Soundchecks - are they professional?

[chris_b]

Have a sound check if you really feel you need one, but the bands I play with know what they want to sound like, and know how to get it.

 

I've never seen anyone take longer than 20 seconds to line check and sort their sound.

[Happy Jack]

3 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I've never seen anyone take longer than 20 seconds to line check and sort their sound.

 

You need to get out more ...

 

[chris_b]

10 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

 

You need to get out more ...

 

Others might, but not the bands I play in.

[prowla]

Questionable, since most people doing sound checks can only count to two.

[wateroftyne]

20 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Have a sound check if you really feel you need one, but the bands I play with know what they want to sound like, and know how to get it.

 

I've never seen anyone take longer than 20 seconds to line check and sort their sound.

Really? Wow.

[EssexBuccaneer]

We have one song that uses all our elements and also doesn’t appear in our regular set (that’s key to the soundcheck). It has vox, backing, all instruments and the drummer’s FX pad.

 

We tell the audience we’re gonna have a quick sound check, play the intro, a verse, a chorus then end it. Then tell the audience we’ll be back in ‘x’ mins. 
 

I have a wander out front while we’re playing the verse to gauge everything then nip back on stage for BV in the chorus.

[dave_bass5]

43 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Really? Wow.

He never said they sounded good though 😂😎

[dave_bass5]

13 minutes ago, EssexBuccaneer said:

. 
 

I have a wander out front while we’re playing the verse to gauge everything then nip back on stage for BV in the chorus.

Now im stuck behind the keyboards i miss being able to do this, and while there are others that could, i wouldn't trust them to listen to anything other than themselves. 

[BassTool]

6 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

Gigging in a pub? Soundcheck 'till you're happy.

Gigging in a ticketed venue? Be done and dusted before they let people in.

...IMO, of course.

This.

 

Bang on.

 

👍🏼

[BassTool]

Get to a venue well ahead of 'first set' or playing time.

Leave nothing to chance.

 

Your overall sound....

 

 

.....is everything 😉

[tauzero]

57 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Now im stuck behind the keyboards i miss being able to do this, and while there are others that could, i wouldn't trust them to listen to anything other than themselves. 

 

[jezzaboy]

We are playing the Town Hall in Kirriemuir on Saturday, the third and final band on that days events. We have played twice before with the guys doing the sound and know them but it`s the guitarist`s who have no concept of volume who will get it in the ear.

 

And I don`t think there is any chance of clearing the venue for a soundcheck. 

[Dan Dare]

4 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

I've also been fighting to get my lead guitarist to play for the audience and not himself. He angles his combo towards his head/ceiling. When I ask him to turn it up so it can be heard out front, I get 'then it's too loud'. No bloody idea!!!. 

 

Don't knock it. He sounds ideal. Many of us would love to have a guitar player with that attitude in our bands. Just place a mic' in front of his cab and put some of him in the PA

[Franticsmurf]

Option 2. With the proviso that, as mentioned above, if you can do the soundcheck before the punters arrive then that is far better.

 

I had this ongoing argument with our guitarist/singer who didn't think any band needed a soundcheck as he knew how to get a great sound. He didn't, of course, but couldn't admit it. His guitar sound was almost as bassy as my bass. Later, after I'd left, I went to see him play. His guitar was still far too bassy and the vocals were very indistinct.

 

If the soundcheck is brief and done in a professional manner, perhaps even announcing it to the punters and/or making light of it ("Thank you very much and goodnight" after 30 seconds of a song) then no one can complain and it's far better than hoping its ok.

[dave_bass5]

1 minute ago, Dan Dare said:

 

Don't knock it. He sounds ideal. Many of us would love to have a guitar player with that attitude in our bands. Just place a mic' in front of his cab and put some of him in the PA

No, not ideal at all. We do place a mic on his cab, but now he insists on using a Telecaster which is constantly feeding back, so no way im putting him in FOH. He. Use one sounded and 14 pedals, constantly playing with them, always looking down at his pedals or looking at his amp. 

Doesn’t help that he isnt the rhythm guitarist, so noodles through the songs until his solo’s come along. Even plays lead lines over mine. Always the last off stage after soundcheck, as he has to keep noodling over the music we put on etc un till we tell him to get off stage

[dave_bass5]

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

 

As soon as i posted i knew this would happen 😂

[SimonK]

Soundchecks are more important for singers than anyone else.

 

It's been a few years since I was regularly doing sound, but for me sound check was for the band and especially the singers to get their stage levels right as this was not something I could do for them. I would only get the FOH approximate because as soon as the punters came in the FOH mix changed, but I could adapt pretty quickly during the first couple songs.

 

Thus said, I did quite like to set my overall EQ using a squeak test (ideally with grey noise) to get some more headroom, but almost never had time to do it properly (the quick version was getting someone to cup their hand over a mic as I cranked the gain)! There was a Behringer unit that used to try to do it automatically but it never seemed to work so well.

 

But for me ALWAYS a quick soundcheck after the linecheck.

[uk_lefty]

We do option 2, but we do it by playing a song that's not on the set list for the night. Me and the two guitars are wireless so we will wonder about to get a feeling for the sound. The singer tells everyone it's a soundcheck so if we stop abruptly to adjust something or start over again it's generally accepted.

[Graham56]

3 hours ago, jezzaboy said:

We are playing the Town Hall in Kirriemuir on Saturday...

 

You've got the gig at the ball? 😆

[Norris]

If you're going to soundcheck then do it properly and quickly.

 

We play in pubs. We've played together for years. We are very familiar with our equipment. A quick line check is plenty - does it make a noise? If so then stfu 😂. It's very rare that it doesn't sound good from the start. There again we only have the vocals going through the PA. There is absolutely no need to mike up the drum kit in the Dog and Duck and spend half an hour trying to get the kick drum to take out the back wall. Keep it simple, keep it under control.

[Stub Mandrel]

Sometimes you can't soundcheck.

 

Sometimes you can.

 

For some odd reason the gigs where you can seem to generate more positive comments about the sound quality.

 

 

Hmmm.

[KingPrawn]

A full-on sound check is becoming less of an issue for the bands I'm in. We use IEMS and Line 6 stomps or Pods, so the signal is routed through a desk, which can save the settings. Once we have set up, we rely on our ability to send the right signal to the desk. The onstage sound is the most important. Once the balance is right, the FOH is just another gain stage. 

 

If I'm using amps, I just set it for the venue size. I personally try to look at all the complementary frequencies I may be competing with and set my level where my sound won't get lost. Aside from that, there is usually someone in the audience who feels the need to tell us/ me whats not sounding right

[oldslapper]

I thought a “sound check” was the only opportunity for the guitarist to practice, no? 
 

[fretmeister]

Not soundchecking is extremely unprofessional.

 

No faster way to clear a busy pub than starting the gig and sounding shit. You'll never get booked again.

[SumOne]

We do a silent test that everyone is going through the mixer/laptop and in ears are working, and individually do a quick loud test of backline things (E.g. just playing a few bass notes at volume). Then we basically go straight into our first song but it is one where instruments gradually start playing one by one and the lead singer stands out front checking the levels via a laptop interface, we go around for a while if he needs to adjust things, then he starts singing and adjusts vocal levels if needed.

 

The upside is punters don't have to put up with a lot of '1 2 1 2 check check' stuff. Downside is it is a bit a a damp squib of a set starting.