Setting Levels
Sound Sculptures: The best seat in the house
by Paul L. "Pro" Pearson, Ph.D.
{Editor's note: this is the first in on occasional series of articles that we will present which document Paul Pearson and his efforts working as a sound man for the rising jam band Strange Pleasures. Starting this month, Paul will take over the editorship of this section- please feel free to send him your own submissions- on taping, trading mixing sound and/or any related issues- pro@strangepleasures.com.}
Until recently I hadn't realized that I was a taper. Instead of taping someone else's house mix, it became apparent to me that I was interested in taping my mix. Luckily enough, I've got a band that had the foresight to let me do just that. After about eight months of hanging around the board, recording and making suggestions I got the job of making a good band better. Since then, it's been a process. Learning, listening, tweaking, taping and trying not to repeat the mistakes of the past. So far, so good.
For my money, Paul Languedoc has got the phat job on the planet. He's got the baddest band, the dank gear and venues built to be filled with a jam that carries the crowd to another plane. Being the soundman for a band that hasn' t made it (yet) isn't quite as glamorous, but when the room fills out and the guitar is tangible on your tongue, there isn't a better seat in the house. Each string, each voice, every cymbal finding their own niche in a swell of sound that envelopes the audience. Every word articulated clearly, kick drum thumping your chest, hippie chicks twirling in patchwork dresses and your eyes closing involuntarily as you don the cansI
Our home base is the Saddle Creek Bar in Omaha, NE. The Creek is a fickle bitch of a room that hides more echoes and sound bombs than mortal man can count. The house system is rife with ghosts just waiting to jump out and 'grab your skinny white ass' (to quote Cheech from Tin Cup). When it's full of freaks, like it was on Halloween for S.O.U.P. (aka Grateful Dudes-the local legends of the jamband scene), the Creek sounds great. When it's half full on a Thursday night for our normal house gig, it can become a royal trainwreck. If you try to turn it up, it feeds back. If you turn it down, the stage volume washes the vocals into oblivion and you get at least thirty dirty looks. All you can do is sweat it out and tell the band to turn down for second set. It's taken quite awhile to get used to the sledgehammer dynamics of the Saddle Creek, and even a veteran soundman can take his lumps on that system. A point that Greg, the soundman for the Dudes, won't argue. Some nights, you beat the Creek-other nights you get murdered. But if you mix it right, the DAT can convince even the most critical (and believe me, we are our harshest critics) that you had a decent night.
Over the upcoming months, I hope to document the trials and triumphs of the guy with the toughest job in the room-and the power to make a mediocre night sound right. My (months of) experience as an integral part, in fact a full member, of a jamband searching for the seamless groove will hopefully provide some insight into what it takes to get it done-or at least attempt to. Everything I'm learning is a trial by fire-throwing myself into the middle of four musicians, three on-spot guests, a drunk or two with a 'better idea', 5000 watts and a jam that invents itself from within. Maybe you'll get a glimpse of the madness and the miracle as it happens live. Take care.
For more on Strange Pleasures, visit their web site: www.strangepleasures.com
