$1M PA Tuning Behind The Scenes | Styx & Foreigner

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[@northeastoutrider2124]

It's so nice to see the FOH Engineer take the time to tune the system with the System Engineer. Cookie is such a pro and cares about the full experience. I know way too many FOH guys on major tours who don't care a bit about anything outside of their small FOH pocket and leave it all to the system guy. It's great to see it done right.

[@VIRALBEATS360]

Nice work! Live sound is definitely a different type of animal, especially outdoors. I saw the Arizona Cardinals super stadium, right after it was built. The setup is so massive, I wouldn't even know where to begin. Thanks for showing this. Live sound engineering is an artform, and there is very little behind the scenes, being showcased. This was a real treat

[@jaypaulson5181]

Great video! Not too deep in the weeds, but enough to keep us “geeks” going… Thanks for sharing, and all the time and energy this takes to build the presentation

[@jeffrey.a.hanson]

I went to one DMB concert with issues on the outer PAs. Gave me a huge appreciation for the work that goes into a PA setup.

[@kevinkotansky4184]

Wow! Amazing technology. My wife and I were at this concert at Ruoff! Hey, sounded perfect to all 20,000 in attendance! Thanks for your efforts!

[@cookie_mix]

You’re welcome. Our job is to try to convince concert-goers to be repeat customers.

[@michaeltaylors2456]

Saw Styx last summer. Got to admit, even while sitting in the back of an amphitheater, they sounded fantastic. Sound reinforcement is so much better now than the “good old “ days.

[@cookie_mix]

Thank You

[@br1an_b]

Oh my god, thank you for making these videos! I’ve already learned so much from you in a studio setting-I use your snare track trick (duplicate the snare track, invert the phase, and throw a compressor on it) all the time. But I’ve also had a growing interest in learning about live sound, and while a lot of channels exist for doing that, it’s really cool to cross over into that realm with someone with whom I am already familiar. I love being a fly on the wall in these scenarios. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experiences with us, cheers! ✌🏻

[@jeffhedback3912]

great vid! Keep me flowing....nice

[@RecordingStudioLoser]

More to come!

[@Fiddle_guy]

These vids are all pretty well produced. Y'all are getting alot of hits on each. Sure, I'll subscribe! You've hit on something here. It's great!

[@danymalsound]

Awesome content and inside look at this. The outdoor production seems like a physics monster lol

[@Shred_Rocket]

Now this is the stuff I want to see and hear! Fascinating stuff indeed!

[@RecordingStudioLoser]

More coming

[@gbrooker317]

Haven’t seen one of your videos in my recommended in a minute, as a monitor engineer from Indy it’s always fun to see Indy based content. Thank you brother

[@bamapatriot205]

.it was great meeting and working with this crew at Orange Beach, AL. (The Wharf) 8-16-2024!!

[@styxbeerguy9279]

Thank you for all of your help on that hot day!

[@bamapatriot205]

@@styxbeerguy9279 I worked with Cody on stage right PA!!

[@SoundDocta]

I LOVE these type of videos... Keep em roll'n!!

[@RecordingStudioLoser]

More to come!

[@Thelatejimreilley]

Where do they put the Shure Vocal Master?

[@rocketsauce5067]

I can do a pretty good mix live or otherwise but this is on another level. This is an actual engineer.

[@RecordingStudioLoser]

I can relate

[@christianmartinez1]

Us live boys live for a properly tuned PA.

[@WillyTheRat]

I can add one more profession to my list of things I'll never be able to do.

[@StevenJamesWorld]

Is that Noblesville / Ruoff? I was at that show! Sounded great 4 rows back from the stage! I always try to get a peek at the sound booth gear when I can. Very cool! I just saw the Ruoff banner over one of the displays.....

[@RecordingStudioLoser]

Yep. Sure is

[@jeshurunamui361]

Men This the stuff that we want to watch !!

[@tusharkamble6585]

More of these please ❤💯🔥

[@Mikee535]

White noise I think you mean pink noise. Great video.

[@SHARt_murmur]

Love this stuff!

[@ScottGunMag69]

Styx is awesome! They are definitely in good hands. Styx sounded awesome in the 80s. They sounded better last year than when I first saw them in 1985. Sound reinforcement has nearly been perfected.

[@ScottMusgrave]

Thank you for this!

[@StereoAnthony]

Awesome video. Im sure I'm a weirdo nerd like some others here, but I LOVE this stuff! I've got a small side business doing tech and live sound, and recently invested in some Meyer Sound boxes. Once you hear clarity, phase and cohesion like that, learning all about this stuff becomes fascinating. Down at my level you won't see much of this stuff being done, or even the tools to do, but what you're able to do now to improve sound quality of a live performance with this kind of tech and knowledge is really amazing. The vast majority of people have no understanding of what it takes to make their concert sound great, and it's been very interesting learning about it. I have to admit I get a real kick out of setting up delays and trying to time align them by ear. I'm getting better!

[@cookie_mix]

It’s all ear training, isn’t it? Once you know what you are trying to achieve, that goal becomes easier. Throwing things at a wall to see what sticks wastes time when the show needs to happen.

[@StereoAnthony]

@@cookie_mix ⁠Absolutely. Learning to trust what you are hearing takes time, and for me changes day by day, and even time of day! I swear I can hear better at night.

[@cookie_mix]

@@StereoAnthony and that’s where using technology to validate what you are hearing comes in. Our ears get fatigued doing several loud shows a week but with the use of tools like FFT’s we can gain consistency. But again, computers are not ultimately doing the listening.

[@StereoAnthony]

@@cookie_mixOh for sure. I will never be on productions of the size you do, not do I have much interest, but I certainly interested in the tech you use to do what you do. A far cry from what those bands had when they started!

[@bryanbrewer4272]

Full NERDGASM!!!! Thanks!

[@guitarplayer5932]

i didnt realize on festivals they have a systems engineer and then each band has their own sound engineer

[@cookie_mix]

Shoutout to @TheBassMountain for his skill and patience in editing. This is a lot of content, curse words, and umms he is keeping concise and interesting.

[@RecordingStudioLoser]

Dude is killing these edits.

[@TheBassMountain]

y’all are too kind 🙏

[@Kynect2Hymn]

00:30 That is not white noise, its pink noise. Used along with SMAART to tune systems.

[@dougle03]

I still prefer to tune a system using actual reference tracks. The show is going to be music program, so tuning should also be music. Maybe it's just me having been doing it for so long, long before SMAART came along...

[@Kynect2Hymn]

@@dougle03 Well tuning a system is to give a flat response, so I'd rather have that first before making any other adjustments to taste.

[@dougle03]

@@Kynect2Hymn That's fair enough, although no one really mixes flat!

[@cookie_mix]

@@dougle03 virtual soundcheck comes in after all the nerdy analyzer stuff. As I said, we walk around listening and our ear and make the final judgements at 6:20

[@cookie_mix]

@@dougle03 and that's where your target curve (tonal balance) of the system comes in.

[@kevinbrown3017]

Amazing

[@jkey2u815]

How was numbers generated? I didn't hear music, pink noise, or any freq. generator? Thanks, I love the content.

[@davegeorge7094]

they should set the house up and lock it down for all to use and save all that time for each performer! All band needs the same same perfected set-up. No more fleets of sound semis following the bands around the world. Or would that take the fun out of touring?

[@JimMcNicholas]

Did he ever work With Gary Loizzo? He was Styx' FOH and studio engineer for years.

[@cookie_mix]

Yes.

[@HenkJanDrums]

Nice

[@seanquinlan7485]

Where was this video made it looks like Mansfield Massachusetts to me

[@cookie_mix]

It’s the twin to Great Woods. This is Deer Creek outside Indy.

[@rodneyradnowski8334]

Yeah this stuff is cool and a great career if you can’t get in.

[@sweetspike]

Love the sound of the 25s. Hate rigging them. Lots of output. Slow ins and outs versus d n b and l acoustics or jbl a12

[@cookie_mix]

Yeah the audience loves the fast in and the quicker out.

[@sweetspike]

@@cookie_mix the tour, promoter and stage hands do dingus. It’s a box from 14plus years ago. And the rigging is lame Bet they got a good deal ( but also like the push of the 15s.

[@styxbeerguy9279]

What's slow about rigging it? I find it to be one of the easiest and quickest on the market. But, I've only ever used it with the compression style rigging. Definitely easier than the previous generations of PA's, vDosc, Y-Axis, Vertec, J to name a few. Once I have points I can get 16 boxes in the air in roughly 10 minutes. All about the organization of all the parts while waiting for chains to go in the air.

[@MatthewBarelick]

Were those meyer sound panther hanging stacks and Ls 2100s for the subs?

[@djijspeakerguy4628]

Looks like JBL VTX V25 with VTX B28 subs and A8 front fill. I’ve heard newer JBL rigs like this that actually surprised me by how good they sounded. Probably 90% of what I’d expect from a Meyer/L-acoustics/D&B setup. I’ve heard all the new stuff too. (Meyer Panther/2100LFC, the entire new SL series from D&B except XSL-SUB, L-acoustics K series including the new K3, not heard L2 yet). I like all three brands for different reasons. I only heard Panther once, but I was most surprised by it because it seems like a big step ahead of older Meyer stuff. 2100-LFC is also a solid sub. Not sure how deep it goes but in terms of mid/kick bass it sure hits you right in the chest with very few boxes!

[@jellybaby9630]

I need drum samples. Hip hop beats 💓

[@detroit313vlogs7]

Appreciate the vid but that background music was very annoying.

[@jellybaby9630]

NEEDS MORE COWBELL

[@pancakepunch1011]

Does anyone know if this is the ruoff Music Center in Indianapolis?

[@RecordingStudioLoser]

Yes it is

[@RecordingStudioLoser]

My stomping grounds

[@pancakepunch1011]

@@RecordingStudioLoser I'm not too far from there. i guess if I had paid attention, I would have seen the sign. ha thanks for the reply, fantastic video

[@davideaton1416]

So, given that you have two headliner caliber bands...does each band tune the PA to their preferences or will foreigner use what Cookie has done here? How do they choose which band gets to set the PA if only one of them is doing the tuning? Honestly, I never thought about these issues until watching this video.

[@cookie_mix]

I’ll field this one. Brian, who mixes Foreigner, and I collaborate on the tuning of the PA. We have similar goals from the PA with slight changes between us. I like a little shelf on the bottom side of the 3 way box and he likes it flatter before it hands off to the subs. No biggie. When I tune PA’s for multiple bands, I try to get it in the middle and “within reach” of all the bands with minimal effort. Then if there are specific things we need for our bands we do on our end before we send to the PA. Same thing we did with Styx/REO. If I’m coming into a festival, the only control I have is eq on my end before I send to the PA to correct or get what I need from the PA. That’s more coarse than what we are doing on tour. Typical sends are just Left/Right/Sub/Fills from our desks for probably 90% of the tours out there. Good question. Thanks for that.

[@davideaton1416]

@@cookie_mix thank you for the answer! It’s fascinating to see all of the detail that goes into making a show like this work. I think in last year’s video you mentioned running delays in such a way that the big hits on the stage hit the crowd at the same time instead in a wave from front to back...it made perfect sense, but I never would have thought about it. Like I said, it’s amazing all the little things that are done to optimize the experience for the concert goers. I appreciate you sharing your wisdom and methods!

[@SonicPVC]

I'm pretty sure anything below a 3db change is not not noticible.

[@cookie_mix]

Not true. 1 decibel was determined to be the level change needed for the average human to hear a difference.

[@styxbeerguy9279]

Nothing could be further from the truth!

[@kristopherdetar4346]

For all the technology you fellas use at these concerts the one constant factor over the decades is the volume is entirely overkill destroying concert goers ears. I have worn ear plugs for years going to concerts and hear everything at a much better level.

[@MS-Patriot2]

Completely agree. I play in a rock band and we all use in ear attenuation, not IEMs yet. The venues we play are compact and the drums are the killer. Out front we work hard to get a comfortable but exciting level. Overpowered live music is pointless and tiring.

[@mylesmikieal]

I know what the ideal end goal is, but where does his process start lol? #AskingForAfriend

[@cookie_mix]

How far back do you want to go?

[@GYMusic]

That continuous music loop is so distracting - serves no purpose.

[@MS-Patriot2]

So many people use that crap, I hate it too. Some can just block it out but we can’t!

[@michaelanderson2881]

I can tell you that these guys were NOT on the job when Styx played at the Nassau Coliseum winter 1980, because it sounded like shit. Or maybe it's that the sound in the Coliseum, like everything else about that place, was just substandard.

[@cookie_mix]

Nope. They wouldn’t let a second grader mix the show then.

[@michaelanderson2881]

@@cookie_mix Well, you'd have done a better job.

[@kiparue]

Ugh. PINK NOISE. But, hey as I continued to watch you did something most people won’t do… Admit that you know very little about System Engineering.

[@RecordingStudioLoser]

Dude... System Techs are a different breed of which I am not. haha

[@SirGrogg]

Really nice video. Great sound techs…. TERRIBLE SPEAKERS!!!

[@AllenPendleton]

Big show for 2 tribute bands.

[@markriggs8371]

Styx is far from being a tribute band… The only member not there is Dennis Deyoung and the original drummer who passed away 30 years ago…. His brother the bass player plays close to half the songs in the set still. Styx still brings it, plus they have one of the best drummers in the world as a bonus! On the other hand Foreigner is a complete sham cover band with no original members like Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Little River Band, and The Guess Who, just to name a few.

[@MatthewBarelick]

TRIBUTE BANDS NO THEY WERE THE REAL DEAL BRO!

[@ZTAudio]

@@markriggs8371When you’re missing the guy who formed the band in the first place, wrote almost every hit they had, and fronted the band … it’s a cover band, lol. I’ve seen STYX live many times, starting in the 1970s. The current incarnation is great. I think LG is actually a better keyboard player than DDY, but the vocal difference is stark. I will say they are a bit “loose” with their arrangements… not really even trying to create the original sound in many cases. I’ve seen DDY a few times … amazing. He and his band sound a lot more like the original STYX. It’s not only a matter of his vocals, but they take extreme care to create a sound “just like the record”.

[@tdkz72]

How about we just put the musicians and instruments on the f***ing stage and not process everything to a point it's not even real anymore.

[@SonicPVC]

How about you go learn what sound reenforcement entails?