Rant about live vs recorded music.

[idc]

I saw Russian Circles last night. Their albums are very well recorded, there is a lot of detail in their music and their musicianship is superb. But the live sound was awful. It was just a mash of noise with the bass drum the loudest and the lead guitar at times could hardly be heard. It got me thinking

- why spend so much time sorting the sound quality of your albums and then fail so miserably to get a decent sound live?

- when people say hifi should reproduce music should be as it was played and is about reproducing the sound accurately they must mean in the studio and not 'live'.

- why do I now take earplugs to concerts and find many venues hand them out for free as well?

I only go to concerts now to give a bit of money and appreciation back to the artist. I would love to get decent sound quality in return, but have given up hope that is ever likely to happen.

 

[Big Chris]

The problem is, unless an artist/band is big and wealthy enough to take their own backline everywhere they go, bands are at the mercy of the venue's own stuff. This also applies to bands supplying their own sound engineer.

Some venues have good stuff, some have mediocre stuff and the odd few have terrible stuff (I'm looking at YOU, Ruskin Arms, East London!)

 

[CnoEvil]

I have found the acoustics of the venue have a huge bearing on what you hear. I personally found the Odyssey Arena (Belfast) pretty bad, while the O2 (Dublin) was great.

 

[idc]

The venue in question is Stereo in Glasgow. I have been to four concerts there and three were good to very good. They have made an effort with acoustic panels. But as I said Russian Circles were terrible, so I do not think that the venue is necessarily to blame. The band (who set up their own instruments, no roadies involved) must have some responsibility.

 

[drichardb]

I would expect the members of a band to be able to setup their stage gear, be it their own or borrowed, without any issues as it shouldnt be that much different to setting it up for studio use. Its the front of house engineer (be it a dedicated one or someone within the band) who is responsible for getting the levels right on the main P.A.

I saw Kerbdog at the Thekla in Bristol about a month ago, the band sorted their own gear out on stage but they had a pro on the mixing desk who did an outstanding job. Possibly the best sound I've ever heard at a small venue if i'm honest.

On the flip side of this I remember seeing Slipknot and Slayer at Cardiff Arena which has never been a great sounding venue. Slipknot went first and while I admit i'm not a fan it was just complete mush. I literally could not make head nor tail of what the band were doing. My hopes for Slayer were not good but obviously their engineer knew what he was doing as he blew the roof off the place! :rockout:

Fingers crossed if you get to see them again they will have someone who knows what they are doing running the desk.

 

[idc]

I should learn how to mix

 

[The_Lhc]

Maybe they're just not very good musicians and the producer on their albums is making them sound far better than they could ever hope to emulate live?

 

[Big Chris]

Maybe they're just not very good musicians and the producer on their albums is making them sound far better than they could ever hope to emulate live?

There is that too, but I would hope that although the band may be tightened, tweaked and quantized in mixing, they are still able to play the stuff they put out.

They may have been having an off night. Tomas Haake even fluffed a few of the kick parts during 'Bleed' last Friday.:O

 

[fr0g]

Slightly different rant about a similar band.

I watched Mogwai in Manchester Academy a few years ago and the sound was excellent.

But so many people were chatting in the quiet bits. I told a girl next to me to STFU at one point and she tried to set her boyfriend on me, but he agreed with me...

But why the heck do people go to concerts and rabbit on while the band are playing!!!!?

I wish some of these bands would play at more concert halls to be honest.

 

[CnoEvil]

Slightly different rant about a similar band.

But why the heck do people go to concerts and rabbit on while the band are playing!!!!?

On a similar note to this, I was at a Supertramp concert a little while ago, which was full of "us blokes" of a certain age. The ability to drink copious quantities of Ale hadn't diminished with age, but the collective bladders certainly weren't up to the challenge. The whole concert was spent rising and falling like an aerobics class, in order to let them past!....'squuze me....'squuze me!

Getting an uninterrupted view of the band was nigh on impossible, due to the constant eclipsing of the stage by the polyuric multitude. :wall:

 

[drichardb]

But why the heck do people go to concerts and rabbit on while the band are playing!!!!?

I wish some of these bands would play at more concert halls to be honest.

I feel your pain. Three times I've seen Aussie Floyd. Three times I've had idiots sat in the row adjacent who would not shut up after being hissed at by everyone in the vicinity. Thankfully every other gig i've been to has been too loud to allow talking!

 

[matthewpiano]

Slightly different rant about a similar band.

But why the heck do people go to concerts and rabbit on while the band are playing!!!!?

On a similar note to this, I was at a Supertramp concert a little while ago, which was full of "us blokes" of a certain age. The ability to drink copious quantities of Ale hadn't diminished with age, but the collective bladders certainly weren't up to the challenge. The whole concert was spent rising and falling like an aerobics class, in order to let them past!....'squuze me....'squuze me!

Getting an uninterrupted view of the band was nigh on impossible, due to the constant eclipsing of the stage by the polyuric multitude. :wall:

Similar experience at a Jethro Tull gig in Liverpool a few years ago. Concert was frankly ruined by the constant motion of people alternating between going out to the bar for a top-up and going to the bathrooms to make more space. Some people seem to miss half the concert!!