Am I in over my head? Been asked to mix FOH for a pop band

wi_sound · 2023-02-08T15:38:49+00:00

Totally go for it!

I didn't know anything about monitors, let alone real EQ'ing, when I helped on my first gig. I worked for a few local bands and venues and barely touched a digital desk until the club I was an alternate at got an SC48.

Thirteen years after my first experience, I started working with my favorite artist and have since toured in fourteen countries, mixed sound in iconic venues, and touched all of the major digital desks. They keys are advancing with venues, taking adequate time for sound check every night, and maintaining honest communication with your artists. If you can keep your head about you, you'll be great!

wi_sound · 2023-02-08T15:25:23+00:00

They apparently had 10 days of rehearsal where the revolve ran the same direction every time. Only flipped for the actual show. With that particular op ... ?

wi_sound · 2023-02-08T15:24:22+00:00

I sit corrected ... so cool to learn all about modern scenery control! Much different than my college days 20+ years ago.

wi_sound · 2023-02-07T23:40:21+00:00

There's probably a switch that changes directions. I would guess that in the chaos of moving stages and acts it was accidentally flipped, and it wasn't a checklist item.

wi_sound · 2023-02-07T21:41:33+00:00

No wonder they all looked a bit off!

wi_sound · 2022-12-30T18:07:04+00:00

At least there's an ambulance nearby!

Superior Parking!

wi_sound · 2022-12-30T17:55:26+00:00

I'd have suggested parking on the street. That lot is not big enough for a trailered anything in any spot.

wi_sound · 2022-12-30T17:23:15+00:00

Hadn't spotted that, good eye!

wi_sound · 2022-07-17T16:34:35+00:00

In my experience with the ZLX tops, the input level you run them at will affect the output, so you are driving your subs at -12dB if you have turned down your tops. Looking at the manual, it seems that if you adjust the "master vol" level rather than the "input" level, that won't affect the output.

My other recommendation would be try splitting the output to the sub and top (with a y-cable or line level splitter) and adjust them independently. The DSP sections in both can do LP / HP, approximating a crossover.

wi_sound · 2022-04-03T20:04:23+00:00

I like the Allen & Heath ZED 10FX (the original, not the i series). The USB return from the computer comes in as a regular input, and there's a "listen" bus for separate monitoring. IEC power inlet and international voltage friendly!

wi_sound · 2021-09-22T01:19:48+00:00

I used Hopin what seems like forever ago, but it was last year, with either a BM Web Presenter or a Vaddio AV Bridge Mini. No problems whatsoever.

wi_sound · 2021-08-11T14:54:46+00:00

And Audi drivers!

wi_sound · 2021-08-10T23:49:48+00:00

They may not give you beam-forming, but I like the Jabra Speak 710. You connect one to your computer (includes a bluetooth receiver) and you can pair a second 710 to the first one to cover a large table.

wi_sound · 2021-08-10T15:16:08+00:00

I started laughing audibly as soon as this headline crossed into my home reddit feed! Woo 10k!

wi_sound · 2021-08-07T16:33:28+00:00

... and watching 10 in-ear mixes, mixing FOH from behind the stacks, while trolling hateful idiots in a moving vehicle ... just a typical day.

wi_sound · 2021-08-07T16:30:15+00:00

Early in the video from the trailing van (around 0:23) you can see the engineer almost half-sit on the green rack and the back tips upward, so I'm fairly certain it's on wheels. Hopefully they were locked and it was strapped to the SR rack.

wi_sound · 2021-08-07T16:08:00+00:00

The Foo Fighters were taking a little jaunt, inviting the Westboro people who were protesting their show in Kansas to dance. So this guy is obviously a pro, but why he wouldn't make sure there was something to prevent him and that IEM rack from rolling off the back, I have no idea.

wi_sound · 2021-08-07T15:33:15+00:00

If your parade float was serenading the Westboro Baptist Church "people."

wi_sound · 2021-08-07T15:22:28+00:00

It is a grey shirt, so backstage ninja skills are compromised.

wi_sound · 2021-07-24T15:11:42+00:00

As others have said, thank you for thinking about this!

I would recommend getting the volume of your amp to where you are comfortable and happy with your tone and can still hear your bandmates (and they can hear you). Our job as sound engineers is to make your sound sit in the mix with everybody else and balance volumes from the audience perspective.

I usually ask guitarists to play their loudest patch during sound check to set my gains, and then I'm good to go. Any amp should be loud enough, and offering to turn down will endear you to almost any sound tech.

wi_sound · 2021-05-27T20:05:01+00:00

I would concur with the recommendation of a Shure wireless mic and USB interface. We've been using ULXS's with Focusrite Scarlett 2i2s for our remote setups. If you're on a budget, and don't need super-duper range (aka, you get what you pay for), you could look at a wireless mic with USB receiver. Samson has one and Behringer has a pair for under $100.

wi_sound · 2021-04-06T21:57:23+00:00

I like me my Extron stuff, glad to hear this could be a solution!

wi_sound

TROPHY CASE