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)