Do many of you guys do live sound?

[if6was9]

Just wondering if many of you guys do live sound as well as studio work?

Do ye find it helps/affects your studio work and approach?

I've been working in a small venue ( max cap 250) for the last 4-5 months doing 1-2 gigs a week and every now and then I get asked to do gigs outside of there. I'm the venues metal live engineer and do the odd gig in other styles.

I love it- I've learned a ton more doing live gigs about building mixes, eqing, micing and routing, plus its great for learning how to deal with people better and making contacts with bands.

I love the way problems have to be dealt with and the show no matter what always goes on- if something isn't sounding great you work quickly and fix it. I find myself taking alot more risks than with studio work- trying new stuff and making it work. I'm constantly trying different mics on different sources and comparing how they work in the mixes.

My only concern is that- even though I wear plugs for almost the entire gig, taking 1 out to check mixes a few times during a set and not using them for sound checks so I can get a proper ear for the tone, I still feel it at home the night of a gig. Not bad ringing much but just they're more sensitive than usual and I certainly wouldn't go mixing a studio project straight after a live gig.

 

[SymbolicSV]

i do live sound too, in my opinion you have to think faster than studio job, also you get more chances to work with more styles of music, also it's a good way to make contacts.

Other thing is for example, if you screw it with a band in the studio, probably they will never show up again, if you screw it live possible you will get more chances to redeem yourself in a near future...at least in my experience.

 

[dontletmedrown]

I did it on weekends for about a year and a half. I just recently stopped. It started out fun, but I learned that I don't love it as much as I love recording. Also I was turning into that crotchety old sound fuck--after getting asked the same noob questions every night, outlandish monitoring requests, backseat mixers (with awful advice). Man, it can really drive you crazy.

I had a dude from a band tell me, "Can you give us that warm analong sound?" WTF?? I guess he expected me to carve a completely different sound for them. It's all going into a mackie so there's your analog buddy... This place was tiny (200 max cap) and we had a dude show up with 2 - 8 x 10 ampeg cabs. Or my favorite: singers that "sing" at whisper volume, then they wonder why they're getting so much feedback. Or you have the people who just flat out "mouth" the lyrics and I'm just looking at the meters scratching my head while their friends in the audience say, "HEY SOUND GUY- TURN THE VOCALS UP" uke:

Ya, I need a break from live sound for a while.:zombie:

 

[StefTD]

Just did it like 3-4 times, but I would really like to do live sound once a week or so.
I really liked it and I am really patient so if there are guys talking shit to me-let them, I don't care as long as it sounds good.

 

[if6was9]

Yeah some of the things you get asked are pretty funny. Last gig I did a guy brought 2 toms of the same size, tuned the same. He asked me if I could pitch shift them so they sounded like 2 different toms. Not EQ, he wanted me to pitch shift them! Dude buy a different tom size if you want it to sound like a different tom..

The quiet vocal thing pisses me off no end, guys who sing at like, less than half the volume of their talking voice and then keep asking you to turn it up in the monitors even though its already at feed back point.
Singers who sing into the side of the mic alot also piss me off, its impossible to get a good tone and when they do sing in the front of it the volume shoots up and you're into clip city- not good.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Something that I hate with all my heart.

 

[MortenDK]

Been doing Live sound for 10+ years now, and for me its the other way around sound wise! that ive had the best way of learning tho. As I started doing Live sound and was good at it, but it was first after I got to do studio stuff that I really learned to dial in compression and verbs and stuff like that.
Then!, my live sound improved the last bit that made the goose bumps for me.
So the guys ive heard, that was the best at live sound, was the guys who did both studio and live gigs.