The Final 2012 Summer Show

This past Thursday evening, 7pm and Weeden Park, Lawrenceville, NJ was the last summer show for the Whiskey Girls band. Another terrific show. They rocked in a country sort of way. Two funny comments made by the band. First, Kim asked how many country fans were in the audience. A few hands went up and she responded thats not many. Rick's response was welcome to the heart of country, Princeton, NJ. Then later in the show, as the sun was going down, and in between songs, Kim commented that the bugs are becoming louder than the band.  Outdoor Summertime shows!

As for the sound, all the sound system related pre-show study and new eq paid off as the sound was probably the best this system has produced. There may have been 200 or so people in the park and the sound was as crystal clear in the front as it was in the back. The setup recommendations by  Mackie on their boards, i.e. unity gain, etc, provides the clarity and the Crown Xs900 with 1200 watts through the four JBL MR 825s on the main packed the punch. I am sitting there in the background of the this photo absolutely amazed at the the sound this system produces and enjoying so much the fruits of my labor in studying how to use it.  

Something I  finally got around to trying was the use of  the bridged mono configuration on the two monitor amps. The new monitor configuration included two distinct mixes. One was the vocalist mix on three speakers up front and the second was a drummer mix on one speaker in back. Not wanting to use only one side of an amp for the single speaker, and concerned about an unbalanced load on the other, I bridged the Ross for 800 watts and the Crown Power Tech 2 for 910 watts. Talk about a difference. I loved the reaction of Kim and Stephanie when they did their sound check. Plenty of volume AND no feedback, thanks to the additional eq.

I also accumulated alot of understanding on the use of parametric eq over the past couple weeks.  I was able to warm up an acoustic guitar and tune in the vocal by providing a smoother balance across the mids.

And although I did a lot of study on the use of compression, I bypassed the individual compressions dbx 1046, on each vocal mics and the acoustic guitars for this show but left compression on the right and left main channels. I was on the fence on this. I believe the mix is more pleasant to listen to with  less dynamic variation across the mix but a musician likes the control. The photgrapher, Craig. (more photos here) although complimentary on the sound, commented about the variations in the mix and how you would need to ride the souund through the show. Beside being a great photographer and extremely nice guy, he has a excellent ear. The compression would have addressed that. ....Next time!

Thanks to the Whiskey Girls band for the chance to pursue a passion and play with my toys.