Mixing the band

Techniques for getting your tone to tape.

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Jet
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Pa .....

Post by Jet » Wed May 24, 2006 12:19 pm

Well let me start by saying this..... Load the stage with as much power as possible and let the PA carry the drums and vocal.
If a bar owner or any other owner/manager doesnt like it...pack up , leave and let them figure out how to entertain thier patrons.
The only time a sound man is needed is in an area that is so big the stage volume cannot carry the venue. So in all reality Most of us dont need a soundman.

BashCoder

Post by BashCoder » Wed May 24, 2006 12:53 pm

Granted, I've been a studio engineer for years and have much less experience with live sound. But when the guitars aren't represented in the mains, I often find that they lack definition in the total mix and don't actually have the power and impact that they should.

rustyrat
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Post by rustyrat » Wed May 24, 2006 2:22 pm

Thats exactly how I feel BC. Thanks

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flemingmras
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Post by flemingmras » Wed May 24, 2006 4:27 pm

Yeah I find this too. However...

If you turn the guitars down they come out sounding thin on stage. Part of what fattens up a guitar on stage and makes it sound "big" is the speakers getting pushed at a certain point. I use 4 G12H-30 Celestions in a 4x12 cab and using a smaller cab is not an option because they don't have that sound that a 4x12 has.

See, for good guitar tone, a guitar rig HAS to be pushed...there's no two ways around that. I feel that the guitar should be set for that big, fat tone while everything else gets matched around the guitar. If the guitar sounds fine out of the PA, fine. But if not, find out what it needs and use the PA to add ONLY what is missing from the guitar. This is why every channel on the board has an EQ.

Also, if you're in a single guitar band, another trick is to mic the guitar, then pan the guitar to the opposite side that the guitar amp is on. This will spread out the guitar so that it doesn't sound like it's all coming from one side.

Ah, the benefits of running a stereo PA...

I've played with bands that turn down on stage and having everything through the PA, and man it was so quiet on stage that it hurt. The beauty of loud volume is that it gets your adrenaline going, which is what makes you rock out and bang your head. You can't sit there and tell me that you like playing at a lower volume more than you do at a higher volume.

Jon
There's just that fine line between stupid and clever - Nigel Tufnel

Metal Handles
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Re: Mixing the band

Post by Metal Handles » Sun Mar 28, 2010 1:01 pm

Great thread. I'm getting a lot of good information here. One question I have is the "adjusting the amp" part.

I have always thrown the gains on the amp wide open and then adjusted the overall volume from the board. I recently had an amp overheat and shut down in the middle of a show. Luckily I had a spare amp ready to go. Only cost me about :15 minutes, but did I cause that situation with the way I adjusted the amp's gains? Or was it the amp vs speaker rating issue?

Thanks in advance!!

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zrAC/DC
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Re: Mixing the band

Post by zrAC/DC » Sun Mar 28, 2010 7:18 pm

My band usually has a loud stage volume and then we also mic everything no matter the size of the place, but that's because I always want to hear what the audience is hearing. If we're too loud we just leave.
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