Another night of being a sound guy, this time for local rock ‘n roll group the Hard Luck Daddies! I’m getting into a rhythm with this gig now and can take on unique challenges, creating an experience that’s special.

Hard Luck Daddies is a 4-piece rock group with a blend of originals and some covers. Two vintage Fender amps and electric guitars establish the sound, but they also bring an acoustic guitar and a keyboard along for some variety. They provide plenty of blues, a good chunk of rock, and some country. This group is an established local band that plays occasionally, resulting in a large group of fans showing up for the special night.

Boy were those Fenders loud! As the sound guy, I did raise the observation and suggestion to balance the volume for the room, but it turns out that it’s just the band’s tone and that they were very pleased with how the mix ended up. Without any control over the amps, I mixed in a load of punch from the kick drum and rumble from the bass for the subs to support the guitars, trying to avoid boominess and mud. (I’m getting good at sound guy lingo eh?) The vocals didn’t have much of a chance while the mids were saturated by guitar, but scooping out a bunch of lows and low mids, then sweeping up the high mids brought in some clarity without clipping my analog board. It was enough to tell what the singer was saying, if you cared to listen carefully enough. The crowd felt the sound, I know I did up in the booth. The air was vibrating with volume. It is a rock and roll show after all.

I believe the house sound could have matched the guitar amp volume, but there is an acoustic limit to volume that a room can handle. A room has volume, as in space, and sound volume is a physical measurement. The sound will collapse into the room and lose its integrity if it is crammed into a smaller space. Like literally, sound waves will interfere with each other and essentially get randomized. Think of it like splashing in a pool, but trying to control the surface from white-capping.

I was ready with my ear plugs, thankfully. I kept them in most of the time. When making adjustments and checking levels I would take them out. Protecting my ears is important in the short term because listening tolerance changes drastically in loud environments. Of course protecting them in the long term is important too, and I’m sure the loudness exposure would have tested OSHA limits. I did also go out to other areas of the venue to check balances and just give myself a little break, and a little perspective.

The crowd was large, the drinks flowed, the pizzas were great. Seemed like everyone was pretty happy, having a good Friday night. The band was great, each performer had good attitudes and I look forward to seeing them again.