SOUNDCHECK
By Johanne James
Hi there, my fellow humans.
For you out there who know what a soundcheck entails, let’s discuss it.
I have done so many of these things that if I had a pound for each one, well let’s say I’d more than likely put Bill Gates to shame. As a matter of fact, it becomes routine on tour and you develop a system to work by and it all runs smoothly. Always the drums first. Bass drum please sir, can I have the snare drum now please and so on. And guitar please. On and on it goes, till we end up playing something that may resemble a composition and as long as we can hear each other, it may sound like something we remember. I think? Only for the sound engineer would stop us and say, something’s wrong, one of the channels ain’t working and I ain’t getting the guitar. We then have to wait to find out what where why and how to fix the problem that we can resume our cacophony. Yes, that’s what I said. Then something else will arise to challenge the poor engineer’s patience, as you are at the mercy of the equipment and acoustics, these episodes can take ages. Then again, on a good day you can sail through without so much as a sniff! It’s more the first comment will arise more than the second. You will only sound as good as your engineer, equipment and acoustics will allow and you get what you’re given and what you’re given you work with. The usual phrase is, it’ll be alright when the audience comes in. Then everything changes and you are flying by the seat of your pants! There’s always something to challenge you and challenge you it will. Soundchecking is vital, but in some environments you’ll only get a line check and once again you’re flying by the seat of your pants! The rest is out of your hands as you have no control as to what goes on out front. You can only do what you do on stage and enjoy the moment no matter how it sounds.
Good luck, my friends.
Good luck, my friends.
Peace.
Johanne James
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