A Rock N Roll sound check is when you perform portions of your show
during rehearsal on the day of your show to make sure you, as an
artist, are comfortable with the Rock N Roll sound on stage while
ensuring your house Rock N Roll sound, what the audience hears, is
great, too. Doing a Rock N Roll sound check is essential! You'll want
to include every instrument you will be playing or different effect
pedals you may be using. In the next few paragraphs I will break down
what is most important and how to go about getting it right.
Rock N Roll sound check!
In
my traveling, gigging situations we leave our amps, keyboards and drums
at home. We never play the same amp twice and am always working with
different personnel. Why not bring my own audio man and my own amps and
drums on the road, you may ask? BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO WORK FOR
FREE! Do you know how much it costs to fly amps, drums and keyboards
from one city to the next? Do you know how much it costs to fly a tech
man, pay him and give him hotel rooms? TOO MUCH!!! That being said, I
quickly learned how to efficiently and successfully do a Rock N Roll
sound check in a matter of 2 hours or less using other people's gear and
dealing with strangers running the board, as long as the gear is in
place when the band arrives. These gigs supply the amps, drums,
keyboards and tech personnel. It saves me money to just have the band
show up with their guitars and drum sticks and work with the gear
supplied. We don't get paid more to bring extra people or gear, so why
would we bring extra personnel when we can get the audio right with
what is supplied?
I've had tons of experience
doing this. You'd be surprised how some of the most seasoned players
just don't understand the importance of a Rock N Roll sound check. It's
so much easier to be in a famous or well paid band who usually bring
along their own gear and tech personnel. Piece of Cake! But, even they
have to do a Rock N Roll sound check.
Rock N Roll sound check! Rock N Roll Forever!
Let's
get down to it. There are lots of variables that can affect audio,
like temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, the room ambiance, the
musician's hearing, positioning of your amps, the strength of your
voice that day, and much more. While you're tuning up and getting your
sounds in order, the first thing you want to get right is what you hear
in your monitor. This is what you hear on stage while you're playing.
Your monitor mix has absolutely nothing to do with what the audience
hears. This is for you and only you! One at a time each musician
takes their turn making sure what they hear in their monitor is what
they want. Some players prefer to just hear their own vocal in their
monitor. Since some player's amps are right behind them, they usually
don't need to hear that in their monitor, either. If playing in a big
room I may add some drums and lead vocal and whatever else is needed to
stay in sync with the other performers. Some musicians prefer to hear
everybody and everything equally in their monitor. Whatever works for
you is fine.
Rock N Roll
After
the whole band gets their monitor and instruments sounding as they like
it, it's time to do a house check. During your monitor check the tech
personnel are already starting to adjust the house but they are probably
NOT familiar with what you want the audience to hear. This is a 2
step process. I go out to the house to make it sound good (without me
playing) and then someone else from the band goes out and listens while
I'm playing. If the final mix is good for both of us, mission
accomplished.
The key to a good Rock N Roll
sound check is to pick 5 or 6 different songs featuring different
instrumentation or volumes or vocal harmonies. Use these same songs
every time for consistency, focus and efficiency. Make sure the lead
vocals are on top of the music, the harmonies are set to your liking and
the solos, drums and all instruments are properly balanced. I am not
an EQ by the numbers kind of guy, instead going more by what I hear. I
may ask the technician to give me more "clarity" on the vocals, or make
the kick drum feel more "punchy" or "less boomy". Be sure to have a
mixture of types of songs to hear; a rocking song, a ballad, an acoustic
song, a song with harmonies and a song with solos, etc.
Rock N Roll Lives!
It
can't be emphasized enough how important it is for the musicians on
stage to play during the rehearsal check exactly what they will be
playing during the show. Same instrument, same feel, same lick. After
all, that is what a Rock N Roll sound check is all about. Too many
times musicians ask for adjustments AFTER the rehearsal, which can
really mess things up. What if the technician accidentally presses the
wrong button or messes with another musician's settings? IT HAPPENS ALL
THE TIME! Don't be a bone-head or guitar hero by "trying" a different
guitar during the Rock N Roll sound check than you normally use during
the show. You're supposed to be rehearsing exactly what you'll be
playing for your evening performance. This is not the time for
experimentation or showing-off your new ax. Save that for rehearsals!
Rock N Roll Sound Check
You'll
often find the Rock N Roll sound is way different at showtime then it
did during rehaearsal. This could be for many reasons . . . Things were
changed . . . a room full of people will dampen and dramatically change
what you hear on stage . . . maybe one of the musicians is playing
louder or softer because their adrenaline is flowing . . . With time
and experience you'll know how to make adjustments and deal with this.
This is why it's best to keep your monitor mix as simple as possible.
If it seems a little low at showtime you can simply signal the audio
tech to make your voice louder in your monitor by pointing to your mouth
and and then pointing up, meaning make your voice in your louder.
Simple!!!
Rock N Roll, Dude!
Sometimes
the tech personnel will tell you your guitar or bass is too loud for
the room. A simple fix for this is to turn down and/or put some of your
guitar audio in your monitor. EASY FIX! my guitar player's amps are
aimed upward toward their heads and not aimed directly to the audience.
This makes the musician hear their instrument better and not blast the
audience at the same time. It also makes it much easier to blend the
guitars through the main PA for a better balance and listening
experience.
Rock N Roll Most Important Tip!
Remember,
When the Rock N Roll sound check is over, DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING! What
you hear on stage is not at all what the audience hears. You have to
make yourself happy and be able to hear yourself on stage while at the
same time make the sound for your audience awesome. It's very
challenging. It's Rock n Roll! Keep on Rockin' and Let's Rock, Rock N
Roll forever!
