 |
Sponsored
by:
PSW Live Chat with Big Mick Hughes
February 17, 2004
Chris Kathman: Welcome, Mick.
Big Mick: Hi, Chris.
Chris Kathman: Can you tell us a little bit about your life pre-Metallica,
how you got interested and involved in live sound?
Big Mick: I was always interested in sound at school; this led
to hanging around with local bands. As part of an apprenticeship at British
Steel, I studied electronics for 5 years at a technical college.
Tobias: Did you learn from a teacher?
Big Mick: When it comes to sound, I was self-taught. Lots of years
messing with local bands. With my electronics knowledge I was quite useful
to them.
joel: How did you get access to gear?
Big Mick: Lots of the small bands in England owned their own small
P.A., so lots of chances to make mistakes.
Chris Kathman: Ha ha, join the club!
Grampa Lee: Where do you think today's beginners have to go to "be bad
while you learn the ropes"?
Big Mick: I think it is more difficult now to learn, but there
are colleges, which weren’t around in my day.
Donald Mackay: Do you find the touring schedule hard work, or have you
got it sussed after so many years?
Big Mick: The older I get, the harder it gets - traveling is hard
work anyway, even without the gigs.
Hugh Jorgan: Mick, what do you do between Metallica tours? Work with any
other bands?
Big Mick: I do other bands between tours: Slipknot, Steve Vai,
Def Leppard, Halford and a few others. Gotta keep busy!
Mr.Martin: First, I'd like to say that after I read about you using pink
noise to tune, and the reasons why, I totally agreed and as a result,
use pink now myself (with great results.) Thanks!
Big Mick: It just makes sense.
AlanH: What problems do you see young sound people making over and over
and why... and what would you tell them?
Big Mick: How long’s a piece of string? I think, overall, vocals
can be their biggest downfall. Unintelligibility. I like to be able to
understand what people say and sing.
Kevin Nemrava: Do you think this is due to the wrong mic, pre, EQ, or
some other aspect of the system?
Big Mick: Normally, it would be channel EQ, but sometimes it’s
down to poor system EQ, possibly over-compressed.
Grampa Lee: Maybe it's just the obsession with "BIG drums" and "BIG guitar"
sounds?
Big Mick: Not careful use of the frequencies to create the big
drum sounds, etc., to leave room for vocals.
Tank: Mick, gotta give you a thumbs up on Lars’ kick, what frequencies
do you like, and boost or cut ?
Big Mick: Kick drums are normally boosted around 50hz, cut anywhere
from 160 - 250 - moderate bandwith, shelf from 5khz, and a parametric
EQ @ around 4khz, moderate bandwith.
Tobias: I will ask Mick what his favorite soundboard is.
Big Mick: Has to be Midas XL4.
Bob Lee (QSC): Mick, do you let the sub amps clip on kicks?
Big Mick: Normally, peaking a little. :-)
gus: Do you feel the need to have all the latest and greatest toys out
there, or are you a "This works extremely well ... don't mess with success"
sort of guy?
Big Mick: Usually the old faves, but I’m always willing to play
with new stuff.
AlanH: Are there any particular pieces of gear that you feel are indispensable
to your sound (ie: certain mic(s), particular reverb unit, comp unit,
etc)?
Big Mick: My latest fave is the new kick mic from AT - the AE2500.
However, I do use this on guitars as well, as it sounds stunning. I still
like Behringer composers, M5000 reverb, and the Lake Audio I/O system.
I do love my XL4.
Kevin Nemrava: Can you please explain how you use the pink noise to tune
the system, are there some tricks you use?
Big Mick: Pink noise, being completely flat, means that there is
no variable as there is with a CD EQ; hence you can look at each band
of the P.A. frequency response, its peaks and troughs.
Kevin Nemrava: So you use an RTA to make the system perfectly flat?
Big Mick: Not quite. I look for a roll-off in the high end, starting
at about 8k, and a boost in the low end, starting about 125hz, peaking
about, 50/60, then rolling of about 30hz, dependent on subs. This gives
you a nice punchy P.A. sound without having to do much desk EQ.
theo: Do you continue to monitor system response, during performance,
with an RTA?
Big Mick: Absolutely, as when the audience comes in, the system
will change, and you spot some frequencies that you have taken out in
the day that need to be put back in, and others taken out.
Greg Cameron: On the XL4, one of my favorite features is the high & low
pass filters. Do you find uses for the low pass very often?
Big Mick: All the time, particularly the high-pass. In fact, I
have channels that I only use high-pass on, e.g. guitars. The rest of
the EQ is completely flat, one of the benefits of having the correct mic
on the guitar.
joel: How do you feel about software such as SMAART?
Big Mick: Useful, great for aligning systems.
Tom Billyard: We know you're a Nexo man, but do you have a favorite system
- are you a die-hard Alpha man, or do you like the new Geo series?
Big Mick: I tried the Geo system, when it had a few software problems,
which kind of made me go back to Alpha, but I saw the potential in it.
And now it’s fixed, I think it’s quite stunning.
Bob Lee (QSC): How did you make Metallica performing with a symphony orchestra
work, without overpowering the orchestra, a few years ago?
Big Mick: The first thing we had to do was to keep the noise of
Metallica down on stage. This involved a plexiglas screen for Lars and
total in-ears for the band. That gave me a fighting chance, and after
all, an orchestra makes a loud ambient noise. We had 96 mic's on the orchestra,
mixed in a mobile, and sent to me as stems of percussion, strings, brass,
woodwind etc. It did mean a lot of channels at FOH. A lot of fun, though.
gus: Sitting around at home ... what album do you throw on to just hang
out and listen to?
Big Mick: No particular one, anything with good production.
Mr.Martin: What are your hobbies outside of audio?
Big Mick: Motorbikes, home theatre, and all gadgets.
Chris Kathman: There are some follow-up questions on the Metallica-with-orchestra
shows.
Grampa Lee: It looked to me that the guitarists stripped down their rigs
to combo amps for the orchestra shows in Berkeley, on stage at least.
Were there amps miked offstage too?
Big Mick: Yes, always, all the guitars are in isolation chambers.
It’s a more controlled environment for the guitar sounds, keeps everything
constant, and less open mics on-stage. The combos were for sustain purposes.
FR: What mics do you put in the orchestra?
Big Mick: All sorts, from AT 4050's to PZM’s.
Robby W.: The bands you mix aren't known for low energy performances.
How do you maintain the health of your ears?
Big Mick: Don’t listen to the support acts; one beating a day is
enough. ;-)
Mr.Martin: What would you say is the biggest challenge in mixing Slipknot?
What are the percussion sample units? AT2500 on their guitar, too?
Big Mick: The AT's weren’t around when I was last out with them.
However, I have convinced their new engineer to use them. I used 4050's
instead, in isolation units. As to mixing Slipknot, you have to understand
all the parts, featuring some things and not others. The samplers are
Akai's, triggered by DM5's.
theo: How much do you try to recreate signature studio effects?
Big Mick: Always, as a lot of the effects are an integral part
of the song, and as the band would expect to hear it.
Sunil Rajan: Mick, how much influence, if any, did you have regarding
Metallica's studio work? Since, so much of their "sound" was and is defined
by YOU, live?
Big Mick: None at all really, it’s a separate thing. I mix Metallica
how I feel, and what has been formulated together over the last 20 years.
After this amount of time, it’s like a picture, not sound, and everything
has its place.
Tobias: What rig are you going to play with in Sweden?
Big Mick: JBL VerTec, 80 of ‘em, with the addition of Nexo CD18
subs. After using it in Australia, I think it will do quite well.
bull: How do you compress live?
Big Mick: It depends on what I am compressing, what dynamic range
it has. I’ll use between 4:1 and 7:1 ratio on vocals, dependent on how
much the vocalist shouts. This will also determine the amount of attack
and release. Bass guitar around 5:1, kick drum: 3:1, with not too fast
an attack, so as not to loose the leading edge of the kick, hence not
losing the concussion, but tightening up the low end. I’m not a big fan
of compressing kick drums, I prefer a more dynamic sound, with more feel,
the same reason I don’t like samples.
Kevin Nemrava: Do you use a compressor on the main mix bus? If so, what
type, and why?
Big Mick: I don’t always, it all depends on the P.A. If it is a
hi-Q system, these tend to leap out of the box at you, so I like to compress
the system a little, 2:1/3:1, not too fast an attack, a Drawmer 1960 tube
compressor. In the past, when I was forced to use (due to budget) desks
that weren’t guitar friendly, I would use the 1960 tube pre-amp to drive
the P.A., this helped with bigger guitar sounds.
Chris Kathman: We are entering the last 15 minutes of Mick's time with
us, sorry we could not get to everyone's questions, here are a few more
...
Kevin Nemrava: What do you do to get the bass and kick to be happy together?
Big Mick: With Metallica, it’s fundamentally a kick drum driven
band, so the bass guitar has to fit with the kick, not the other way around.
High-passing the bass @ 70hz keeps it away from the kick’s core low-end
frequency of 50hz. I also high-pass guitars at around 130hz, as this helps
keep the guitars away from the bass. As I said before, everything has
its place in the picture.
Tobias: You don´t use gates on the kick drums?
Big Mick: Yes I do, but not compressors.
Chris Kathman: When I announced this chat on the Live Audio Board, I asked
that all questions be polite and intelligent, but there's one in every
crowd ...
Mr.Martin: If someone were to give you a million pound sterling, would
you trim your beard off? ;-)
Big Mick: Absolutely! I would have to have it made into a wig,
though.
Chris Kathman: Good answer! On behalf of PSW, I would like to thank Mick
for sharing his time with us today, and ask him for a final closing statement
for our viewers at home ...
Big Mick: I have a good tip for all engineers (a personal crusade
really.) Why do engineers insist on starting a sound check with the
kick drum, when it makes way more sense (and this is not venue dependent,
it’s more important in clubs) to start with mics that are going to be
picking up all the ambience on stage, such as the vocal mics, overheads,
hi-hat, brass mics etc…
Big Mick (continued): What is better to do, is to start with the
vocal mic, get a good working EQ level, and leave them open. Then move
to overheads, hi-hat, then you can start with the gated inputs.
Chris Kathman: So, best wishes to everyone, this chat is now complete.
Thanks again, Mick.
Big Mick: No problem, my pleasure, all the best to everybody.
