This weekend I’m out doing a couple shows in Indiana. Last night we were in an old theater (as in movie theater- see the screen behind the stage?) in a college town, and I just want to tell you about the audio set up, what I liked/ didn’t like about it, and what could have been improved. It’s not my intent to insult anyone here. In fact, the theater took good care of us. The local radio station was there in support. And, the crowd seemed to have a good time. I, on the other hand, wasn’t the happiest camper.

The room and stage were big enough, and in fact, almost too big. In a room about 48′ wide, the stage was 32′ across. Then, off the side of the stage was a 5′ gap on each side, then the speakers were almost out by the walls! The problem is the speaker placement. With the boxes so far out, they were aimed into the middle of the room, which means the direct sound (on-axis) was meeting in the middle of the room, which causes some destructive interactions. (Click here for a more detailed look at this).

The fix would have been to bring the stacks in closer to the stage, so that they pointed straight out. This also uses the stage sound with the house speakers, instead of fighting it. When I mentioned this to the sound company, they quickly offered to point the speakers in even further, but that would have worsened the problem.

My last comment about the speakers is that there were 4 different types of cabinets being used at once! I had 3 different EQ’s at my disposal, but over complicating like this doesn’t help me out, it hurts! I highly recommend keeping all of your speakers the same model and not throwing up a hodge podge of cabinets as you determine you need more and more coverage. Sure there will be exceptions (balcony fills, lobby coverage, subs), but I hope you get my point. Keep it simple, right? RIGHT!

At risk of being all negative, here are some positive things. We had the mics we needed, and even the ones I wanted! I had less than 20 inputs, and I use all standard mics, yet sometimes it’s hard to get what I like. If I had all 57′s, I could mix an entire band, except for maybe the kick drum. I think every production company (and church) should have at least 12 SM57′s on hand.

Another great aspect from last night’s production, was that we got our own console. After we sound checked, no microphones or mixer channels were altered. That is rare, but was a very welcomed site! The room sounded bad, and coupled with the bad speaker placement, it took me quite a while to get the best sound I could, but at least I didn’t have to re-work everything come show time.

Oh yeah, come show time, I realized I didn’t have any of my lead vocal slap back delay! A quick glance at the TC Electonic M1 showed that there was no input. I checked my connections, upped the level, but nothing was happening. I’m not sure why, but I tried to edit the parameters, and then realized, the unit had frozen. I turned it off, then back on (muting the channel first of course), but it wouldn’t reboot.

My solution was to grab the cables from the opening band’s console that went to their D2 (delay) unit. I finally untangled the cables, brought them over to my console and got it working by the 3rd song, but the disappointing part was that the company workers were no where to be found. They should have been there to help me fix this problem, but instead I had take care of it. The comical part (now, not then) was that the owner grabbed my chair, sat right beside me, almost crowding me out, and tried to figure out why the 1st unit was frozen. Too late by then!

Ok. I admit. This was a little bit of a rant. It’s situations like this though that support my suggestions for running sound! 1. Keep it simple and don’t overcomplicate or use more gear than you need. 2. Customer service is a HUGE part of being ‘the sound guy.’ Hopefully you enjoy a glimpse into life on the road. I know doing Sunday sound can be frustrating, but we all have to learn to constantly be improving and keeping in mind what our role is.