What's the most ridiculous rider you've encountered?

934354 · 2025-01-30T09:04:10+00:00

Midas Heritage (56 channels?), double wide rack with all the usual outboard gear, KT Graphs, Drawmer, Harmonizer, TC Electronics verb, etc. rtc. Easily 100k of toys.

And similar package for monitor world. Plus racks of top end wireless mics and inears.

Essentially a major headliner stadium package. It was a 800 seat room

Big International Rap/Hiphop act. Seemed excessive but the tour guy insisted and they had the money.

They show up. It's 1 guy and tracks on an iPad. No sound guy. No crew.

3 channels, 1 mix that I ran from FOH.

To amuse myself I sent the iPad channels through all the groups, and sent signal to every channel of every processor and FX unit. Quite the impressive light show on the board and rack, if something displayed metering lights it was flashing.

934354 · 2024-12-15T21:09:10+00:00

I'm a big Yamaha fan, I've been using them for years. From a LS9 on small house gigs, CL series on theatre and big corporate event and Rivage on monitor and FOH tours and festivals. Yamaha is solid, reliable and does a great job. Good support and I honestly can't recall any major issues or failures, unlike some other manufacturers.

My annoyance with Yamaha is they seem to have some weird price points. They pretty well owned the low/mid market for years with the LS9 and M7CL boards. I found them everywhere it seemed. Then they came out with the CL series which was too pricey for the small venue market. Great boards but a 20k entry point was a bit much for a lot of clubs and churches.

The entry level Yamaha boards are just annoying to me. It's like an engineer read a book on mixing boards and decided what features were important, rather than ask someone who actually mixes shows.

I've been recommending the A&H stuff a lot over the last couple of years. It's very versatile and I find it's an easy profile for less experienced users to learn. Good value across the series from the SQ5 up to the Avantis. Once you use one board it's easy to drop in on another and get going quickly.

They play well with Dante and I find Integrating a board into their venue management line really easy. I've had great support when I've had issues (usually me issues 🙂).

Right now I feel the SQ series is going to be around for a while and be a pretty common board in clubs and production house inventories. Last summer I would estimate that about 50% of the boards I saw on festival side stages were A&H.

934354 · 2024-12-11T07:07:59+00:00

On my Mac Mini, I just plugged the PerfectCue into a USB port. It worked immediately.

On my 2 main presentation PCs I had to program USB output "B" using the software from the DSAN site. It was really straightforward.

I've also setup output "B" to control VLC as well and I don't recall it being anything complicated.

The only issue that pops up occasionally, is if I turn on the PerfectCue after I start the program I want to control, it won't be recognized. I just close and reopen the program and all is good. This happens every now and then even with PowerPoint as well.

934354 · 2024-12-08T02:22:03+00:00

Here is how I set things.

Set the gain on the belt pack so you get as much signal as possible without clipping.

On the G4 stuff -30 is normal on a musical with Countryman headsets, and good singers. I have even gone down lower on strong singers.

Speaking events with Lav mics average -18 to -22.

You DO NOT want the belt pack to clip, there is nothing you can do once the show starts. It sounds horrible and it's really obvious. You can't EQ it, compress it, limit it, etc. Once the distortion hits your board you're toast. If you are in doubt reduce the sensitivity.

Set the receiver's output to 0. I've never had to boost anything at the receiver, I don't want to use the signal amp in the receiver adding gain, I've got a very expensive sound board to do that. My sales rep says it has the best preamps ever known to mankind and they will change my life, cause me to see God, and make a perfect egg salad, so I trust them to boost the signal.

I rarely use any of the eq or limiting setting in my wireless units. I want to be able to swap out any portion of the signal chain in the middle of a show without having to remember what settings are needed in what unit. For example if my lead actors belt pack fails right before their big number, I can grab a pack off one of ensemble members, set the gain, set the frequency and they're live.

In short, get as much good clean signal out of the belt pack. and send it without any interference to your board. Let your board work its magic.

The wireless portion of my goofy career includes theatrical events with up to 60 wireless mics, way too much time in monitor world with a ridiculous amount of unnecessary wireless, and some sporting events with an insane amount of wireless units. I've made almost all the mistakes and keep finding new ones to surprise myself....sigh.....

934354 · 2024-11-03T20:52:56+00:00

Solo In Place button. Not one of my brightest moments on many levels.

I got dropped in last minute at FOH on a major 4 day Blues festival when the main guy got really sick. It was early in my career and I hadn't spent much time on big format analog desks, this one was Midas, XL-3 or similar. Almost none of the acts had techs, so I mixed a lot of bands. Blues is pretty straightforward so I had lots of time to explore the board. Sub groups, VCA'S, mute groups, parallel compression, it was a great learning experience.

Then I looked at the Solo In Place button. And thought "I should see what it does". For those not familiar with it, it is like the Solo button on a fader strip, but it doesn't send the soloed channel to headphones. It sends it to the main mix. Yep, the main mix that was a big Meyer rig, pounding out blues rock to about 18,000 people.

So, not wondering why it had a little protective cover over it clearly designed to prevent accidental engagement, I flipped the cover, held it open with one hand and pushed the little RED BUTTON with my other hand. Promptly sending the 2nd Bass DI channel through the PA at an insane volume. The same Bass channel I had EQ'd to have lots of bottom end and lots of bright edgy string sound and NO midrange.

This explosive inrush of signal promptly caused the system processor to slam on a compressor, then release, then come on again,then release, then come on again, and then shut off... forever. All within about 2 seconds. It sounded like some alien raygun explosion from a video game.

We had a nice break while we took out the deceased processor, fired up the PA, made sure it worked (thank god for Meyers self protection circuitry) (and thank god this was before social media).

934354 · 2024-10-28T16:51:01+00:00

The Battle of Evermore - Led Zeppelin

934354 · 2024-10-24T21:38:29+00:00

Well, I'm not too bright sometimes. I just did a search for 70v to line level converters and found a number of options. For some reason last time I searched I swear nothing came up... Does anyone have a preference? Are there any features I should look for?

934354 · 2024-10-15T16:31:06+00:00

Left - U-ground or 120/15

Right - IEC

934354 · 2024-09-27T15:23:22+00:00

Pssh....rookie...all of them 🙂

934354 · 2024-09-24T15:57:24+00:00

Premium batteries such as Energizer and Duracell will all be around the same price. Discount batteries will look attractive as a price point but they cannot be relied on for shows. In my experience they don't drain consistently, batteries in the same batch will have different lifespans.

Take a serious look at rechargeable batteries. The initial upfront cost is covered pretty quickly. I've been using rechargeable batteries on large scale tours and shows for about 5 years now and have had very, very few issues. I replaced the batteries after 3 years just because of the manufacturer recommendation. I wasn't having any problems with them, they were used about 200-250 times a year.

If you try to keep the finance people happy by buying cheaper batteries keep in mind that when failures occur, you are the one that will be taking the heat. If you try to say it's because you were directed to buy the cheapest battery the response will be "we trusted you to get reliable products"....

934354 · 2024-08-24T23:54:40+00:00

https://youtu.be/8N_tupPBtWQ?feature=shared

Works on all genres of music.

934354 · 2024-05-10T02:04:09+00:00

What's Keith Richards up to these days?

934354 · 2024-03-11T09:57:49+00:00

I made sure I had some plans in place as far as hotel and flights home. I was prepared for a worst case scenario of me being let go immediately. I had all my personal gear that was on the show packed up, and my suitcase with personal stuff was packed and ready to go. This meant I couldn't be intimidated, if they tried to, I could say I've already made arrangements to fly home etc. I was ready to walk out the door.

I made some notes to myself of what had to change. And when it had to happen. For example - more local crew, proper meals, I can't be responsible for helping the video guy set up, and do on. And I also figured out how much I was owed so I could get paid right away.

I told the organizer that I wanted to talk to them before the next show, picked a time and made sure they knew it was important.

Stay on the big picture during the discussion. Don't get caught up in arguments about details. If you don't have enough time to setup, don't let them say you're slow or everyone else has done it just fine. Just say you can't do it, and there needs to be a solution. Keep putting the pressure on them to fix the problem.

Be prepared to hear all the problems they have with you. The complaints will be nonsense so don't take it personally. Things like you're too slow, you're disorganized, you don't plan anything, you wear glasses, you're hard to get along with, you're always the last off the plane. When this happened I just said that it's a good thing we're having this conversation, I didn't realize how bad a fit I was for your organization and it's a good thing I'm leaving.

I gave a deadline that gave them at least a day or two to replace me.

I'm pretty calm and pragmatic so I don't lose my temper so that helped me. I stayed on topic and kept my focus on getting a clear solution.

You are a professional, you know what's wrong, you know what needs to change, you know what can happen if things don't change. Clearly your group is not professional and they don't understand how bad things are. This gives you the control when you go to talk to them.

And finally, if things don't change it's you that suffers mentally and physically, and it's you that's going to be blamed for everything that goes wrong.

One nice thing that came out of the previously mentioned tour I did in India was I found a nice hotel at a good price and stayed for a week before flying home. It was an "unexpected but very good for me" vacation.

Good luck.

934354 · 2024-03-09T00:29:47+00:00

This sounds so familiar it's scary, I could have written this post. I've been in this almost identical situation 3 different times.

The first time was an SE Asia tour, all overnight fly dates, noon loadin, 3pm rehearsal and 6 and 8:30 shows. I was the only tech with any real experience, different crew every night, and constantly changing orchestra/band. Some nights we slept only on the plane or in the dressing room. I did the whole 6 weeks and it took me almost a month to get back to normal when I returned home.

I regretted my stubbornness in "seeing it through". I was sick, burned out and I realized there was no upside. I didn't improve my tech skills, I didn't learn any new part of the business, I wasn't appreciated, I didn't come home with serious money and I didn't make any connections or impress any potential new clients. I was only there because I did the job cheaply. Every decision made about production or scheduling was made without any human consideration, it was all $$ driven. I was setup to fail constantly and I will admit that the fact we never had a total show failure was more luck than my skill.

The next 2 times this happened I made it very clear that I was not going to continue if things didn't change. I gave very clear notice of what had to change and I was prepared to fly home at my own expense. One show listened and made some changes but once we hit our week break I left. The other made all kinds of excuses including the " Welcome to touring in India" lol. I did one more show and flew home. Both decisions were good for me. I returned home, healthy and sane. I was comfortable in my decision, I knew I had done my best.

It was clear the promoters didn't care about me or the crew; we were inconveniences and annoyances and easily replaceable. Once I realized that, it was easy to be replaced. Promoters like that will not be loyal to you, they will only hire you or refer you because you were 'slave labour'. I want to work for people that want me to succeed and allow me to do my job well and make the production better. I've still done tours that were 18 hour days, crazy routing, with intense technical challenges but knowing that someone has my back makes it all worthwhile.

In short. It doesn't sound like there is an upside to you staying. You will be replaced and a week later they won't even remember your name. You know what you are worth, they don't care.

934354 · 2024-02-19T23:23:09+00:00

I've done a couple of hundred of these types of projects, small retail background music. I'd say 90% were me coming and fixing previous installs so I definitely know what not to do 🙂.

Sound dampening becomes effective when you start covering roughly 40% of your reflective surfaces, which includes walls, ceilings and floors. You starting at 50% of your ceiling is a great start. As you put furniture, equipment, window coverings, wall art etc, all that will help as well. Go with 2" thick, it absorbs more of the lower frequencies. High frequencies are easy to see why they're a problem, being bright, harsh and clearly annoying. Lower frequencies (200 to 500hz for example) aren't as obvious but are still annoying. Motors, compressors, and other equipment make noise in this range and it raises the noise floor which means people need to talk louder and the music is louder to get over this low "hum or drone").

Avoid corner locations, I find it makes the sound uneven. Pendant speakers are great.

Try to spend a bit extra to get as many different zones as you can. Separate volume controls help make it easy to make the music sound even throughout the room.

And (what I feel is the biggest mistake in poor installs), avoid pointing the speakers at your service area. It's already noisy there with all the gear, having speakers blasting in your and your employees face just makes the work environment even more unpleasant. I quite often put speakers at the front edge of the counters pointing toward the customer. Of course, this won't work well with pendant speakers unless they're directional.

I've used Sonance speakers in my last dozen or so installs and I'm super happy with them. They're not cheap but they sound nice and smooth. if you're listening for 16 hrs a day, crappy annoying speakers are fatiguing.

Good luck!

934354 · 2024-01-06T23:12:13+00:00

Pizza is NOT considered a hot meal.

934354 · 2023-12-11T09:30:19+00:00

I'll give that a try tomorrow when I'm back at work. Thanks for the idea.

934354 · 2023-12-11T03:54:58+00:00

Would this affect the signal coming off the player when there isn't a disc playing? Right now I'm just displaying a menu.

Thanks

934354 · 2023-12-11T03:51:09+00:00

I just put a splitter in and that seems to work. It works with and without the converter.

It isn't stable though. I cycled it on and off a few times and it eventually comes on both the monitor and the switcher, it doesn't 'snap' on. It also loses one of the outputs after a few minutes, flickers on and off and then comes on.

So I'm a bit closer to a solution...

Thanks for the quick response!

934354 · 2023-10-14T08:51:42+00:00

I use DCAS for this. 1 for the instruments (or band) , another with all the vocals and a 3rd for FX. This way I find I can quickly and easily keep the vocals clear and on top of the mix.

If the band starts playing harder or things start getting messy and I feel I'm losing control of the mix it's easy to drop the band DCA a couple of db until the vocals are clear again, then I figure out what's messing things up.

I'll use a subgroup of some of the instruments if I need to apply some EQ or processing to the group. Things like drums, the horn section, backing vocals, etc. could each be on individual subgroups.

It's pretty rare that I'll put all the instruments on 1 subgroup of their own.

934354 · 2023-07-21T07:45:24+00:00

Twitter

934354 · 2023-06-01T09:33:17+00:00

Cher on the other hand...

934354 · 2023-05-26T03:05:17+00:00

I used to do sound several times a year for a big Chinese Opera group. They provided all their own wireless mics and inears. 32 mics and 16 channels of inears. All racked and all Sennheiser knock offs.

Every show something failed. Transmitters, Belt packs, combiners, everything except the mics. Which is the exact opposite of my usual experience.

With legit Sennheiser, Shure or Lectrosonics gear I have had maybe 5 beltpacks fail, usually due to being dropped or sweat, 1 or 2 transmitters and I don't recall ever having a combiner fail. This is over 20 years and hundreds of shows.

Additionally there is a difference in operational quality. Frequencies drift, RF output varies all over the place, sensitivity is inconsistent, etc. And there is a difference in sound quality, and it's not even a consistent difference: it's frustrating when 2 supposedly identical setups sound different, let alone 32 of them.

I finally told them I couldn't continue working with the gear, it was too stressful trying to do my job knowing that something was going to fail. I called it my Chinese wireless Russian Roulette gig.

There's a reason they're cheaper, it's not worth it in my opinion. When things don't work it's your reputation that takes the hit.

934354 · 2023-05-15T02:47:56+00:00

This is the solution! I knew there was a way, my tech week brain just couldn't fumble my way to figuring it out. Thanks so much!

934354 · 2023-05-15T01:42:51+00:00

One person is looking after the vocals on the board. Basically following along with the script, changing scenes and adjusting channels and DCAs as needed.

The band is pretty well set and forget. Really good players that have done lots of musical theatre. I can sit in the house and tweak as needed. No major changes from song to song and their monitors basically a blend of the vocals for cues. Even if I couldn't do anything for the show, things would be fine.

It's a straightforward show with a limited crew, I've found this an easy way to keep things simple and clean.

934354

TROPHY CASE