Live sound engineers and the mix.

I went to see Marc Anthony live at the Tweeter Center in the Boston area last night. We sat dead center about 20 feet behind the mixing board. I couldn't help being distracted by the awful mix the ***** at the board was creating. Right out of the gates the mix was so bass heavy that I couldn't hear anything else. After a song, I could finally hear Marc Anthony's voice, bass Guitar and Bass drum. This went on for half of the concert. The rest of the instruments were all packed into the high frequencies. Talk about a smiley face.

Marc Anthony's band is top notch. He uses four back up singers, four percussionists, five brass players, two keyboard players, two guitar players and a bass player.

I realize that mixing this band is a huge task, but that is why there are sound checks. The sound engineer was more interested in blasting out the sound than he was interested in mixing in all of the instruments. After about 45 minutes he started to get a handle on the mix. It got clearer and he turned down the bass. Piano in Latin music has a unique and appealing sound. It is syncopated. The synth piano the keyboard player was using just didn't cut it.

The music was great. Marc Anthony did a great version of For Ever Yours by Journey. Marc Anthony really impressed me with his singing. The high notes on the Journey song were crystal clear. I thought he sang it better than Steve Perry. The Guitar Player was good, but he is no Neil Schon. The Guitar sound he had was a bit to digitized for my liking. They also did a great rendition of Hotel California. The rhythm section layed down a great groove for this song.

Back to my original thoughts. Why do live sound engineers feel that they have to turn the bass so loud that it drowns out a lot of the wonderful nuances that a band is creating. I don't know how half of these guys even get a gig like that. I should have gone into that field. I know I could do better than some of the hacks out there today.

 

I was at a Bob Dylan/Paul Simon Concert two years ago in Albany, NY and the sound too was way to loud, way to bass heavy and ear plugs did not help. I talked to the guys doing the mix during a break and mentioned the high distortion. They said there was no distortion at their end but that it was caused by the structure of the building reacting to the music. This could have been cured by turning down the sound, but noooooooooo. My neighbor does the live engineering for many local venues and he is always fighting to keep the sound natural and not too loud but that he usually loses that fight with the band's managment.

 

When my band played out I always wanted all of the instruments to be heard not just the bass and drums.

 

Hey Richard, you didn't put your stereo in your profile.