Mixing side of stage. How DO you deal with it?

Re: Mixing side of stage. How DO you deal with it?

LiamSmith said:
I heart this answer, eric. I wish I could. I'm too much of a worry-wort/control freak to not be near the faders as much as possible.
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LOL! All of us started out that way, especially me! It is one of those things. Eventually most of us will learn to relax and let the band do their thing and enjoy the show. There are sometimes a few tweaks that need to be made as the crowd size or temperature changes, or as the band gets drunk and things like that, but for the most part ONCE YOU REALLY GET IT DIALED IN YOU CAN ONLY GO DOWN HILL. One of my favorite engineers I have ever worked with would get the sound abosolutely stellar in about 10 minutes, beyond belief good, and then proceed to mix it into oblivion and steadily go downhill and around in circles for the next hour. I finally started dragging him kicking and screaming away from the board to walk the room a little when I felt he reached that sweet spot. He eventually realized the board was not going to explode if he walked away for a minute and that the sound magically stayed good if it was already good.
 
Re: Mixing side of stage. How DO you deal with it?

Eric Cagle said:
LOL! All of us started out that way, especially me! It is one of those things. Eventually most of us will learn to relax and let the band do their thing and enjoy the show. There are sometimes a few tweaks that need to be made as the crowd size or temperature changes, or as the band gets drunk and things like that, but for the most part ONCE YOU REALLY GET IT DIALED IN YOU CAN ONLY GO DOWN HILL. One of my favorite engineers I have ever worked with would get the sound abosolutely stellar in about 10 minutes, beyond belief good, and then proceed to mix it into oblivion and steadily go downhill and around in circles for the next hour. I finally started dragging him kicking and screaming away from the board to walk the room a little when I felt he reached that sweet spot. He eventually realized the board was not going to explode if he walked away for a minute and that the sound magically stayed good if it was already good.
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I worked with him (or his analogue) a couple of weeks ago. Good mix right out of the gate, stunning by the 3rd song.... and then declining through the last half of the set.
 
Re: Mixing side of stage. How DO you deal with it?

Eric Cagle said:
Maybe we should have the "3 Song Rule".
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i think it's a good idea. :)

in thinking about this topic i was remembering a big corporate gig i did with a national headliner and a local opener for entertainment. of course the headliner got first dibs on channels at FOH and the local got the left overs, but they shared drum channels. The local's FOH guy spent the better part of an hour dashing from the far left [where the drums were] to the far right [where his vocals were] of a PM4000. didn't help that i think he was all of 5'2" and given that i'm 6'4" and had set the desk to mix standing up he could barely see over the desk. his energy level also indicated that certain powdery substances may have been involved.

..it was like watching a one man version of riverdance....
 
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