This is a guest post from Michael S. Armentrout - music fan, lover of King’s X and future concert promoter.
It has been said, “If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.” (Anon)
Artists are not immune to this law of nature. Undoubtedly, if something can go awry, it probably will. How one responds is the true test of character. You may have the technical, musical abilities, but do you have the mental game to endure and overcome?
This series of articles is aimed at artists who have few road-miles under their belt. Think of it as friendly advice on how to enjoy the performing experience even more. Sit back and read the experiences of others. First up, sound issues…

photo by jhowell852
Dave Scoven - david.scoven@dss.virginia.gov
Drummer – Tele-Phonic
Engineer, Producer - Floating Iris Studio, Richmond, VA
I was the house sound engineer for Rockitz, in Richmond, VA, which, at the time, was the smallest “A” club in the U.S – capacity 325 (and that was generous). I would say that the PA there was adequate for the size of the venue. It was nothing special, but adequate.
On the night that English rock band Lords of the New Church played, I was surprised to see four full Marshall stacks rolling in. There were two guitar players in the band. To my utter amazement, each guitarist was using 2 full stacks. That’s 400 watts of guitar. I hoped against hope that the guitarists would be using the “extra” amps as stage props, and would be playing through one stack each, set at a reasonable volume for the stage.
No such luck. Lords of the New Church took the stage for sound check, and I measured the guitar volume coming from the stage – not through the PA, mind you – just directly from the stage. One hundred and twenty-six decibels, at the mix position. That’s the equivalent of having your head inside a jet engine. I approached the band an informed them that the audience would hear nothing but guitar during the performance if the guitarists didn’t turn down – considerably. Of course, I got the stock answer to such requests, which was “we cannot get our ‘sound’ unless the amps are all the way up.”
“All four?” I asked. Silly me.
Well, the crowd arrived and the place was packed and the opening band sounded fine. Then the Lords of the New Church broke loose all Hell. Stiv Bators, former vocalist for the Dead Boys and a sub-cultural icon in his own right, seemed to be mouthing words, but there was no audible vocal sound. Neither was there much in way of drums, except for the all-too-familiar sound of cymbals getting a brutal thrashing. The crowd was there to see AND hear Stiv Bators, and they we not amused. In fact, they went absolutely ballistic. As for me, I stood dumbfound behind the mixing console, with 126 decibels of guitar in my right ear and at least that level of road manager in my left. Then, just when I thought it could get no worse, Stiv Bators stooped the show. Let me repeat: stopped the show. He announced that band would not continue until the sound was “fixed,” and if it could not be “fixed,” everyone would get a refund and could go home.
Now I had 126 db of road manager in my left ear, and 126 db of club owner in my right. I seriously considered running away, very seriously. Anyway, the more I explained that the club’s PA simply could not compete with an excess of 120db in stage volume, the angrier everyone else got. The Army has a great phrase for this type of situation, and it probably isn’t appropriate to print, but the first word is “cluster.”
The road manager went to talk to the band, and the club owner retreated to his lair in the basement, not to be seen again that night. Lords of the New Church finally did perform, but to say that they sounded awful doesn’t begin to paint an accurate picture. It was, in a word, the worst night I ever had as a Front-of-House engineer, by a long shot.
As for lessons learned that fledgling bands can take away from this experience, the first one ought to be obvious. All sound systems have limits, and if the stage volume is louder than the PA, you might as well not have a PA. The best bit of advice I can give is this – it has to sound great on stage for it to sound great out front. Especially in a club, because the stage mix is always part of the main mix. It’s inevitable. If the mix is bad onstage – too loud, out of balance, etc. – there is very little that even a great a sound mixer can do to make the house mix sound very much better. In all my time at Rockitz, this correlation was verified time after time – if it sounds like a record onstage, it will sound like a record out front. If it sounds like muck onstage, well, you’ll just sound like muck, and if muck isn’t “your sound,” it’s going to be a very long night.
Matt Tuzzo -
mtuzzo@gmail.com
Lead Guitarist/Vocals – BitterX
www.bitterx.com
www.myspace.com/bitterx
A typical problem with playing any show is poor monitor sound/consistency, especially for a guitarist. The sound quality is either terrible or too low. Some places don’t even allow you to put your guitar in their monitor! A guitar player cannot be effective if he cannot hear himself. This will make any gig miserable for a guitarist (this would apply to other instruments as well, but I am a guitarist and this has been my personal experience. I play no other instruments).
What I’ve done to add some consistency and get the same guitar sound EVERY show is purchased a set of wireless in-ear monitors (with the molds, they are useless without custom molds), a 4 channel mixer, and my own speaker mic. What this allows me to do is separate my guitar from the rest of the channel in my ears (via the mixer). I mic my own amp and run it into my mixer and then take a line from the soundboard for everything else I need in my ears. This way my guitar signal goes directly from my amp’s speaker into my ears and I control the volume. This way I’m not subject to the soundman’s gain tweaking, coloration, or effects, and I get the same guitar sound every show.
One way to make sound consistent for the whole band is to hire your own man with his own rig. This can be expensive. We are a 5 piece working rock band that plays clubs that hold anywhere from 500 to 3500 people. His price ranges from $300-over $500 depending on what equipment he needs to bring with him to cut the gig. The up side to that is he is very consistent, can tackle and solve almost any sound issue we might have, and his equipment is constantly maintained and working properly. It is important to find someone you like and trust and stick with him as long as you can afford to pay him. There a lot of really bad soundman out there and chances are, if you’re hiring different guys every week you will find all of them.
The most common issue to arise at a gig involves the medium used to connect with an audience. All of the talent in the world will be wasted if you cannot tell your story the way you intend to. It is comparable to a painter with a soiled canvas. They may still create a masterpiece, but it will probably require an inordinate amount and effort. With a little forethought, knowledge and preparation, you can ensure your message will not be lost in the cacophony of noise. Have you experienced any of the above? How did you respond? Leave a comment and share with others. Until next time…