WILLY T rains fire and brimstone on bands who confuse SOUNDCHECK and REHEARSAL.

One of the traps for new soundies when they first start doing live gigs is that as soon as any sound is coming out of the PA rig, the musos often want to start jamming immediately … and the sound engineer starts to lose control of their soundcheck from the word go. A common mistake, usually made by lazy musos – who haven’t learnt their new material before the show – is that they confuse the time for soundcheck with a rehearsal!

Let’s be clear: rehearsals sort out the band, soundcheck sorts out the room and PA.

The soundcheck is carried out for two main reasons:

1. To make sure that all microphones, instruments and other inputs are working and correctly patched-in to the system (AKA a line check).

2. To set the levels and tones of instruments and voices, both individually and in combination as a band, so that the show can begin with a bang!

Rather than having swags of leads flowing off-stage down to the mixing desk like spaghetti, all the different signals are sent to FOH mixing Desk by one big thick cable called a ‘multi-core’ or ‘snake’ that runs through the venue from the stage to the mixing desk. Line-checks simply verify that all inputs plugged into to the stage-box have been received at the mixing-desk via the multicore. The line check will tell us if the microphone or other input is working and connected to the correct channel in the mixing desk! To do this simply pull down all Channel Faders, leaving only the Master Faders (Output) up, and go through each input one-by-one. This will verify that all lines are delivering ‘clean’ sound signals to the desk. This is the time for the individual instruments to be roughly EQ’d. (It is a rough EQ as individual instruments sound subjectively different when mixed with other sounds as a result of what is known as ‘Frequency Masking’, and therefore have to be equalised differently in the context of a full mix.)

If the band are the ‘luggers’, work them hard! And, after all the heavy lifting has finished – FOH desk and speaker bins, for example – tell them to go away and get the coffees. This gives you valuable uninterrupted time to patch up the PA and run it up and get it happening. The time is also a great opportunity to do your line checks – before the musos return and start shuffling about, complaining that they are bored!

When we have verified that all the lines from stage have indeed arrived at the mixing desk, we invite our ever-patient muso friends to come and play some ‘toons’ that are a fair representation of their set or gig. This is necessary to match instrument and microphone signals to the mixing desk’s normal operating levels. It requires the instrument or vocalist to play or sing at normal performance levels. It is also a good idea at this stage to suss the max level the instrument or voice will hit during the show. If instruments have their own volume controls, it is important that the levels set during soundcheck are the same as they will be in performance – there is no point in setting console levels during the soundcheck if instrument volume controls are going to be changed later!

With standard rock bands, most engineers will line-check in roughly the following order: kick drum, snare drum – top and bottom, hi-hat, rack toms – top and bottom, floor toms – top and bottom, drum overheads, full drum kit, bass guitar, keyboards, rhythm and lead Guitars, vocals, whole band.

Where there is a swag of differences in the styles or genres that the band plays, a medley of the different styles may need to be played ... but not the whole set!

When the band are rocking out and going for it, go for a wee wander around the venue to check that all systems are working at ‘full-noise’ and to suss-out any ‘lumps’ in the PA sound and coverage.

Remember, it’s our gig to make the band sound the best they can through the PA, in the room that they are playing. It’s up to you as the sound engineer to smooth out any interactions between the room sound and the band/vocal sound. Even if they won’t cooperate! The audience themselves can influence the room sound by acting as ‘Porous Absorbers’ and soaking up the high frequencies. (‘Treble’ for the home stereo crowd!) In drastic conditions this may often require serious re-equalising during the show. So it’s often good to EQ the room a little brighter during soundcheck when it’s empty, to compensate for when the hoards of punters arrive.

When there’s a support band it is normal to soundcheck in the reverse of performance order so the mixing desk’s settings will be immediately ready for the opening act. Finally, you have a lot to sort-out before ‘doors-open’ so keep a handle on things and retain control of your Soundcheck.

WILLY T runs Giraffe Media. Providing Words, Pics and Live-Audio Recording Services to the entertainment industry. Email for more information.

SOUNDCHECK RULES

1. The sound engineer’s word is law.

2. Band to only play an instrument when asked, and only stop when told.

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