Live sound

[killians8546]

Hey guys, I just discovered this forum not to long ago and I have to say that I have found a lot of useful information on it. I was just wondering if you guys and Andy could give me some help on some live sound. I play in a five peice band(2 guitars, bass, drums, vocals) and being as we run into a ton of shitty sound guys as I am sure a lot you can understand that problem. I was wondering if you could give me some tips on helping it sound as good as possible even in those situations atleast guitar wise.

I use a peavey 5150 2 with a tube screamer with my lows at about 11 o'clock, mids on 9 o'clock, highs on 11 o'clock, gain on 3 o'clock, res. on 2 o'clock, and pres. on 3'oclock. And all thats on the rythmn channel, bc it seems a little tighter and more defined than the lead channel. The other guitar player uses a triple x and I dont know exactly what settings he uses. But yeah if you guys could offer any advice I would really appreciate it.
Thanks

 

[Fredrik-Ablaze]

Well my two cents on how to get a real good livesound regardless of the engineer is:
Trigger the drums as much as possible, preferably all but the toms, cut the bass on the guitaramps (the bass should make up for that) and line out the bass...
Just try bulletproofing the sound as much as possible by getting exactly the sound you dig in your rehearsalroom. Hopefully all the engineer has to do then is mike the amps and set the level.

My other tip is the one that my band follows; get your own soundguy.

 

[Wadi]

....My other tip is the one that my band follows; get your own soundguy.

True that!!! Get your own soundguy and follow his advise.

 

[A Toolish Circle]

my advise would be to use more mids and cut on bass for yr guitars....so many players used scooped settings live and it usually sounds like shit .

 

[~BURNY~]

my advise would be to use more mids and cut on bass for yr guitars....so many players used scooped settings live and it usually sounds like shit .

Exactly: Cut some Bass, push the mids and Cut some high frequency If (probably) needed . I mean, do it on the amp at first.
I tried that myself yesterday on a band. That was the first time I could hear every detail of their music and the overall sound was way smoother and warmer.
Good clear sound is a summ.

 

[killians8546]

Awesome thanks guys. I already have my bass pretty low, but I wondered if I should push my mids a little more. Yeah we are looking for a sound guy but around here it's hard to find one thats worth a damn, But yeah thanks a lot.

 

[Andy Sneap]

buy a 57 each for gtrs and get a clamp so its mic'd in the right position everytime.

 

[killians8546]

Yeah I think I will go buy some 57's Monday. So should I keep my low end where its at which is about 4 or 11 o'clock or should I push it a little more or a little less. Same for my high end should I leave it at 4 or push it less or more. And I guess it would be more helpful to know the guitars I am using. I am using an Esp with a Gibson 500 T in the bridge about to be changed out to an EMG 85.

 

[NathanSoulfracture]

too much low-end in a room too small can sound really crap, one thing that annoys me sometimes is when the engineer makes the sound too loud for the room its in so it sounds all mushy.

 

[Razorjack]

Learn how to place your own mic's. Let the engineer set them up, then when he's on his way back to the desk, quickly position them where you know sounds good.

I do F.O.H at venue here in London and when a band knows what they are doing it makes my job a lot easier, allowing me to concentrate on getting the best mix I can.

 

[egan.]

One thing no one has mentioned yet is turning down.....Unless you're playing giant clubs, having your amp really loud can end up meaining there is little to no guitar in the mains, which will result in a pretty thin sound in the room.
Sometimes facing the amps sideways on stage is a good way to split the difference on this.
As far as moving the mics-- I appreciate the spirit of this but I think that it's important to ask the FOH guy before you do this. A sure fire way to sound like shit in a club is to piss off the engineer before you even sound check.

 

[~BURNY~]

One thing no one has mentioned yet is turning down.....Unless you're playing giant clubs, having your amp really loud can end up meaining there is little to no guitar in the mains, which will result in a pretty thin sound in the room.
Sometimes facing the amps sideways on stage is a good way to split the difference on this.
As far as moving the mics-- I appreciate the spirit of this but I think that it's important to ask the FOH guy before you do this. A sure fire way to sound like shit in a club is to piss off the engineer before you even sound check.

Don't mess with the FOH guy!

 

[killians8546]

HAHA yeah I figured I would ask him before doing anything like that. Thanks for the advice.