Re: [Harp-L] passive agressive sound guys

[icemanle@xxxxxxx]

Perhaps since the disco days, when that 120 bpm sound was pumped into the room via monster speakers to "make" people dance, some sort of "inyourface" norm was evolved - this was how music was supposed to be heard....(and felt).
 
This bled over into live music venues as well as the collective consciousness of sound men.
 
What better way to MAKE the audience feel the music than to start with mic'ing a bass drum and pushing up the db's. Of course, everything else had to rise to the sonic challenge to be heard over the bass drum. Result - mic EVERYTHING and push it out.
 
Instead of the acoustic sound of the instruments and stage players working off of each other in real time/sound, everything is electronically boosted and those "separate monitor mixes" for each band member morph the sound into FRANKENSTEIN Unchained. It is unnatural, to say the least - especially for acoustic music and blues. When did Muddy Waters ever have his drummers bass drum mic'd and pushed through the PA? 
 
This is one reason that I champion the BOSE PAS system philosophy, as it puts the control of the sound back in the hands of the musicians and eliminates monitors. Sound men are not happy, as they lose a bit of CONTROL, but the results have been amazing when they get with the program.
 
The Iceman
 
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