Engineer's Perspective: Mandolin Madness 2/19/2008

Last week I had the pleasure and privilege to mix for John McGann's Mandolin Madness.  And all I can say was it was a perfect evening. I am so happy that this was the first concert that I mixed on the new speakers.  I couldn't have asked for a better one. It was a concert of small acoustic ensembles, no pick-ups, no amps; I could really take my time and listen to the system.  In general acoustic music is easier to mix because the musicians balance themselves, all I have to do is make them louder. Granted it can be a little more involved depending on the musicians.  Before mandolin madness there was another small acoustic show in the BPC that should have been easy but was mixed so loudly, it kept running into trouble.  With that in mind my objective for that evening (aside from getting accustomed to the speakers) was to make the reinforcement transparent.  I wanted it to sound like everything was coming from the stage, not from the speakers. Have nothing so loud that it might feedback, just loud enough to hear everything clearly. I decided to use all small condenser mics for the string instruments, figuring they would complement all the different instruments we had. Because all of the groups were small I had time to really listen during sound check, change and adjust mics when I needed.  But really all the fuss about the sound was for my benefit alone. A lot of times when there's not much for the engineer to do, he'll justify his presence by appearing as busy and important as possible.   I'm sure they would have been content to all play around one mic; they were just concerned with making good music.  Which was fine by me 'cause the better the music is, the more I enjoy my job.

             The concert, which was a joy to listen to, was a journey through many styles and shapes of music with the mandolin as the common theme. Throughout the night the music was varied, lively, and fun. They opened with a vivacious duet of mandolin and frame drum. The piece was a fusion jig weaving seamlessly through odd meters and intricate rhythms.   I sat back and listened as we went from the Mediterranean to Ireland and finished stateside with jazz and bluegrass.  Every ensemble while small in size, inspired movement and dancing, shouts of praise and encouragement, no one was left unmoved by the good vibes coming off the stage.  It was how a concert at a music school should be.  I'm often disheartened by the lack of enthusiasm in Berklee audiences and subsequently in the performances.  It always feels as though everyone is listening critically and not enjoying. Such was not the case here, every one involved audience and performer was there to first have fun and secondly celebrate the talent on stage. Like I said I couldn't have asked for a better concert to mix