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Post subject: Bonehead Soundman
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:05 am
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Aspiring Musician
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So I just got in from playing a little gig at a local bar with my band. We've played there lots, and always had nothing but good luck with getting a good sound. Tonight, however, I was in for a surprise. I showed up with my usual "light" rig -- a Pro Junior as my amp and only one pedal -- and set it all up as usual. Then this bonehead soundman, a new guy, comes over and immediately starts winging about how it's too loud. I mean, little tube combos are loud in a basement, but in a bar with 100 people? Not so much. Anyway, he just walked all over my rig and twiddling every knob he could find while simultaneously suggesting that he understood good tone because he had a degree in "doing sound." I was under the impression that (a) anyone with a degree in "doing sound" would know that a Pro Junior sounds good after about 4, or maybe 5; and that (b) that amp is not "too loud" for an SM-57 at that kind of volume.

I like a little bit of grit in my base tone because we don't play anything super clean. This arsehole, however, managed to bugger everything up. The audience seemed to like it, but it's infuriating. Indeed, he had the nerve to come up to me after our set and opine that I should "work on my tone." I neglected to observe out loud that my tone was just fine, thanks, and that his senseless meddling was what needed work -- specifically, he needed to stop.

I'm just furious and need to vent, so please put up with me. Any similar stories out there?


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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 12:14 pm
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Hmmm ... was everything mic'ed?

Just because he's "the sound guy" I don't think that gives him the right to touch your equipment. Next time he can just recommend that you increase or decrease your volume, but don't let him touch your stuff!

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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 12:31 pm
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Why do you even need a sound man in such a small place anyway? Just buy a PA and a couple of monitors and do your own sound on smaller gigs. Higher someone for the bigger stuff. It's worked for us for 30+ years and we never get complaints.


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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:38 pm
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He was definately wrong in touching your equipment; I would be furious. He could've just told you to turn it down like a normal person would. And what does he know about tone? He's not up there playing music! I can't imagine how you held it together.

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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:56 pm
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hottrod wrote:
He was definately wrong in touching your equipment; I would be furious. He could've just told you to turn it down like a normal person would. And what does he know about tone? He's not up there playing music! I can't imagine how you held it together.


A sound man can make or break you.


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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:12 pm
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Thanks, all, for the kind responses. I should also point out that my gear is the only gear I've ever seen him touch. The bar has an excellent PA system, a top-quality mixing board, and a collection of quality mics -- they do, after all, host live music 7 days a week -- and thus renting a PA is really not practical. This is more or less a professional setup. That said, I've never seen this guy mess with anyone else's gear. I'm debating whether or not to play there anymore, but the crowd is generally so good that I'd be hard pressed to boycott it.

The comment at the end -- about how I ought to work on my tone -- was the worst. It seemed to me that this guy had never seen a little tube combo before: he suggested that I try using the drive channel. On a Pro Junior.

Oh well...it happens, I suppose.


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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:55 am
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Don't let that little punk bother you. Next time (and I say there should be a next time) simply be straightforward and tell him not to touch your settings. I thought soundmen were there to equalize volume, not to fiddle around with tone simply because his "settings" are the only ones he learned in school.


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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 4:36 pm
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Hope you turned your amp back up as soon as his back was turned. These guys are so up themselves!


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Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 11:04 am
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Such is life for the bar band!

I've had similar situations, but if anyone ever touched my amp without permission they would have pulled back a bloody stump where their hand used to be...

Once we had the bar owner (in the middle of a set, no less) tell us we were too loud and we were going to get docked some pay, so each of us pretended to turn down our amps...we signalled the sound guy (our sound guy) to turn us UP slightly at the PA. After doing so, the bar owner said we sounded better, not so loud and she wouldn't dock us after all.

Her criticism of us being too loud probably stemmed from the fact she was standing at the side of the stage (not out front where the PA was pointed); she was hearing the monitors and the amps themselves, but not what the audience was hearing (no complaints from them!).

It just goes to show, most non-musicians just don't get it!

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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 12:12 am
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he's probably tone deaf.....tin earred "tone expert".....with a license....


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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:18 am
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Ok the guy comes off as a smug snit... but.... he probably knows the PA sound better than you do and surely you will admit you have never heard what the audience hears? You think you know what the settings are but each room is different and this guy SHOULD know his own room.

If I had a nickel for every time a Guitar player thought he wasn't loud enough I would be rich...

If I had a nickel for every time a Bar owner told me to turn it down I would be rich

Tell tale sign here is that you admit the audience seemed to like it. Well... isn't that more important than your ego? Perhaps your monitor is not set up right for your liking? Or you ran without a monitor? This should be what helps you hear yourself and what you care about. Let the sound man deal with the PA and if your stage amp is over running that PA he HAS to ask you to turn down. Now.. granted.... he should not touch your stuff. Never... he should ask you to turn down. And if you need more monitor to help compensate you should ask for it.

But trust me on this... you have no idea how the room sounds from where you are. And you have no idea how it changes as a crowd comes in. He does.

However it may be that you and this sound man cannot work together. He doesn't sound like he has a lot of tact. But you also don't sound like you know how to work together with a sound man to make the best music in the room.


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