Live Sound Part 2 - The Delivery
On the day of the UH Staff Party at the Forum, I arrived a few hours early to prepare the stage and desk to ensure a smooth soundcheck for artists. I set the channels according to the list I'd been given and made some notes on how I'd set certain parameters to make things easier for me.
During the first soundcheck (melodeon, violin and vox), I was told by the melodeon player that a common mix technique is to cut some of the frequencies around 400 Hz to remove the 'plastic-y' rattle sound the buttons make as he plays. As I removed this effect, I immediately noticed a difference in quality and clarity of the instrument, which changed my thought process and approach on mixing in favour of the idea of:
Cut problem frequencies to correct issues -> Boost frequencies which bring out good qualities
The rest of soundchecks ran smoothly bar the acoustic guitar in one of the acts. I was receiving very low signal from one of the guitars, so changed an XLR and DI box over to determine if they were the problem. I asked the guitarist wether the volume was all the way up his end, which he told me it was. We left it at that and I cranked up the gain quite high my end, which was a bad move as later in their performance the guitarist went to mute the guitar and a loud, unpleasant feedback screech occurred. It turned out he hadn't turned the volume up his end, but turned it all the way up at the end of their performance. The lesson I learned there was to trust my gut instinct when something goes wrong.
There was also a couple of times where a light feedback rung out from where I'd sent the monitor mix too loud. I see these mistakes as steps towards success, with the knowledge that I've learnt from what went wrong and how to correct it in the future.
Overall, I believe the night was a success and a personal achievement for me - a time where experience met preparation. I look forward to doing similar work in the future.
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