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Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 20 – The Musicians on the Stage

Posted: November 10, 2015 in live Sound Reinforcement
Tags: # mixer, #audio, #band, #effects, #guitar, #microphone, #mixingboard, #monitors, #music, #musician, #sound, #Soundengineer, #speakers, #stage, #technology, #venue, #writing

Through the beginning to the end of the last chapter, we have concentrated on the hub or the central nervous system of a Live Sound Reinforcement assignment.  I have been focusing a bit on live performance in a typical band or musical event.  We now understand how most equipment for the House PA, the stage monitors, effects, and even lighting systems use the mixing board as the central hub.  The mixing board’s usefulness does not end there!  Once equipment is set up, connected, turned on and confirmed functional, most of the adjustments made for the rest of the evening will happen because of changes to the mixing board.  It also becomes the Master Device, and all other connected devices are ultimately controlled by the mixer.  The sound engineer is the ONLY person that should touch the mixing board.

The next logical step would be to describe the components of the House PA system and how much power (or how much money do I need to spend….).  After all, this is what most people hear, right?

Obviously, I set up as a trap question.  The answer seems obvious.

If I said, “I sound like a broken record”, most young readers will not know what that means! But I will repeat myself on certain themes and I feel one a’ comin’!  The next important thing is not the House PA and the number of speakers and amplifiers you need.  Most small venue mixing engineers go straight for the house and main systems, completely ignoring the most important ingredient guaranteeing a great performance.  We will avoid that trap now and focus on the stage and more importantly – the musicians on the stage.

When bands practice, they ultimately find a good use of space and volume so each member can achieve the two primary goals;

1) Hear myself (usually louder than any one else.  This is not ego and we will get into that later)

2) Hear the other performers (usually not as loud as the performer wants to hear him/her self!!)

Once they settle in and can accomplish the above – practice is comfortable and productive.  Each member can hear themselves and can also hear enough of the other members to blend with them.  If you saw a live symphony orchestra and all you could hear were the trombones, it would seem like an awful performance.  If you were a musician in the orchestra and all you could hear were the trombones……………

Now we can go back to the band members standing on a stage or venue they have never seen or played in……   and now understand that this is a very real challenge, and the smaller the venue… the smaller the budget.  Lack of Resources can be difficult challenge to overcome.

In larger venues it was quite normal to have a smaller mixing board off to the one side of the stage.  All the instruments and monitors would connect to this mixer, and it would ‘split’ all channels and send them equally to the House mixing board out in the audience area.  (it can also be used to send signals to a recording van parked outside).  The sound engineer on stage makes the band members happy by concentrating on the performers but does not affect the signal going to the House board.  That way the House Engineer has full control of the unaffected incoming channels from the stage board.

Good enough for now and in the next few sections I will focus on the stage sound and mix.

Mr. Charlie Told Me So

Posted: October 22, 2015 in My Tunes
Tags: #12string, #acoustic, #audio, #band, #cover, #creative, #creativity, #greatfuldead, #guitar, #music, #musician, #performance, #personal, #recording, #retro, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #story, #studio, #vocalist, #vocals, #writer, #writing

Thinking about a recent post where we shared our first concert experiences, I was reminded about my first concert to see The Grateful Dead. I was fairly young and the environment was overwhelming and exciting.

We used to play one of their songs called “Mr. Charlie”. The Grateful Dead are off beat by nature and this is one of their songs most people have not heard. I recorded this cover song a couple years ago and decided to pull it out of the ‘deep-freeze’ and post it for the fun of it.

When I was in cover bands, we were pretty much forced to play main stream or currently airing songs. I would suggest the unknown songs often but understood when we played only a few. This one never got the approval either, but the core group used to warm up on this one and I just like the flavor of the song.

Credits to The Grateful Dead. This is my Ovation 12 String guitar and I do a little harmony. Hope you have a little fun with this as well.

His Simon to My Garfunkel

Posted: September 28, 2015 in My Tunes
Tags: #acoustic, #audio, #create, #creativity, #guitar, #harmony, #music, #musician, #personal, #recording, #retro, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #story, #vocalist, #vocals, #writer, #writing

Years ago when I was still learning to play guitar; I know, we are always learning! In this piece, my great friend and musical soul mate Tom Robinson is playing guitar and singing. I play around with the harmony, not knowing exactly where this song is going as we play off each other’s ideas as the song ends. This is another very basic living room recording but I simply love the song and the textures we created around the basic outline of the song. I hope you enjoy it as well. There are a number of inside jokes and references people might not totally understand, but I don’t think that will interfere too much.When I contacted them recently for correct song credits the answers were definite with options available for future adjustments. Tom Gorman and Tom Robinson [for all intents and purposes…] wrote the lyrics. Music by Tom Robinson. For a little more history I will include a portion of the conversation for historic kicks and giggles.

(Co-authors) Tom Gorman to Tom Robinson:

It was I July or Aug of 77 at your apartment. ….. Your stereo wasn’t working, and you were tinkering with it. You began to make progress and said “We got the capability . . .” For whatever reason, that inspired me, and I wrote most of the words to the song, including most of the refrain. ….. You came up with the lines about (mutual friends). I had written “We’ve got to feed our habits now” but couldn’t think of anything else. You changed “habits” to “rabbits” and added the line about rounding up the steer. At a later point, you put it to music and added “Thinkin’ about our doodely doom” and “weekend in the womb.” You also gave it the title “The Round-up.” The illegal beer was the Millers that (we) managed to score on a Sunday when it was illegal to sell it on Sunday.

Naming the Mysterious 12

Posted: September 18, 2015 in Music Theory
Tags: #band, #guitar, #keyboard, #logical, #motivation, #music, #musician, #musictheory, #note, #notes, #piano, #recording, #songwriter, #sound, #theory, #tips

Up = (#/Sharp). Down = (b/Flat).

0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
C	C# Db	D	D# Eb	E	F	F# Gb	G	G# Ab	A	A# Bb	B

There are a number of discussions possible here. My point is the rose is a rose experience from my own limited understanding. Music theory is not my strong point. I know players that are very specific in the reference of notes or the progression used when naming them. It does make it easier to communicate – – – – – – To set up this conversation let it be understood that any note can be raised or lowered in increments of half-steps. Take your Root note and play the next highest note and you have ‘sharped’ the note. If you play the next lowest note you have ‘flatted’ that note. Up = Sharp. Down = Flat.

Any note. Any instrument. Any Western scale. Similar to the reference in Tuning; if pitch is too high it is Sharp, and if it is too low it is Flat.

We agree on common ground for the Titles of the Twelve. Looking at the piano as my standard example we need to notice the color of the keys not as a place on a musical staff or its place in a scale but as a compact representation of DISTANCE. The chart above uses the shading to mimic the keyboard and is not compressed or compact like the real piano is but if you play notes to the right they get higher by half-notes. Color means nothing to this reference. We rarely call the C note a B#, and we rarely call the F note an E# but this is a similar relationship.

Above you see the black notes have alternate names assigned to them. One way to help easy translation is to keep with one designator in the project. Give the notes names that are one system and not the other. Various way to think of it – a rose;

C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, Bb, B, C is a rose:

C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C

is a rose;

C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab, A, Bb, B, C

Along those lines I want to copy a recent comment from a great friend of mine and frequent commenter on this blog:

The math is easier if you name the root “zero.” 0 2 4 5 7 9 11 (the major scale). You can add 12 and get the same notes, just an octave higher. Subtract 12 and get the original keys. There are only 12 tones on a piano: 0, 1, 2, …, 11 After that, it just repeats.

The Mysterious Twelve is represented this way in the chart above. Starting with zero would change the Safe Seven representation to look like this:

C D E F G A B C

0 2 4 5 7 9 11 12

This is true and practical to use when considering the relationships of notes especially when working with musical scores where you are talking multiple octaves and keeping the relationships common. For many musicians, songs can be described as patterns. For example, if you are beginning a Jam and following previous examples in the key of C, you could say ‘lets start out with C for a few measures, then go to F and then go to G and repeat. Ready, set go!’. The Safe Seven shows us this relationship as a number starting with the Root equaling 1.

The Jam could also be started by saying ‘key of C, let’s play a 1,4,5 progression. Ready, set, Go!’. In this relationship, 1 = the Root or C, the 4th = F, and the 5th of the scale = G. The next jam session might be in the key of Bb, but we can still state this as 1,4,5 and the musicians that know the Safe Seven in each key will easily translate. You would be surprised how many popular songs follow the 1 – 4 – 5 and similar patterns! Starting with 1 as the Root, allows this pattern to more easily translate to the Root, 3rd, 5th – as this matches the common chord progression associations.

The point being there are a number of names for our ‘rose’, depending on the need or project at hand. If we call C “C”, “B#”, “0” or “1”, we are still describing the relationship between the 12 notes. As with the sharps and flats naming structure, once we start with a system, use the system through the entire project to avoid confusion!

Save the Moment!

Posted: September 16, 2015 in Poetry
Tags: #acoustic, #creative, #creativity, #father, #guitar, #life, #love, #lyrics, #music, #musician, #observation, #personal, #poem, #poetry, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #story, #writer

Still Turning (c)

I keep looking through the blinds
Not knowing what I’ll find.
I keep looking
I keep looking.

I start walking out the door
Can’t remember what for.
I start walking
I keep walking.

I turn left then I turn right
Just trying to get it right.
I’m still turning
Still turning.

Spending much more than I make
Never have what it takes.
Spending my time
Spend all my time.

Think about it day and night
See it all in black and white.
Better think again
Think again.

I turn left then I turn right
Just trying to get it right.
I’m still turning
Still turning.

Looks good but sounds all wrong
Like words to a different song.
Doesn’t feel right
Feel alright.

Never know what the future brings
Tell Daddy everything.
You never know
You never know.

Once upon a time, maybe two
You love someone who loves you.
Save the moment
Save the moment.

A Small Token…

Posted: August 25, 2015 in My Tunes
Tags: #12string, #acoustic, #appreciation, #audio, #create, #creative, #creativity, #guitar, #inspiration, #inspire, #life, #love, #lyrics, #motivation, #music, #musician, #performer, #personal, #poetry, #recording, #retro, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #story, #thank you, #thanks, #vocalist, #vocals, #writer

Thank you, thank you, thank you! For the next few days I’ll be offering all of my blog friends a free download of my song “Miracles In Your Hand“ off of my upcoming EP, “Before The Chase.” I have been struggling to find a proper way to thank you all for your support and encouragement over the past year. I was very close to throwing in the towel, but I started this blog and thanks to all of you and your kind words, I’ve been motivated to keep pushing forward. As I watch this year’s calendar fill with major events and milestones, there are usually small celebrations here and there. At each one I am not only surprised at the positive response and friendships created, but also by the amazing amount of talent and creativity this community produces. Please stop by and add this original song (Click here – Miracles in Your Hand) to your personal libraries as part of my continued appreciation for all you have done to support and spread my works.

After a break-up some of these lyrics just poured out. Seeing the same thing and coming to opposite conclusions. Having an early exposure to poetry first, I try to keep those ideas reflected in many of the songs I write. The chorus was an idea I had been playing with lyrically for a while and it seemed to immediately fit with the loss described in the verses. What would you do if you held a miracle in YOUR hand? What if that couldn’t save you?

“Miracles In Your Hand” (c) MSK

A reason is such a small thing,

Can’t you give me one?

Seems to me you were holding out,

Were you really just holding on?

The things we did won’t mean a thing,

The memories drift away.

The things you said hang in the air,

Like a light that will not fade.

CH: You’re alive one day with miracles in your hand,

Then you’re heading for a wall, drivin’ fast as you can.

I settled down uneasy, I’m just waiting for tomorrow to come.

When the answers seem so distant,

Questions lose their fun.

You thought that I was shutting up,

I was really just shutting down.

It’s time we found the meaning,

In the games we have made.

And a reason makes the difference,

When the last trick must be played.

CH: You’re alive one day with miracles in your hand,

Then you’re heading for a wall, drivin’ fast as you can.

I settled down uneasy, I’m just waiting for tomorrow to come.

Question of the Week

Posted: August 21, 2015 in Opinions and Observations, Question of the Week
Tags: #audience, #audio, #band, #concert, #event, #genres, #greatfuldead, #guitar, #music, #musician, #performance, #performer, #performers, #personal, #singer, #song, #sound, #stage, #story, #vocalist, #vocals, #writer

You may think this funny, but my first real concert was a Grateful Dead concert. I was seventeen or eighteen at the time. I had seen bands perform at parks or other small events, but this was my first concert. The thing I remember most to this day were the huge balloons that the audience and band members would smack back and forth the entire evening. I was not that familiar with their music but I had heard references (“It’s not for lack of bread, like the Grateful Dead; dying”, from the musical play Hair, which I also saw!) but had not really heard much of their music before.

The second thing that I noticed was how communal the audience was. It is unlike other concerts. Everyone was friendly and happy to be there. It was a different group of people. They enjoyed the music, enjoyed the event and everyone got along. I wish more of the concerts I have seen had audiences that resembled The Grateful Dead fans.

What was your first concert? What do you remember about it?

I Hear Her Say, “Don’t Forget Me”

Posted: August 12, 2015 in MUSIC, My Tunes
Tags: #12string, #acoustic, #audio, #creativity, #dreams, #guitar, #inspiration, #itunes, #life, #lyrics, #memory, #music, #musician, #past, #personal, #poetry, #retro, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #story, #train, #vocalist, #vocals, #writer

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dark-energy/id962943592

I wrote this song as a plea from the past. A message in a time capsule planted in you memories. It is in remembering that we learn.

Maybe it is because I have worked in the service area in one form or another for years, but I see a lot of people that do not want to wait their turn. They think they have a better reason to be first than anyone else already in line. The bass player with The Merchants Of Death (equal part original / cover band I played in) had a fascination with trains so I added the part about the train being on time after using some of his images while talking excitedly about their beauty and how powerful they are. It seemed to fit. You don’t have to wait, but neither will the rest of the world if you are not here to get on board. It exposes a point in time where too many things seem to push you the wrong way, and very little anyone can do about it. Life stacked against you.

It is also a reminder that somethings are better understood when looking at them in the distant past. As we remember events – especially through our dreams – our part in those events can become clearer. Often, I am not the saint or righteous person I thought I was when it happened. We can all be fools. Sometimes our dreams and the path to paradise is right in front of us and we do not realize it; or worse we refuse it for mysterious reasons. This is one of my older songs that I really love even after all these years.

This is another song recorded on my 12 string Ovation guitar I have. For this song you can tell I have two vocal tracks and I am singing all the way through the song. Using slight panning separation I try to add distance in the vocal parts. The guitar is open-tuned to G, which makes the chords seem full and spacious at the same time. I like it, anyway! To me this is a gorgeous sound all on its own.

“Get Out Of Line”

Just after my dream fades,

I hear her say,

“There will be many days,

For Fool Parades.

CHORUS:

If you don’t want to stand,

Then get outta line.

But don’t be surprised,

If the train is on time.

Still, it seems funny how,

Lost track of now.

Things that might have helped out,

They won’t allow.

CHORUS:

If you don’t want to stand,

Then get outta line.

But don’t be surprised,

If the train is on time.

“Don’t forget what I said”,

And I shake my head.

Feel the sweat on my bed,

Or tears instead.

CHORUS:

If you don’t want to stand,

Then get outta line.

But don’t be surprised,

If the train is on time.

Just after my dream fades,

I hear her say…..

“Don’t forget me”.

Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 19 – To Dream the Impossible Dream

Posted: August 10, 2015 in Live Sound Reinforcement Series
Tags: # mixer, #audio, #band, #bass, #digital, #dreams, #drummer, #drums, #guitar, #keyboard, #livesoundreinforement, #microphone, #mixingboard, #monitors, #music, #musician, #performance, #performer, #runningsound, #sound, #Soundengineer, #soundman, #speakers, #stage, #stereo, #synthesizer, #tech, #technology, #volume

Think of the stage as a speaker sitting in front of the audience….. sometimes the club or venue actually looks like a box where the performers are positioned. You have the low-end Bass Guitar, Kick Drum and Floor Tom and maybe keyboard sounds or textures. You have the Guitar and Vocals in a mid-rangy area and at the upper end you have symbols and higher range Guitar and Keyboard sounds. All inside the same box just a blasting away at different levels and pointed in all directions.

Now you have a better understanding of the challenge of making these various chunks into a tasty audio stew!

For the best way to present music to the savvy listeners of today, we do what has been done for decades. In the stereo image, you want to create a “room” or “place” for the listener. We have become comfortable with the very low end sounds coming from both speakers at about the same volume. This places the sound to the center of the listener’s field.

We like the vocals or in most cases the melody line to be in both sides equally, again placing the singer in the middle of the left-right field. We are fine if other instruments or singers are more to the left or right as long as the main sounds are where we expect them. We usually place big speakers on either side of the stage facing the audience…… usually in front of the stage and performers…. But as mentioned above this is not a finely tuned speaker cabinet by any means. The components are not necessarily proportionally balanced in volume or location. Setting up the Stage and PA system with this in mind can help reinforce the natural stereo image out in the audience.

Now that I have made a connection that is awkward if not confusing, even though the PA system in all likely hood is a Mono mix coming from both sides or columns of speakers, the listener still hears this as a stereo field. They want the low-end sounds or tones from the center of the stage. Typically the drum – the Kick Drum to be specific for this example – is the most used and most amplified instrument in band situations or where you have audio media. The Bass Guitar player is usually next to the drummer. This helps them keep tighter timing and solid beat, but also supports the stereo image of the listener.

Guitar and other amplified instruments on stage can be heard more from their side of the stage than from the other as an easy example, even if the volume through each side of the Main is sent the same level signal. If keyboards are on the opposite side of the stage from the guitar and also uses a monitor or amp, standing closer to them in front row can make it seem like the keyboards are too loud and those on the other side of the stage think the guitars are somewhat overbearing. It won’t stop them from standing there though! As you get further away from the front of the stage or if the venue is very large, this stereo effect has less and less meaning to the listener. Still, as a rule, most sound systems do not place low-end PA cabinets (or dumps) on one side of the stage and the mid or hi-end cabinets on the other side. It can be however, advantageous to place the low-end dumps in the center of the stage or along the front-center stage area. To make this more inclusive, it is also more comfortable to hear low-end tones coming from an elevation point lower (on the floor, for example) and the higher tones or frequencies coming from higher points (mounted above the stage or on tall poles).

If the volume on stage becomes to strong a level it will negatively affect all the above and more. To reinforce another post of mine, musicians just need to worry about performing great – we sound geeks will make them sound good and loud! I keep dreaming.

Influence Me – One Song at a Time

Posted: August 7, 2015 in Opinions and Observations
Tags: #audio, #band, #creativity, #genres, #guitar, #inspiration, #list, #love, #music, #musician, #performers, #personal, #recording, #review, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #story, #vocalist, #writer

I finally completed my response to Who Do You Love? Thank you all for your suggestions. I really enjoyed getting to know each of you a little bit better through your favorite tunes.

It was really hard to narrow this list down to a reasonable size. I have been influenced by many musical artists in my early childhood. Even if I split them into separate decades there would be quite a list. I would like to mention a number of artists – ones that might not be in the well-known categories.

I will get started by saying that Peter Gabriel including his days with Genesis is probably the first on my list of influences. You can pretty much pick any of his stuff up and enjoy even if it is not your normal style.

Eric Burden and The Animals – San Franciscan Nights

Jimi Hendrix and The Experience – Little Wing, especially if you do not like Hendrix

Crosby Still and Nash – Almost Cut My Hair, I feel I owe this to someone

Aphrodite’s Child – The Four Horseman – this one just rocks but not sure what it means.

Simon and Garfunkel – At the Zoo. I often feel like I am living in that zoo.

Bjork- Human Behavior. I am going to cheat and mention her earlier works later, but she continues to put out a ton of diverse and outward looking music. I do not like everything she does, but many of her songs are on my must have with me on the deserted island play list.

Black Sabbath – Fairies Wear Boots – again, you just had to be there LOL

Curved Air – Second Album, a bit low quality by today’s standards but this is some great prog-rock and the vocalist is pretty good. Try Back Street Love, Piece of Mind for the darker side of the group and Puppets and wrap it up with Young Mother for a sampling of pro-rock history.

King Crimson has been a big influence for many years. I could get you to the early years, but try anything since Adrian Belew joined. There are too many to list but Three of a Perfect Pair, Elephant Talk, Frame by Frame, Walking on Air, One Time, and Dinosaur are hard for me not to list.

The Beatles – A Fool On the Hill, ’cause I have to.

En Vogue – Free Your Mind, this is a test to see if your mind is free

Gentle Giant – So Sincere, Working All Day, Three Friends, Funny Ways or one of my favorite tunes of all time – Nothing at All.

Missing Persons – Give, this song and video have been playing in the background in my head every day of my life…… non-stop…… and I enjoy it every time I hear it.

Chaka Khan – I Feel for You, or Tell Me Something Good her vocals have just the purest power and emotion. Give me the chills.

James Brown – I Feel Good, for so many reasons, this is a great tune

Beach Boys – Good Vibrations, sorry, I just had to do that

Jefferson Airplane – Today, one of my favorite depressing love ballads of all time

Paul Revere and the Raiders – Kicks, we still hear this theme being played every day.

Procol Harem – try Whiskey Train and the live version of A Salty Dog

Steppenwolf – Rock Me and Carpet Ride are pretty popular and rockin

Tear for Fears – Love to Rule the World, c’mon, doesn’t everybody?

Tom Waits – The Piano has Been Drinking, Nighthawks at the Diner and I think one called Step Right Up are killer tunes for the cynical crowd and a good laugh.

Zombies – Time of the Season is a classic song I often wonder how it got any air play at all.

The Sugarcubes – A Leash Called Love and Chihuahua should get you started in the morning. I also recommend Gold as a great first dive. Yes, this is the band Bjork was involved in prior to going solo. For one more if I dare, try the spooky tune called I’m Hungry. I have spent many long drives with this song.

As many have said, you could go on and on and so could I. This was more difficult than I though and I have no doubt that I will think of a ton more later! I have not mentioned a number of other styles of music as you would be cross-eyed by the time you got to the end. Thank you all again for giving me new ideas and artists to enjoy. A number of them I have no doubt will end up influencing me as much as the ones from my library.

MidiMike

Available on iTunes and CD Baby

Social Media

MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#guitar’

Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 20 – The Musicians on the Stage

Mr. Charlie Told Me So

His Simon to My Garfunkel

Naming the Mysterious 12

Save the Moment!

A Small Token…

Question of the Week

I Hear Her Say, “Don’t Forget Me”

Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 19 – To Dream the Impossible Dream

Archives

Available on iTunes and CD Baby

Social Media

MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#guitar’

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