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Junior Varsity
My festival strategies
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<blockquote data-quote="Jay Barracato" data-source="post: 31067" data-attributes="member: 24"><p>Re: My festival strategies</p><p></p><p>This past weekend, the festival I originally had booked was cancelled about a month ago. Despite knowing the weekend was free, I really did not get around to thinking about plans until the last minute. I wasn't up for the idea of tempting traffic after school on Friday, but I did wake up on Saturday and think "What the hell, go to a festival". I did end up seeing a couple of important examples of what I think is an important rule for mixing festivals:</p><p> </p><p>Be agressive in getting to your mix... this is no time for the meek.</p><p> </p><p>On a side stage, I watched an act that I am extremely familiar with breaking in a new young BE. Most of the line check was spent with 2 vocal mics (KSM9's) that should be extremely predictable. It was clear that this tech was most comfortable with a methodical approach. It was tweak and listen, then tweak again, but with one channel at a time. As a result, he was working on minor details on one channel before addressing major problems on others. By the fifth song when I walked away, he was just starting to balance total vocal level with instrument level.</p><p> </p><p>Basically, if it takes one song per channel, and you have 5 instruments and 4 vocals, your set is over before your mix is set. Sometimes, it is far better to make a couple of big steps than a whole lot of little steps. If the step is for the better, most of the audience won't even notice.</p><p> </p><p>In contrast, I wandered over to the main stage to see a band I have heard about but never heard. Mixing the band was an extremely competant engineer (I have seen him do a large number of shows, and I rarely have any complaints about his mix style). All three of the lead instruments had level problems, and the mandolin was obviously distorted. The mandolin was plugged in through a pickup system and also had a instrument mic. Watching the "JumboVision" showed the player was all over the place with the distance to the mic. I am not sure but there may have also been a boost pedal on the pickup channel. The experienced tech reached over and grabbed a fader (my guess is the one for the instrument mic) pulled it totally down, listened for about 2 seconds and then pushed it back up part way. Since I had the visual clue of what he had done, I could hear the slight change, but I guarentee no one else did, or if maybe 1 in 20 knew that something changed, I am sure they didn't know what it was.</p><p> </p><p>Thats the lesson, make the needed change and make it quick.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jay Barracato, post: 31067, member: 24"] Re: My festival strategies This past weekend, the festival I originally had booked was cancelled about a month ago. Despite knowing the weekend was free, I really did not get around to thinking about plans until the last minute. I wasn't up for the idea of tempting traffic after school on Friday, but I did wake up on Saturday and think "What the hell, go to a festival". I did end up seeing a couple of important examples of what I think is an important rule for mixing festivals: Be agressive in getting to your mix... this is no time for the meek. On a side stage, I watched an act that I am extremely familiar with breaking in a new young BE. Most of the line check was spent with 2 vocal mics (KSM9's) that should be extremely predictable. It was clear that this tech was most comfortable with a methodical approach. It was tweak and listen, then tweak again, but with one channel at a time. As a result, he was working on minor details on one channel before addressing major problems on others. By the fifth song when I walked away, he was just starting to balance total vocal level with instrument level. Basically, if it takes one song per channel, and you have 5 instruments and 4 vocals, your set is over before your mix is set. Sometimes, it is far better to make a couple of big steps than a whole lot of little steps. If the step is for the better, most of the audience won't even notice. In contrast, I wandered over to the main stage to see a band I have heard about but never heard. Mixing the band was an extremely competant engineer (I have seen him do a large number of shows, and I rarely have any complaints about his mix style). All three of the lead instruments had level problems, and the mandolin was obviously distorted. The mandolin was plugged in through a pickup system and also had a instrument mic. Watching the "JumboVision" showed the player was all over the place with the distance to the mic. I am not sure but there may have also been a boost pedal on the pickup channel. The experienced tech reached over and grabbed a fader (my guess is the one for the instrument mic) pulled it totally down, listened for about 2 seconds and then pushed it back up part way. Since I had the visual clue of what he had done, I could hear the slight change, but I guarentee no one else did, or if maybe 1 in 20 knew that something changed, I am sure they didn't know what it was. Thats the lesson, make the needed change and make it quick. [/QUOTE]
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