Tips from Buford Jones…

Here’s the final post from Dave Stagl’s blog, for the benefit of my KCC guys who will get a lot out of these tidbits of wisdom. Dave had the opportunity to do a mixing class with Buford Jones, tour liason manager for Meyer Sound a few months back. Below are some of his notes from the class, along with my thoughts about each of them.

- There are two types of mixing, musical and technical. Technical mixing is where you’re focusing more on the technical side of things i.e., there’s two much 200 Hz in the room or that snare drum needs a little more 5k. Musical mixing is more along the lines of learning the song and becoming an extra member of the band. It’s anticipating solos and understanding what’s happening underneath the solos. Musical mixing is really about making the whole thing gel. When showtime(or the start of the service in our case) hits, you should be focusing on musical mixing and not technical mixing.

[In the KCC environment on a weekend, for example, I treat the first couple hours of rehearsal as technical mixing, getting EQs, compressors, and other band stuff happening and the console programmed so everything feels good. Then the second half of rehearsal, post-meeting, transitions into musical mixing. Once I reach the service, it's time to stop trying to get the killer vocal EQ or guitar effect and mix the service. Another element of musical mixing that is very powerful during worship sets is to feel the music and help the band and vocalists "pace" the set dynamically. You can take a worship set from an 8 to an 11 by appropriately pushing songs organically as they hit emotional high points...pushing and pulling volume as it makes sense, lots of kick and bass during the uptempo closer, great vocal blend with some verb during balads, etc. Our job is to be more than just being technically correct. Many more can achieve that then actually becoming artists themselves and taking the band artistically to the next level - TC]

- The mix should be the result of collective input. This could include the artist, the artist’s staff, and the audience. Buford likes to poll the audience because they’re the ones he’s mixing for. He takes a lot of satisfaction in positive feedback from audience members as they’re leaving the show. He also looks for responses from the audience during the show he’s mixing.

[Like Dave, I watch the audience a lot when I’m mixing. I actualy get into a routine most of hte time where my eyes quickly move from the console to each band member, the IMAG, and back to the console. I find that my attention span mixing a show can be compared to that of a ref in a basketball game. Eyes are constantly moving, digesting, making conclusions, and adapting. Focusing on any one thing for too long will likely cause you to miss another important part of the action because the primary "happy spot" is a constantly moving target. - TC]

- Buford prefers sound systems tuned linearly, and I say AMEN to that!!. When tuning, phase alignment and coverage should be the first priority. Tune sparingly when using EQ, and it should be parametric EQ and not graphic EQ. You should make board tapes and use the recordings to improve your mix.

[My philosophy is to tune the PA so what sounds good coming out of the console on a board tape is what sounds good in the room. If the room is adding to or taking away from parts of the mix, adjust the PA accordingly. I find great value in critiquing my board mixes every week from our service DVDs. In fact, I finally implemented a recording chain so I can digitially record right to my laptop every service and then listen back on my iPod in the car. If the PA is aligned and EQ's correctly, a slammin board mix should equal a good house mix. -TC]

- The volume should surround and engulf the audience, but they shouldn’t be worn out. Again, watch them for this. You want power and not pain in your mix. You need to figure out a comfortable range for your material, don’t worry about specific dB. Get outside opinions on whether it’s too loud.

[It is easy to fall into the trap of watching a level meter and having to fit inside a certain range each week. However, I think way too many churches pay too much attention to SPL and not enough to the feel of the room. I have an SPL meter at my FOH, and I watch it, especially from service to service to maintain consistentcy. But ultimately it really is all about how it feels in the room for a given song and given band. There have been many New Communities where 95-100 dbA was the perfect level for the energy of the room in worship, but that same volume level on a weekend during a hard rock tune would be peeling everyone's hair back. Also, the BAND plays a huge part in the mix quality; a great band mixed well sounds great at loud volumes, but a mediocre band mixed well sounds mediocre at any volume -TC]

- Document everything. Having documentation around is going to be invaluable if anyone ever needs to fill your shoes because you are sick or moved or took another gig, etc. Buford keeps detailed notes on songs such as when the solos are, who’s singing what, etc. He also keeps a diary of shows [I’m going to start], where he talks about what worked and what didn’t and ideas for fixing things.

[Welcome to my attempt at this here on this blog -TC]

- The show is a time for intense concentration on the mix so be quiet at FOH.

[I'm a stickler for this and I'm sure I get on some of our team member's nerves for requiring quiet near me during rehearsal, but I've found its extremely important. Often times I have an extremely limited number of times through an artistic piece to get it right, and it is my job to always be ready as fast as possible to move on to the next thing. It is the worst feeling in the world when the band has to keep running something because it hasn't clicked for me yet. My philosophy is if people aren't going to be standing around me speaking during the actual service, I don't want them doing it while we're rehearsing. Fight for it - it's worth it. -TC]

One last thing that wasn’t in my notes, but I’m going to mention is Buford talked both in his talk and offline about walking over to an artist and listening to them. Listen to your singers without the PA. Listen to the drums, listen to the guitar amps. I walk up on stage a lot during rehearsal to listen to drums and double check mic placement; our drummers all use their own snares and let’s just say that every once in a while someone brings in a snare that I need to check out in person….

[I've found the same thing. The same goes for monitor mixes. It's one thing to listen to their mix solo'd up in the cans and think it sounds great - it's a whole other thing to go up on stage and actually listen to what the artist is hearing. A tablet PC is a great tool for this in being able to make changes and adjustments on the spot. Highly recommended for those of you with digital consoles! - TC]