Balance is the key.
Balance can be applied to everything we do. For instance, a work life balance is a good goal to strive for. How about a balanced meal complete with fruits and vegetable’s? I will be the first to admit, I love a great burger, but eating a balanced meal makes a lot of sense. How about a balance between sitting, standing and even exercising? Sounds great! What about balancing your sound?
When you are recording in a studio, achieving the appropriate recording level on each and every instrument and vocal is critical. Once the recording is done, mixing all the instruments and vocals becomes a matter of finding the right sonic space for each track and bringing the level (volume) of each track to a perfect balance. The mastering process is the last piece of the puzzle to achieve a perfect sound and balance. So how does balance work in a live music situation?
Live music is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the skills of a group of musicians. To showcase them properly, it has a lot to do with the sound both the musicians hear and the sound the audience hears. You guessed it, balance is the key. The sound engineer has a responsibility to provide the best possible sound experience to all parties. He or she has to create the sound each and every musician needs to individually hear, as well as the total balanced sound that the audience desires. The same principles of mixing apply for live sound and include adjusting for tone (EQ), but also individual volume levels. When done well, the audience hears everyone individually, as well as the group as a whole.
What about if you are a solo or duo act and don’t have a sound engineer? I fall into to both categories. Mixing and balance can be difficult. As a solo artist, one the best tools I use are my IEM’s (In Ear Monitors). I have the same guitar and vocal feed coming into my ears, through my IEM’s, as the audience hears out front. Since, I can’t raise or lower volume knob during a performance, I simply either strum my guitar lighter or harder or sing softer or louder. I like to call it, dynamic or active mixing. With the duo and the aid of wireless microphones, my sax player can go into the audience and check the balance and levels. He has a great ear for sound and the mix.
Balance is the key to a lot of things, including live sound. So the next time you see some live music, think about balance. Have a great day. Cheers!