HI James,   
      
   On Sun 2039-Jun-19 12:14, James Bradley (1:342/77) wrote to Richard Webb:   
      
      
      
    RW>   YEah, so many folks don't know anything about how   
    RW> to interact with an actual stage crew and the reinforcement   
    RW> folks, etc.  I've said much the same things as I put in   
    RW> that little file to bands when doing one of these benefits   
      
      
   JB> Admittedly, much of my inclusions were paraphrasing words I saw from   
   JB> you  elsewhere. Sympathy for a person's workload could go a long way   
   JB> toward a  better world, but when a snot-nose throws a hisey fit   
   JB> because you won't  ride the threshold on a gate along with 14 other   
   JB> effects cues for each  song... "SECURITY!"   
      
   YEah I know, that's the other thing frustrates me, was   
   drummers who didn't tune the kit properly, expect me to   
   solve their problems with technology, such as noise gates on tom mics, etc.    
   OFten any signal processing I had available   
   was needed elsewhere, i.e. the bass man who can't play with   
   good dynamics, so I had to strap a compressor across his   
   channel, or the singer with poor mic technique, etc.  That's part of the   
   reason I insist on that input list, stage plot,   
   and some notes about the setup.  IF an act expects to have   
   gates for the toms, etc. etc. it's nice to know about it   
   ahead of time.  i may, or may not be able to accomodate the   
   request.  WHen I owned my big system signal processing was   
   my weakness in fact, I had racks and stacks plus mixers,   
   snakes etc. but my shoestring operation was weak on good   
   signal processing.  I think I had a Yamaha spx-90, a   
   digitech something or other digital delay, a rOland space   
   echo, and about 4 channels of dbx compression.  I could   
   borrow some stuff from the big player I also worked for at   
   times, but oftentimes I'd get the bigger shows I got, or   
   those fests from hell because his A rig, which consisted of   
   both his B level rigs was booked.  THis meant I was having   
   to rent or borrow elsewhere, and I'd only rent if it was a   
   ogtta have it on the rider, and I was getting paid my full   
   rate.  IF I was working on the cheap you didn't get me   
   renting additional signal processing gear.   
      
      
      
      
      
   JB> "Bottom right = good. Top left = bad. Got it?"  In my fantasies,   
   JB> an  automated board might eleviate 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.   
      
   YEah I remember the first one I played with, Yamaha 01v with the snapshot   
   automation.  THat was a day from hell, two   
   blind guys trying to figure out interfacing that thing with   
   two Alesis adats for a session.  I was glad my buddy still   
   had the harnesses to his old Studiomaster.  Once his   
   girlfriend got home from work and could help us with eyes   
   for the reference manual we sorted out our problems, and the overdubs sure   
   went smoother with the snapshot automation.   
      
    JB> Did I tell you about the young aspiring motion picture projectionist   
   JB> ...   
    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? I took over a   
   JB> drive-in theatre  for a fellow that would drive around his charge to   
   JB> see if he could boost  his FM transmitter to give the WHOLE   
   JB> neighborhood a "free show". What a  "clipping mess" that product   
   JB> sounded like!   
      
     sOme people shouldn't be allowed near such   
   things.  A friend of mine in upstate NY was arguing for a   
   poster in an internet forum to acquire a large format Yamaha digital for a   
   church monitor console because setting could   
   be passworded.  I argued for good old analog, because the   
   "praise team" didn't have sound techs even for front of   
   house, talent adjusted it themselves.  SUre it's nice to   
   have those parametric eqs on all the groups and that, along   
   with compression gates and the like, but folks who are   
   boiling hard just to remember to count down to the fourth   
   knob on the keyboard channel if you need more keyboard in   
   your in-ear monitors and turn that one up are going to even   
   have a tougher time selecting things in the menu structure   
   from hell.  Then, since they use in-ears, if some bonehead   
   happens to defeat the limiters that protect his eardrums and deafens himself   
   then he sues the church.  THere are reasons   
   we professionals advocate that anybody monitoring through   
   those earbuds or headphones should strap a brick wall   
   limiter across them.   
   All you need is somebody defeating that because they suffer   
   from the principle of mild, as in "make it loud dammit" ya   
   know what I mean .   
      
      
      
      
      
   JB> "Show up in uniform, and be on time." is a saying I've heard   
   JB> elsewhere. I  wanted to include, if you show up in a second hand   
   JB> leisure suit and penny  loafers borrowed from dad's closet or steel   
   JB> toed boots, cargo pants with a  water bottle in 'em and a t-shirt   
   JB> with only a couple of well deserved  holes; who would *you* trust   
   JB> more?    
      
     Seen that more than once too.   
      
   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.   
      
   Well spoken.  i tell newbies working a crew with me, show up professional   
   dressed, actual shoes on feet, ready to work.   
   DOn't ask questions unless they're essential to getting the   
   job done right, that is, until afterword, then ask any   
   questions you have.  IN the studio the newbie working for me isn't just a   
   gofer coffee gofer this, he's the documenter,   
   everything that goes down in documentation is written by the newbie, even if   
   he doesn't understand it.  tHen we go over   
   his session log after the day's work is done, and we explain why he was told   
   to make note of that.  This means making   
   notes of the position of every knob button and fader on the   
   console, what's patched where on the patch panels, etc.   
      
    JB> Oh... MENTION BATTERIES in the spares department! How many cordless   
    JB> mikes  go dead right after sound check and just before the first   
    JB> chorus in the  first song?   
      
      
    RW> Indeed, that's why I never got into band management.  IT's   
    RW> hard enough just managing the tech part of the shows.   
      
   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!!!!   
      
   INdeed, there's a reason that sound techs demand the kind of money they do,   
   and often they're underpaid at that.  WHen   
   I'd work for my main man and do the big arena or other   
   venues for a national act I'd usually get tagged with mixing monitors, and   
   usually get a compliment from the performers   
   after the show, because I tried to anticipate their needs.   
   Biggest problem I'd have with them was communication, they   
   couldn't just use hand signals and point to tell me what   
   they needed more or less of.  But then, often they didn't   
   need to.  I'd actually listen to their monitor feed, and   
   factor in their position on stage so as to give them what   
   they'd need to blend properly and emphasize what they might   
   have difficulty hearing.  A lot of folks don't like mixing   
   monitors, but I enjoy it.   
      
    RW> COnvincing these guys of all this is a nightmare.  dId the   
    RW> raod bands as a muso for years.  WAs funny, often I was the   
    RW> only guy on the bandstand who had gaffer's tape, basic hand   
    RW> tools, etc.   
      
   JB> Oh, PHART!!! Like I wrote to you elsewhere: fluids, expendables, zip   
   JB> ties,  and yes; gaffers tape... Us drummers need to know at least a   
   JB> *little* about  lubricants, but I've heard about guitarist utilizing   
   JB> WD-40 (Silicone by  the end of the day, with a petrolium water   
   JB> dispersant carrier.) on their  fretboards and such. Drummers... If   
   JB> you don't know the difference between  Teflon and Graphite, LEARN   
   JB> IT!   
      
   As well as what the different lubes are supposed to be used   
   for.   
      
    JB> Right-handed sewer flute?    
      
    RW>   DOn't know.  I got that "left handed sewer flute"   
    RW> from PDQ bach.  ARdith would get the reference I'm sure .   
      
   JB> You punishing me behind my back for my absence, or trying to write   
   JB> The  Blue Man Group into a classical score?    
      
   Maybe both.  See Dallas's post on the left handed sewer   
   flute.  I replied to it, but had a little technical   
   difficulty here and it never made it upstream.   
      
      
   Regards,   
              Richard   
   ... NO highs, no lows, must be Bose.   
   ---   
    * Origin:  (1:116/901)