Chronicles of Alan :- Sound Engineer Anyone?

From a young age I have always been into Sound and had Music around me.

( My Alfa V6's engine note is also music to me), My Dad's hobby was fixing Radio's, Hi-Fi's, Building Amplifiers, Designing Speaker Cabinet's etc, I would always hang around, and try to help.

When I got older ,and started playing in Band's, I just seemed to gravitate towards doing the sound, would have a long cable, stand in the middle of the room, while the band played and just make sure that the volumes of the various instruments and vocals were audible and reasonably balanced in levels.

Those Days, there were no big PA Systems. The Mikes were plugged into a separate little PA System 100 Watts or a Max of 200 Watts, if you were lucky. Therefore the Drums were not miked up, and all the other instruments were set to the volume of the Drumkit ! (or the muscularity of the Drummer!)

I now realize that I must have been good at this, because when ever I walked into a Club, would Hear "How's the sound Al?" from a member of the Band, and would often tweak their sound for them. Problem with Musicians, in general, is when they get excited, they hit the strings, drums, etc harder, thus raising their volume causing the singer to shriek to be heard, not usually a good idea (no death metal then).

I saw an Electronics Magazine with an article on doing a mixer, so I bought some sheet metal, drilled bent and so on, and started building a 12 Channel Mixing desk, started off with 4 channels, 8, and then 12 as I had money to do it, worked OK , but then had the opportunity to buy a Marshall 12 Channel Mixer , brought out to SA for an event ( had to sell my Beloved Transit to buy it!). I used some Phase Linear Copy Amps and Bose 901 Series Hi Fi Speakers which, in sound quality, were streets ahead of anything I had heard on vocals, at that time (late 70's). Sold my Homemade Model and then later was made an offer I could not refuse (after several Bands had hired me to do their sound) for the Marshall and Bose set up, with a bunch of EV Mikes. (very underrated) This, just before the Big Bike Prang I had in my original "Chronicles of Alan" post. (this took me out of Music for a long time)

Let's now move on to more modern, sophisticated, equipment. Multitrack Mixing Desks (Latest Fully Digital) Larger Speaker Stacks, Active Crossovers, Effects Units (now built in to Desks) Aural Exciters , Graphic Equalizers, Room Analyzers, Snakes, (very much lighter with full Digital) Rack Mounts, DI's, and, of course, Cases of Cables and Mikes (Strong Back is essential! No longer a need for Giant Guitar Amps (Most Guitarists are not yet aware of this! Go to a tiny club and the Guy wheels in a Marshall Stack!)). A complete Monitor Setup is also a requirement. All this, just for a club, never mind the big concerts!

Some Basic Rules:-

Never run Power cables with Signal cables (induces Hum) if you must cross them, do so at 90 Degrees

Always Set Your Main Speakers ahead of the band .

If you have a vocalist who keeps turning the front of his Mike towards the Monitors , check if there is still a ban on shooting them(singer ,not the speakers) or beating with a blunt instrument ,before doing so!

If in premises where the Bass end seems to be weak, Try putting the Bass speakers on the floor together in the middle in front of the stage.

After setting the sound up, get the band to play a section of a song before, going to relax, etc.

I have often set up Drum Mikes where the Guy pulls the limp-wristed, Don't want to hit the big, bad, drum routine, and then when they actually start playing their repertoire, just about blow the speakers out of their cabinets!, with the Fury of the attack! (Jeckyl & Hyde)

If you require any more tips on this? just ask.

by @awgbibb