FOH Engineer Getting A Music Venue Ready For Soundcheck (POV)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 มี.ค. 2023
- I walk you through my setup procedure for a show at a music venue from arrival to final checks before bands set up on stage.
There is NO soundcheck in this video. This is strictly my pre show procedure to get ready for bands to soundcheck. If you wish to see videos of soundcheck, band performances and content that features every aspect of FOH operations, I have plenty of those videos on my channel. Feel free to explore and subscribe!
Sorry for the times I sniffed loudly. Spring allergies are a mother....
#POV #livemusic #soundengineer #audioengineer - เพลง
The unsung heroes of live music.
Appreciate it! My job is easy when I have good musicians to work with.
Both of these points are true, I do sound and I’m a guitarist/bassist 👍🏻
@@chrishammillaudio What I love about this is you take it as seriously as if you were doing sound in a stadium! Love your attitude man!
I’ve started taking an audio engineer class since this semester and I have nothing but full respect of them, there’s so much knowledge that I wouldn’t even know is needed.
@@thomasway0320 that’s awesome man. Yea, a good sound guy is really important. I’ve played a lot of shows over the years, and am very blessed and grateful to have worked with some great engineers (and a handful of not-so-great ones 😂). It’s a whole craft unto itself. They’re kinda like another member of the band.
Good luck with your class brotha. 🤙🏽
So intresting to see the inner workings of a smaller venue and not a stadium / arena
Appreciate it. A lot of very talented bands come through small venues like this. More content like this is coming.
I have been looking for videos about the PA systems for big stadiums and I cannot find any videos about it
Dave rat @@kingtaco4064
The "text on screen" to clairfy what everyone is guessing/thinking in their head is very intuitive and creative, 10/10 yet again!
Appreciate it 👍
I've been a Drum & Bass DJ for a while and been getting gigs for a bit more than a year now, every time i get to a new club i take my time to check out the mixer and have a chat with the sound equipment guys, because it's such a huge part of live music and i think it deserves appreciation just as much as the performer
Always love meeting performers who appreciate our job as much as we appreciate yours.
As a current theatrical sound designer this takes me back to high school when I ran a music venue off an X32 and did lights live off of ONYX and a laptop. I miss those days. Taught me more than I ever learned in school.
Learning by doing is the way to go.
We have about the same story haha, I learned a lot by just f ing around and learning from higher years there😂
Dude. It looks like you're passionate about this, and you love what you do. Thank you for being one of the good ones. We can't stand sound guys who don't even want to be there. Not saying it's always supposed to be peaches and cream, but you can tell the difference between someone who is meant to do this vs someone who's just filling a position. Love your video!
Believe me, there are days where some bands drive me up the wall, but in the end the venue is packed and everyone has a good time. That’s all that matters. Appreciate it.
Hey everyone! Thanks for all of the love you gave this video. Means a lot! Now that my channel is monetized I had to replace the Steely Dan music with generic royalty free music where the label claimed copyright to maintain monetization. Thanks for understanding.
That’s fine man. What was the original steely song you used? Got me curious now.
I literally say it in text on on the video....@@ChiefNonsense
@@chrishammillaudio no you didn’t. Just watched again. You just said you like Steely Dan mixes but don’t specify what song in particular you use. Just like little glimpses into how others setup for a show.
Jack of Speed@@ChiefNonsense
This is awesome to see as a musician. You guys don’t get enough credit for the work yall put in! Awesome stuff man
Appreciate it!
I wish more of the sound guys with which I've crossed paths were as on top of things like this. Cheers and keep rockin'!
Appreciate it. 🤘
Love this video, I'm currently in college getting my audio technician certification and everything in this video is text book perfect to what my teacher has been teaching the entire class! Hope the show turned out amazing
It did. Cheers 🤘
Solid set up for a small venue! Everything you need with a few nice extras, and someone who’s clearly put some heart into it behind the desk. 🤘
🤘
I like your attention to detail. True professional who takes care in what he does.
I love how professional you are, keep up the great work 💪🏼
Thanks! 🤘
never seen a FOH Engineer tuning a drum kit for the band
you are a nice dude for sure
I’m by no means an expert on drum tuning but I do what I can so drummers don’t have to worry. If they want to tune it differently that’s on them to do it themselves.
My first thought as well. I'd never touch it.
efficient and professional, very generous to show us an in depth video. Learned a lot, thanks so much
Appreciate it!
I used to work in a hotel as a sound guy & this video brings back a lot of memories. I enjoyed watching. Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome! 🤘
you guys are the most important person on a Live show.
tks for sharing this man, full respect 👊
Our jobs are only possible because performers are doing their thing on stage.
When I was a teenager in the late 60s I used to go to dances in local halls. Instead of lusting after the girls I would sidle up to the guitar amps and learn what all the controls did. In my twenties when I went to bars or big shows I would leave my fellows to go and study the mixing desk if it was accessible, and if the operator didn't look too busy, ask questions.
This is what I dreamed of. :-)
"No, I'm the exterminator."
One time I told a band I’m the ventriloquist performing before them and the club booked me last minute. I’ve never seen such traumatized fear before.
Humor. Some get it. Some don’t.
Many people hate the x32 but I used one for a few years and learned a lot from it.
That was cool! Thanks for sharing!
Great looking venue, I'd love to have that room to do sound in.
As a drummer as well as a sound tech, I concur with your statements about drummers not knowing how to keep their drums in tune! Great to see that extra step for making it sound good.
This room is outstanding for a drum kit. I recorded the drum tracks of a ska EP I’m producing in this room and it came out stellar.
Yes good to see u tune the drums and not use toilet paper and gaff tape lol
I'm really into music and never seen such a work like this before, Thanks for sharing man
Glad to share it with you!
I bought this board for all my synths in the studio. Great piece of gear, love it. Great video thanks
I haven't worked with an X32 in years, seeing one in action again makes me miss it.
It's a pretty great console.
super cool seeing the behind the scenes for stuff like this. great and insightful video!
More content like this coming!
Aaah. Just what I needed. Nothing is nicer than hearing a nice XLR click on a Saturday afternoon.
It’s a very satisfying sound.
This was a joy to watch. Thank you
My pleasure!
Great video man! As someone who is getting ready to graduate from my college's "Entertainment Technology" program (and has done setup and sound for a few different events on my own), it's nice to see that everything we've been doing over the past 2 years is truly integral to the process of prepping and starting a show! The X32 is the goat as well, love that thing!
The best education is working events and rigging up the gear yourself. I learned doing sound by doing it faster than any instructor at a school. Best of luck.
@@chrishammillaudio Thanks! I will definitely be ready for your next sound video/vlog haha!
thank u so much for sharing to us all of your work! im 21 and studying live sound and this is so helpful, greetings from argentina
Greetings!
Wicked to watch man would love to see one with full sound check 🤘🤘
That's the plan down the line. I will be doing just that.
@@chrishammillaudio wicked dude 🤘🤘
I do this almost every day and still like watching how others work the room and set up. Lovely.
Glad you enjoyed.
good job, my friend. i apprecciate how polite and friendly you were to the band guy coming in. cheers
🤘
I subbed just after watching this video. This is great. I'm actually impressed at the production setup this seemingly smaller club seems to have, with the lights and everything. Most smaller venues I run into are lucky to have anything beyond KJ lighting for karaoke nights. Anyway, thanks for sharing.
This is so cool to watch man! ty for the footage
You’re welcome!
I have had alot of passion for sound and music. Your video gives me alot of motivation and confidence on how well I can or maybe capable of working particularly in a small venue or environment with limited sound resources and the know how to get the jobs done. That's awesome. Really appreciate your video. Thanks heaps. Regards from Buka Island, PNG.
Glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!
I'm on my third year of college music tech, still no idea why, so here's some thoughts.
I really love how I'm confident enough to understand/know everything that's going on to some competence. I'm not familiar with lighting yet and don't quite know what everything on the desk does at this moment (There's a lot of flashy lights, twisty knobs and sliders). Definitely picked up on a few new things here like testing the drum kit, I never realized that the overtone isn't supposed to be there. (No musical background prior to college lmao). Very good video I'm glad you uploaded it.
massive respect for tuning the drums
wow just stumbled on this video and this is my hometown!
ive played on that stage when I was in highschool with a band called A
Step Forward back in 2011.and if i recall a dude named jay was the soundguy back in the day
great upload!
Appreciate it!
Honestly this channel should be in the top 10 ever. I truly believe you should have millions of subscribers (I'm sure it's just a matter of time). Legendary, please keep uploading!
That’s awesome. Thanks.
Helpful video. Thank you.
this is cool, thank you for uploading this. im gonna watch some of your other videos now
Welcome!
I always appreciate that attention to detail and methodical setup. Sucks that Jimmy Shredz is gonna drop a dimed Mesa Triple on that cab and throw a fit when his monitor gets pulled. Musicians wouldn’t be anywhere without you, thanks for everything you do.
Most guitar players are cool if I ask them to make volume or EQ changes on their amp. Bass players forgetting power cables and bringing amps that don’t have xlr out because they were made in 1953, however….
Great video. I used to crew and watching this reminds me how much I miss it. I did large and small venues and at the smaller venues I also used to single-handedly run the x32 and an avolites desk - we make it work eh!
We are the lifeline of these places.
My go to test tracks for my FOH gigs were XTC - Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead (love the punch of the drums compared to Crash Test Dummies cover), also You Can't Fix This from the Sound City Reel to Real album with Stevie Nicks.
This video brings back memories of my house tech days.
That entire sound city movie and album are fantastic.
Steely Dan is all around perfection. Amazing artistry in what you do and what the musicians do.
more videos please! These are great
I will be uploading more videos like this with full sound checks, live mixes while bands play and more.
This is fantastic. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is excellent. Keep it up man ❤
Thanks 🤘
I agree that Steely Dan is the music to use.I have used it since the 70s to dial in audio systems because its so clean and precise
Incredible sounding mixes.
I’m a senior in hs going to college soon, planning on studying music production and everything you do is really inspiring!
You'll learn far more by doing than you ever will in college. Good luck.
Need more of this!
Will be giving more content like this down the line.
My school has a gym with a bunch of sound technology set up in it and im the one who sits behind the sound board for every assembly! Its a really fun job that I dont get paid for, but i like it! I am very happy to be chosen for this job. I get to go through doors that others can only dream of whats behind them.
I really enjoyed that! I was kinda hoping the dude loading in gear for the band would have come back sooner though. I wanted to see how you mic up their cymbals. Also, definitely want to see some POV with the full band during the set!
I will be uploading more POV content of setting up their gear, sound check and full live mixes in the future. This was just a pre-doors PA check.
I don't mic cymbals here because the venues natural acoustics carries the cymbals plenty loudly.
Lovely job 💗
It’s pretty cool, yeah.
Loved this, I'm gonna have to tech for a night at a local venue roughly the size of this one, this will help me loads.
Having a set of procedures helps clear the mind and make load ins smoother.
Great video. Really covers everything.
Glad you think so
So much better/more effient than when I ran bar/club gigs in the late 90's - early 00's. Digital consoles existed but only in use in medium to large theater installs. Had to reset everything from scratch if there was another FoH working your off nights. Certainly no mirroring on a tablet to eq stage mics. That alone could save 30 min for a band with several vovals and horns.
I trained on analog and am one of those people that likes analog more than digital, but I cannot argue the ridiculous amount of benefits of digital consoles.
it's funny how every foh engineer i've spoken to has their favorite band or song to test PA systems, and sometimes it also reflects how their mixes sound. Also thank you for uploading your experience 🙏
Yours welcome!
Dingbatz!! This was a video suggestion from another video I was watching but my band played here in January & is playing here again May 12th \m/. Great video my friend
Hope to see ya there!
I get it why clubs use a dedicated drum kit, but as a drummer, I really hate it when I can’t use my own kit. It saves time setting up and cuts down the sound check. But not all of these club kits have the same quality and can compete with the sound of a drummers own kit.
I personally invested in a premium kit, that is tuned to what it should sound like for our music and doesn’t take more than 5 minutes to setup and sound check. The sound depends on shell material, shell sizes and used skins.
On the other hand, not every drummer is as prepared as they should be 😅.
But anyway, great video!
It depends on the venue. With this venue we let headlining tour acts and their direct support do anything they need as far as gear goes but for locals and local shows with 4-6 bands per show we have them use our house backline. Drummers bring their own snare and cymbals.
I’m way more lenient for guitar players and bass players bringing their own cabs than having to do 3-4 drum kit changeovers a show.
I've played dingbatz! Fun room. Made me smile seeing this pop up on my feed.
🤘
I loved the idea and set up
Glad you enjoyed
Damn it.... was just settling in to watch the soundcheck and the video ends, great vid, new sub here.
Thanks. I’ll be uploading sound checks and live mixes in the near future
Glad to found your channel bro, support!
Appreciate it!
I love sound but I have always been curious about lighting, I find it fascinating, hopefully one day I will have the opportunity. Good video!
Appreciate it. I’m just starting to understand DMX lines and connections. Lighting is a totally different animal than sound.
as an audio and light engineering student i thank you for this video
🤘
Love playing that place, we try to hit there as often as we can. Gonna be playing there again this Saturday night!
The 22nd? I’ll be doing sound for you guys.
@@chrishammillaudio Yeah the 22nd! Thats sick, we'll see you there! Looking forward to it.
Let’s rock 🤘
You sir, are a real pro.
Thanks 🤘
thanks for sharing
🤘
Great Work and Valuable Video mate ! much live from SRI LANKA!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for the video! It's always interesting to see how colleagues from another part of the world work. I am involved in organizing gigs, sound engineering, and other sound-related activities. Best wishes from Omsk, Russia.
P.S Soon I hope to record a similar video on preparing for a gig, but my equipment is simpler - XR18, I don't have lights or a console for it, but I aspire to more!
Keep at it!
I always love the peace of coming early before anyone else to prepare the sound system 😊
It is an absolute necessity especially if you’re not the only tech that works at the venue.
@@chrishammillaudioyeah right. Even though I am the in-house engineer. I enjoy the moment to explore more of the instruments, to clean and take care the instruments and to set up everything👍👍
i love your analog "tape limiter" on the x32!!!
😂
10/10 that was super satisfying
Glad you liked.
I came to this video from the other one of the 3 metal band gig, and I'd quite happily watch you do more of those. A lot of engineers could learn (or re-learn) a thing or two about how to work and conduct themselves as an engineer, without feeling the need to go more primadonna than the actual bands! 👍
A lot of what I do is common sense that surprisingly a lot of other techs don’t follow.
@@chrishammillaudio You're absolutely right, and if they were a little bit more methodical about it, it would make life easier for them as well as the bands. But sadly a lot of engineers are so jaded, they just come across as bitter and intolerant of what the band wants. You seem to be the total inverse of that, so good on you.
Happy to accommodate anything a band needs, just don’t blast the shit out of your guitar amps so I can get a decent mix and don’t use crappy amp sims if you’re going full digital. That makes my job easier and the bands performance better for the audience.
The lyrics are. Ey hey oooo ey hey. I use one, tsuu. Hahaha 🤣. Im joking man. You are really good ☺️. You people are the heroes in every event. Great job.
this is weirdly my dream right now, just started as a tech at a hotel and have done a few in room events as a lighting and audio tech but it's events for different businesses so they aren't the most active events. hopefully sooner or later I can run some Venue's like this, Thanks for the motivation!
Everyone knows someone. Find someone who knows a sound guy at your local venue and ask to shadow. As long as you just watch, don't ask a million questions until it's appropriate and don't touch anything, any reasonable tech SHOULD let you shadow them.
Unless you're working for a touring artist, this gig doesn't pay as well as you think it does. Best to have a day job when you're doing sound at gigs.
@@chrishammillaudio Thanks for the feedback!, I'm only just turned 19 so id be able to do my main job at the hotel and hopefully do some gigs at night just for some more experience.
Sounds like a good plan. If you're ever in the NY area and feel like shadowing a show, hit me up. Best of luck!
@@chrishammillaudio curious, what's the going rate for this sort of gig?
General rate around Dallas and Fort Worth, TX for a similar format and venue size is $200 flat.
It can be considered roughly $33 - $50 /hr, depending on when you consider yourself clocked in and out.
I've heard of higher, but yet to see it myself on gigs like these.
On my freelance gigs, I have more freedom with the amount (and whether or not to accept the gig accordingly).
Also curious if you know how the rate is determined, where you do gigs?
Played dingbatz a few times! Great sound when the right guy is running it! Seems they got a new house kit hahaha awesome content!
The new house kit sounds killer. We got a new house bass cab too that produces a really loud and present low end. Hope to see you play again.
I’m watching as I’m on my way to my sound check
🤘
You earned a sub the second I saw a soundcheck with Jack Of Speed. Godwhacker is my personal fav for going through a system.
Appreciate it. Nothing like jack of speed to test a system.
This should be the standard for house guys. It’s insane how this would be considered over the top. Thank you for caring. It sucks that I’m impressed with him doing his job. Cause most sound guys think their job is to just ride faders.
If the bands aren’t happy with the way they sound, they’re not gonna want to come back. It’s my job to make sure they are happy.
I had a weird sense of deja vu when i watched your video and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I've played Ding Batz so many times when I was playing in a band many years ago
You’re welcome if those are good memories.
@@chrishammillaudio they were! Its been like 10 years and I remember having fond memories of the old FOH guy. I believe his nickname was "Screech" or something like that. Had a band Smother Theresa. I have friends who did / do sound at Dingbatz and i've been told he has since passed.
@@ghostinthesnow11 I only knew of "Sarge", and he has since passed.
Is this Dingbatz??? I saw my very first live music show here when I was in highschool. Watching this gave me a blast of nostalgia. I've since gone on to become an audio engineer myself. Thank you for creating this video.
Edit: Just saw the desktop background, confirming that it is the same venue.
You’re welcome for the nostalgia. 🤘
i love this!
🤘
Awesome video!
Much appreciated.
The passive aggressive I’m the exterminator was the most sound guy thing in this video 😂
I’m just happy he could take a joke and have a laugh.
You the sound guy? .. no I’m the exterminator. That shit killed me haha
Your videos are amazing man! I know is kind of geek stuff, but I love to watch this!
I live for geeky stuff. Glad you enjoyed!
I run the x32 and the chamsys at my summer gig! Great set up.
It's a pretty dollar to dollar quality set up, for sure.
as an audio engineer student, i loved that
Glad you enjoyed!
Nice. Was hoping it'd end with the band playing a few seconds at the end but still neat to see the setup and your routine. I'd be nervous about beers splattering the equipment, I never put anything past drunks
This was to just get the venue ready for bands to load in for sound check. I will be providing more behind the scenes POVs with sound checks, routing breakdown, live mixes, etc.
Very cool! Thanks for the time spent making this. Only thing I would've loved would be to see a little snippet of the band playing at the end :) EDIT : Just checed some of your other videos and it fulfilled my needs ;)
Glad you checked out my other videos. Subscribe for more POV Vlogs of my FOH gigs.
@@chrishammillaudio done and done
I like this video and the X32 🙂
That's a nice venue!
I love this place. One of the last real rock/metal venues in Jersey.
Hey, I'm curious. You said there's other engineers there, do you all use a different mixing profile on the mixing desk or?
Yes. We each use our own scenes
Dude dingbatz is the best venue ever!!! So sick to see you working there 🤘
It’s a fun place to work for sure.
That was interesting, thank you for the insight! =D
Glad you enjoyed it!
"Are you the sound guy?"
"No, I'm the exterminator"
Best part of this whole video
Sound guy that bring his own drum mics ….I don’t need to watch the rest of the video you are the man
Forget that back again you even tuned the house drum kit 👏🏾👏🏾 and definitely don’t be sorry that amount of drummer I know that can’t tune a lot proper is scary …
Some bands are shocked when they come in and see what I do. Not because they’re impressed with what goes in to running a show, but they must encounter a lot of sound guys that don’t give a shit and don’t do any work to make the musicians comfortable playing at their venues.
The way you hit the gums on the mixer makes me know that they are strong.
😅