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Mixing Gary Allan:
From Clubs to Stadiums
By Brian Belcher
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Recently, I took on the responsibility of production managing and
mixing FOH for Gary
Allan. Trying to preserve the traditional country sound of Gary
and his band was the first and foremost issue that was addressed
when I took the job.
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Brian Belcher and Gary Allan
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With this in mind , I started by learning the personalities
in the band, and working on earning the respect of the players,
knowing that the successful completion of these two items
could make my job easier. After a couple of shows I started
to see the pattern of the band
and was on a path.
The first item that stuck out in my mind was the fact that
Gary was using only one IEM (right ear) and then a pair of
wedges (left side) to make his monitor mix. I wondered how
the clarity of what was going on in his head could be improved,
without the sacrifice of his "comfort zone".
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After much listening and time, I finally figured out that the sound
delivered by the IEM was incredibly harsh, and was arriving earlier
than the signal that arrived on the left side with the wedges. This
was a major problem, since it can cause confusion, and lead to volume
battles between the wedges and the IEM. Not to mention that it causes
hearing fatigue very quickly, because you are trying to make that
earpiece keep up with the "physical" volume of the wedges.
I felt like there was a comfort zone there for Gary, since he could
step away from the mic, or could remove the earpiece. I would have
to try to keep "the zone" intact.
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Customized RF gear case
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Since the rest of the band was on wedges, it just raised
the bar one more level. Given the task at hand, opening act
status for large multi-bill shows, I had to figure out a way
to allow for flexibility, and still get us on and off the
stage in the allotted 10-15 minute changeover time. After
talking with Gary and Jake
(the bandleader) both seemed to be against switching to IEM's.
It seems as though they had a bad experience previously, and
Gary had felt too isolated to continue. Gary made it clear
to me that his contact with the crowd was very important to
him.
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Gary started in the clubs at age 13, and has progressed to arenas
and stadiums. At any given point we could be playing a 700-person
club or a 50,000-person event. I found out that the incredible volume
needed from Gary's wedges
and guitar amp was causing major problems on stage, in terms of
stage volume. With this in mind, I finally got Gary and the band
to agree to do an A/B comparison of wedges and IEM's.
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