Sound Checks at a Live Rap Performance

Video Transcript

PETTIDEE: What's up? This is Pettidee with Soldier Sound Records on behalf of Expert Village, and today we're going to give you tips on live performance. Now, I want to talk about the importance of sound check. Sound check is pretty much self-explanatory; you're checking your sound before the show, but there are rules to securing yourself a good sound check. Most people don't utilize or know what sound check is really for, but to check the levels and make sure everything is up and running, to make sure that there are no cords, no broken cords or glitches, the levels of your microphone, what goes, what's going good and what's not going good, and what you need to fix before the show. If all possible, get your own mic; get your own cordless mic because you're going to different places. I've been to places where it was a multi-million dollar facility and they didn't have a corded mic and then you'll have trouble there or you'll have--you'll go somewhere that does have a corded mic, but somebody else is using it. There's six other people using that same mic, so when you do the sound check and they do a level on that mic, guess what? When it's time you perform that level is not going to be the same because they changed the level of that mic for six different people which made the sound check irrelevant. So, make sure that you get your own mic; if all possible, invest in yourself to get your own mic. Now, if you can't get your own mic, see that you can get a corded mic or make sure that they put your microphone aside that has those levels. And also, if you have a soundman, get to know that soundman, get to know that person, and let them know those levels and give them your signals. I mean, when the crowd is going and the concert is going, you don't want to stop the show and say, "Hey, turn my mic up! The monitors are not going,!" and this and another, and it makes you look unprofessional but you give--make sure that you let that soundman know your signals. You know, if I'm on the mic and my mic is not loud enough, my signal that the mic is not loud enough, I'll take my mic and put up in the air and I'll swing it, and that lets the soundman know to turn my mic up. If I stand over the monitor and I'm rapping and I'm pointing at the monitor, that means to turn my monitors up. If I stand on the edge of the stage and point at the house, that means turn the house up or I'll give a signal that says, "Pump it up, pump it up, pump it up," and the audience still feels like I'm rapping, but I'm actually telling the soundman to pump it up, and those are important when you're doing a sound check. So, make sure that you get a good quality sound check here.

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