The Sound Couple - Dancin' in the Tent!

The Sound Couple wakes up heads out to another long day gigs to support two bands for a local city celebration! Although the acoustics of a tent can be challenging, it is better to be protected from the elements as a threat of rain was also in the mix for this day as well.
Here are some key takeaways from this show:
1. Approach tent shows the same as an outdoor (a.k.a. - bring your tarps!)
2. Ensure that there is adequate power.
3. Have a plan on how to handle multiple acts.
4. Focus on ensuring that the band is comfortable on the stage.
The crowd was dancin' from the start and cheered at the end to what turned out to be a great gig for all! (and we were hired back for the following year before the end of the gig!)
Our Oktava microphones were repaired by Bill Sitler...thanks!
www.billsrecording.com
The Sound Couple primarily use PreSonus gear featuring:
PreSonus UC Surface
PreSonus CDL12
PreSonus CDL18s
PreSonus 32R
PreSonus SW5E
PreSonus NSB Stageboxes
PreSonus AVB-D16
Please see our "About" for a more comprehensive list of gear we use.

[@DeanKWilson]

As usual, whenever Bart and Stacy go to a gig we receive a wonderful opportunity to learn. The significant amount of planning that Bart invested into this gig proved a very wise decision. It was very helpful to observe The Sound Couple setting up for this complicated gig, and to especially have Bart explain the decisions he made that led to a successful production at this outdoor event. Thanks, as always, for allowing us to observe and learn.

[@thesoundcouple]

Thank you Dean! This was a good one and we are expecting that this year it will be even better. It will be the 50th anniversary of the event!

[@napasmith5689]

"So there are six?" "No, there are two dead ones." - Priceless.

[@thesoundcouple]

Yes...we could have probably gotten away without our power tap, but yes, one more thing for us to deal with. We will see if he got around to fixing it for this year. Any bets?

[@pileofstuff]

Sadly, also typical.

[@magezielijah5764]

Love you guys. Your episodes are my Netflix

[@thesoundcouple]

We appreciate that! I am sure our production budget is a bit cheaper!

[@joshblair8344]

situations like this are where good old analog split snake comes in handy

[@thesoundcouple]

You are correct. We did sell all of our old long copper snakes, which we haven't regretted yet, but the shorter multi-channel whips still come in handy!

[@sound4uaudiovideorecording927]

I always make the stage happy before I go out front. With a pad it is so intuitive. Such busy music first band.

[@thesoundcouple]

These bands work with a lot of other sound companies too. It would be nice to see how others do it by observing their other gigs. It's funny when there are gigs that the stress level is higher and then they tell you how great everything went and sometimes in comparison to other shows....it makes you pause and think "really?"

[@djjazzo4287]

Great job

[@thesoundcouple]

Thanks!

[@user-ut2ly8bi3d]

I really enjoy your videos. I think I've seen them all

[@thesoundcouple]

Wow - thanks for that!

[@janassink9118]

Hi Bart and Stacey , you talked about the weather 50% chance on rain , in holland when they say 50% chain of rain you can bet your bottom dollar its gonna rain , so if its that time i ask the organisation for 2 europallets to put my stack on i take an extra plasticbox with me to put my power supply boxes in ,water crawls through the grass in your powersupply box . You don,t want that to happen . Its just a tip. Gladly your lucky it didnn,t rain . In Holland don,t challenge the weather its kick you in the butt.

[@thesoundcouple]

Thanks for sharing!

[@isettech]

I bought 2 of the "Turtles" used, and one GFI outlet was dead, so I replaced it with a power monitor that measures Watts, Volts, Amps, and Frequency. I have an 80 foot cable and a 20 foot cable for them. It was a 100 footer, butt it looked like it was shovel damaged, so cut it and added a pair of ends to make the two cables. I put the power meter one inline first as it then shows my total connected load. Love having my own. They are "Drip Proof for use in less than ideal weather. 50A 240V pass through, a 30A 240V outlet on a breaker, and 6 GFCI 20A circuits except the one replaced with a meter. Works great if one is in monitor world and the other on stage for the stage use. The band on stage is all on GFCI. Fire Marshall lines that. The 30A is non GFCI and can use a lighter cord to FOH if you are doing that remote. I break that out into 4 15A 120V circuits.

[@thesoundcouple]

Nice! It just highlights the fact that there is always more roads to consider going down to make our jobs easier!

[@ericandriesbong5742]

Geetings from indonesia. Great sound n video.

[@thesoundcouple]

Thank you very much!

[@dustinthiessen]

man, I can relate laying in bed at night thinking about logistics on gigs with multiple FOH, and MON consoles, quick changeovers. had one particularily rough festival where I was the monitor tech. I think we had 8 bands, including Our Lady Peace, and Aqua. My patch guy was greener than green, so I ended up having to do his job and mine. we were short on sub snakes from the vendor too... it was nuts. not to mention it incessantly raining the whole time, which put us way behind schedule, due to my S6L Stage 64 losing a couple input cards to moisture 🤦🏼‍♂ Makes the smooth gigs like you had here all the more enjoyable 👍🏼

[@thesoundcouple]

This looks like a stress dream that came true!

[@dustinthiessen]

@@thesoundcouple hah! It absolutely was. Pay was good though 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@thesoundcouple]

Those dreams aren't fun!@@dustinthiessen

[@srendyhr5844]

The Octava's are strange beasts by being nearly omni in the 5K area, with the cardiod capsule ....

[@thesoundcouple]

I will admit, I am not a condenser mic expert, but I really like them and glad we could get them fixed up to back as new! Not sure if your comment is intended to compliment them or not :)

[@ben81]

❤❤🌹

[@user-vf6lp5re9m]

👏🏼🙏👍🏻🙏👏🏼🙏👍🏻🙏👏🏼

[@avidaeseuscontratempos]

🇧🇷👍🏻

[@nedward5871]

Bummer that the two bands couldn't share backline or drums! We just did a 3 band show and mandated the first two bands use the last band's kit but could bring their own snare and cymbals - reduced changeover time to 15 min. But here with such different bands and layouts not really possible... Gotta roll with the changes... If it's the hypercardioid mic I'm thinking of, it has great gain before feedback - but you have to be eating the mic constantly, vs. more forgiving other mics. Our female singer bought one of those, and had her return it after 1 show. SM58 worked way better... The AT PRO37 is inexpensive used, but does well as an OH or HH small condenser in case one of the Octava's ever goes down. Super small and affordable used.

[@thesoundcouple]

Thanks for sharing....our goal would be that if possible, but like in this case, they were too different.

[@user-jg1eu3oo7x]

good job ...... i like you and your video.....salam dari indonesia terimaksih

[@thesoundcouple]

Greetings! Thank you for watching!

[@tonderaimabvure]

Always love your content. Do you ever use your Subwoofers in Cardioid Mode? Or it depends on how big or small the stage is.

[@thesoundcouple]

We have not - partly for aesthetics in some cases and also because of time and space. We are generally happy with the results of our subs so don't see a big reason to change.

[@SignalStrengthAudio]

Make sure your pole sockets are not breaking through....I have seen that happen and eventually they will fail and the pole will end up into the 12" driver!

[@thesoundcouple]

That’s a really good point! Thank you!

[@user-ti3li2bd7j]

Geno 8 สมุทรสงคราม .thailand 19.03 น. ชมอยุ่ กดแล้ว

[@jokerswildmusic4882]

Here’s something you might find helpful. When you see a percentage of rain in a forecast, this is referring to the percentage of the area that will get rain. It’s commonly thought the percentage seen on a forecast refers to the percentage of chance the area will get rain. When you and Stacy referred to a 35 percent chance of rain, that meant 35 percent of the area will get rain. Hope that helps!

[@thesoundcouple]

Thank you for the clarification!

[@MateiBeshendzhiev]

Really cool! May i ask what you think about the soundcraft ui digital mixers (sorry if my english is bad,im from Bulgaria)

[@thesoundcouple]

Sorry, we don't have first hand experience with Soundcraft digital mixers!

[@hadraai]

Is seems that the scene files on the Presonus mixer do not save the state or existence of (digital) patches and other i/o settings. That's kinda bad I think. The mixer should warn you when loading a scene that a stagebox is different or missing or whatever but it clearly doesn't. I've seen you struggle with this in multiple videos and totally understand your frustration.

[@thesoundcouple]

It’s gotten better but your observation is correct.

[@XIIMonkeysMusicGroup]

Need to save Projects. Scenes don't really save much.

[@thesoundcouple]

The challenge comes when using different configurations of stage boxes and project/scenes. Pre-amp settings and 48v are not saved within either project/scene (for NSB stage boxes).@@XIIMonkeysMusicGroup

[@XIIMonkeysMusicGroup]

I drive a Nissan NV200 with a 4x6 box trailer. Rather small and maneuverable!

[@thesoundcouple]

Yes, a small trailer is a nice supplement to your Nissan. We have thought about a smaller trailer, but just can't justify owning 2!

[@jessecoonen7881]

Usually when you screw a receptacle in a metal box, the screw is also grounding the box.

[@thesoundcouple]

Good point - I see this as additional/redundant protection, especially if a screw was to come out. I don't know what the electrical code states for temporary electrical boxes, but I discovered this in a wiring instructional video.

[@cliffpidlubny7594]

Hey Bart, I'm curious about what "A Brand" mic gave you issues and where.... I use AT AE4100 & AE6100 as my go to vox mics (SM58/Beta58 if requested) Beta56 on drum vox unless other requested or supplied. I just recently switched my tom mics over to Audix D2 & D4 from EV ND468's (as recommended by Todd Sucherman) and love them.

[@srendyhr5844]

I head it too - salesman something???

[@thesoundcouple]

Yes...I was referring to either the 4100 or 6100 (not sure which one)! I have never owned these mics, but when they are provided, they are squirrely and thin sounding. My guess is that my experiences are with the 6100 series which is a hypercardioid which you should be right up on them. One singer was softer, wanted a loud monitor, and wasn't on the mic. Difficult factors to try to manage without feedback. The typical way mics of this design are marketed is that they allow for high gain before feedback....well, not for singers that aren't on them. For the style of music they are doing and with mics in a clip/ stand with their body movements, a hypercardioid mic is not the right choice.

[@bhsaproduction]

Another great show. The changeover between bands seemed smooth. I recently watched a post where a Behringer Wing was connected to multiple S16/S32 - AES50 Channel A was used for the 1st band & Channel B was setup (in advance) for the 2nd half of the show. All the settings / effects etc for the 1st band was set as Scene 1 via AES50 A and then the settings and effects etc for part 2 were run via Scene 2 down AES50 B. Could you see any benefit in this for a large show with limited change over time? Would this be possible with the PreSonus?

[@XIIMonkeysMusicGroup]

You could do it with the PreSonus 64S and 2 NSB32.16 stage boxes!

[@thesoundcouple]

Very interesting - We do have 2 32:16's. Although they couldn't both be fully assigned with all channels at the same time, each box could be assigned and unassigned for each band. Thank you for sharing as this may be an approach to test out and possibly use next time.

[@bhsaproduction]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that only one set of stage boxes were used at a time - then unplugged, before the 2nd group were connected and used.

[@davidmata4875]

hey Bart and Stacey, im not sure if you have talked about it but how do y'all run your music? i see you have a iPad app featured at 14:00 called "Remote". Would you be able to explain how you have that set up to control both your music through the "Remote" app and your mixer on the same iPad?

[@thesoundcouple]

With both Apple Music and Spotify, you can remotely control a host device. Apple Music remote app is less complex and functional than Spotify....but that's necessarily not a bad thing.

[@eliezeryamzon5224]

Which Pecron did you buy?

[@thesoundcouple]

We have an E3000 - we don't see them available at this time.

[@ckjjclan]

Curious about FOH fire-power… looking at the audience, and where they were, would a single sub and a single CDL12 work end on each side?…. In retrospect I am sure 2x bottoms and 2x tops was the safe option, but would 1 sub and one top have worked? My comment isn’t one of questioning the decisions made, rather curious about the abilities of the speakers and subs…

[@thesoundcouple]

Yes, for this show we could have have got by with just 1 sub/main. How much PA is needed really depends on other factors besides square footage and we aren't always sure how those will all play out. The one thing we have commented in our videos is the concept of presence and moving air. People ask why so much PA in what could be considered a smaller space, but depending on the application, moving the air doesn't mean louder, but you feel more energy.

[@Velkus96]

So I am still curious, why are you doing low cuts on the mixes in a graphic eq instead of using the dedicated HPF. I know it's an oldschool method, but it really isn't more effective than a HPF, and can actually cause combfiltering when cutting bands next to each other to the max -15db. If you need more low attenuation than the HPF i recommend you use the low shelf on the parametric.

[@thesoundcouple]

Thank you for that suggestion. Will definitely take your observation into consideration!

[@davidbrock6263]

What is the stand holding PA gear at minute 35?

[@thesoundcouple]

Hmmm...could you verify your question? We are still in the van doing our intro at 1:35.

[@davidbrock6263]

Side stage is a stack of gear, inputs,wireless receivers. The stack is on an aluminum 4 leg table, I’m interested what that table is. I’m assuming it breaks down for portable. Stacy is sitting facing the gear

[@thesoundcouple]

Got it..a question so popular over the years that we posted a link to a similar table on our channel homepage. Here you go! kzbin.info?event=channel_header&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbVVFZWhsbDdhYzlJNDMxSmRlTzBvY0JCTUF4d3xBQ3Jtc0trQnI5UTNnRWVDUmJIeElCVmFZUl90WldpS2tEcURFVlJqTERlU3h5Qzh5RGZ6bXdOTzk3aEhqSnlZaHZWWi1zeUxpalltU2QzSExVVGRuejVLVnNjeXAwaEJxYlpUZzdBYldfTmx5Mk9kOGRFZ2R3RQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fdp%2FB097Q8Z9XV%2F%3Fcoliid%3DI3HHGUYJB2D8YC%26colid%3D2NLB7HPLXSQ32%26psc%3D1%26ref_%3Dlv_ov_lig_dp_it @@davidbrock6263

[@tejtrambharatt5182]

Yes please let me know which was the bad mic .

[@thesoundcouple]

I was referring to either the 4100 or 6100 from Audio Technica. "Bad" is simply my opinion....a lot of people use them and I just have haven't experienced these mics making my job easier.

[@tejtrambharatt5182]

@@thesoundcouple I suspected it’s that because I had a few that just stopped working suddenly thank you. Love your videos what kind of mixer are you using.?

[@alberto038]

Very funny people dancing to Latin songs.

[@thesoundcouple]

At least they are having fun!

[@XIIMonkeysMusicGroup]

Latin is made to dance to!

[@thesoundcouple]

and that they did!@@XIIMonkeysMusicGroup

[@RegularTennesseeJoe]

People throw those turtles around thinking they can’t break. I have had mine apart and I can tell you that is far from the truth. The connections aren’t done very well. They are just as fragile as any other electrical component. I’d say that’s what has happened to it

[@thesoundcouple]

I am guessing it will be the same person this year...what are the odds of it being fixed? I am betting we will get the broken one again! You know what? That's ok...he was a good guy to work with.