Springtime is almost here, and that means festival season is close. Mixing for tens of thousands of people can be as stressful and frustrating as it is exhilarating, given the typically tight time schedule that’s the nature of this beast. A bit of planning can take some of the sting out the process, as can the understanding that (more often than not) such shows are a compromise by nature.
Advance, Advance, Advance
One or two well-placed phone calls make life a lot easier. Despite our best efforts, artist management and booking somehow send out four-year-old tech riders. My general rule of thumb is that if a stage plot, input list or backline rider has not come from me, then it’s not up-to-date (if it is, I’ll be pleasantly surprised). Your production documents should have the calendar year across the top, making it easy for everyone to identify over the phone as the current document.
If possible, revise the docs once a year so that there are minimal versions floating around out there. Be sure that the company providing sound for the show has the correct stage plot and input list ahead of time (ditto for the backline vendor), and carry copies with you. If possible, print the input list and plot on the same sheet so the whole shooting match lives on one page.
Some engineers set up a web page where band documents can be downloaded as PDFs but it may be easier to email a PDF. Try to stick with an input list that conforms to typical console order (i.e., drums first, then bass, guitars, keyboards…). [I used to sub for someone who started his input list backward (overheads on channels 1 and 2, floor toms on three and four, racks on five and six, and so on). His concept was that the kick and snare were physically closer to the center of the desk where there was more action. Subbing for him at a festival was always interesting…]
Sometimes, silly questions have to be asked, such as: “Are we expected to share backline? (because there is no way that’s going to happen). Given the all-day length of some shows, it may actually be possible to share backline with an act that is finished, say, four or five hours before you start — allowing enough time to prep the gear. Request a rolling riser for the drums so your tech can build the kit early, and have it wheeled to position when your slot comes up. This facilitates pre-miking the kit with a sub-snake that can be dropped into a multi-pin or patched into a main snake. There may be acts performing all day up to your time slot, but use the changeovers between acts to test guitar and bass amps, keyboards, etc. Make sure they work and, when possible, put items physically in place.
Bring Yer Zeros and Ones
There was a time when front-of-house at a festival meant no less than one analog desk for the headliner and another for the support acts to fight over. The past few years have seen a change, first to a digital desk for most of the acts plus an analog desk for the old school guy who refuses to step into the digital world.
Now it’s all digital, all the time — though you sometimes see a headliner carrying a premium analog desk solely for their own use. It’s tough to learn every digital desk, and here is where the systems engineer is your friend, perhaps helping you understand some of the routing features or pre-loading your show file into the desk’s memory. Remember that advance phone call? One of the things to discuss is the idea of emailing a show file to the systems engineer for pre-loading so you don’t have to deal with it on show day. It makes your life easier and it makes the system tech’s life easier, because they’ll have time to evaluate/modify your output routings to match their PA. If you show up with your file on a stick, don’t be surprised if the systems tech is reluctant to load it for fear that something unpredictable might happen to the output settings.
While you are packing those memory cards, don’t forget the Sharpie and board tape, headphones, microphone with an on/off switch for talkback purposes and a strong flashlight — items that are always valuable, but perhaps more so at a festival.
Show File Backups
Speaking of show files, repeat by this mantra: If you don’t have it in two or more places, you don’t have it. Yes, your files should be on a card or USB stick. They should also be in a single organized folder on your laptop, where you archive a collection of files for the various digital desks you see on the road. It’d be a good idea for someone else on the tour to hold copies of the files. As a fail-safe, you can email the files to yourself so that —if all else fails — an Internet connection enables you to retrieve your show.
When creating show files for festivals, it makes sense to build them around popular microphone choices. We all have our favorite tools, but if the same makes and models of mics aren’t available at a festival (whether because you don’t carry them or won’t be given time to use them) the gain structure and EQs in your show file won’t match the mics du jour. Stick to easy stuff like Shure SM57, Beta 58, AKG D112, Sennheiser e604 etc. Lose the attitude of “we can’t do the show without a XYZ Audio Decpacitating Fluxalyzer.” If it’s crucial to the show, you should be carrying it.
Working Quickly
Soundchecks at a festival are sketchy at best if you are a support act, and even in cases where you are the headliner, you may be arriving too late for a proper soundcheck. I love those shows (not) where we open up for some Big Lame Classic Rock Act who won’t allow us stage access until 6 p.m. Then they give us 30 minutes before doors to set everything on deck and do a soundcheck. Fabulous. Here’s where a cool head comes in (and I’m not talking about how to avoid a fistfight). You have to work quickly. The accuracy of that show file can save your butt.
After you’re working with a band for a while, you should be able to dial up a mix pretty quickly, but I still like to get a whack from every instrument on every mic, whether or not the band does a soundcheck song. If there’s an issue with one of the lines, it’ll be a lot easier and less stressful to deal with prior to the performance. Heck, I don’t even care if the lines don’t match my input list, as long as I know ahead of time that the lead vocal is patched into the high hat channel.
