Any guitarist who has played live is pretty much guaranteed to have been asked to turn down by the front of house (FOH) sound engineer, with the inevitable tonal compromises that ensued. Equally, most sound engineers have felt obliged to ask guitarists to turn down at one time or another because they can’t deal with the volume.
As well as being a guitarist, I worked for many years as a ‘live sound guy’ in venues all over Europe, so I can relate to both sides of the argument. That said, I made a point of principle never to ask a guitarist to turn down.
The volume wars drag on, but a little mutual understanding and knowing some simple tricks might smooth the path to peace and great sounds, both on and off the stage.
What’s Watt
We all understand that guitar amps need to be turned up to reach the sweet spot where valves and speakers combine to optimise tone and playability.
When sound engineers tell us we have to turn down, we know that our tone will suffer, our rig will be harder to play and we probably won’t enjoy performing as much as we should.
Engineers often insist they need ‘complete control’, and that means being able to balance every component of the band. If you’re playing in an arena or an outdoor festival that’s fair enough, but we’re not discussing that here.
In smaller venues with musicians and punters crammed into enclosed spaces, it doesn’t actually make sense because some elements, such as drums and guitars, are often sufficiently loud not to require additional amplification.
So long as the amp isn’t excessively loud, there is surely no point in compromising our tone to simply hand more control to an engineer who may be completely unfamiliar with the sound of your band
Think of it this way: in addition to being integral to the sound guitarists produce, our amps serve as individual PA systems and onstage monitors that allow us to hear ourselves and the audience to hear us, too. So long as the amp isn’t excessively loud, there is surely no point in compromising our tone to simply hand more control to an engineer who may be completely unfamiliar with the sound of your band.
Worse still, the engineer will most likely place a fairly low-quality moving-coil dynamic microphone on your speaker and add mixing desk equalisation in a futile attempt to compensate for the sonic qualities lost by forcing you to turn down.
At the end of this process, the guitar signal will end up going through a speaker system that has been optimised for vocals or drums, rather than guitars. It will probably feel somewhat disconnected because you’ll be hearing more of your guitar sound from the PA speakers than you can on stage.
Inevitably, you’ll need to have some guitar routed to the nearest monitor wedge, but it will probably sound rubbish, and if your vocals are also coming through the monitors, they’ll be harder to hear. In essence you’re forced to be quieter so that someone else can make you louder, sound worse and struggle to hear yourself. It’s not ideal.
A Balance View
My preference, whether I’m in the audience or operating the mixing desk, is to feel like I’m listening to the band, rather than the PA system. Any time I have attended a gig or concert in a smallish venue where the sound is excellent, it’s almost as if the PA system isn’t there.
One professional term that I like is ‘sound reinforcement’ because it actually describes how sound systems in small- to medium-sized venues can function really well.
It’s a pretty simple concept to grasp when you consider that in a typical guitar band line-up, the drums, bass and guitars are loud while acoustic guitars and vocals are relatively quiet. Unlike string quartets or acoustic folk ensembles, guitar bands are inherently imbalanced and a primary function of the FOH sound system is to rectify that.
By this, I mean balancing those quieter elements with the natural acoustic sound of the louder ones. The vocals will be entirely dependent on the PA system for audibility, but there may be no necessity to put electric guitars through the FOH speakers.
In a medium-sized venue, a little bit of guitar may need to go through the PA system for ‘reinforcement’ or an occasional lift for solos, but it’s fine if 80 per cent or more of the guitar sound that the audience hears comes straight off the stage.
The same applies to drums and, for reasons that should be obvious, I’ve never heard any sound engineer ask a drummer to turn down the snare. In small- or medium-sized venues, there’s probably no need to mic up overheads or high hats. Toms usually need a little help, and it’s fine to reinforce kick and snare drums.
But the common misconception that drums have to be louder in the PA than they are acoustically causes many problems. When drums are over-amplified, it becomes harder to get the vocals loud enough, those turned-down guitar amps will be inaudible unless they also go through the PA, and the resulting mix often ends up being something to endure – rather than enjoy.
Most modern venues provide engineers with multiple mixer channels and loads of microphones. While this may seem like a step forward, it causes complications by shifting power from musicians to mix engineers.
Rather than seeing their function as serving the interests of bands, some engineers seem to fixate more on the gear than the music and may even put their own interests and convenience above that of the band.
Working In Harmony
The life of FOH engineers, particularly in-house engineers, is not an easy one. They work antisocial hours and are usually overstressed and under paid.
A typical night may include several bands, all with different line-ups, and soundchecks can be noisy and chaotic. Taking control of their environment is a typical coping strategy for stressed people, and one way engineers attempt to do this is by limiting onstage volume levels.
There is nothing to be gained by making enemies of sound engineers, so be courteous and co-operative. Take the time to introduce yourselves when you arrive – always on time – and be sure to remember the engineer’s name.
One way to be helpful and professional is to provide a sheet of paper with the band’s name, line-up and the positions they prefer on stage. Also tell the engineer which members sing and who will need DI boxes.
Remember that the soundcheck is not an opportunity to practise or work on arrangements. You should soundcheck with songs that are representative of your sound and the overall vibe of your set, rather than the feedback freakout you usually end with.
Be willing to take instructions from the sound engineer – start and stop playing when you are told and allow the engineer time to work on the FOH sound as well as your monitors without pressuring them.
If you need more vocals in your wedge, don’t hassle the engineer when they’re busy working on the drums or bass. Pick your moments, and if you can make the engineer’s job as easy as possible, they will usually be more inclined to help.
If you rock up to a pub gig with a 100-watt amp and expect to run it loud, you will be asked to turn down – and rightly so
Guitarists should consider how their rig is going to work at any given venue. For instance, if you rock up to a pub gig with a 100-watt amp and expect to run it loud, you will be asked to turn down – and rightly so. On the other hand, if you bring a more appropriate 10-watt or 15-watt amp and the engineer asks you to turn that down, you might be justified in worrying about their professional competence.
Having a collection of amps to suit every venue isn’t a practical or affordable option for everybody. If you only have one amp and it’s often too loud, investigate attenuators and switch boxes that allow you to disengage speakers.
Wedged In
For pub gigs and smaller venues, you may only have one or two monitor mixes and it’s most likely that a single engineer will be running the FOH as well as the monitors. Rather than expecting miracles, there are ways that bands can help themselves to get a decent onstage sound.
The key is to optimise your onstage balance before anything goes through the PA. Start by getting the bassist and drummer to play together and adjust the bass amp to achieve a balanced rhythm section.
If you have two guitarists, make sure their amps are spread out on the stage or the guitars will sound indistinct and lacking in width. On records, two guitarists are usually panned left and right, so mimic this arrangement with your amp placement for a bigger onstage sound.
Set the amp levels so they balance with the rhythm section and everybody can hear what they need to hear. If necessary, put amps up on chairs or beer crates so they’re not firing towards your ankles and the bass won’t sound boomy. Try toeing them in slightly so they fire across the stage, as well as forward – this will help your bandmates hear what you’re playing and vice versa.
Before you put any instruments into the monitor wedges, make sure the vocals can be heard. If you can achieve a good onstage balance, you can keep what’s going into the monitor wedges to a minimum.
Ideally, all you’ll need is a bit of kick and snare in addition to the vocals. And remember the golden rule of mixing: if you can’t hear something, that doesn’t mean it’s too quiet – it’s more likely that something else is too loud.
- This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.
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