Soundcheck etiquette and how to make the engineer your friend

The sound engineer decides how your band sounds to everyone in the room, and you get about 30 minutes to earn their goodwill. Bands that play well but soundcheck badly get a competent mix; bands that soundcheck well get an engineer who fights for them all night.

What a soundcheck is for

A soundcheck is not a rehearsal, a warm-up or a jam. Its purpose, in order:

1. Confirm every input works and is on the right channel.
2. Set gain and a basic front-of-house balance.
3. Set monitor mixes so each player hears what they need.
4. Play enough of two songs to check the balance under real dynamics.

Anything else is a bonus. If you have 20 minutes, only the first three happen. Knowing this stops the bass player from asking to run the new ballad.

The order that works

Most engineers run line checks in the same sequence, and you can help by being ready for it:

1. Drums, one drum at a time: kick, snare, hi-hat, toms, overheads. The drummer plays single hits, at gig volume, when asked, and stops when told. A drummer who keeps playing between requests costs the whole band 5 minutes.
2. Bass, then guitars, then keys, each playing something steady at gig volume, not a solo.
3. Vocals, one at a time, speaking and then singing at full voice. Do not sing quietly to be polite; the engineer needs the loudest you will be.
4. Everything together, one verse and one chorus of a mid-tempo song.
5. Monitor adjustments, one at a time.
6. A loud song and a quiet song, 30 to 60 seconds each.

Nobody plays unless their input is being checked. Nobody tunes through the PA. Nobody noodles.

How to ask for monitors

The most useful skill on stage is describing what you need in words the engineer can act on. The formula is: who, what, direction, how much.

• "Can I have a little more kick in my wedge?"
• "Keys are too loud in mine, bring them down a bit."
• "I need my own vocal a lot more, I can barely hear myself."
• "Could I get some hi-hat in the side fill?"

Avoid these:

• "Can I have more?" More of what?
• "It sounds weird." Weird how? Boomy, harsh, muddy, thin: pick a word.
• "Just make it like last time." The engineer was not there last time.
• Pointing at your ear and shrugging while the engineer is 25 metres away.

Ask for what you need to play well, not for a perfect mix. A drummer needs kick, snare, bass and a vocal. A singer needs their own voice, the chord instrument and a bit of kick. Most players can do with three or four things in the wedge; asking for everything makes every mix worse and takes ten minutes per person.

If you use in-ears with your own mixer, say so in the advance email and bring your own split. The engineer's job then shrinks to giving you a stereo or a few stems, and that is a favour they will remember.

Timing rules

• Arrive at the load-in time, not the soundcheck time. If load-in is 16:00 and soundcheck 17:00, the band with gear on stage and lines run by 16:45 gets a real soundcheck. The band that walks in at 17:05 gets a line check.
• Set up in the order the engineer needs: drums first, then the players who need the most inputs.
• Know your input count. "We are 14 channels, list attached" beats "some mics, whatever you have".
• Keep the soundcheck to the agreed time. If you were given 30 minutes, finish in 30. If you want longer, ask before, not during.
• Do not leave the stage until the engineer says you are done. A second line check because the guitarist wandered off is the fastest way to lose goodwill.

The full run of the day, from arrival to load-out, is in the day-of-show checklist.

What not to do

• Do not touch the desk, the amps the venue owns, or the monitor controls without asking.
• Do not test the PA with your own tracks through an aux cable unless invited.
• Do not bring a second engineer who "just wants to help" without arranging it.
• Do not complain about the monitors to the audience during the show. Signal the engineer, or live with it.
• Do not change your volume after the soundcheck. The guitarist who turns up 3 dB between soundcheck and the first song has undone 20 minutes of work.
• Do not leave the drummer alone on stage playing full kit for 15 minutes while everyone else drinks. It is the surest way to get a bad monitor mix and a tired engineer.

Making the engineer your friend

None of this is charm; it is being easy to work with.

• Send the rider and stage plot a week before. One page each, current line-up, real input list. See writing a tech rider and stage plot.
• Introduce yourself with your name and your role ("I'm Anna, I sing and I'm the one who talks to you"). One contact person per band.
• Label your cables and DI boxes. An engineer who can see "keys L" and "keys R" on the DI does not have to trace anything.
• Bring spares of what breaks: cables, batteries, a DI box. Asking the venue for a spare XLR is fine once.
• Say thank you at the end, by name, and mean it. If they did a good job, say so to the venue manager. Engineers hear the complaints; they rarely hear the praise.
• Tip or buy a drink where that is the custom. Ask a local band if you are not sure.

One more: if the sound was good, tell the engineer what was good. "The vocals were clear all night" is information they can use with the next band.

Do this today

1. Write your input list and stage plot on one page and put the file where every member can find it.
2. Agree on one spokesperson for soundchecks. Everyone else asks for monitors through that person or with the who-what-direction-how-much formula.
3. Set a band rule: nobody plays on stage unless the engineer has asked for that instrument.
4. Add "arrive at load-in, not at soundcheck" to your gig confirmation template.

Where expert.band helps

Put the input list and the load-in and soundcheck times in the gig description, so whoever is advancing the show is working from the same facts as the band. The printed gig sheet carries the times, the address, the line-up and the setlist on one page, which is the document the engineer wants to see at 16:00, and the packing checklist makes sure the spare cables and DI boxes actually leave the house.