Monitors of FOH when you've got 2 songs to Sound Check?

Discussions about the use and operation of SAC (Software Audio Console)

Monitors of FOH when you've got 2 songs to Sound Check?

Postby Jeffsco » Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:22 pm

Starting to get a few more gigs that are taking place in a working Sports Bar / Restaurant. type setup. They frown on a lot of "Noise" outside of the actual gig so you've got 1 or 2 songs max. in which to sound check the band.

In those situations...what do you focus on....getting the monitors set up or getting the FOH sounding great?

I find it's tough to be concentrating on watching the band while I'm trying to dial in the House sound.

Do you do a quick balance of the FOH so it doesn't sound too out of wack and then concentrate on getting the Guys monitors set up?

Or do you shut down the Front End to minimize the noise in the room and work with the guys on their Monitor mixes?

I've got a Tablet so moving around the room is not an issue.

How do you guys handle this type of situation?
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Re: Monitors of FOH when you've got 2 songs to Sound Check?

Postby Craig » Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:49 pm

Welcome to my world.... well, close. I'm actually PART of the band when I mix, so it gets more complicated...

My opinion is to get the FOH sounding decent first, then worry about monitors. I wouldn't worry about perfecting every aspect of FOH before doing the monitors, just get it sounding pretty good. You can always tweak it more later. I would set the band expectations beforehand so they know it'll take a minute or so to get the monitors well. I'm also conservative with the monitor levels at the beginning to avoid feedback - these type of places are usually not ideal for live music. Depending on the band and how big the room is, you might not have much need to mic guitars or all the drums. Good luck, you're getting into DF territory now...
-Craig
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Re: Monitors of FOH when you've got 2 songs to Sound Check?

Postby randyhyde » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:53 am

Jeffsco wrote:Do you do a quick balance of the FOH so it doesn't sound too out of wack and then concentrate on getting the Guys monitors set up?


A lot depends on the band.
I've had some bands (the more professional types) that will work with anything out of their monitors and don't mind spending half the night tweaking them.
I've worked with other bands that throw a $hit fit if the monitors aren't perfect before they start their act (and refuse to play otherwise).

As a general rule, though, I try to get the monitors working first. Most people (particularly in an acoustically-challenged bar, and after downing several alcoholic drinks) aren't going to notice a rough FOH mix; but the guys on stage immediately notice a bad monitor mix.

I have had bands' friends come up during the first three or so songs of the set bitching about the mix. I simply tell them we're working on it -- the sound check was dedicated to getting their monitors right. Half the time, the FOH mix problems are due to the fact that the band decides to bring out a new instrument that they didn't even pick up during sound check...
Cheers,
Randy Hyde
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Re: Monitors of FOH when you've got 2 songs to Sound Check?

Postby gdougherty » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:48 pm

+1 to Randy. Bad monitors impede good musicians from playing well together. Musicians that don't play well together will sound like a train wreck no matter how good your mix is.

No EQ and balanced levels will make better than half the crowd happy. It doesn't take long to set low cuts and pull together a blend. Plenty of time to refine from there.
http://softwareaudioconsole.wikidot.com The start of a wiki. It's slow going and there's a ton of info that should be in there yet.
Biggest item is the Command Reference on how to do most actions within SAC. It's 90% of what you need for UI proficiency.

g is for George
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