Last weekend — post turkey/triptophan-induced stupor — I had the absolute pleasure of going to a Tony Bennett show here in Las Vegas that was mixed by recent Parnelli award winner Tom Young. After the show, he took us backstage to meet the boss (not something I generally go for, but it was not like it was some wannabe kiddie celeb. Tony Bennett is a f*&%ing legend) and then, cigar and diet coke in hand at the bar, my wife and I hung out with Tom and just shot the shit for a good hour or so.
We talked about gear and gigs and the biz and family and a bunch of other stuff, but one thing he said in passing really struck a chord. Talking about great musicians and how they make our jobs as mixers easier, more fun and more fulfilling he said, “Being an accompanist is an art.” And he is so right. There are a lot of really great musicians out there, but relatively few who can follow a singer and bring something beautiful to the table without getting in the way. You have to do more than hear the singer, you must listen. Hearing you do with your ears. Listening requires using your mind and soul.
It may have stuck with me because of two other recent events. One was the presentation of the Parnelli Audio Innovator award to Bob Heil, an absolute pioneer in the world of live audio, who attributes his success to the fact that he is a good listener and who has been quoted for years as saying that “Hearing is a physical process. Listening is a mental process.”
It drove home the fact that everyone I really respect in this business knows how to listen. That includes musicians, engineers, company owners and, hell, even those lowly lampies.
In contrast was another recent event where a number of sound systems from different manufacturers were set up in the same location and demos were conducted in a kind of round-robin format. I had heard every system out there except one in other settings, so I had some idea of what to ex-pect. But what I expected was not what I got. What I got, unfortunately, was one big, loud, muddy mess.
Systems that I like a lot sounded marginal. Systems that I merely like sounded just plain bad. What was the problem? Not only were most of the engineers — with perhaps one exception — not listening (that process that requires the use of the mind and soul), I don’t even think they were hearing. Hearing requires the use of the ears, and as best as I can tell, most of them were hearing — and mixing — with another body part that lies south of the waistline.
Does a demo really need to be pushed to 110 dB? How much bass is enough for a freaking blues band? When the whole parking lot starts to hum, is that enough? When a system that costs more than many people spend on a home reminds you of that asswipe in the car with the tinted windows and bling wheels that pulls up next to you at the stoplight and shakes YOUR entire car with the bass from HIS system, is that a good thing?
I know some of us, especially those of the male persuasion, can get pretty uber-competitive, and everyone there wanted to show what their system could do. But this event turned into one messy “mine’s bigger than yours” throwdown. And the winner is?
No one.
