Getting into FOH mixing?

[xconnyx]

I do quite a lot of FOH mixing (just did a month tour with Earth Crisis, have a few regular bands I do and do freelance work for festivals and clubs).
I always wear protection. When I'm doing a band I work for I take out my plugs during the last song of the band before them to let myself get used to the volume. Then I mix the first 2 songs without plugs to get everything set right and to see at what level the FX sound good. After that I just ride what I need to ride (mainly solo's, vocals, some FX and some bass parts) and check for e few seconds every now and then with my plugs out if everything is still ok.
When I work for a festival or club I do the first 2 songs of each band without plugs and keep them in most of the set.
I have 15 dB linear filters.

basically the same for me. 15db linear filters.

but it depends on the length of the set and the hall. I'm doing a band that is playing support right now, they play 30min in big halls (3000-12000ppl i think) every other day. also we will have 99-100db peaklimit over 15-30min average. so I don't wear my earplugs. I will start wearing them when the main band is on and we're packing our stuff.

when i mix "one night stand bands" i do sound check without earplugs, then every band wihtout earplugs for the first 1-2 songs and then checking without earplugs from time to time.

i would recommend every foh guy to get linear earplugs and learn the difference between earplugs in and out. but be aware of the fact that it is way louder up front then on the foh, so don't blast the audience with rising the volume to high because of wearing plugs... a db/a meter (even a crappy one) is always a good thing to have.

 

[arv_foh]

basically the same for me. 15db linear filters.

but it depends on the length of the set and the hall. I'm doing a band that is playing support right now, they play 30min in big halls (3000-12000ppl i think) every other day. also we will have 99-100db peaklimit over 15-30min average. so I don't wear my earplugs. I will start wearing them when the main band is on and we're packing our stuff.

when i mix "one night stand bands" i do sound check without earplugs, then every band wihtout earplugs for the first 1-2 songs and then checking without earplugs from time to time.

i would recommend every foh guy to get linear earplugs and learn the difference between earplugs in and out. but be aware of the fact that it is way louder up front then on the foh, so don't blast the audience with rising the volume to high because of wearing plugs... a db/a meter (even a crappy one) is always a good thing to have.

And basically the same for me as well. I mix 1-2 songs w/o earplugs then I put them in. I have these:

http://www.westone.com/content/190.html

And I use the 25dB filters. They are not 100% flat I've noticed but it's a million times better than wearing pretty much any other type of earplugs. I tried 4 or 5 different kinds before I got the custom molds. They were $150 from a local audiologist. Pricey, but your hearing is one thing you will never get back once you lose it...

 

[xconnyx]

i use hearsafe "concha" style with 15db filter btw. i payed 250euro a few years ago, they are now 205euro.

http://www.meineohren.de/artikel/artikel_1434.html

concha is a little bigger and will not open up when singing. since i was singer in a DM/DC band i needed concha, also they wont fall out when stage diving as well

 

[dontletmedrown]

I lolled IRL reading this Awesomely put dude, and it goes for studio and everything else too. Some bands... some musicians... they're just completely retarded when it comes to the technical aspect of music. Pardon me, replace "some" with "MOST" instead. Most musicians... yes, that sounds better. I'm so glad I'm into this engineering stuff WHILE being a musician. I can imagine whenever I enter another studio, people there will love working with me because I understand the fucking limitations of reality, haha

Anyway, this shit is going down into my sig!

Ya people crack me up sometimes. I remember one live show- this dummer comes up to me during the previous band's set and says, "Dude, I'm not digging the cymbal sound-- When we go on, can you turn the cymbals down and EQ some of the highs?" I told him, "We don't mic the cymbals, so as long as you don't beat the fuck out of them, your set shouldn't sound like this."

 

[if6was9]

I started out doing studio work but have always played in bands and gigged. I was involved with putting on some shows and was in a meeting in a venue whent he tech came in and was really sick. I got asked to fill in so took the chance. I started filling in for this guy and then got some more regular shows. He wasn't great so pretty soon people started noticing the difference in sound at gigs I was doing so when he got let go I got asked to fill his post. Now I do 2-5 gigs a week in a small venue and get freelance gigs then every now and then.

I really really like the live stuff with the only downside being the risk to my hearing, I wear plugs for about the same as the guys above stated- during the set I'll pop em in after I get the sound I'm happy with and only take em out a few times after to check it.

For me its the soundchecks and stage setting up that kills it- some musicians are ignorant and will happily start tearing into their snare drum as your placing the hi tom mic, or guitarists who decide to see if their od pedal will cause feedback as your tinkering with their mic position. I've defintely felt my hearing get slightly worse over the last year.

I love the heat of the moment thrill of it all, nothing better than when a show goes well and when bands are shit I take pleasure in the small things like the band sucks but I managed to geta really nice floor tom sound tonight!! I've actually gotten a decent bit of recording work out of it too, since I'm meeting alot of bands and when their happy with your live work they tend to come calling come recording time too, it's great. I've also definately learned alot about mxing thats applicable to the recording doing live work too. I've found my recordings sound better for doing it for sure.

 

[xconnyx]

but i think besides pulling a good foh mix the most difficult thing of all on being foh guy is being trusted by the artist. especially for "one night stand bands". most of the bands, no matter how long you're working in a local club or on tour or what ever, they don't know you. being clam, confident, concentrated and pulling some jokes (even if it's the same joke every night but the bands are different) can win the artists trust.

since you won't get much credit on the back of cds like producers get, you can't just say "i'm good because i was involved pulling the XYZ mix".

artists are little divas when it comes to live performance since this is what they aim for, playing live and pulling the best show possible every night. if you and the band do not agree or don't get along on a show within this close amount of time, the artists don't trust you and they will make you responsible for not being as good on stage as last night because you made them feel uncomfortable because you are maybe, as in their view, an idiot.

of course i as an foh guy had bands i ran in tourble with, mostly because of them being to loud on stage, since you cant have two full stacks with highwatts, one 8x10 ampeg and 24" crash cymbals in a 350ppl club with a 3,5meter ceiling and a stage of 50cm hight and bashing the shit out of them.

since i am responsible for the system and ppl in front of the stage and the government will sue me for being to loud and not the band i will have to reduce volume no mater what. even if it means showing that i have big balls too.

on the other hand i found out whit my own band that i can't do anything about the sound quality besides getting my guys to have a decent stage volume and eq settings, even if i do sound. the other foh guys won't trust me and i don't want to think about thinks like "is the sound good?". because it isn't because i don't do it when i perform. even if i do the sound check for my band the local foh guy won't get the idea of the sound that i have in mind. only if friends that i trust in mixing, mix us.

complicated thing about trust if you ask me.

being on tour with bands a foh guy is totally different. you can talk before and after the shows, listen to foh/amientmic recordings, talk about the feedback that the artist gets from the crowd about the sound and develop things.

so as i'm dong this for a few years now, and since in the beginning i was always aiming for the best mix, but when it come to pents down i would say that the most important part of my job is:

making the band feel good on stage, second is pulling the good mix.

 

[Charlie E.]

Well said!

 

[arv_foh]

Confidence is a must. Don't be an asshole to bands unless they're assholes to you. You've got to have an ego if you're a FOH guy or else the bands will walk all over you.