Well, we are into another of those 'Popidols' marathon TV sessions on UK television.   My pal Louis Walshe is there as a judge, plus an amazingly 'nice' Gerry Halliwell.  She is surprising a lot of folk with her maturity in our Business.  She is the one attributed to starting the current phase of artists 'sacking' managers.....unheard of before 'Spice Girls'.  Managers controled artists...not the other way around, as today.

Of course, Pete Waterman is as forthright as ever.  He speaks nothing but the truth.  Reminds me a lot of the way I talk.  I can never understand the logic of being 'nice' in our business - just for the sake of not offending people.  Pete gives an honest opinion of what he hears and so do I.  But no one likes the truth about their own talent.  And I have never met anyone in this game who takes criticism on the chin and then learns from it.

Pete's quote of the week?

"Of course I am right - I'm always right!"

The argument was about the suitability of a great singer for a 'boy band'.  The singer was making the age old mistake of singing 'Too High and Too Loud'.  Why do so many wannabe's do that?  Sing in the key that is right for the song... not as high as you think you can sing.  Beethoven pitched his pieces exactly right, so did Tchaikowsky, Copeland...then Irving Berlin, Dianne Warren, Cathy Stevens...so why do guys want to sing so high?  Beats me!  And beats Pete Waterman.

If you are ever tempted - don't!

The guitar and monitor stuff last week?

I always get a huge response to the 'One Minutes' and it thrills me...sometimes I get unusual comment which is sometimes a little flawed...so I just want to show you one little one.  It shows the the subtle difference [and it is very subtle] between the top guys and the guys who just need that tiny bit of extra knowledge to reach the top...could you learn from this?

Ian from New Zealand sent this comment:

"This is a stage sound concept that I have tried and tested with a five-piece band - it works very well and is a joy for the musicians playing. It has a couple of "gotchas" but well worth exploring - please...

 

Consider this:

Band musicians performing live never (or rarely) get to enjoy the same sound as their audience. The band usually has a montage of gear on the stage and monitor wedges next to each musician which creates a spacial sound on stage that only individual band members hear. Out front the audience hears a different (stereo) mix which, depending on the volume and venue size, is also "muddied" with unwanted monitor and instrument amplifier sounds.

 

Now, consider this:

Place full range speakers at the left and right rear of the stage broadly facing towards each other but maybe angled slightly toward stage front. Do the same at the front of the stage with smaller monitor speakers - these are best raised up about head height (or slightly above) and angled about 45 degrees (maybe less) toward the stage rear. The arrangement of these four speakers comprise the stereo monitors for the band and they are fed using the mixer's stereo "control room" or "utility" outputs. The left feed goes to the left front and rear speakers, the right feed goes to the right front and rear speakers - it is absolutely essential that this matches the main left and right outputs feeding the front of house so that stereo imaging is correct. Next, each musician's instrument (and vocal mic) is panned to their position on the stage so that they are standing in the centre of their own sound - no individual monitor required!

 

The result:

What the musicians hear now closely matches what the audience hears. The on-stage volume can be set to a much lower level than is possible to attain with a "conventional" monitor setup and the musicians are still able to hear all instruments clearly.

 

Here's the "gotcha":

Acoustic stage sound must be minimal otherwise it "competes" with the stereo monitor mix, therefore, it doesn't suit to have acoustic drums or amplifiers with speakers on-stage. You have to use an electronic kit (such as Ddrums) or maybe acoustic drums could have some kind of "booth". All instruments need to go direct which means guitars etc. need to use amp modelling (I used Line6 Pod) or similar.

 

I realise that this sound setup may not be practical for some, and it takes some work to convince other musicians to give it a try, but when it's done right it really does work like magic!

 

Thank you for a great "One Minute' read each week!"

 

Back to Dec:

That will probably sound a wonderful set up...but wait till you hear my reaction....Ian certainly appreciated it!

Hi Ian 

Thank you for your 'stage monitor' set-up....sounds great BUT!!!!!!!!!!!

The big hole you have in the concept is the fact that once 'effects' are introduced then the feed-back problems go out of control - if you use proper good quality full range speakers at high level [and don't even start talking about graphics!].  That set up would work if:

1)  the mix was dry

2)  the elec. guitar players could get enough 'balls' into their playing only hearing the 'correct' mix level of their playing [impossible ... in my opinion, as a guitar player....D.I. elec guitar is like playing through a sock]

 3) The acoustic guitar players were happy to hear a 'correct' mix level of their intrument through the proposed foldback system. [I've never known any ac. guitar player ever happy with his level.....worse than lead singers!]

 4) The lead singer were happy with the mix of his voice [never been known in history!]

Ian, I understand the system you propose and in an ideal world [probably very low sound level nightclub] it would be terrific - but it does not take the above points into consideration.  Every lead singer wants to hear his voice above everything else, as does the elec. guitar players [particularly] and the ac. players....while the keyboard player feels that his contribution is the most important and should certainly be heard above eveything else.

DDrum pads:

Of course, the huge flaw is the fact that DDrum pads are great in recordings - but 'live' are less than useless, as there are no dynamics involved...there is no 'live' excitement. [I have seen and heard them a lot].  Bands who use them just use them for convenience and usually from laziness [can't be bother to carry a full kit].  We use a live kit, with a system of triggers, which I designed, that damp down the skins to give the drummer a great sound from the samples, out front, plus a good 'live' feel from the spill coming off stage.  Although the spill is much reduced by the damping and we do use perspex screens to separate the cymbals.

What about Stadium PA's?

I write a good deal in 'How To Make A $Million From Your Music' about the ideal stage set up.  Where each player has his own instrument monitor just for himself to hear and the full mix [exactly as FOH] is presented to the band through high quality monitors minus the effects.  The singers should have just their own voices in the front stage monitors. For my guitar, I personally use a wedge in front of me driven by a Marshall Valvestate amp, just for me to hear and have a full stereo 'speaker emulator' feed going to the stadium PA.  So the stage sound is precisely the same as the FOH.  The very slight spill from stage adds a third dimension to the elec. guitar sound and thus makes it 'bigger'....same technique as I would use in the studio should a guitar player insist on using an amp.  [some 'idiots' still do!]

On your life, do not use Drum Monitor Fills!

The drummer uses cans with the mix he requires in there.  He has his own volume control for his headphone amp.  Drum fills are a pain in the a** for the FOH engineer, although drummers love 'em.

This set up demands that the FOH sound engineer set his desk at Unity [0DB, straight fader mix] and balances the band on the input gains [the correct professional method] whilst just using the faders as emergency 'headroom'.  There are very few run of the mill band FOH guys who even know this correct, Industry Standard, theory, save the top guys who earn the big dosh [and Dec Cluskey!].

Chad Wackerman uses my stage set up:

I also write at length about Chad Wackerman, who I met and saw, in Sydney being the only band who actually set up their own stage as my writings...and WOW! what a sound.  Of course, the major tour shows are set up by top sound guys who use the correct Industry Standard methods which are all in my 'How To Make A $Million'.

Ian, your theory is good - but in practice....a nightmare!  You would have very unhappy band members!  Your guys must either be 'saints' or you pay 'em very well!  [huge grin]

========================

It is interesting to realise that my guess was correct...Ian's idea is used in a low level night club situation....very little chance of success in a high level 'live gig' deal.

Just on a finishing note...I am into some heavy 'mixing' schedules at the moment and have been listening to some 'Queen' stuff.  OK, Queen recorded most of their stuff 25 + years ago but the use of stereo in their mixes has started me thinking!  Why is there so little thought given to good, interesting stereo tricks in today's mixes?  Dre seems to always go for a 'one position image' stereo.  Why not have a little fun with the stereo?  I am!  And it's sounding pretty d*mn tasty!  Even if I say so myself.

".Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves

on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Susan Ertz