Andy
Honorary Member
Frustration doesn't come close to describing my day yesterday. We were booked to play the main / last slot at a big bike rally on a racecourse. Guru Drums also sponsored the rear line gear. It's a typical trailer gig - no issues there, but due to delays, we ended up playing to an audience that had mostly gone home.
The day started badly too. I was there early to set up. PA company all ready to go when I arrived. Now, the sound man is a really nice guy, but has almost no idea how to run sound, & by his own admission, partially deaf. He's running sound from INSIDE the back of a van, has no monitor mic for stage communication, & using a digital desk. On setting up the drum sound, we started with bass drum (another drummer at the helm). After 10 seconds, he's waving his arms to ask the drummer to "just go round the kit". The bass drum sounds like crap. I swap out mic's to my own batter & reso set, & we start again. Much better, but still needs work. As we're pushed for time, I ask him to just run the kit flat, but we need to do something with that bass drum. I suggest -3db 125Hz - +2db 40Hz on the batter mic & run the reso mic flat then blend to taste. It turns out he "doesn't usually use EQ", so spends forever working out how to call up the EQ section. Eventually we get somewhere close.
No line check on anything else, no monitor balance, just straight into the first band's opening number. Well, it's a mess, & the next 6 songs are consumed with band members asking for "more of this / less of that please", & copious quantities of audience cringing feedback.
Eventually, it's our turn. We spend forever trying to get keyboards in the keyboard monitor, then on the opening number, the keyboards are literally cutting my head off in the drum monitor. I get through the opening set piece & first number, but then break my usual protocol & get on the main vocal mic to get rid of the blistering keyboards. Rather than confuse him with a level request, I simply ask him to turn the monitor off (I tried unplugging the damn thing myself first).
TBH, I let it get to me, & finished the next number in an overly aggressive style, but the audience seemed to like it. I don't usually use double pedal, but it was there for the other drummers, so decided to give it a good thumping.
Anyhow, here's a video clip of my frustrations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nKYB8cuKo0&feature=youtu.be
Warning - expletives right from the get go:
The day started badly too. I was there early to set up. PA company all ready to go when I arrived. Now, the sound man is a really nice guy, but has almost no idea how to run sound, & by his own admission, partially deaf. He's running sound from INSIDE the back of a van, has no monitor mic for stage communication, & using a digital desk. On setting up the drum sound, we started with bass drum (another drummer at the helm). After 10 seconds, he's waving his arms to ask the drummer to "just go round the kit". The bass drum sounds like crap. I swap out mic's to my own batter & reso set, & we start again. Much better, but still needs work. As we're pushed for time, I ask him to just run the kit flat, but we need to do something with that bass drum. I suggest -3db 125Hz - +2db 40Hz on the batter mic & run the reso mic flat then blend to taste. It turns out he "doesn't usually use EQ", so spends forever working out how to call up the EQ section. Eventually we get somewhere close.
No line check on anything else, no monitor balance, just straight into the first band's opening number. Well, it's a mess, & the next 6 songs are consumed with band members asking for "more of this / less of that please", & copious quantities of audience cringing feedback.
Eventually, it's our turn. We spend forever trying to get keyboards in the keyboard monitor, then on the opening number, the keyboards are literally cutting my head off in the drum monitor. I get through the opening set piece & first number, but then break my usual protocol & get on the main vocal mic to get rid of the blistering keyboards. Rather than confuse him with a level request, I simply ask him to turn the monitor off (I tried unplugging the damn thing myself first).
TBH, I let it get to me, & finished the next number in an overly aggressive style, but the audience seemed to like it. I don't usually use double pedal, but it was there for the other drummers, so decided to give it a good thumping.
Anyhow, here's a video clip of my frustrations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nKYB8cuKo0&feature=youtu.be
Warning - expletives right from the get go:
Last edited by a moderator: