A Fly's-Eye View of a Rock Band's Soundcheck

This is a look at a band's soundcheck from a fly's-eye view. A look over my shoulder as I go thru the channels and get the Midas M32 digital mixer ready for the show. This is journey through the sound system prep and band's setup process before a big show.

From the vantage point of a curious fly, you'll get an up-close look at the intricate details of the band's equipment and the audio and lighting production as everyone gets ready for the show to take the stage. A behind the scenes look at the workflow as sound levels are adjusted, microphones tested, and equipment placed to make sure everything is perfect and ready for their performance.

FOH mix is done on a Midas M32 and there is a Behringer X32 in Monitor world for stage monitor mixes. 3 biamped mixes downstage, a biamped cue wedge in monitor world, and a tri-amped drum monitor just off the drum riser SL of the drummer. There is some added behind the scenes footage from the stage showing pre-show elements of the backline and sound system.

The FOH scene is available to Patrons at:

Affiliate Links:

🎶Sweetwater Sound

Mics-
Shure Beta 52A on Sweetwater:

Shure Beta 91A on Sweetwater:

Shure Beta 56A on Sweetwater:

Shure Beta 57A on Sweetwater:

Shure SM81 on Sweetwater:

Shure KSM32 on Sweetwater:

Sennheiser E604 Mic Pkg on Sweetwater:

Beyer M88 on Sweetwater:

Shure Beta 58A on Sweetwater:

Shure SM58 on Sweetwater:

Shure Axient RF 2 channel wireless mic system on Sweetwater:

Mixers-
Midas M32 Digital Mixer on Sweetwater:

Behringer X32 Digital Mixer on Sweetwater:

🔊Amazon:

🎶🔊Amazon Storefront:

Mics on Amazon-
Shure Mic Store on Amazon:

Sennheiser E604 Mic on Amazon:

Beyer Store on Amazon:

Supplies on Amazon-
Gaffer's Tape on Amazon:

Items Used to Make This Video-
FDUCE SL40 Vocal Dynamic Podcast Microphone on Amazon:

Sony ZV1 Camera on Amazon:

Canon M50 MkII Camera on Amazon:

Zhiyun Weebill S 3-Axis Gimbal Stabilizer for DSLR Cameras on Amazon:
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Channel Facebook Page:

Band in video:

“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
Items purchased thru affiliate links come at no additional cost to viewers, but can earn the channel commissions.
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Other Channel Videos-

Building an IEM Rig With the Behringer XR18 or Midas MR18:

3 Tips For Aspiring Live Audio Engineers:

Direct Boxes - What are they? How to use them? Direct Box 101:

5 Tips for Mixing Live Vocals:

Building a Concert - Production for Trace Adkins:

My 5 Most Used Adapters for Live Sound:

Guitar Amp Micing Tips:

Behringer XR18 Channel Walkthrough:

Drum Mixing Tutorial Playlist:

#livesound
#behringerx32
#Midas32

0:00 Intro
0:05 Start
6:10 Drum Mix from Console
7:28 Bass and Drum Mix from Console
14:35 Stage Sound and Stage and Backline Look
15:32 Concert Starts

[AlanHamiltonAudio]

Today's video is a look over my shoulder of a recent soundcheck. As the title says "A Fly's-Eye View...". There's narration for context, but for a lot of it you can hear the raw audio the camera is picking up, and see the FOH console as the soundcheck is progressing. I tried to pop in some text and graphics to add context. I also added in some clips with audio directly from the console too for comparison since that camera on the tripod kind of lies (it doesn't help that the mic gain in the camera was higher than it should've been) compared to the actual audio. Then some behind the scenes stuff, looking at the pre-show stage, and finally a snippet of the concert itself to show it all come together with a different camera...
On the channel FB page, I posted a longer snippet of the concert which I couldn't do on YT. So that gives you a better look and listen to the final product:
As always... likes, subscribes, and shares always appreciated!

I uploaded the console scene file from the show to the Patreon Page plus a PDF showing the channel EQ and a few additional tips and tricks on the topic of soundchecks with digital consoles.

There are affiliate links for mics, consoles, and other items used, all in the video description.

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Other Channel Videos-

Building an IEM Rig With the Behringer XR18 or Midas MR18:

3 Tips For Aspiring Live Audio Engineers:

Direct Boxes - What are they? How to use them? Direct Box 101:

5 Tips for Mixing Live Vocals:

Building a Concert - Production for Trace Adkins:

My 5 Most Used Adapters for Live Sound:

Guitar Amp Micing Tips:

Behringer XR18 Channel Walkthrough:

Drum Mixing Tutorial Playlist:

[jfrohne]

Man, 20min Soundcheck with Montiors. That's quick! Really organized and structured all the way through including the Musicians. Awesome!

[ericpr]

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE DEALING WITH A CLASS ACT PRO? Sets gain before turning up the faders, communicates with A2, Mutes his PA for the band to adjust the monitors, and doesn't waste 20 mins equing the rack tom. This is a great video for new techs to learn the right way. Very cool!

[jakelakota]

Well, that was interesting. Did not realize how much a band puts their faith in the sound guy

That's not a kick, that's a cannon

[IvanKatalinic-dvyu]

This is the right thing, I finally come across someone who knows what he's doing, congratulations!
Very well done, everything is integrated as it should be in one whole picture, perfect.

[LCentertainment]

that band is very cool to work with. not very demanding. super appreciative i love how they have their guitar and bass cabs wired up super smart.

[cheereebus]

I just did the near opposite of this: 4 hour long sound check plus one hour to get the stage from bare to loaded and wired. Was a fairly successful Japanese band playing a one-off in the US and I was doing monitors, starting from their show file. The really interesting differences are that their techs meticulously work through every input and output and guide a rough mix that ends up being very close to final. There is no wasted time noodling around, just a moderate but steady pace where they know exactly what they want. Then the drummer joined us to polish the mix in his ears. Then the bass and guitar, and by the time the singers got there we were 99% done. These bands tend to want to run their full set, which accounts for some of the time as well. When everything is dialed in and the show has started you can see a switch thrown in the heads of their techs, going from work mode to enjoying the experience, though still very focused until the band leaves the stage, after which they are right back to work but are incredibly kind and fun, at least the ones I have worked with all have been.

[voca-chan]

I love how these bands have humor. "It just needs to broken in. It'll be good by Tuesday."

[ryanfreese]

It’s so amazing how mixing consoles have changed from much easier simpler quick knob lay out to very hard learning curve of using a compact, less knob digital muilti-flip screens to accomplished the same tasks. Don’t get me wrong I like digital stuff and much upgraded sound but I still gravitate to much easier simplistic of fully laid out analog console.

[TN]

I have no idea what I just watched but this was cool!

[thehotcorner]

That Midas 32 is a really clean board. Thanks for posting your process here for us.

[geraldwatkins]

Love your videos they are the inspiration for mine. Always great info and perspective.

[blueslsd]

Superb video nice to see we still use the same systems, been a long time for me. Cheers

[daveabsolution]

You want to see hardcore, watch the engineer at a festival. No sound check, just a line check through headphones, then insanely fucking intense first minute. Separates the men from the boys. Last festival tour I engineered, I needed a week in a quiet room to rehabilitate x

[gameplayti]

Man. Thanks a lot for sharing this. Much appreciated.

[brianmorris]

I remember the days we just rolled in...flooded the stage with our gear...set up...quick sound check, and we were done. Mind you we didn't have to replicate the sound of a recording, because we didn't have one...but crikey, this crap today is another level again. We didn't need the gunshot sounds for our sound check, we just at 8pm got into it and everyone was happy.

[bran_b]

Wow, just stumbled upon this video of yours (thank you YouTube algorithm). As an amateur music producer and total noob to actually running live sound, I really appreciate your attention to detail in putting this video together—I love the fly on the wall approach, and it was great to see which mics and EQ curves you used, as well as everything you were doing on the board. I’m fortunate to play trumpet in a funk band with some older guys with some serious gear like this, so I’ve grown accustomed to how soundcheck/IEMs are supposed to work from the performer’s perspective. I’d be willing to bet that that vocal came in too hot cuz the vocalist didn’t sing like he meant it during the initial line check.

Thanks for putting this out into the world and sharing your craft with all of us! And good on you for responding to everyone’s comments—it’s incredible that you find the time to do so. I subbed to your channel cuz I’m sure I have plenty more to learn from you! ✌🏻

[digitaldesigner]

A professional audio engineer at work.

[webjammer]

I never get a sound check$ until the end of the night. A line check and the first song is the sound check. Thank goodness for show files.