Posts Tagged Mix
“Can You Turn Down?” Simple Ways To Master Stage Volume
“Can you turn down?” has to be the four most irritating words we can hear as guitarist. It seems like no matter what we do, we either compromise our tone or become number two on our sound engineers most wanted list (second to the drummer).
Getting good tone at a manageable volume can be difficult and frustrating, but not impossible. Lucky for us there are some very useful tools in helping us to achieve this sometimes allusive goal.
GETTING GOOD TONE AT LOW VOLUME
Low Wattage Tube Amps
These little tanks of tone can produce a lot of sound. Both good tone and loud volume. Some of the best tone I have heard has been from little low wattage tube amps. Because they are using a low amount of wattage you will able to push the tubes more giving that great alive tube sound.
Attenuators
These handy little devices are placed in between the amp and the speaker and allow you to push your tubes without blasting a lot of volume through the speaker. Great for situations when you want great tone at lower volume.
KEEPING VOLUME UNDER CONTROL
Point the amp right at your face.
This sounds overly simple, but can make a big difference. If you are not playing at a church with an Aviom system and you use your amp as a monitor then pointing the speaker at your ears can go a long way towards allowing you to hear yourself clearly while minimizing the volume you need to use.
Enter the Amp Stand. You can get one at just about any music store (ironically enough, the Guitar Center closest to me never seems to have these in stock).
If you use it right you will be able to hear your glorious tone without inspiring any tension between you and the sound engineer.
A Box
For those of you who use Aviom systems, a sound dampening box that encloses the amp is one of the most effective ways to keep your amp’s volume in check. I know some people and churches that have built these for themselves and they work great (of course, they put space in the box for microphones).
AxeTrak
This thing is pretty cool. It is a fully enclosed speaker cabinet with a microphone built into it. It is not the most pretty thing on the market, but it works. Originally it was designed for people who wanted to record quality tube amps at low volumes, but it can also work great live. Take a look at Marc Seal demoing the AxeTrak
It was created by a guitarist named Jeff Harris who plays mainly for his church.
Solving this problem is worth the hassle. It will help provide a great mix for your congregation while giving them the best guitar tone possible.
Keep it up and keep sharp.
-Jed
Is Your Sound Engineer An Alien?
Posted by Jed in Uncategorized on June 16th, 2009
Sound engineers are from another planet. They are aliens in a world of music. They don’t play an instrument, they speak another language, they use strange technology and sometimes they look funny.
They are a completely different species really and understanding them can be difficult.
I’m not saying they can be understood perfectly. Even though humans have vast imagination and brain power, something as alien as Sound Engineers can really push the limits of our mental capacity.
To help us peer into the mind of these strange beings here are some insights into what makes them tic.
-Sound engineers are constantly trying to achieve a good mix. They really do want as good of a mix as we do. It doesn’t seem like it a lot of the time.
-Their idea of a good mix is different than yours. This is where their alien identity really starts to show through. Do you ever hear a recording of Chris Tomlin’s and it breaks into a guitar solo and you think to yourself “Why isn’t the guitar turned up more?” I don’t understand it either but for a lot of people that is a really good mix. Now a normal human would know that a guitar solo should be more like on a Lincoln Brewster recording: loud and upfront. But apparently there are a lot more aliens out there.
-Most Sound Engineers are not working with the greatest equipment. Some of them have to work with down-right junk. This makes their job very difficult. If it seems like they aren’t able to get good results, it could be the tools they have to work with.
-Sound engineers are always multitasking. Sometimes you may wonder why it takes them so long for them to react to a request like monitor changes. Imagine going to work where you are constantly pulled in several directions at once. That’s sort of what a sound engineer is like even though it doesn’t always look it. They are constantly having their attention diverted from what ever they were thinking about before. If it seems like they don’t communicate in an understanding way or bluntly, it is not that they don’t care, it’s just that they are thinking about three things at once.
-Sound engineers are most concerned with vocals. This is still hard for me to believe, but it’s true. The reason is because the congregation is most reliant and concerned with vocals. Worship in modern day western culture is largely on people singing. If the congregation can’t hear the vocals well and clearly, they won’t be able engage in worship.
And that is the whole reason you are doing what you are doing so people can engage in worship.
-The more control a sound person has the better chance of a great mix. This has UFO written all over it. The less sound coming from the stage (the less sound coming from your guitar amp) the more pure of a mix the sound man will be able to produce through the speakers. If the sound coming from the speakers doesn’t have to compete with the sound from the stage everything (including you) will sound better. Now we still have to hear ourselves for sure, but there are ways of doing this so you can give your sound engineer maximum control and still hear yourself clearly.
Although Sound Engineers are a strange and sometimes weird-looking species, they are good hearted.
Keep sharp,
-Jed
This Friday check out an encouraging post “Why We Can Worship.” Plus, be on the look for more ideas on helping your Sound Engineer create a good mix.