Conference napalm::guitar

    I used to do sound stuff long enuff to know:
    
    Sound men NEVER get (I should say, accept) a cut like the band makes...
    it's not enuff money.
    
    If each member get $10., the sound guy gets $30., if the band makes
    $100., the sound guy gets $175...get the drift?  Why?  The sound guy
    makes or breaks the band, AND, is usually stuck with loading &
    unloading a majority of the equipment.  Of course, if you're playing
    clubs with in house sound systems, it makes life easier.
    
    B.

Wow.

Whoa.

We've been giving our guy less than the cut we take, we just want to make sure
he's getting close to a fair shake.  I think he does it mostly for fun (as 
opposed to "for the money"), but speaking for myself, I want him to be treated 
fairly...

jc

    Less cut?  And he STILL works for you?  You're LUCKY!
    
    We pay our sound man $50. - $75. a NIGHT, depending on the
    size/length/importance of the gig.  Usually, we get NOTHING
    for these gigs...on the paying gigs, we get like 20-30. each
    and the sound dude gets $100.
    
    A fact of life, the sound men make more than the musicians!!

    
      Chemistry's $ breakdown : musicians (4) - 50 to 100/night
    				sound/lights  - 50 flat (rarely more)
    
      				  in small clubs we run sound from the
    				stage and the light man lets us know
    				if something is out of adj.
    				  usually our sound is set it and forget
    				it after the sound check.
    
    						-BooM-
    			

    
    My cousin's band used to hire a pro sound service. They provided all
    equipment including a 24 track board, (2) Klipsch LaScalas, (4) Klipsch
    stage monitors, 3 Crown CS800 amps, 4 SM57 mics, snake, efx, (2) light
    trees with (4) par 64 lamps each, and tons of other accessories. They
    charged $100 to $200/night depending on the distance they had to
    travel, and the hours.
    
    If your sound person is not providing any of the gear, just their time,
    and sweat, they are entitled to an equal cut (at best,since they do not
    have the investment in equipment that the rest of you have). You should 
    also take into consideration if he/she is providing a vehicle, and if 
    he/she shows up at rehearsals and works with the band off-line from gigs. 
    
    A friend of mine has his wife do the bookings for his band. She
    takes all phone calls, negotiates prices and terms, and maintains their
    schedule. She get's an even cut from every gig. She does, however,
    have a personal computer, and answering machine, which she bought for 
    this sole purpose.
    
    This is not cast in stone. It may be necessary to negotiate the terms.
    Take all of the variables into account and make a conservative offer. 
    If the person is not satified with this offer, negotiate.
    
    Mark
    

>    A fact of life, the sound men make more than the musicians!!
    
    only on our level of the business! ;-)

    NOTHING will hack off a good sound man more than a "token" gift at the
    end of the night.  Picking up his bar tab is not a good way to keep
    him, trust me.  All the bands I've ever been in where we had a full
    time sound man, paid him either a flat rate (for low paying gigs) or an
    equal cut, off the top.  A sound man can make or break the best or
    worst bands.  His time is just as valuable as yours.  Granted, he may
    not have the financial investment that the members do, but his role is
    to put the pieces together into a pretty picture - without him, even
    the best players get lost in the shuffle.  My .02 worth ... a good flat
    rate or equal cut, whichever is higher.
    
    
    				Scary
    		 (who doesn't do sound anymore ...)

    Another thought too (prompted by an earlier reply ...) could be to do a
    stage mix.  Usually, vocals shouldn't need any adjustments after sound
    check - the only volume changes would be for leads.  Build patches for
    leads and save your money - let your MIDI do the talking !	8^)
    
    Scary

    Some of you probably know that I used to do the sound with un up
    and comming band in the UK.  It was all their own PA, and the result...
     I didn't want the money coz it was a sort of hobby for me.
    ***BUT***!!!
    It is not a job I would do again. (at least not with their present
    P.A.)  If you have a good PA (size not too important) ie. one that
    definately functions... all well and good.  But I found that I was
    expected to do running repairs before every gig/ suffer some horrible
    signals from the stage (it might sound good 6 feet from the CABS
    but you try mixing it up close)/ and have a vocalist that always
    wants more monitors...and worst of all when any of the above happens...
    it is always the sound mans fault....
    
    Sound men should get as much as any member of the band at every
    profitable gig, or the lions share when you just break even.
    
    Bob (biased I might be... but mixing HM ain't easy)

    based on what info i think i have ,?we pay our sound person just
    like one of the musicians of course she  thats right she has a lot
    of time and money invested in her craft .of course there are times
    if were playing smaller places  we will use a xr600 set it forgetit
     its not like the old  days 6 pack and a piece of tail
    		scotty   (look sharp b#)

    Although it may sound unusual to pay sound men more than the band,
    I think the thing you gotta remember is that you're doing it because
    you enjoy it, and he's doing it to make a few extra bucks.
    
    Unless you think that doing sound is as much fun as playing.
    
    	db

    I loved doing sound (not as much as playing) but it's a job just like
    playing, setting up - the whole deal.  
    
    Scary

Running sound... (AKA, "The man behind the curtain")
I wouldn't want to do it.. 
Our guy ("G-MAN"), clearly one of the best. nothing less than a pure miracle 
worker.

the rules:
He does his job, we do ours, end of the night, it's even-steven for
every.

One the other hand, the musicians clearly have more work cut out for them

We own everything,, (reparis, upgrades.)
We have to do the rehersing, learning, more-rehersing, hunting down the gigs.
etc.etc.etc... We're all invovled in set-up / tear down 85% of the time.

Look at the finances..

Lets say you do two nights in a club, and get 700.00 for the job.
Pay the sound man $50 for his trouble, then the musicians get about 162.00

Hardly fair in my book, but this is just an example..

Now consider this.  take the $700.00, split it five ways  (four musicians-
1 S.M.) and everyone gets $140.

In this example, don't you think 22 dollars less per player, into the sound
mans pocket is a worthy investment ?   I say, find a good one, and pay him well..

    
    	Hi all.  I've been doing sound for a friend's band for the last
    two years.  The deal is a cut of the total.  That is, for 5 musicians
    and one sound guy, we each get 1/7, cuz the leader gets an extra cut.
    That is because he owns 80% of the equipment, and usually does all the
    booking work.
    
    	My 'job' is all phases of the gig.  Loading from the practice
    place, unloading and setup at the job.  Soundcheck.  The gig.  Tear-
    down, loadup, and unload at the practice place.  I am not always
    present for every step, but what we do is cover for each other.  That
    is, I can't make loading from the practice place, so someone covers
    for me, but I cover for him or someone else next time.
    
    	I do the sound work mostly for my fun and a chance to learn about
    it, but if I were to get minimum $, I probably wouldn't do it.  Of
    course, that is also because I have been at almost every practice
    twice a week for the last two years, and haven't missed a gig yet.
    
    	I'm not too sure about the sound person making or breaking it.
    I believe that if the band isn't doing their job, NO soundperson
    can save it.  In our band, most things are equal, that is, my
    opinion counts in band decisions too.
    
    	Glenn