Top Ways To Annoy A Sound Engineer

Re: Ways to annoy a sound guy

Chris Tsanjoures said:
audience member - "I can't hear the trumpet"
me - "there are 4 other horn players on stage, he is in the mix, and when he takes a solo I'll bring him up"
audience member - "I'm a trumpet player and I want more trumpet"
me - "shocking."
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I had that happen to me at the Rib-fest on Friday. A teenage band, and the bass players dad tells me`... bass is the most important part of their sound...`

-Mark
 
Re: Ways to annoy a sound guy

Nick Latkowski said:
Random Topic. Please post your own. Could Write a book about them.

  • Anyone Else Wrapping My Cables
  • Anyone Else Running My Cables
  • What does this knob do? (Proceeds to turn it, Get the hell away from my board)
  • Can I set my beer here?
  • Hey, When is this bands next show? (I'm the sound guy, I don't even know their name)
  • I NEED MOAR MONITOR!!!!!
  • Incorrect terminology
  • It sounds like crap. (Did you ever think it's the bands fault? Also, I dont give a shit what your drunk ass thinks. Never mind, forgot Im a miracle worker, I'll get right on that.)
  • Why Can't I hear over there? (Either some idiot didn't set anything up right in the first place, or the venue did not pay for enough equipment.)
  • People glaring at me when the singer / person talking is a foot away from the mic
  • When the local band brings an analog sound engineer that doesn't have the knowledge to use a the digital board you provided. And still wants to run it.
  • Cheap Equipment
  • Shitty Power (Just rent a generator if you cant support my system)
  • That rider is from last year, but should give you a general Idea. (Didn't mention the extra 3 keys that need 2 DI's a piece, or switching to In Ears)
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A good rant can be cathartic. Your list is full of things we've all encountered but I have a few questions.

I don't understand the first two. Is there something special about your cable that would prevent any of thousands of qualified people from wrapping or running them?

If you feel that strongly about your cable who is the "idiot" in your 8th entry and why is he acting as system engineer when you don't even trust him with simple stagecraft?

It would be cool if musicians made a little more effort to learn proper terms and names of equipment. Maybe a fair trade would be learning the names of the people you're mixing?
 
Re: Ways to annoy a sound guy

Jake Scudder said:
It would be cool if musicians made a little more effort to learn proper terms and names of equipment. Maybe a fair trade would be learning the names of the people you're mixing?
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Gaff tape is gaff tape whether you're in an arena in Chicago or a dive bar in Southwestern Ontario... I'll just start calling every bass player John ;)
 
Re: Ways to annoy a sound guy

PM3K32 (with 2 racks of goodies) in a 1500 seat reception hall.
Sound check is done. band has gone to the dressing rooms to prep.
"Decorator" comes over with the event organizer.
"Are you going to move your keyboard onto the stage now ? This would be a good spot for a spare table"
Riiiight.
 
Re: Ways to annoy a sound guy

Spenser Hamilton said:
Gaff tape is gaff tape whether you're in an arena in Chicago or a dive bar in Southwestern Ontario... I'll just start calling every bass player John ;)
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Is it? If we're going to be sticklers for proper terminology wouldn't it be gaffer tape?

(You see how my comment didn't add anything useful to the conversation?)
 
Re: Ways to annoy a sound guy

Ron Kimball said:
It's actually "Gaffer's Tape" if we're gonna be anal and all.
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I'll grant you the possessive if you like. The proper noun might be a bit much. You see my point, though? Something so simple generates several posts amongst ourselves and we're going to feign indignation when a musician uses the wrong term? It seems like a waste of energy. But if that works for the OP, or somehow helps his process, I understand.

Swerving back on topic with an example of my own . . .

Guitar player inserts a new piece of gear into his signal chain without telling anyone. This is a hired pit musician, not an "artist". He knows better. One minute into the show a massive buzz on his input. Guess where it was coming from?

And another one, just to keep it fair. I think this, or something like it, has happened to most every Broadway mixer I know. Pre-show announcement plays. Lights dim. Audience anticipation is palpable. . . (downbeat) . . . and the band/orchestra mute group is still engaged. Nothing quite as annoying as when you do it to yourself.
 
Re: Ways to annoy a sound guy

Jake Scudder said:
And another one, just to keep it fair. I think this, or something like it, has happened to most every Broadway mixer I know. Pre-show announcement plays. Lights dim. Audience anticipation is palpable. . . (downbeat) . . . and the band/orchestra mute group is still engaged. Nothing quite as annoying as when you do it to yourself.
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Chasing mutes sucks, especially if you have no "script" like doing a one-off band. A couple weekends back I had the typical singing drummer who's mic was picking up the snare as loud as his voice. As I was trying to float the vocals above the instruments (they had good 3 part harmonies) all was fine except for the f'in' loud snare in the PA. Dunno if it was his mic as this was a four band festival and this band (the headliner) insisted on using their own mics. I didn't have any problems on another singing drummer earlier using my EV N/D767A.
 
Re: Ways to annoy a sound guy

A recent treat was a performer who showed up with his Radio Shack VHF wireless mic straight out of 1985 with the wonderful easily overdriven capsule and outstanding reliability of non-diversity and insisted on using it instead of the provided UHF-R.

A cornucopia of delights.

cornucopia.jpg
 
Re: Ways to annoy a sound guy

Jeff Babcock said:
A recent treat was a performer who showed up with his Radio Shack VHF wireless mic from 1985 and insisted on using it instead of the provided UHF-R.

A cornucopia of delights.

View attachment 7610
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I have had some national acts INSIST on using their own wireless mics-even though the mics sound like crap!

And people would come up to me and ask what is wrong with the singer-and why don't I fix it. I try to explain that it is THEIR mic-but they don't believe that "the star" would use bad gear-so ti MUST be my issue. Even though everything else sounds just fine----------------------------
 
Re: Ways to annoy a sound guy

Ivan Beaver said:
I have had some national acts INSIST on using their own wireless mics-even though the mics sound like crap!

And people would come up to me and ask what is wrong with the singer-and why don't I fix it. I try to explain that it is THEIR mic-but they don't believe that "the star" would use bad gear-so ti MUST be my issue. Even though everything else sounds just fine----------------------------
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Yup, we get blamed for everything. Shitty sounding drums, guitar amps, guitars, poor talent provided mics, shitty talent provided pedal vocal processors, noisy guitar cords, broken guitar cords, cheap acoustic guitar pickups, uneven keyboard patch levels, uneven clean/distorted guitar levels, poor mic technique, poor instrument playing, blaring stage volume, no toilet paper in the bathrooms.
 
Re: Ways to annoy a sound guy

Greg Cameron said:
Yup, we get blamed for everything. Shitty sounding drums, guitar amps, guitars, poor talent provided mics, shitty talent provided pedal vocal processors, noisy guitar cords, broken guitar cords, cheap acoustic guitar pickups, uneven keyboard patch levels, uneven clean/distorted guitar levels, poor mic technique, poor instrument playing, blaring stage volume, no toilet paper in the bathrooms.
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All true and all the more evident when a band with some or all of the above issues is actually mixed and on a decent PA system.
When the bands fans and family hear them for the first time in a proper presentation those issues become glaringly obvious and of course it's our fault!!!
 
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