Losing Presumptions
More recently, one of the graduates from Omega’s Sound Reinforcement for Live Performance Program (Live Sound) asked me about mixing guitars at live shows. He brought up the common problem of rock guitars drowning out the vocals at a gig. Every live sound engineer has faced this one, myself included.
When I first got into mixing live shows, I took the point of view that some guitarists (most?) just play too loud. And probably because of their egos. I spent a fair amount of time trying to diplomatically persuade guitarists to play at a lower level, and couldn’t understand when they ignored my advice.
Thankfully, a guitarist finally put me straight on my presumptions. He pointed out that the rock guitarist who plays an electric through a combo amp learns that he can achieve a certain quality of crunch by overdriving the speaker. It’s a sound they just don’t get through pedals, and as it only occurs when the amp is cranked, they can’t achieve it when the volume knob is turned down.
Once I saw the problem from the musician’s perspective, I understood that my solution (just turn down) was no solution at all. It doesn’t mean that there isn’t a conflict there to be resolved, just that more effort is needed in order to find a better solution.
By the way, if you’re looking for some quick live sound tricks to deal with this problem, here’s what I told my student: If you’re mic’ing the amp, that amp no longer needs to be pointed directly at the front row of the audience. It can be pointed to the side, or even to the back.
On big tours, they’ll go so far as to put the amp underneath the stage. I’ve even seen coffins created into which they place the combo amp, the mic, and some sound absorption materials, and then seal it up. This allows the amp to be driven much hotter and provides the crunch.
I should quickly point out that if you try any of these options, you’ve got to be ready to provide the guitarist with a really good monitor mix to make up from the sound they are no longer getting directly off the amp. It won’t work in every situation (it turns out that some guitarists have big egos, and do actually play too loud), but the important thing is that it is a solution that is arrived at not by ignoring or writing off the musicians perspective, but by embracing it.
I’ve seen many musicians adopt the mantle of engineer in order to make their own recordings. I’ve even taught a bunch here at the Omega Studios’ School. Many are able to make great recordings (and therefore feel a diminished need to hire an engineer, if you are getting my drift . . . ). I’ve also seen some very talented musicians struggle with the recording process, as well as the technology.
Hey, it’s very left-brain, whereas musical ability and creativity tends to be very right brain. But they struggle along, and if you ask them why they don’t just get a techie type to handle the gearhead part, they often say things like “I’ve tried that, but none of the engineers I’ve worked with understand MY SOUND!”
That is often what it comes down to for the musician. They’re dying to put down the software manual and just PLAY, but if they don’t hear those magical and unique aspects of the sound that they’ve labored to perfect in the results, they take the D.I.Y. path.
If we want to make the case for ourselves that as engineers, we play a useful, productive, and appealing role in the process of capturing that magic, we’ve got to hear what the musician hears.
We’ve got to get inside the musician’s head and see their perspective.
How to do that? Here’s a suggestion: even if you aren’t a musician, or don’t aspire to be, pick up an instrument. Play it. Be bad at it if that’s how it goes, but don’t put it down until you understand its sound a little better. Even if you don’t end up a virtuoso, you’ll be better off for it. You’ll become a better engineer and you’ll start to gain an appreciation of what it took for the musicians at your session to get good at what they do.
That’s the point.
Once you’ve experienced that, you’ll want to put the same kind of diligence and discipline into your engineering. As the director of The Omega Studios’ School is fond of saying at every orientation, “If you’re going to be involved in the music industry, it can’t hurt you to learn a little about music!”
You might be pleasantly surprised where this advice takes you!
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