FOH MIXING MISTAKES NEW ENGINEERS MAKE with Dave Rat

I love how these tutorials show million dollar setups like anyone that has that kinda of equipment is gona need a turorial

People really like bad car metaphors. I really appreciate the content and I'm listening to a lot of the channel, but this was too car brained and the metaphors were not useful.

Im so happy ive found another foh engineer have the same thoughts on kick and balance. The amount of times ive been to gigs and theres basically just kick click and cant hear anything else is insane 😅

He didnt said anything expect young engineers dont have enough experience:D

I just turn all the knobs all the way to the right (aka “full Canadian mode”) and walk away.

Dave is such a humble guy that has so much knowledge. What a Legend!

What makes a "mixing engineer"? Is he one who has taken a formal course on audio mixing or it can be used to anyone who mixes the audio at a live event at the front of the house?

"Racing to a Red light"

getting a hair transplant would make you look 2 decades younger

That car analogy hit me like a truck… pun intended. I'm glad I've at least learned to not make the bass or kick center of the show for every moment lol.

Every instrument has its own E.Q curve first rule to sound production. Know your mics . And its limits and mic preamps match mics differently . Most of what i learned! Keep noise out of the mix.

where did this guy saw hundreds of thousands of sound engineers ?? is there such a planet ??

this video needed an introduction and it had too many analogies and not enough actual examples.

Much respect for Dave. Thanks for this!

Another point about being a sound engineer. You have to know how to work with and deal with musicians. Leave your ego at home and be helpful and respectful. Also do your homework and listen to the bands recorded tracks and know what they should sound like. Another one is leave the mix alone once you’ve it dialled in. Thanks Dave for all your great videos

The very best thing a new, clueless foh engineer can do is find a new, similarly desparate act in need of a soundman, as they call it. Go to school on the real thing, or as close to it as you can find. An act who can suffer through the long, experimental soundchecks their new mixer requires. People who can be brutally frank with each other without worrying about getting fired. Both benefit together and the learning curve is friendlier, more rapid. Musicians often have better ears than beginning mixers so let a singer come out and critique your mix of the rhythm section. Much more progress results from these forgiving scenarios than a few nights of abject embarrassment in front of someone who won’t be calling you back.

Dynamics. Preach it. Providers pay a lot of money to build a system that can deliver dynamics. Sucks when it never gets used.

5 minutes of the clearest, hard earned wisdom you're ever going to get about mixing live music.

The biggest issue I always see is newer engineers forget their job is to provide sound reinforcement and not sound replacement. I have a friend who has always mixed on the hotter side, but at least his mixes sound great! Some other issues would be too much low end or low mids, not knowing about High Pass Filters, not realizing that each open microphone reduces available gain before feedback! Sometimes less is more when it comes to microphones! I’m not taking issue with any of Dave’s points (I think he’s brilliant)! I’m just putting my two cents in.

Dave, I wanna shake your hand someday....you have been an Absolute INSPERATION to me as an Mid Level/Club Engineer. Thank You for EVRYTHING you do for this Entire Industry....

Keeping level appropriate for the age of the audience is very important.
Planning your show dynamics to fit with the set list; softening things up at times to draw people closer and to pay attention to details all add to the impact of your presentation.
Always keep your vocals intelligible so the crowd can sing to the songs.
Be aware of anything stepping on a vocal or an instrument when soloing.
Kick and bass should be present but fit within the context of the song.
Watch the behavior of your audience. This is a very good indicator of how your mix effects people.
Irritating sounds at high volume will agitate the crowd possibly leading to fights.
Keeping the audience somewhere between very excited and very relaxed is a delicate balance.
Dave has this down to a science, this is why his shows are so memorable.

There is no substitute for rehearsal time with your act. Track your rehearsals so you can go over your mixes and design effects to fit the songs and/or duplicate the acts previous recordings.

"experienced sound human" 😆 gosh y'gotta love Dave!

Sound human, lol

This is great

GOGO music from DC is an exception to this as their sound was centered around the rhythm section, Kick, Bass, Congas, toms, etc.

Dave is one of the top sound dudes in the world. He don't just talk BS with out proof. he will prove it with science.

great video. love listening to dave

Do you go in a bank and find the teller drinking alcohol. Engineers should think before they drink.

Dave Rat is amazing. I LOVE how he will chart out the whole concert and figure out when to bring out which aspects of the sound to really make the whole concert sound it's best as a whole. What a fantastically musical approach. Obviously this approach takes a lot of overall planning, but what an excellent and musical approach that will make the concert really POP! Thanks for sharing this, Mr. Rat - you are a genius!

I don't know about that as I just make the talent sound like GOD.