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Turning Down an Opportunity


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Have you seen the movie 'Sound of Metal'? Watch it!

 

Definitely worth a watch. My brother and sister are both deaf and my hearing is going fast, so it hit very close to home for me.

Live: Yamaha S70XS (#1); Roland Jupiter-80; Mackie 1202VLZ4: IEMs or Traynor K4

Home: Hammond SK Pro 73; Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue; Yamaha S70XS (#2); Wurlitzer 200A

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Have you seen the movie 'Sound of Metal'? Watch it!

 

Definitely worth a watch. My brother and sister are both deaf and my hearing is going fast, so it hit very close to home for me.

 

It is my own hearing damage that made me suggest running away.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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It's funny...

 

Of the 2 bands I'm in... the country band does wireless IEMs (except for me: I use a spot monitor), no guitar or bass amps (they go direct via modeling pedal set-ups). Complex digital mixer, and tons of audio processing gear (compressor, EQ, exciter, etc.) at the mixing desk. And as a result, soundchecks take up to an hour, with bandmembers endlessly saying "turn this up, turn this down", ad infinitum. Frustrating.

 

What kind of digital mixer are you using? Is it controllable via WiFi? If so, maybe you could get everyone set up to control their own monitor mixes. My band uses a Soundcraft Ui24R digital mixer to run our IEMs (we connect everything to a splitter snake with one side going to our monitor mixer and the other to FOH). Then we each control our own monitor mix using our iPads, smartphones, etc. It totally did away with the soundcheck hassles. Don't like your monitor mix? Fix it yourself.

 

Since we use the same mics and instruments everywhere we play, I have barely tweaked my mix other than the overall level in months. Our bass player, on the other hand, seems to adjust something nearly every other song. (He was also the guy that, before we got the IEM system, spent 30 minutes repeating, "Oh, one more thing" during soundchecks.)

 

The mixer is a Behringer x32. I don't know if it's controllable via WiFi. With all of the wireless IEM issues we have (wrong channel, noise, interference...), adding yet more wireless paths for signals to travel through, looks like possibly more trouble. But if it allows everybody to individually adjust their monitor levels without constantly pestering the sound guy, it looks like something to consider.

Kurzweil PC3, Yamaha MOX8, Alesis Ion, Kawai K3M
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It's funny...

 

Of the 2 bands I'm in... the country band does wireless IEMs (except for me: I use a spot monitor), no guitar or bass amps (they go direct via modeling pedal set-ups). Complex digital mixer, and tons of audio processing gear (compressor, EQ, exciter, etc.) at the mixing desk. And as a result, soundchecks take up to an hour, with bandmembers endlessly saying "turn this up, turn this down", ad infinitum. Frustrating.

 

What kind of digital mixer are you using? Is it controllable via WiFi? If so, maybe you could get everyone set up to control their own monitor mixes. My band uses a Soundcraft Ui24R digital mixer to run our IEMs (we connect everything to a splitter snake with one side going to our monitor mixer and the other to FOH). Then we each control our own monitor mix using our iPads, smartphones, etc. It totally did away with the soundcheck hassles. Don't like your monitor mix? Fix it yourself.

 

Since we use the same mics and instruments everywhere we play, I have barely tweaked my mix other than the overall level in months. Our bass player, on the other hand, seems to adjust something nearly every other song. (He was also the guy that, before we got the IEM system, spent 30 minutes repeating, "Oh, one more thing" during soundchecks.)

 

The mixer is a Behringer x32. I don't know if it's controllable via WiFi. With all of the wireless IEM issues we have (wrong channel, noise, interference...), adding yet more wireless paths for signals to travel through, looks like possibly more trouble. But if it allows everybody to individually adjust their monitor levels without constantly pestering the sound guy, it looks like something to consider.

 

Th X32 can be controlled via WiFi, but you'll need to connect a wireless router to it. Then each person downloads an app to their phone or iPad and can control their own monitor mix. As I described earlier, going this route has saved us a ton of time during soundchecks. Good luck!

Live: Yamaha S70XS (#1); Roland Jupiter-80; Mackie 1202VLZ4: IEMs or Traynor K4

Home: Hammond SK Pro 73; Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue; Yamaha S70XS (#2); Wurlitzer 200A

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm always amazed at bands that rehearse at full combat volume, especially when trying to work out parts.

 

If I've learned anything, is always be prepared to protect and hear yourself. I keep musician ear plugs on my keychain. I also don't hesitate to wear them at movie theaters, concerts, or if around fireworks.

 

Unless it's distorted organ, we all know it gets really hard for keys to cleanly compete with a loud band.

 

I bring ear plugs, and IEMs. If it's a show or ministry gig, I call ahead and ask if they're using a digital board. At this point I've got every app for most mixers, and enough adaptors to connect to anything. If it's a loud club, I wear my ear plugs on break too.

 

I work with a popular local old-school RnB artist who brings a Fender twin AND Fender bassman for his too - loud guitar rig. His drummer has to bring his own little PA just to hear his drums. I know him well enough to ask him to turn down, but he's near deaf anyway. He and his bass player complained they couldn't hear me loud enough when I did ears,....(um duh?). So I just bring an old barbetta 32 and point it at them. I try to keep my distance, and rely on the IEMs for protection, as his sound guy only provides wedges (and they suck....). I enjoy his music and it's a fun gig, so do what I can to make it work.

 

Tommyrude summed it up perfectly about risk management.. Some things you can control: You can somewhat fix volume, but smoke is another issue. I flat turn down anything that's a smoking venue.

Chris Corso

www.chriscorso.org

Lots of stuff.

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