Bad Sound..

And What I've Learned From It.

Why does the sound usually suck for opening acts? Sometimes it takes a sound guy a little while to get the right mix and the opener is the guinea pig. (And I say sound “guy” here because to be honest, I don’t know if I’ve ever had a gig with a female sound person.) Sometimes he just doesn’t give a shit. Sometimes he doesn’t like the opener and, consciously or not, doesn’t want them to sound good. Sometimes the main act has their own sound guy and someone who's not very good at sound is given the job of doing sound for the opener. Sometimes it's accidental, sometimes intentional, sometimes un-professional and even unethical, but, it's been the fate of opening acts since there have been opening acts.

I complained about opening act sound guys and bad sound guys in general for a decade or two until I finally just gave up and decided to just make the best of it. Now it just seems to come with the territory and the way things are, the upper tier and the lower tier, one protecting its turf and the other coming after it. This division is, I suppose, at least partially maintained to keep people hungry, climbing, and competing since it sure does that. But since I'm not hungry or climbing or competing anymore and am pretty much a lifetime lower-tier guy, I pretty much take what I can get.

I try to keep my expectations as low as possible. If I can more or less hear myself and the room can more or less hear me, I just pretend there is no sound system at all and play with as much presence as I can muster and hope the essence of what I'm doing gets across. When I expect more, I just get disappointed, with my expectations as low as possible, I am occasionally surprised by a great mix right off the bat that just gets better as I go. But then I'm a solo folkie and my main interest is in being happy and enjoying making music. For bands that are more ambitious, it must be tougher to deal with. In any case, my favorite gigs are just me, solo, acoustic, and gear-less.

Another thing that used to drive me nuts was when the sound guy would get a decent mix by the second song or so and then just leave the board and walk away. These days I just adjust and roll with the mix I've got. This is one way that having bad sound guys has actually helped me as a performer. I don't expect anyone to make me sound good anymore. It's a bonus. I've learned how to adjust my volume and presence, vocally and instrumentally. I've learned to really listen to the sound I'm making versus what the system is putting out. I've learned in short, to correct for all kinds of bad sound issues, the biggest and best correction of which is this: step out from around the mikes, unplug and play acoustically. If you've always had perfect mixes, dialed to perfection by real pros, I wonder, can you step up and just play gear-less? I've seen plenty of upper tier artists who are not so good at it, usually because they can't produce much presence and volume without amplification and electronic effects.

And another thing about those upper tier artists, when I don't get what I want sound-wise, I immediately start working with what I have and I start focusing on the show, doing my best and enjoying myself; When they don't get what they want sound-wise, they tend to start throwing tantrums and focusing on themselves or blaming the sound guy. I’ve seen them do it right on stage. I once heard a famous jazz musician tell the sound guy, on the mike, that he should consider another career. Nobody enjoyed that show much and the main act, right or wrong, came off as a whiner and a prima donna.

I’m just looking at the silver lining here. I'd rather win, but the upside of losing is the opportunity to get over myself. And nothing I've ever done contributes to my happiness and well being more than doing that. So thanks bad sound guys! Seriously. You’ve helped me become a stronger performer and maybe even a better and happier person.