I've done FOH for 25 years and when a musician is struggling with their monitor mix and is asking for more of the same thing over and over I usually find that what makes them happy is to not turn up that thing they are asking for more of but instead turn everything else in their mix down. Reverse psychology? So...sometimes less is more!

Yeah!!! Paul has mixed my band Nerf Herder many times and we've always had a great sound and a great experience.

THIS IS SOOOOO ACCURATE!!!!!!! Possibly the best piece of live sound advice EVER given! Live sound engineers, PLEASE TAKE NOTE!

Dead on psychology! Live sound with most modern music is vocal centered and the max level available is based on the upper ring level granted to you in a given room or venue. Any lunatic guitar or drummer can decimate vocal monitors and leave the vocalists with nothing. Getting the band to think in terms of "team" requires a discipline of volume which accomodates the allowable vocal monitor levels. Your bedside manner advice is spot on in terms of achieving a compliant and happy band! Keep on preaching!

Yes a fantabulous idea to do vocals first and then everything else is set relative to that. What a simple solution to an age old problem. I have been a FOH mixer and a performer and I can't tell you how many rock gigs I have been to as a listener at small clubs where the instruments sound great but the vocals can just barely be heard. Very common fuckup, and your order of priorities at sound check could so easily solve this problem. Kudos man. I usually have to argue with guitarists to turn down their amps when I'm a sound man; it would be so much easier to start with vocals. Also I have found that, if the guitar cabs are mic'd through the PA, it works really well to position the guitar cabs on the sides of the stage, and point them in towards the band, rather than out towards the audience. That way all the players can clearly hear the guitars, you have less monitoring issues, and guitarists don't insist on having their amps so fucking loud. Of course this requires that the guitar amps be mic'd, but they usually are anyway. Great post!

I can't thank you enough for this. I have just started in live sound (by virtue of being the most technically-minded person at my venue, a small theater in a museum), and have only run sound for two bands so far with no training or experience, but I have been trying to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible, and this has been one of the most enlightening things I have seen so far.

Love this. Thank you for not only sharing your knowledge and insight, but for having such great consideration of your performers. Love the "do the vocals first" approach!

As a novice sound man, I inherited the role in my cover band, the advice given here is invaluable. I’ve been practicing this method (vocals first) for 8 months and it works.

Great series here man. Thank you!!! I hope you continue to make them.

This is the best information I have ever come across. My first job as an audio engineer was at a massive local hip hop event and the most difficult part was not having that open line of communication. That made it incredibly stressful and I ended up chasing mic levels for 10 hours. Thank you for sharing!

Thank you man, I‘m going to start putting all of these gems to use right away!

You have no idea how much people like me, small venue/ bar performers value this type of information. Thank you 🙏🏾😌

This is excellent!

I remember vividly when i played bottom of the hill thinking during each band "man i wish every sound guy was like this". Paul is the man. I actually just wish everyone loved their job as much as him in general. The world would be a much better place

This video has some great information, thank you!

Thanks so much for sharing your experience and knowledge! I've been mixing in mostly 200-400 capacity venues for the last 5 years and checking by numerical order, but the past few months I've been considering checking vocals first for the same reasons you stated in your video, but had doubts about it because none of the more experienced engineers I look up to that I work with do it that way. Knowing that you do it that way makes me feel a lot better about trying it. Thank you!

dude, that first piece of advice is gold! I've been mixing in the tried and tested method for years and just the thought of switching it around and getting the Vox mixed right first had never occurred to me. new thought processes for the new year :D

I love this advice because everything you talked about has happened to me as an engineer. This has led to some long and struggling shows because I was taught to do the instruments first for a sound check instead of the vocals first.

Great way to go about the soundcheck. Thanks so much for very useful information. A keep it simple approach and I believe and it has been proven to me that simple is smarter. Thank you

You've got it narrowed down to a science! Very useful advice. Thanks!

Splendid advice- I will take it to heart....

This makes total sense!

You are the first engineer I see on KZfaq who pays attention to psychology and that's great. I've always had musicians first in every sense. Because when they are comfy on the stage they sound awesome. And the 'upside down' soundcheck lets you do exactly that. Especially when you start with dialing monitors first.

Whoa... this is such a good tip.. thank u so much for sharing.. especially when it comes to choice of words and affirmative conversations..

Used this very advice for my first gig last night. (& Advice from Your other vids as well) The band was so cool & treated me like an old pro. Multiple requests for contact info after the gig from movers and shakers in the local scene. Positive attitude is what did it. Thank you Man!

Can't wait for the next video!!!

Really great advice that is relevant regardless of passage of time. Thanks much!

Super helpful! Thank you!

Great ideas and concepts! Thanks very much!

This is amazing. Thanks so much!

Excellent explanations and descriptions. As a studio engineer, I have always had a great deal of respect for Live Audio Engineers. Extremely professional and artistic approach to getting it right the first time. Thank You Paul !

This is golden. Thank you sooooo much!!!

Sound psychology! Thank you!!

Thank you so much. You have taken us to a new level. I will forward your video to every musician and engineer I know.

Expertly narrated, wonderful advices; thumbs up from me for this!

Great idea to check vocals first! Not only are they requiring yhe most reinforcement, they are generally the most important! Great tip! Thank you!

This is great advice Paul. I can relate a lot of this to a summer event I worked on where we had lots of different bands, and little time to sound check

Thank you!!!! This is all so common sense and wonderfully explained. I have so far done sound checks in a bit of a chaotic way, jumping in and grabbing first what things musicians start to pick up, and then going from there fill in the gaps. This is a lot more logical and I love how it sets up communication. It's so important to me to make sure people performing know I am there to make them sound good and serve their performance. So much good here I will be stealing!

Such good stuff man. Spot on. Clear communication and building trust. 👌🏼🤙🏼

GREAT advice!!!!!!!

I've always started with vocals first & have thought I was "different". Thank you! Thank you!

Great info. Thank you Paul!!

Paul, I think this could be the most useful live sound tutorial I ever saw on YT! Looking forward for new topics with your experience! Greetings from Germany

Very intelligent theory and practice.

Very well said! True to the core

Nice words of wisdom. Concise and to the point.

Thank you, that was very helpful..I'm part of an audio team at my church and a mobile DJ.. I understand everyone hears different..all what you said was true...wow...going to watch this again..

I am doing FOH on the main stage for a three day festival this weekend - your tips on how to deal with the acts are great. More important than twisting knobs at times.

Brilliant! Great approach!

I like your voice going from left to right channel. Makes the impression of real talk. This is a real "Live sound tip" :)

Fascinating! I will definitely give this a go. Thanks for some brilliant lateral thinking!

Amazing stuff...keep it up

Great video. Thanks

Great stuff!

Great advice. I just did a "Vocals first" sound check and it made the event so much easier. Thanks!

OMG!!!!!! I cannot thank you enough for this video. I have been a touring audio tech for 20 years and I'm constantly searching for tips and tricks to keep things fresh as well as always trying and keep developing my skills as a mix engineer. After many years it's easy to become complacent at work,. I think videos like yours are important to those starting out as well as to those who have been at it for some time.. I think your tip of starting with the vocals instead of at the kick drum is possibly one of the greatest pieces of mix advice I have ever received!!!! It makes soooo much sense!!! I instantly started getting better mixes in less time thanks to you sharing this knowledge.Thank you so so so much I can't tell you how happy your video made me!! Occasionally it throws off some bands to not start with the kick, but almost every time a band member will comment on how much sense it makes to start with the focal point of the mix. Again, thank you so very much for your time and knowledge keep up the killer work!!!!!

This is great advice, everyone should follow these tips !

Great advice, thanks so much, our band has had trouble with a few shows, sound being poor for the audience and hard to hear for each other on stage. Knowing some of these tips would have helped for some of those issues.

sounds like great advice. thanks.

Wow Paul! This is gonna take my next session up a level, thanks!

This makes perfect sense, great approach!

great!!! thank you for sharing this!!

Thanks man, we're trying to do a DIY set up for our band and this really helps!

Thank you very much! I knew beforehand how to work with an individual channel in a console, but I always felt a bit lost in regards to processes when it came to soundcheck time because I simply didn't know where to start and how to structure the soundcheck. Now I feel much more competent, thanks!

"having your vision compromised by people who are grumpy and un-cooperative!" should be the official motto of small club gigging. stoked on your tips and attitude, helpful from an engineer and player perspective, thanks!

I’ve been doing this a long time and I think I may try the vocal first theory. Good stuff. Very interesting. Thanks

Loved your direction on setting the vocals first. I’m both the “sound guy” as well as the lead guitarist. 👏👏

Well done ... I learned a lot.

These are such great tips. I toured small clubs nationally for years and I've had a huge range of different sound check experiences in just that short time. The best sound checks always started with vocals first. I would get so annoyed to have to shout across the room all the time. And asking the band about vocal effects and tone is HUGE. We played some shows where the sound engineer added weird effects during the performance and it clouded everything up and make it hard to hear lyrics and cues. Another huge thing that always helps me as a guitar player at sound check is getting to check my guitar level against the drums. The drums are generally what they are in smaller rooms - I've played a lot of places where we only had to mic the kick. I've been told to turn down my amp so many times because we checked guitars first, then the drums come in and absolutely swallow my guitar whole. If you hear the guitars with the drums at sound check, often that guitar that would sound too loud might actually be just right. In my situation, I plug straight into a non-master volume amp, crank it to 10, and point it towards the wall. I get all of my dynamic range from my instrument this way and telling me to turn down kills this - I have no more overdrive or dynamic range. Two things on opposite ends of the spectrum that have always bugged me with sound engineers during performance time - 1) Don't walk up to the stage and ask me how things sound between songs. This is a performance an the performance has begun. Don't kill the vibe by making me stop or distracting me from performing to the crowd. Just give me a hand signal and I'll let you know if the mix needs to change. HUGE pet peeve. 2) Be present, don't disappear. If there's screeching feedback and you're MIA or if the singer is pointing for more vocal in their monitor, but you've stepped outside for a smoke, that's a really easy way to piss the band off mid-performance. It helps us out when we can either easily find you because you're in the same spot or if you have some identifying mark on you if you're up moving around the room.

Great advice thanks for sharing 👍most Def going to try it

Thanks for video.

This is a really dope & insightful channel. Appreciate you

Mate, after 25yrs + , in Pro Live sound, , having cut my tech and toured for many years, back in the day on a PM3K and toured Internationally with one !!, . that's some of the best advice I've ever heard that ill absolutely use and pass on to the Nu Kids!. Nice work!!!

Great advice... never thought of doing it that way....

Good tips. Lots of words. Thx

Batkid rocks! Great advice.

This is brilliant, Paul is a genius and a delight to work with

THANK GOD SOMEBODY FINALLY "GETS IT"!!!! I wanted to hug and kiss this man 30 seconds into his video. For YEARS I have been preaching this one simple but major important step in doing sound. I am posting sharing this video immediately. THANK YOU PAUL!! I only hope these young sound-punks out there will bother to listen much less try this.

Great video. I don't do a lot of FOH but I do a lot of studio work, and the bands tend to ask me to do shows for them every now and again, especially if it's me multi-track recording it, and this is all great stuff that you just don't learn right away. Thanks! Gonna do my next soundcheck backwards and see how it goes :)

thank you for being awesome

Nice, thanks, vocals first, i'm gonna try!

Great advice

Super advice!!! Subbed!

Awesome video. I'm headed out to do sound now amd plan on using your strategy. Vocals first and thumbs up are awesome tips!! Thank you.

Vocals first: what a great idea! Plus, I love your whole attitude about communicating with the band, and just generally being supportive. As you mentioned, I'm more used to the guy who couldn't possibly care less about how our show goes. I remember the first time our band was offered different mixes in our monitors, the other guys went crazy trying all these different things; it took forever. All I wanted was an even mix of the three front vocal mics, like all we ever had. Sometimes we get caught up in the gear and forget the point of the whole thing. When you see a real pro rock the house even after the power goes out, you realize that these guys who can't play the song right if they don't have just the right effects in the monitors are, well, less impressive!

Great info!!!

I like your approach, great video!

Thanks so much..learned a lot...

Great stuff! I haven't done live audio for years, but this would definitely have helped me.

Nice video my dude!

Really nice tips man

This is great! And speaking from the other end of the XLR, here's what we do to make your life easier... We're lucky because we have the space to do so, but we setup our rehearsal space like we play on stage. That way, our stuff is pretty much dialed in with no other monitoring than the vocals in the PA. This frees up a lot of time setting up the stage sound versus FOH. Also, it frees up a lot of bandwidth in the monitors to get good strong vocals and only very occasionally a slight reinforcement of whatever needs it. We also make it a point to seek out the sound guy as soon as we get in and ask him about the logistics of the place and his workflow. By then, the sound check usually ends up being a couple of taps on the drums, a few riffs, some banter and half a song and it's in the can! ...and souds great too!!

Great video, feel like I learned a lot

Its really helpful. To ask the vovals what they want fx monitor etc and talk to the whole band

Exceptional advice on engineer - talent psychology. Well done mate.

Really useful. Thanks mate. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m new to this and definitely needed the tips

I very much value your video's. Great advice :)

Completely agree! Been mixing professionally for 21 years. I always start with vocals first, for the reasons stated here. I also choose to communicate well with the performers, and create a dialogue. Excellent video!

good job keep preaching bro

*stands and applauds* thank you, thank you, thank you! I've been doing sound for a long time..thought I was the only one that did vocals first. I always approach the band and reassure them..I'm here for you..help me so I can help you.