldrich** » 14 Mar 2016 12:02 pm

When I played bars and animal lodges (Elks, Eagles or Moose)back in the day, we had our own sound system, including monitor speakers. Our band had one month gigs. We'd set it up and get the sound we wanted, then cover the knobs with duct tape so no one could fool with them. Worked like a charm.

The worst encounter I ever had with a sound man was at the Issaquah, WA, salmon days. After our first number, the sound man came up and demanded that I quit using my volume pedal, because he was an expert and knew how to set level. I replied, in a tactful way, that he could go screw himself. My steel sounded awful! The boyfriend of our lead singer (who often did sound with us) came over after we played and told me that the sound man kept his eye on me, constantly checking my level, and, when I moved the volume pedal, he would counteract it by moving my level opposite of what I had my pedal at. Than God it was only a casual.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 15 Mar 2016 1:32 am

well, being the rank amateur that I am with only 45 years of continuous band stand and club experience, I have never understood the logic of going into a club, setting up and having a sound man (gal) run the board for a band that they have never heard and have no clue what the band is supposed to sound like. Instead , when we did play the big rooms with self appointed experts of sound,they ran everything as loud as they could through the monitors and twice as loud out front , every instrument, every drum every everything the same volume from 10 to 2. Stage volume was so loud from the fold backs we couldn't even hear our amps behind us...

I always loved when we arrived and the sound guy said, don't worry I'm gonna build the stage around you guys and you guys are gonna sound great. Then the most famous of words..."Please don't play loud I'll control your volume out front"... Yep...then he goes back to the sound board and drinks his 4th beer.

Even worse on the big stages as the world famous "Opening Act"...

Arrive 3 hours early for sound check only to wait in the wings while the main act tuned, set EQ, jammed, blah blah blah, then well ok..30 min before show time.."ok you guys bring your gear on stage we'll use the same settings for you guys as we did for xxx"...

and I would sometimes say.." What about my Dobro "?

One of the last BIG stage shows we did with of course 3 touring names from Nashville, they had a separate monitor system for the opening act, which was us...Of course nobody ever thought to see if it actually worked until we were told to get on stage like 20 min before the show...of course it didn't work and 45 min of our 60 min set was standing there waiting while they fixed the system. Maybe 1000 people out front ( outdoor show) all left...and they never came back so when so and so took the stage , well, you get the point...

But, what do I know...

Thank god I'm not a Pro !

Wally Moyers · Post by **Wally Moyers** » 15 Mar 2016 6:15 am

Dustin Rigsby wrote:I worked a little for a sound company. We NEVER acted in this manner. We tried to give the customer the best sound possible. Freakin' ridiculous ! That's a jerk that should be run out of the business !

I own a Production Company www.moyersgroup.com .. We not only design and install systems but also do event and concert production.. We did Chris Stapelton last week.. If you don't supply your own sound operator we supply one.. We require our guys to at least listen to the band/artist album before their allowed to mix for them.. If the act has no CD we have no choice but to mix the band with our taste.. I recommend that if you want a custom mix, bring your own sound person..

Joe Casey · Post by **Joe Casey** » 15 Mar 2016 8:26 am

Maybe an announcement like telling the audience that you have no control over the sound mix that there are experts doing the sound and do it for a living.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 15 Mar 2016 11:42 am

NEVER TELL AN ENGINEER OR SOUNDMAN THAT IT'S A VOLUME PEDAL. IT'S AN "EXPRESSION PEDAL LIKE ON A HAMMOND ORGAN.
THEN CALMLY CLEAN YOUR REVOLVER ON STAGE!

Chuck Lemasters · Post by **Chuck Lemasters** » 15 Mar 2016 12:21 pm

Stage volume was so loud from the fold backs we couldn't even hear our amps behind us...

That has been my experience, more often than not...one guy asked me what I wanted in my monitor and I said, "Nothing", as the other guys' monitors would have provided more than enough volume, so he left my vocals out of the mains as well. Perhaps that would have been a good idea

, but he didn't wait to find out.....

Jimmy Lewis · Post by **Jimmy Lewis** » 15 Mar 2016 3:01 pm

The best way to cure a sound man's attitude is take a Fender Twin in the club for your amp and crank the volume all the way up/ It will either cure him or you will never see him again.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 15 Mar 2016 3:20 pm

We had our own soundman. He was paid equally. He knew everything about our tunes. He knew if it was Bobby's fill or mine. People would come up and say, "Listening to youse guys is like listening to a cd." He was worth it to us. Of course we were playing 5/6 nights a week as a house band, so we could afford him. In the beginning I had the usual volume/expression pedal discussion. But as he was a keyboardist, he understood right away. Never tell them it's a volume pedal!

Garry Vanderlinde · Post by **Garry Vanderlinde** » 15 Mar 2016 7:14 pm

"HEY!, Let's hear it for the soundman..."
how many times have you heard that crapolla?
I cringe every time I hear it

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 16 Mar 2016 6:18 am

and it goes without saying that we never heard this line from the very savvy club sound guy ...

"Which amp are you using for your keyboard" ?

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 16 Mar 2016 6:30 am

I never cared for a house sound, as long as sound on stage was acceptable I was good, if someone comes to me and says so and so is wrong in house mix, I'd tell them to go talk to the sound man, I wasn't paid enough to worry about that, it was not my problem...

Floyd Lowery · Post by **Floyd Lowery** » 16 Mar 2016 7:31 am

I spent a lot of time learning when not to play, how to back up a singer without playing over him. I learned how to bring my volume up and kick it when I was playing lead. Then I was hired to play in a large band that even had a light man and a sound man. I could have not even been on the stage half the time. He would make a tape of the band and if I took a lead, you would not hear it until it was half over - if at all. Did I complain ? Yup ! Did it do any good ? Nope, I tried to tell him to set my volume for a lead and leave it alone. I would only bring my volume up when it needed to be heard. Nope, said he would, but never did.

I did play with some professional sound people later that did great work. I guess there are just too many so called sound pros that are not pros.

The Steel Guitar Forum

So the sound man says

So the sound man says

Back in the early days..............

Appalling !

Re: Appalling !

Their egos are much bigger than their brains