Chris Kusek brings us his installment of “Experts Listening:”
Recently I had the joy of seeing one of my favorite musical groups – Ingrid Michaelson and her band – live at the Park West. The Park West is very much a preferred venue of mine to hear music in an intimate setting. I had seen them here before, and as I had the first time, I positioned myself in the front row pushed against the front face of the stage.

Onstage with the Band
Do you ever find yourself interested in the behind-the-scenes technical aspects of live performance? I certainly do. At this concert, my sister caught me trying to read the label on the side of a loudspeaker during one song… busted.

The first time I chose this listening position, I found it to have an unexpected benefit. Because the stage is only about 36” off of the main audience area, I was able to hear a very pleasing balance between the unamplified stage sound and the sound from the loudspeakers. In contrast, had I sat further from the stage, the unamplified sound directly from the musicians’ instruments would have been less audible.

My seat allowed the benefit of being able to evaluate and enjoy the mix that was being created for the rest of the audience while being able to appreciate the monitor engineer’s mix. Perhaps the most exciting benefit of grabbing this spot was that I could hear the naked instruments themselves more than the house mix, creating an even more intimate environment in an already intimate venue.

It was as though I were listening to the concert onstage with the band.

This sort of listening allows a deeper understanding of what musicians are doing on stage. I already appreciated the intricacies of this particular band’s playing, but the ways the members communicated and played off each other became all the more evident in listening to the same sources they did. For example, in the live mix, the bass guitar was equalized, compressed, and mixed to a point where it provided low-end support to the rest of the music, as is common. On stage, however, the bass guitar’s amplifier was one of the louder sounds. In being forced to listen to the bass guitarist’s lines for a change, I realized how much he used his actions, his notes’ sustain or lack thereof, and his volume to guide the rest of the band members. Additionally, I was able to appreciate his writing, as his bass parts intricately weaved through the guitar and keyboard parts while at the same time keeping the spotlight focused on the lead singer.

The Modern Mix
While listening to the bass guitar, I realized that due to the frequency of loud, amplified shows in this venue and elsewhere, today’s mixing techniques have made it increasingly rare to hear a more acoustic, nuanced group in a realistic way. In addition to the bass’s dynamic playing, I loved hearing the rattle of the snares under the snare drum and the naked slap of the kick drum head – things that would have been completely lost had I been listening further back in the venue. The use of reverb, equalization, and other processing that make modern mixes sound “buttoned up” when used well, or overproduced and fake when used too liberally, often detract from the natural beauty of the sounds created onstage. Sure, the raw kick sound wouldn’t be considered beautiful from a modern mixing standpoint, but it gives me more of a connection with the artists than a polished kick drum sound pounding through a venue’s subwoofers.

(Please note that Ms. Michaelson, her band, her tech crew, and the technical staff at the Park West are all brilliant at what they do, and their performances have been among my favorites. My comments are not intended as criticisms of the band but rather as comments on modern approaches to live sound.)

While many venues won’t allow you to get as close to the stage as I did, some offer stage-side balconies that allow patrons to hear bands sans front-of-house system. Give these listening areas a try and let us know what revelations you have enjoying your favorite artist from a new angle.