Sound issues

[kalifire]

The volume was fine, but the mix for Janelle Monae, at least in the pit, was awful. Way too bass heavy which drowned out nearly everything but her voice. 

[Pipine]

12 hours ago, HotChipWillBreakYourLegs said:

For Romy too it was too bass heavy for pretty much her whole set.  Which was a shame because her performance in Camden Roundhouse earlier this year was incredible.

I thought the sound was great at Romy, maybe it’s all down to positioning, i was on the left hand side, midway back.   
 

After reading some comments about sound engineering post the Madonna Celebration tour it sounds very complicated to get an even balance everywhere in the venue, and where you’re stood can mean the difference between vocals being higher or lower in the mix or bass being overwhelming.  
 

The sound at Arcadia when we went was great, and we were midway back.. and the pit sound for Dua was awesome.. really bright, clear and powerful.  

[Spindles]

5 minutes ago, faymondo said:

For Justice we decided to walk around the edge until my anal ear for sound got a good speck which was bang in-between the repeaters.

 

This is my game plan with any outdoor stage, hone in on the spot where the sound is going to be right, usually centrally in the path of a repeater if I'm further back or front of house speaker banks.  Sometimes the places with the best view of the stage haven't really got the best of the sound, sometimes wind can pull the sound around and make things sound muddy out on the fringes and sometimes, just very rarely (like Pet shop boys in 22 and the cure in 19) it sounds great wherever you are.

[Jarski75]

18 hours ago, Kashkin said:

Ah, we were on the left by the Brothers bar.

We had a similar experience when we started out near Brothers but it got better as we trekked our way towards the middle a bit more.  Still wouldn't say it was that great though for their set which ruined it a little bit for me unfortunately.  That was the only issue I had with sound on any stage all weekend

[billum]

Yeah Janelle's bass was just far too loud throughout. We moved back a fair way, to a bit behind the sound mix tents, and it was a bit better so that was OK. Orbital up at The Park was far too quiet though - I wonder if that is licensing issues coz that stage is fairly close to residential (and it finishes much earlier on the Sunday as a result)? But that was a shame.

 

Can't agree with Suprefan that it's the PA gear's fault - the big stages are top-of-the-range Martin Audio line arrays, pretty much the best you can get anywhere, and I find Pyramid & West Holts are generally some of the best live sound I've ever heard, so any poor sound is due to the specific mix of the band at the time

[Spindles]

8 minutes ago, billum said:

Can't agree with Suprefan that it's the PA gear's fault - the big stages are top-of-the-range Martin Audio line arrays, pretty much the best you can get anywhere, and I find Pyramid & West Holts are generally some of the best live sound I've ever heard, so any poor sound is due to the specific mix of the band at the time

 

Everything is better in the states, even how sound travels from top end audio setups managed by teams with decades of experience in the field.

[Olshansky]

it seemed to me that Cyndi couldn't hear herself for the first few songs.  Maybe her in - ears weren't working properly.  And then I think it shook her confidence.  She was in great shape by the end of the set, but definitely wobbled for the first half.  

[dulcificum]

On 7/1/2024 at 4:29 PM, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

The sound beyond the speakers at Arcadia was poor. 

a) that's the point

b) that's how physics works

[Cooter]

On 7/2/2024 at 9:31 AM, Ricci's Special Kebabs said:

Sound definitely quieter in general, you could hear yourself talk at the Greenpeace space

I tend to agree..

 

the old Glade area this year seemed quite low compared with its eyeball shaking levels of the recent past.

[dulcificum]

Sound levels have been an issue at Park, West Holts, Arcadia and Silver Hayes for a while.

 

Silver Hayes and Arcadia much improved last two years. Park and West Holts still suffer from talkers.

 

IICON was amazing the first year but has got much worse every year since.

[danbailey80]

Cyndi sound was awful where we were. Everyone around me completely baffled. Vox too low in mix but it wasn’t just that. Just not a good live act I’m afraid. No way of pretending otherwise. 

[Tiesto13]

Sound was generally great for most of the acts that I saw. Best was probably for the National on Sunday, sounded absolutely massive. 

[Johnnyseven]

19 minutes ago, Cooter said:

I tend to agree..

 

the old Glade area this year seemed quite low compared with its eyeball shaking levels of the recent past.

 

If you're talking about Glade Dome there was massive sound bleed from there to the Glade stage, was too loud already so no more volume please.

[Watergirl]

Friend of mine was at the Acoustic for Dervish and the Gypsy Kings, both of whom had sound problems that continued for most of their sets, with constant gesturing towards the sound desk.

 

When Arooj Aftab was playing on The Park stage, loud music suddenly started coming out of one of the nearby tents, causing her to ask "What the f**k is that?!" Thankfully that did stop after some time.

[Ayrshire Chris]

Our sound issue was folk around us not bothering to listen to the artist but talk loudly to each other about everything from what car they have to their mortgage rates. Plonkers

[4AssedMonkey]

23 hours ago, Olshansky said:

it seemed to me that Cyndi couldn't hear herself for the first few songs.  Maybe her in - ears weren't working properly.  And then I think it shook her confidence.  She was in great shape by the end of the set, but definitely wobbled for the first half.  

Broadly agree, but the vocals (even though out of time AND tune) at the start were way too low in the mix.  And we were close to front/left.

 

There were a few others where the mix wasn’t right. Baby Queen to start with was just drums and bass. Could barely hear anything else, but did improve later on.

Squeeze, Keane, Porn Crumpets, Black Pumas and Skindred however all sounded bang on from the get go.

[SighMo]

On 7/2/2024 at 12:39 PM, Jarski75 said:

We had a similar experience when we started out near Brothers but it got better as we trekked our way towards the middle a bit more.  Still wouldn't say it was that great though for their set which ruined it a little bit for me unfortunately.  That was the only issue I had with sound on any stage all weekend

We did exactly the same; still all agreed after, although a great set it could have been louder.

[Spindles]

Watching the James set back on iplayer it's clear that the violin wasn't making it into the mix for a lot of the set.  The new song, which was slower and quieter, would probably have gone down better had we been able to hear the lead instrument.

[gazzared]

On 7/1/2024 at 7:55 AM, crumbler said:

What was going on this year? Shania and Cyndi Lauper seemed to have the same in-ear problems and SZA's voice was barely audible on the broadcast and LCD sounded like mush. Bad luck or just technical ineptitude? Did anyone else have issues?

LCD sound was unbelievable... Probably the loudest pumping bone crushing sound of the festival.... Was stood in-between the 2 sound stages 

[gazzared]

On 7/3/2024 at 6:17 PM, danbailey80 said:

Cyndi sound was awful where we were. Everyone around me completely baffled. Vox too low in mix but it wasn’t just that. Just not a good live act I’m afraid. No way of pretending otherwise. 

I was in the middle but my friends we're on the left and they said no sound was coming from the repeaters 

Edited July 7 by gazzared

[Madyaker]

On 7/3/2024 at 7:00 PM, Watergirl said:

Friend of mine was at the Acoustic for Dervish and the Gypsy Kings, both of whom had sound problems that continued for most of their sets, with constant gesturing towards the sound desk.

 

When Arooj Aftab was playing on The Park stage, loud music suddenly started coming out of one of the nearby tents, causing her to ask "What the f**k is that?!" Thankfully that did stop after some time.

 

Stonebridge is too loud imo. It's clearly audible if you're watching something on The Park

 

There is sound bleed in Silver Hayes as well, if you're at levels you can hear music from another stage during quiet parts of a set.

Edited July 7 by Madyaker

[giantkatestacks]

On 7/2/2024 at 9:02 AM, Thunderstruck said:

Heilung we had to leave because the sound was a disaster. For the first few minutes no vocals and ear bleeding bass.

 

They improved the vocals but then still left ridiculously overloaded bass for people to deal with.

 

My parents said they were amazing on TV which is a shame haha

Heilung really good by the sound desk. West holts Far too much bass up front in general.  Balming tigers almost broke me.

[giantkatestacks]

Black Pumas actually did a bit of a Prince type soundcheck in their set which might explain why theirs was better.

[Mark H]

On 7/2/2024 at 5:01 AM, Suprefan said:

I mean they dont have good sound crews or a good pa system anyway. If they would actually rent quality equipment you wouldnt had as many issues. The spread of towers at pyramid isnt aligned ideally for the best sound experience and if youre in the back its just gonna be quiet. And overall the volume isnt turned up anywhere. I rememver at wet leg in 22 and was at the barrier right by the pa stack and the crowd was singing louder than the music coming out of the speakers. Thats an issue. 

This has to be a troll post. The system and engineers are top notch. Better than anything I have heard around the world. 
 

The discrepancy between the good and the bad on the same stage using the same system implies that it’s the acts touring crews that aren’t getting it right rather than the kit Glastonbury has provided.

[Wooderson]

Sound for Dua one of the best I've ever heard the Pyramid. Genuinely spectacular.