I forgot to mention that none of their instruments (with the exception of the bass) had direct outs, which is why my backup plan was to use dynamic mics for the instruments. Thanks for watching and I hope ya’ll enjoy the video!
This is EXACTLY how these sorts of bluegrass/folk gigs have always turned out for me. Condensers only, super worried beforehand, ends up being great and way easier than anticipated. It helps when the goal is not to melt people's faces off, which, for these acts, is basically always
That really is the great thing about mixing a good bluegrass band - they pretty much mix themselves. Some of the best sounding bluegrass recordings were done with a single omni mic in the middle of the room.
Thanks for the video. We normally do rock type bands, so would have also been worried beforehand. But wow, no monitors, etc makes sound check sooo quick. Wish all bands were as easy to setup and sound check (no monitor mixes for each band member). Great work.
yea the only reason to be worried would be if there were drums involved lol. But everything was pretty much acoustic so I knew you'd be fine lol. This is dope! 🔥🔥
I've mixed a fair bit of bluegrass in my time, sometimes like this, sometimes with mics and DI's on all the instruments. IEM's are an absolute lifesaver when you're trying to make a bunch of condensers work on stage though. I've found Ear Trumpet Labs mics to be some of the best for doing just a couple mics on stage. they sound really great, and have excellent feedback rejection. One band I toured with for years, always did this thing where they'd walk out into the audience and play a few tunes, and wanted mics not pickups. I found this company in Denmark called Remic, and they were an absolute life saver, with really good upright bass, and fiddle mics. I liked them so much, that I did the whole show with them, and just supplemented with pickups
This is exactly how I felt when I was working FOH at a club and the band or group had 3 marimbas. 😮..... I was so glad they had an engineer. I took the opportunity to ask him so many questions hehe.
Im an avid follower of your channel sir. I also have a small PA system w/ lights. You been an inspiration and big help for me.. More power from Philippines.
After watching a few of your workshadow-video's, I've finally bought the wheels so I don't have to carry all my speakers or put them on flightcases to move around. And your tour of your van with the motivation why you choose certain ways to pack stuff also paid off for me. I'm having a lot less backpain and shorter setup-times. So please keep sharing these video's as it helps me a lot as a starting/small soundguy. And somhow in Europe / The Netherlands I'm not able to find video's that go into the stuff your video's do. #happycamper
Wow! It's so cool to hear that the videos helped you out! I'm happy to hear you're having an easier time with your load in and setup time. Wheels on your gear can help soo much... Thanks for watching the channel man!
Great band and engineering! Oddly, I should get this video in my feed. Our acoustic band is doing out first live show and we'll be using reinforcement. We are using all dynamic mics, 57's and Beta 58's. I wrapped a 57 in foam and put it into the tailpiece of my bass for the FOH. I used a bass amp on stage fed from the pickup on my bass. The tone from where I was playing sounded pretty cool. I got the attack of the pickup blended with the 57 coming through the monitors. I always wondered how LD condensers would work on stage. It looks like no monitors and space between the mics and mains is the key to success for using a setup like this. There wasn't any slap due to the venue being open. Thanks for sharing this very cool experience!!
@@SilverCreekAudio did the Blue mics have polar pattern switches? I was wondering about that when you seemed nervous. They can be tricky live, especially mid highs and highs, that's for sure! As soon as you said there weren't going to be any monitors, I knew you were all good, lol
I do event audio for a corporate training company and I'm thinking of switching from the Yamaha mixer they have to the x32 so I can get EQ and other features that I'm missing, free myself from being tied to the back of the room for control, and get a little more headroom without feedback for some of the quieter speakers/presenters. We're using BLX24R mics and running 2 EV speakers at the front of the room (hotel ballrooms). besides the switch and access point is there anything else I should add to transition to the X32 or does this even sound like a good idea?
Having something like an x32 with access to multiple layers of EQs for corporate gigs would help a lot in terms of ringing out a system. Also, the auto mix feature is a powerful tool if you have multiple mic channels open at speaking events like that.
Sounds great, and a nice focused sound. Finally a bluegrass band that didn't show up with a bunch of Ear Trumpet Labs mics! Whenever I find out I'm mixing a bluegrass/folk band with condensers, I start to sweat as well and 9/10 times they show up with ETL. They look cool (and I own some myself) but they might as well be omnis and I find it a real challenge to mix anything at volume with them and I'll pull out a C414 or something as soon as I see one coming! The choice of condenser makes all the difference.
That's what I was worried I would get... but the condensers made all the difference. Always helps when the band knows what they're doing too! Thanks for watching man!
I've mixed a BG festival for about 25 years - main stage, fairgrounds grandstand, capacity is around 4000. The ETL mic that has been the most successful for me (band supplied, I don't own any ETL mics) has been the Josephine. I find the Shure KSM32 or 44 to be a big improvement over most boutique LDCs.
I haven't use those mics before but I've used various type condensers things I forget what they're called they look like the old style microphones hanging in the center of a shock mount ring. (Edit: Myrtle) The local music group in my town has one particular guy who really likes these old-fashioned looking modern reproduction microphones. Usually it's a bunch of ukulele players, a singer or 2 and occasional acoustic guitar. I got to do some testing with a full system ( Mains+Subs+XR32+Wattsss ), as i figured everything was set up and the gig got canceled might as well try things. I was able to put some in the monitors but you do have to be careful about placement and amount. But they do differently well pick up everything but the instrument has to be close to it. I did another gig with them and on my system this time and what I ended up doing was sticking 2x vocal mics for the lead singers with an instrument Mic, and then sticking those fancy microphones one in between and one on the end to catch the other two kids who don't sing but did play instruments. This let me bring up the leads and then add the other ones to blend. But yeah if that's what the band is used to working with that's what you start with. I did do one Bluegrass group who requested using their own one large diaphragm condenser microphone (AT2050) and I don't know if it was working right or what as I fought hard with that thing just to get any noise out of it without feedback without any monitors. The three members were on top of the mic and you could really tell when somebody went off axis as they disappeared.
@@SilverCreekAudio yep that was it, I only know it by the name "Myrtle" not the brand name. and it is always is elusive to my tongue when I try to remember. What's funny is I found out that just about everybody else doesn't like using them and the kids don't really know how to use them either. So I was tiptoeing around the subject until other members mentioned they're grape with them as well. haha. Since then I've been trying to teach the kids more professional stage stuff when they play. Otherwise it's just a small group of ukulele players and "musician Sound Tech" two of those and a stick speaker systems.
Ive been mixing bluegrass for a couple years. Having band that knows how to work the mics can make the techs job much easier. Carson Peters is a pro and so is his band, hey James. Ive been at bluegrass gigs and the "Pro" techs were way over their heads. Bluegrass isn't rock n roll. You can't just set it and forget it.
Rock and roll is far, far from "set and forget", just as some mixerpersons think bluegrass is. "Mixing" is an active verb and too many folks forget that.
Thanks for kind words! The band bought their own mics. They were a Blue LDCs, which I think are discontinued now, but any large diaphragm condenser will do!
"Its okay to be nervous" Love that. Sometimes when im not sure about a certain setup, I do multiple test runs and plan ahead, but i never shake the nerves.
