I ventured down to a local watering hole to hear one of my all-time favorite steel guitar players. He was, of course, excellent; the band was meh.....OK, I guess. But, once again, I was totally AMAZED at how GOOD the instruments' (guitars, bass, keyboard) tone was and how AWFUL the PA system was---HORRIBLE. It is shocking at how BAD small club PA systems are---they are almost always operated at clipping levels, and the resultant sound is nowhere near what the vocal sound is unamplified. It is harsh, nasal, and distorted. Why modern small PA systems haven't advanced in the last 50 years is beyond me. This has happened to me in almost every small club I enter. Occasionally I hear one that is good, but it is rare. Does it really take that much savvy or $$$ to have a limiter on the vocals and and a band-selectable EQ to adjust the tone towards a natural sound? Do operators not realize that you need AT LEAST 14 db of headroom (preferable 20db) to avoid clipping?
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I wrote a fairly long post earlier, but suffice to say there's a huge variety of reasons why the sound might've been poor.
Some examples:
- Sound engineer doesn't know what they're doing
- Sound engineer does know what they're doing, but their hands are tied for whatever reason (management, artist)
- The singer insisted on using a crappy mic
- All the speakers are abused to the point of sounding that bad
- That was the best the engineer could get, after getting rid of the worst of the feedback etc
HiFi guys would be horrified at some of the things that happen to produce live sound.
Chris
Some examples:
- Sound engineer doesn't know what they're doing
- Sound engineer does know what they're doing, but their hands are tied for whatever reason (management, artist)
- The singer insisted on using a crappy mic
- All the speakers are abused to the point of sounding that bad
- That was the best the engineer could get, after getting rid of the worst of the feedback etc
HiFi guys would be horrified at some of the things that happen to produce live sound.
Chris
sound engineer? that would mean there's budget to pay someone to man the battlestation most bar PA situations are "here you go have fun" and "it was all working the last time we used it, what do you mean there's a blown horn?"
or the ever classic "monitors? aren't the speakers we have loud enough, your right beside them?"
or the ever classic "monitors? aren't the speakers we have loud enough, your right beside them?"
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how much live music mixing do you do? and please don't mistake my question as an attack or insult but there's an oversimplification there that doesn't make sense to me so i hope to clarify my understanding of your statement.
many bar PA's wouldn't make the cut as a "paging system"!
many bar PA's wouldn't make the cut as a "paging system"!
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even though it's less power than a 100w Marshall the AC 30 with a distortion pedal in the chain can be just like a 3 year old and manage to produce those screaming mid frequencies that make anybody wince...
when it comes to drums, technique and feel are important but hitting lightly just does not produce the same sound as hitting with appropriate attack (harder) for some tempo's and styles the drummer needs to be allowed some latitude for dymanics...
problem is most people now days expect live performances to be like their listening experience at home on a closed loop reproduction system.
when it comes to drums, technique and feel are important but hitting lightly just does not produce the same sound as hitting with appropriate attack (harder) for some tempo's and styles the drummer needs to be allowed some latitude for dymanics...
problem is most people now days expect live performances to be like their listening experience at home on a closed loop reproduction system.
Another catch 
some drummers know whats appropriate and will play with dynamics and sound great. Some just bash the crash and half open hats like crazy. Experiences may vary.
By stage dynamics I wanted to express the thing when a band plays well together instead of being bunch of individuals. Mentioned drummer since they actually have to know how to play quieter instead of turning a knob.
some drummers know whats appropriate and will play with dynamics and sound great. Some just bash the crash and half open hats like crazy. Experiences may vary.By stage dynamics I wanted to express the thing when a band plays well together instead of being bunch of individuals. Mentioned drummer since they actually have to know how to play quieter instead of turning a knob.
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