Guidelines
• Be at the venue NO LATER than 1 hour before doors. This is to backline every band's gear and make sure the first band gets a proper soundcheck. It doesn't matter if all your band members are there as long as your gear is there. If you have to work make arrangements for your gear to be there on time.
• DO NOT swing the microphone (unless you bring your own cable and microphone). If you smash the mic screen from dropping/swinging/doing whatever with the mic, you will pay for a new screen ($35) and a new mic ($100) if you happen to break it. I know you want to put on a good show, but don't be a rockstar unless you're using your own equipment.
• I can record shows into a mobile recording rig. A 2 channel board mix of your set is $20 and will be taken home and professionally mastered before it is emailed to you. 12 channel multitrack recordings are now available for $100. Each song is individually mixed down and mastered for optimal quality. Let me know BEFORE your set if you want a recording, if you don't ask I don't record it. PLEASE EMAIL IN ADVANCE IF YOU WANT A MULTITRACK. My email is at the bottom of this blog post. Samples can be heard at Soundclick
• If you have a special request (in ear monitor sends, wireless microphones, etc) let me know BEFORE you are about to play your set.
• DO NOT stand on the monitor wedges or bring water anywhere near them. Standing on the wedges crushes the grill against the speaker and ruins it. Water can also ruin the horn of the wedge if it gets inside. If you damage any of the gear on stage you will be charged accordingly.
• Every band will get at least a LINE CHECK before they play. This is not the same as a soundcheck.
• Set changes are 15 minutes. If you run into your set time because you took forever to set up, your set will be cut short. GET YOUR GEAR ON AND OFF STAGE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. Drums should be off the riser before they are torn down, and should be completely set up before they are on the riser.
• All microphones and direct boxes are provided (but you are free to bring your own if you want to use them).
• If you need something in the monitors ask me, instead of playing your entire set and whining afterwards that you couldn't hear anything. I'm not a mind reader. Also, BE SPECIFIC. Saying "I need more monitor" doesn't mean a damn thing to me. There are 6 different mixes on the stage, and your instrument is not the only thing in your monitor. Saying "I need more of my guitar in my monitor," or "I need more of my vocal in my monitor," or "the drummer needs more guitar" will do the job just fine.
• DO NOT play while I am miking up your gear. I don't want a 120dB blast to the face while I'm getting a mic on your guitar cab, nor do I want a smashed finger while I'm miking your drums.
Suggestions
• If your kick drum head does not have a hole, please cut one or get a head with a hole (especially if you are in a metal band). This is crucial to having a great "metal" kick drum sound vs. a mediocre metal kick drum sound. Depending on how the head is tuned, it can also cause feedback issues if there is no hole.
• The type of gear you play (and knowing how to use it) is directly proportional to how well you will sound. Don't expect to sound like a national act if you are playing through cheap equipment.
• Guitarists: If your mids are set to zero, and your tone is all bass and treble, no one will be able to hear you! Midrange is your cutting force in the mix.
• Check and make sure all your cables work before you get on the stage.
• All wireless microphones are not created equal. The $100 wireless mic you got on sale at Guitar Center might be fine at some bar with a 2 speaker PA, but you will find out pretty quick when you play here how bad it sounds. A good wired mic will sound better than a cheap wireless any day of the week. If you are going to spend $100, buy a Shure SM58 instead. I would recommend the Shure PGX24 as an entry level quality wireless microphone. If you're going wireless don't go cheap!
• If you are using a vocal processor, and you are not the headlining act, you may not have much vocals in your monitors. Vocal processors (especially cheap ones) cause major feedback issues because of the way they alter vocal frequencies. If I am running a show by myself I will not have the time to ring out the monitors for your processor before you play, unless you are the headlining act, and in that case we will take care of any feedback issues during soundcheck. The ideal setup would be a split out--an uneffected, regular vocal signal is sent to monitors, and an effected vocal signal gets sent to FOH.
• If you are a hip hop/rap group and are playing to tracks, please bring them on an iPod or MP3 player. My CD player is not skip proof and excessive bass will cause your tracks to skip.
• Intro music is also preferred on iPods or an MP3 player
• If you have any questions about our gear, or anything that was not covered above, feel free to email me
briankozicki at gmail dot com
• The bottom line is: Be respectful (I wouldn't come into your house and trash it) and don't be a prick, and we won't have any problems! Be cool to me and I'll be cool to you.
Thanks,
Brian
ARV FOH Engineer
Thanks,
Brian
ARV FOH Engineer