Subject: that time of year again (1/2)

Richard Webb to James Bradley on 06-19-11 21:50 re: that time of year again

 RW> 

 RW>   YEah, so many folks don't know anything about how
 RW> to interact with an actual stage crew and the reinforcement
 RW>  [...]
 JB> because you won't  ride the threshold on a gate along with 14 other
 JB> effects cues for each  song... "SECURITY!"

 RW> YEah I know, that's the other thing frustrates me, was
 RW> drummers who didn't tune the kit properly, expect me to
 RW> solve their problems with technology, such as noise gates
 RW> on tom mics, etc.  OFten any signal processing I had
 RW> available
 RW> was needed elsewhere, i.e. the bass man who can't play with
 RW> good dynamics, so I had to strap a compressor across his
 RW> channel, or the singer with poor mic technique, etc.

Revisiting my last issue: White-lithium grease kiddies! One dollop on each of
your drum-pedals will make you squeak less, and just *might* improve your
playing. Tommy Lee (NOT a fan, but an admirerer of his professionalism.) was
quoted as spouting off about a certain model of Tama bass drum-pedal, and that
he could hear the click of the metal banding used to connect the foot-pedal to
the cam. The bass-player from Motley Cru [Umlaut omitted for lack of
time/concern on the topic.] Nicky Six, [?] was waxing over that "That's just
too much detail, Tommy!" on the topic, but it is FAR from a "mute" point!
[Duplicitous meaning *purely* unintentional, but *I* found it funny! ;-] If a
band of leather and one well placed rivet can improve your product and you
DON'T do it, what does that communicate to the professionals that you are
trying to impress? Sally in the front row will tolerate the clicks every time
you "kick" the bass-drum, but there's idjiats like Tommy and me in the audience
that will pass judgment on you as a musician for *dozens* of these issues.

...
 RW> snakes etc. but my shoestring operation was weak on good
 RW> signal processing.  I think I had a Yamaha spx-90, a
 RW> digitech something or other digital delay, a rOland space
 RW> echo, and about 4 channels of dbx compression.  I could
 RW> borrow some stuff from the big player I also worked for at
 RW> times, but oftentimes I'd get the bigger shows I got, or
 RW> those fests from hell because his A rig, which consisted of
 RW> both his B level rigs was booked.  THis meant I was having
 RW> to rent or borrow elsewhere, and I'd only rent if it was a
 RW> ogtta have it on the rider, and I was getting paid my full
 RW> rate.  IF I was working on the cheap you didn't get me
 RW> renting additional signal processing gear.

I explained to a local cutie, that a modern PA rig, or even a moderate
recording studio begins to resemble a passenger jet cockpit. I don't think she
could envision it, but some of these manuals *alone* require an engineering
degree, and a masters in linguistics to reverse the logic used to to write such
scuttle-butt. Heck, even a JBL car amp with a built in active crossover has me
frustrated at the moment! I've NEVER had a reason to suspect their
specifications (Which I *just* found on the back side of the back cover page.)
but the document was intended for the Thump-And-Bump crowd, and I expected at
first view that a lot of stuff I find interesting would be glossed over. (The
slope of the crossover band-passes. PS current dumping? ...) Regardless if it
was manufactured in the same PLANT as that Taiwanese piece of crap amp with the
ladder-bar LED VUs, I'd trust the damping factor of *this* brick at 2-Ohms
*much* more because of the pedigree, but I was a little dismayed that the
manual mentioned "neon tubes" more than more pressing to me issues. "Don't hate
the player" I guess. 

 RW> 


 JB> "Bottom right = good. Top left = bad. Got it?"  In my fantasies,
 JB> an  automated board might alleviate any mess Junior could do, but to
 JB> spot the  special idiot that could erase your snapshot of unity gain
 JB> would be the new challenge.

 RW> YEah I remember the first one I played with, Yamaha 01v
 RW> with the snapshot automation.  THat was a day from hell, two
 RW> blind guys trying to figure out interfacing that thing with
 RW> two Alesis adats for a session.  I was glad my buddy still
...
I have to admit to the breadth of my ignorance regarding your "limitation".
Pardon me, but isn't this *truly* the blind leading the blind? 

I hope to get more into it in the Hinton's echo, but I utilize a lot of
brackets, abbreviations, and just stupid contractions that I think might appear
"cute" to the sighted. I *was* wondering how this translates through your voice
engine/Braille monitor?

 RW>   YEah I can relate.  A buddy of mine who services
 RW> broadcast transmitters is always telling stories about
 RW> people wearing watches rings and the like and 

 JB> Welding classes are down the hall? Cripes... Imagine how many ways
 JB> "talent"  finds to ruin a modulator's gain structure? [...]
 JB> neighborhood a "free show". What a  "clipping mess" that product
 JB> sounded like!

 RW>   sOme people shouldn't be allowed near such

Ya, and there's a reason they make those little adjustment screwdrivers out of
plastic *besides* the potential that you could spot weld it to the
mother-board. 

 RW> things.  A friend of mine in upstate NY was arguing for a
 RW> poster in an internet forum to acquire a large format
 RW> Yamaha digital for a church monitor console because setting
 RW> could
 RW> be passworded.  I argued for good old analog, because the
 RW> "praise team" didn't have sound techs even for front of
 RW> house, talent adjusted it themselves.  SUre it's nice to

Hm... I *think* I'm on the fence on this one. Give the pastor an index card
containing the instruction to return the board to unity gain and flat eq, then
hire a tech for a day to balance it up for the snapshot??? Let the "talent"
tweak away, and when the mess gets too smelly... No, I think a simple automated
board would be my preference. If the pastor is astute, he could be left with a
second index card on how to store and recall a snapshot for when Dwain comes in
with his bass guitar. Maybe it depends on the pastor/volunteer tech, and their
ability to learn?  Maybe a high resolution snap-shot of a balanced analog board
could supplant the automation? 

 RW> have those parametric eqs on all the groups and that, along
 RW> with compression gates and the like, but folks who are
 RW> boiling hard just to remember to count down to the fourth
 RW> knob on the keyboard channel if you need more keyboard in
 RW> your in-ear monitors and turn that one up are going to even
 RW> have a tougher time selecting things in the menu structure
 RW> from hell.  Then, since they use in-ears, if some bonehead
 RW> happens to defeat the limiters that protect his eardrums
 RW> and deafens himself then he sues the church.  THere are
 RW> reasons
 RW> we professionals advocate that anybody monitoring through
 RW> those earbuds or headphones should strap a brick wall
 RW> limiter across them.

For the love of the Lord... YES! A friend told me those in-ear dohickys had a
built in limiter/compressor. Not so?

 RW> All you need is somebody defeating that because they suffer
 RW> from the principle of mild, as in "make it loud dammit" ya
 RW> know what I mean .

I now have a new acronym I can "take to the bank".  Yes, I know all to
well what you mean, though. Blue Oyster Cult, I saw attempting to destroy a FOH
system by trying to "MILD" it. 

 RW>  [And a ... ;-]

 JB> Consider it work, kids! Consider the pro's workload. Respect their
 JB> advice.  Showing up to learn and assist if and WHEN asked to, and
 JB> you might have a  future in the biz.

 RW> Well spoken.  i tell newbies working a crew with me, show

I thank you sir, and I appreciate the validation. I *do* have my moments.
Mostly brushing of the "compost" I just fell into, but.... 

 RW> up professional dressed, actual shoes on feet, ready to
 RW> work.

"Actual shoes *on* feet..." That's *so* funny in so *many* ways!

My mind is repeatedly returning to a PTSD incident were the pick up "lighting
tech" couldn't undo the knot on the auditoriums' truss during a tear-down. This
*special* guy found the quick fix to be to pull out his Buck knife and let
gravity do his work for him, dropping the truss and ALL the pars to the stage
four-feet from a BRAND NEW Gretch snare I had just crated, and closer to my
head. I think that was my turning point if I was going to waste any more time
with *that* band of thieves. Cripes, if I need steel toed boots AND a hardhat
to play rock and roll, I needed to find a new profession!

...
 RW> everything that goes down in documentation is written by the newbie,
 RW> even if he doesn't understand it.  tHen we go over
 RW> his session log after the day's work is done, and we
 RW> explain why he was told to make note of that.  This means making
 RW> notes of the position of every knob button and fader on the
 RW> console, what's patched where on the patch panels, etc.

That's an interesting point the layman can't seem to grasp. Your workday
doesn't end when the tape is stowed. Heck, I'll bet most would think the tape
says on the deck! To power up, AND to shut down is a sequence in itself. A
neighbour *just* expressed, "I'll learn to play the guitar in three months, and
get the quantity/quality of chicks you used to." (It's the same *arse* that I
can't teach how to wrap a cord, but he's crass like me and a LOT of fun to poke
with a stick. ;-) I didn't bother to get into callous management, or how us
musicians are #2 in line for carpal tunnel and repetitive stress fractures, but
I tried to explain the time commitment before you step foot on your first
showcase gig, even IF you're an art-school punk band with better haircuts than
equipment. Cripes, if he saw the price of *one* good guitar cable alone, I bet
he'd learn how to care for the friggin' thing. 

...
 JB> When we picked up a *real* soundman, it was interesting watch him
 JB> consistently improve our product. What a wealth of knowledge that
 JB> guy was!  Appreciate it if you got it kiddies!!!!

 RW> INdeed, there's a reason that sound techs demand the kind
 RW> of money they do, and often they're underpaid at that.  WHen
 RW> I'd work for my main man and do the big arena or other
 RW> venues for a national act I'd usually get tagged with
 RW> mixing monitors, and usually get a compliment from the
 RW> performers


--- Maximus 3.01
 * Origin: -=-= Calgary Organization CDN (403) 242-3221 (1:342/77)