You dont have a backstage room of your own

You just have feedback in your microphoneCause you dont get a sound checkCause youre not worth the time

Youre gonna have to face itYoure no better than slimeYou dont know me; Im the opening act

Mary-Chapin Carpenter

One goal every musical act should see as fundamental is control over their Live presentation. However, Opening acts are usually playing on someone elses stage. Resulting in less control over their presentation, just when they need it the most. This Opening Act role represents a significant opportunity, which needs to be fully embraced, by everyone in the organization. If the Opening Act sees this as a once in a lifetime situation most likely itll be just that, a Situation that happened ONCE in their lifetime. Opportunity of a lifetime has a different feel to it. Lets pursue that path! That path, as well as, a strategy of how to gain some control over the presentation of an Opportunity of a Lifetime event will be clearly presented in this article. The higher up the food chain of the music business an act gets, the easier it becomes for them to get control over how & where their music is presented. On the way up this food chain, it is a distinct possibility, that an aspiring band may be the Opening Act a time or two, before they get to Headliner status. This article is dedicated to ALL opening acts, everywhere!

What it is

This opening act role is a perfect example of when a band absolutely needs the stage plot and input list. It is also a perfect example of when the stage plot and input list are NOT needed.

The stage plot and input list are needed because they organize the band into a neat package that the headliners production team can quantify. It tells them how many inputs the band is looking for, in order to do the FULL show. (Well get back to that point full show later.) How much stage space the band is looking for, how many monitor mixes etc.On the other hand, the stage plot and input list are NOT needed because youll get what you get AND LIKE IT! Well assume for the sake of this discussion, that (the opening act) is NOT carrying production (consoles etc). Just band gear (back line). The previous (Full Show) point is this. The Opening act will be playing for 30 to 45 minutes TOTAL! When the band decides on the set list (which tunes theyll perform as the opening act) eliminate any of the audio inputs, which are not used for the tunes in that set list. For example, on the (Full Show) input list, there are six different guitar inputs. Two of those inputs are for guitars that are featured on tunes that will NOT be performed during the opening act set. Cut those inputs out, get the list pared down to a just the facts level. Same with the band gear / back line situation. Above all else be prepared to set up the band in a smaller space than usual.

Who ya gonna call?Advancing these opening act situations especially if its a one off (one show only) is difficult. The nature of this beast is that, the Headliner is a moving target. Their production manager is dealing with daily problems and has to prioritize the future carefully.Follow the chain of evidence stay in touch with whoever it was (a manager, the local promoter a booking agent) that booked this Opening Act opportunity, get the initial contact information from them. Once this contact info is secured be persistent BUT dont be a pain in the Butt.Youll be looking to talk to the headliners production manager or stage manger. These are the only two people that can be of any assistance to you. Get their cell phone numbers youll need them to get into the show on the big day.The next most important people youll need to find are the sound technicians. I cant emphasize enough how important this part of the process is to the actual outcome of your bands performance. Well discus this aspect (Sound) in great detail with a future article.

Act Like Youve Been There Before:

Before we go any further, if the above statement seems obvious to you skip this part and go on to the next paragraph. If that statement seems mysterious, youre in the right place! And so, it becomes necessary for me to inform all such Mysterians that: No autographs, photos, videos or recordings of any kind are permitted. Dont ask! Leave your favorite version of the Headliners t-shirt home. The issue here is that the Opening Acts technical representative needs to be On point and willing to work quickly, effectively and under pressure. No distractions leave the Significant Other, the roommates or anyone not DIRECTLY associated with the band at home. This Technical Rep will need to be TWO completely different people .at the SAME TIME! The first personality they need to be is the: calm, sincere, understanding, a roll with the punches type who will be a problem solving maven. The other personality needs to be a fearless advocate for the band. He/she will have to be very tuned in to the BANDS priorities, but most importantly have the ability to pick battles wisely it is very possible to win a battle and LOSE the war. Leave all egos at the loading dock. If the band does NOT have a technical Chief and does NOT know anyone with real experience to fill that role, pick someone who is responsible and accountable. This person does NOT need to be a technical wizard but they MUST possess the ability to say I DONT KNOW, when asked a technical question, thats over their head. The next article of this series will address, these technical aspects. You will find it at www.liveconcertstagesound.comMake sure this person has a photo of the band set up with them, also have one on your website (always a good idea.)In most bands, theres usually one band member that takes on the role of organizer. Usually this person has the van and a bunch of positive energy. This person could be far more valuable than an outsider with more technical knowledge. Think clearly about whom the band puts in the technical representative role.

First Things FirstSeriously, the clock on the Opening Act starts at Load in. Make sure of the load-in details. If the concert is being presented in a venue that has a contract with the stagehands union IATSE (IA) you need to know that. Because the scheduled time for load-in will be important. Going back to a previously mentioned point, remember the just the facts mentality? Heres why it matters. The crew that unloads gear will have already unloaded several tractor-trailers worth of gear. The sound crew is in early, too. Do not make their job any more difficult than it already is. If the band gear is arriving at the venue in a station wagon or van (it is not at loading dock height) look for a ramp. Wheels are good! If the gear in not in proper road cases (with wheels) bring a dolly, you may be required to get the gear to the loading dock on your own. If the band gear is in a truck (loading dock height) make sure that the gear NEEDED for this show is on the rear of the truck. This may require a truck repack, prior to its arrival at the venue. Professionals would repack! Remember this needs to facilitate the BANDS opportunity to shine.

The IATSE and YOU

This relationship is Always about respect. The IATSE is a professional group of workers bound by a collective bargaining agreement. Thats why they have to stick to the rules that are the structure of the workday in a venue that has a contract with the local IA. These stagehands are VERY capable and competent at their jobs. Many have degrees in Theater from well know Universities. If you respect the stagehands as people and accept the rules as the way it is you will get on fine. Failure to respect the IA for what it is (professional help in the technical aspects of the production) can be very bad idea AND.. Its expensive! One of my favorite IA sayings is Chaos creates CASH. This is the exact nature of the relationship between the Production and the local IA crew. If the production is well planned and organized, the day will go exceedingly well. If the production has organizational issues, these issues will put pressure on the deadlines all day. Stuff happens Trucks show up late, chain motors break and thunder storms blast in! None of that stuff is the IAs fault but because their work rules, such as, Meal penalties, will be enforced the pressure mounts. This pressure (even on a perfect day there can be pressure) impacts the amount of production stage time available to Opening Act. The Opening Acts production representative needs to be aware of how the Headliners production is coming together. Show up early and pay attention to the workflow. Monitoring the progress of the production is critical! Deli trays and bottled water. Lunch is usually a good time to grab a minute or so of the stage mangers time . Lunch is also a good indicator of progress. If the entire crew stops (dark stage) to eat lunch, nobody can work for an hour. This is very good, because it indicates that everythings on schedule. If the lunch is split (half the crew eats and half stays working) this could indicate problems ahead so beware!During lunch, try to start organizing the stagehand allocation for band gear set up. Every IA local deals with non union / non local personal handling gear differently so ask if non-union people are allowed to move the gear. If the answer is ONLY the IA can move the gear respect that, it also means the IA will uncase the gear too. A non local refers to an IA member who belongs to a local other than the local that has the contact with this venue.Find out how much stage space the band will get and begin the process of optimizing that situation. This is where Organization becomes the most important aspect of the day. Failure to organize the placement and set up of the band will seriously limit the time for sound check.I discus in detail, how to organize set up and sound check, plus much, much more in my downloadable eBook, A Musicians Complete Guide to Stage Sound you can find it at.www.liveconcertstagesound.comNow that shameless hawking is done, let me explain why the clock is running out on Sound Check.Most Show Day schedules with 7:30PM advertised start, look like this.8:00 AM LOAD IN1:00PM 2:00PM LUNCH4:00 5:30PM Headliner SOUND CHECK5:30PM DINNER begins6:00PM Opening Act SOUND CHECK6:30PM DOORS OPEN (public allowed in)7:00PM DARK STAGE (ALL WORK STOPS)On a good day this schedule is hectic but doable, on a day with problems the first item off the schedule is the Opening Act SOUND CHECK. Get Organized!It works!The first time I heard Mary Chapin perform You dont know me Im the opening act was at Meriwether Post in Columbia Md. She was OPENING for Clint Black; it mustve been 1989. MCC was not known as a country artist back then, but she had a nice following in the Maryland/ DC area as a singer/ songwriter.Mary-Chapin definitely saw this Opening Act slot as a OPPORTUNITY In spite of the fact that she was performing for a Clint Black Yes please, maam, wed like grits with our chicken fried steak audience. She stepped up to the plate and took a big healthy swing. There was NO feedback in her mic that night. She sounded GOOD her amazing band was on top of their game, as these usual suspects often were.Clint Blacks crew and the local IA, deserve credit for helping to make a good situation great.Now Im not saying that this particular show was the reason BUT as the Fates would allow, a few short months later Mary Chapin won the 1990 Top Female Vocal award from the Academy of Country Music. Then from 1992 1995 she won the Best Female Country Vocal Performance Grammy Award. Thats 4 years in row, if youre counting!That journey up the food chain of music industry has to start somewhere sometimes its a hot July night in Maryland.This Opening Act slot is a great Opportunity on the road to success, so enjoy it! Always keep in mind this is a BUSINESS the revenue potential (Merchandise, concessions & Tickets) for a sports area type venue, is in the Millions of dollars per night. So take it seriously,EVERYBODY ELSE does!In the next installment, well talk about a point Bad Blake makes in the movie Crazy Heart.

Blake to the sound mixer: Were gonna stay here all day til we get this mix right!Mixer: It is right .Blake to his band: They always say that .. but theyre gonna make sure the opening act doesnt sound as good as the Headliner!Could that be true? Well find out next time.

Concert Sound for the Opening Act

Concert Sound for the Opening Support Act

I decided to write this series of articles, in response to years of listening to my musician friends regale me with tails of woe, about Bad Sound Experiences. BSE if you will. Most often, these BSEs had a common identifiable trait (New or inexperienced sound tech) and almost all were related to on stage monitor mixes. These unfortunate experiences made playing their music un-fun and un-inspiring. Since these are the two reasons most of my friends play music I thought Id try to help!For this article, I added a caveat, to make a larger point communication So the first two articles are set in the scariest place in the music business When YOU is the Opening Act!This series is an effort to empower musicians on two levels: first with a basic knowledge of Concert Sound technology and second with a willingness to engage the concert sound engineers they encounter daily, as collaborators and co-conspirators and not as road blocks to success.

At the end of my last article You dont know me.Im the Opening Act I closed by saying.In the next installment, well talk about a point Bad Blake makes in the movie Crazy Heart.Blake to the sound mixer: Were gonna stay here all day til we get this mix right!Mixer: It is right .Blake to his band: They always say that but theyre gonna make sure the opening act doesnt sound as good as the Headliner! You can see some of that exchange at the link below.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1217594393/

It takes a minute to buffer, so be patient, at about 40 sec into the trailer you see part of this exchange between musician and sound engineer.Ive been in this exact situation many times myself at sound check, so it seems like a good place to start a discussion about several important points. One would be the obvious communication between musician and sound engineer, another, the opening act and the headliners sound engineer maybe one more the opening acts sound engineer and the headliners sound engineer. Lets sort through this potential mine field.

TRUST ISSUES:

In our previous example, the musician Bad Blake and the sound engineer Bear have some obvious trust issues. As the scene progresses we find out that Bear is the sound engineer for the headliner but is mixing the Front of House (FOH) for Blakes band (the dreaded Opening Act) at this concert. Everyone seems a little cranky, and time is most likely running out on sound check.Lets go back to the You dont know me article for some help. Here are two passages that relate to this point.The next most important people youll need to find are the sound technicians. I cant emphasize enough how important this part of the process is to the actual outcome of your bands performance. Well discus this aspect (Sound) in great detail with a future article.AndOne of my favorite IATSE sayings is Chaos creates CASH. This is the exact nature of the relationship between the Production and the local IA crew. If the production is well planned and organized, the day will go exceedingly well. If the production has organizational issues, these issues will put pressure on the deadlines all day. Stuff happens Trucks show up late, chain motors break and thunder storms blast in! None of that stuff is the IAs fault but because their work rules, such as, Meal penalties, will be enforced the pressure mounts.This pressure (even on a perfect day there can be pressure) impacts the amount of production stage time available to Opening Act. The Opening Acts production representative needs to be aware of how the Headliners production is coming together. Show up early and pay attention to the workflow. Monitoring the progress of the production is critical! If nothing else, weve established that there are forces beyond the control of us mere mortals

Lets look at some basic Opening Act scenarios from one of the previously mentioned perspectives: Headliners sound tech and Opening Act Musicians.Lets take a quick tangential left and define what makes a Top Notch sound company? First, the gear has to be excellent and in good working order. They must also be very knowledgeable about the technical aspects of sound reinforcement. Those two sentences describe about 80% of the sound companies Ive encountered over my 35 years in this business. So if the gears good and the sound techs know what theyre doing whats the problem?Attitude not AptitudeThe difference is in the people not the equipment. You can assume, if a sound company is out on a tour with a headliner or they are the Sound Company of choice at a major venue, that they understand the technical aspects of sound reinforcement. Ahhh. Will they be advocates for your music? Thats the question.This is how to find the answer!Some advocates a PAID not born! Im serious! This is a business! The sound techs work a long hard day. To a sound tech the most beautiful words in the entire Musical lexicon are, An Evening With. This means: No support act, the headliner will go at 8:00PM play a 75 min set plus an encore or (2) 45 min sets with an intermission. The concert ends at 10:30PM at the latest.The gear gets packed up and theyre on the road HOME before midnight!It also means, when sound check ends 6:00 -6:30 PM theres a break until 7:30 PM. Because theres NO STAGE CHANGE!The next most beautiful words are, The Opening Act is a comedian WE LOVE COMEDY One microphone and one monitor. BEAUTIFUL!When I was on tour with Ann Murray back in the 80s Jerry Seinfeld before he was SEINFELD was her opening act Comedians are always nice to the sound techs. Except for Gallagher hes never nice but hes definitely the exception.The ascending hierarchy of love is as follows: Solo Acoustic act, Duet Trio you get the picture.So when YOU show up looking for 32 input channels and 10 monitors mixes for YOUR band. Remember. Youre being compared to An Evening withThe saying To Insure Proper Service T.I.P.S. is not a bad way to go here. $200 will get you a long way down the road of making ADVOCATES. Get the stage manger away from stage, discretely and respectfully offer to Sweeten the Pot donate a little something for the EFFORT. Without exception they will say, You dont need to do that well take care of you Your firm reply is Im not worried about that. I know what a pain in the butt this is for you guys, please accept it as our offer of appreciation for that effort. It may go back and forth a time or two, but it needs to end with you giving either him or the monitor engineer the $200.Now theres a professional demeanor to your end of the production.My previous article spoke at length about the organization of band gear (back line) and distributing the technical information to the proper channels. The $200 is NOT gonna do much for you if you havent taken care of the technical organization and business before this point. Its the combination of all these things that will ensure your band has a good Opening Act experience . On Stage.Lets move on to the FOH (front of house) sound. This is where we started; remember the discussion from Crazy Heart. The Headliners FOH mixer or his system tech (the guy responsible for the technical aspects of the PA) will be mixing the opening act assuming the band doesnt have an actual sound tech. These guys have a reputation to uphold, and its at stake too. They will make every effort to make the Opening Act sound as good as possible. There is one caveat here so we should talk about it now.In the dialogue from Crazy HeartBlake to the sound mixer: Were gonna stay here all day til we get this mix right!Mixer: It is right .Blake to his band: They always say that but theyre gonna make sure the opening act doesnt sound as good as the Headliner! Heres what that means to you. The Headliners sound crew will compress the Opening Acts sound. They do this for a number of very good reasons. Heres the major reason.COMPRESSION by this definition is the intentional limiting of the Dynamic Range. That means it lessens the difference of the volume between the softest and loudest sounds in the mix. Compression for this purpose is meant to protect the PA from any over modulated (distorted) audio signals. It is done to ensure that the PA system will be in complete working order for the Headliner.Back in the previous article I spoke of the possible revenue generated by a single Sport Arena concert as being in the several million-dollar range. If the PA does not work and headliner cant play. the money gets refunded. COMPRESSION will be used.Bad Blake, has a point and now we all know why. The amount of compression that is applied is the key to success. If the band can stay under control, meaning good consistent audio signals. It will serve to build confidence in the FOH people responsible for the safe keeping of the PA system and they will apply less compression. Understand this and youll sound great!

The Band finally gets the stage. This is where communication is key, and where the pros excel. Work to ensure the band gets comfortable on stage this is where the music gets made so start on stage.All of the PRE-PRODUCTION work bears its fruit at this point in time.Placement of band gear (back line) on stage is critical, the placement of AC drops and DI boxes in the correct spots will get you up and running for line check quickly. Have the musicians nearby dont let them on stage until line check has been completed. Nothing drives sound techs crazier than having the musicians on stage before the Microphone lines and Monitor mixes are correct and verified. Have a designated person conduct the communication between the band and the monitor engineer. Be nice and never blame the gear as the problem until your convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that it is in fact the gear that is the problem!There is an entire section of my book A Musicians Complete Guide to Sound dedicated to how to conduct sound check. It can be found at here to go to www.liveconcertstagesound.com/americanreward

Time for a reality check:

In 87 the Opening Act on Whitney Houstons Moment of Truth tour was Kenny G yes before he was KENNY G on Hall & Oats Rock and Soul Review tour the Opening Act was INXS. Yes before they were you know where Im going with this the point is EVERY Band starts as Opening Act The sound/lighting companies understand that todays Opening Act is tomorrows Headliner, the concert promoters understand that as well. The production personnel will be there to help for all of the reasons weve discussed. They are Professionals and they know whats at stake.If your band gets to be somebodys Opening Act, take it seriously, be prepared and be ON TIME!Its not a once in a lifetime opportunity Its the opportunity of a lifetime.

(THIS IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE EBOOK A Musicians Complete Guide to Better Sound Here, I address the Live Sound LOUDNESS issue .. explain a little about EQ REMEMBER there are 47 pages of STUFF before this section.

I want to assure you that no matter what level your knowledge of Live Sound is at now, the techniques and tactics I reveal in this book will help transform your live performance by allowing you (the Musician)to concentrate on the music and NOT the sound.

My Horn still sounds Miked

Once we have administered the Flat frequency response method to the speakers we should be able to skip down the path to the happy destiny of GREAT STAGE SOUND! . Right !! .. NO. not really.

Ya BUT! No Butts !

Now that speakers are Flat we will be able to hear clearly the microphone/instrument relationship, in the speaker.

TIP#17: When we use the consoles INPUT EQ to shape the sound of the instrument - that sound shaped from the console EQ will be heard with that EQ in ALL the mixes. Most Consoles are factory pre-set, to be Pre-Fader/ Post EQ. The concepts of Pre /post FADER were explained earlier.

RELOAD

The Console EQ is used to shape the sound of the instrument.

The Aux Send Master Graphic EQ is used to flatten the frequency response of the monitor speaker.

EQ is ALWAYS (regardless of whether you Boost or Cut) an ACTIVE part of the GAIN STAGE.

EXAMPLE #1: When attempting to flatten the frequency response of a speaker - were using a Graphic EQ at the Aux Send Master output. If we end up cutting almost every frequency (band /filter.) we have affectively lowered the (Volume) Gain of the mix to that speaker.

EXAMPLE #2: The bass guitar sounds wimpy (thats a musical term) so we boost 100Hz by +12 dB on the console EQ. The Bass guitar is now no longer wimpy BUT we have raised the (volume) Gain of the Bass guitar by a bunch, to ALL mixes.

Did you all catch the distinction in the previous examples? In example #1 the subtractive EQ on the Graphic EQ at the aux send master, lowered the gain ONLY at the speaker on that mix. The second example: EQ done on the console INPUT EQ boosted the gain in EVERY mix.

The same process can be used for any instrument. Acoustic Guitar or bass, as well as, horns of any ilk can all be trouble. Not just feeding back but sounding. Bad!

EQ is a slippery slope, less is more ALWAYS TOO MUCH EQ causes many sonic problems. Be wise in regard to where (in the signal path) and how much EQ is used. The point of diminishing returns comes quickly.

CONTROLL THE VARIABLES: Time management and control of variables are the take away from this book. The organizational stuff (stage plot & input list) is standard fair. Ive seen many helpful well thought out plots, but an equal number that are so rudimentary or half hearted theyre almost counterproductive.

The most common opening scene at sound check:

Did you get a copy of our stage plot NO?

OR

Is this the current stage plot? NO?

Today on this planet theres no need for this conversation to take place. Have a copy of a CURRENT stage plot & input list on your bands website or whatever Interweb connection youre using. Always have several hard copies of them with you. Several copies of the input list will always be a good idea, as theres usually more than ONE person plugging in mics. If there are two consoles it speeds up the labeling process. Set lists are equally important. If the band expects some sort of CUE to happen during the show youll need . OH MY GOD I sound just like my MOTHER.

The input list serves as the first line of defense in the Control of Variables. Battle. No matter what level of venue youre band is playing, having the same or similar microphones EVERY NIGHT will have a stunning effect on the comfort level of everyone. The only way to exert complete control over the microphone situation it to have them supplied by the band.

If you find a brand of monitor speaker the band likes . Request them on your stage plot. It might be prudent to have a backup brand too.

HUH ..

There are a number of incentives to play at a reasonable sound pressure level on stage. First things first, Our EARS, are our greatest gift.

Hearing loss is not a joke and once it goes its gone FOREVER.

Guitar players and drummers get the lion share of the blame but it usually cause and effect. Someones amp is too loud, so another person turns up her amp or monitor mix. Ive heard monitor wedges so screaming loud that hearing loss was inevitable after several minutes of exposure to it. There will be times when Loud is unavoidable, for those instances, there are ear plugs available at most convenience stores. Use them! I always have a pair in my bag or jacket Just in case!

We are aware that turn it up is a common solution, it feels better louder. Louder can be very inspiring too. Im not preaching a No fun agenda just wise use of a very special natural resource your ears.

Monitors should be used for what you cant hear acoustically but need to hear musically.

THIS IS THE END!

The stated goal at the beginning of this EBook was help musicians organize their sound check process, create a familiar on stage environment and help them articulate what they need on stage in the language of the sound tech.

You ALL are now armed with that knowledge.

Keep in mind that this is a process Not an event! The results will come from consistent application of the process and old fashion work ethic. The humble role of this EBook is to help the creators of the music, communicate their art form at the highest level.

LAST WORD:

COMPLIENCE: The monitor-mixing job is a COMPLIENCE JOB! It Implies NO creative license NONE. Make sure the last words the band spokes person says to the monitor mixer AFTER sound check is Please do NOT adjust any levels unless we ask you too. Do NOT add effects unless we request them.

Credits

Andrew Olson, Ph.D Science Buddies

http://www.sciencebuddies.org

Vaughn Aubuchon

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com

LIMITS OF LIABILITY / DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY:

This report is NOT legal or accounting advice. You need to do your own due-diligence to determine if the content of this report is right for YOUR business. No earnings claims are being made anywhere in this report or in the marketing of this report. The publisher of this report is not liable for any damages or losses associated with the content in this report.

All rights reserved BY Bill Winn Copyright 2010

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return to the publishers website and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.