15 Tips for a Smoother Soundcheck – from the Pros

A thorough soundcheck is the first step to achieving a high-quality live mix — as any seasoned live sound engineer will emphatically testify. After all, it’s during the soundcheck that the front of house and stage monitor systems are made to sound the way that they’re supposed to. This is especially vital for pop and rock shows, as these styles of music rely heavily on the venue’s PA system. So how do you ensure a smooth soundcheck? Sweetwater polled some live sound experts, many of them our customers, for their favorite tips. This is what they had to say.
Peter Keppler
David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Bonnie Raitt, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj
Make sure you do a thorough line check first. This should eliminate the embarrassing situation of chasing down a problem while the artist is onstage. In the particular case of drums, I always really like to get the actual drummer onstage ahead of the rest of the band to go through their kit, and I don’t ask for individual drums. I ask them to play a simple groove and get my sounds, listen for mic leakage, etc., in a real-world setting — while they’re playing. If there are specific drums or electronics I still need after that, I will ask for those individually or have them involve those pieces in the groove. Drummers like to play, not hit things one at a time, so it keeps them happier, too! Next, I get the stage monitors sorted out, whether they are wedges, in-ears, or both, before the main PA gets brought up to show-level volume. Once again, happy musicians that can hear themselves are easier to work with.
Jeff Sandstrom
Chris Tomlin, Steven Curtis Chapman, North Point Community Church
Remember that line check, soundcheck, and rehearsal are three different processes. Line check happens before the band is in the room. Soundcheck is for us to get things right in the band’s ear/wedge mix and to start shaping tonality. Rehearsal is the band’s chance to take over the reins and run through the set. Clarifying the difference will make each step more successful.
Steve Wilson
The Kentucky Headhunters
Plenty of coffee. I see different racks and stacks every show. I’ll play the same 10 songs every day. Each one has a specific frequency emphasis that I’ll use for EQ purposes. This really helps keep the PA consistent, so the show files are meaningful. I use a logical “as you see it” fader layout. This makes everything more intuitive for me.
Brad Divens
Enrique Iglesias, Kanye West, Mötley Crüe, Bob Seger, OneRepublic, Linkin Park
The first thing I do after tuning the PA is go up onstage and make sure every microphone is in the correct position. This will assure me that everything is where it is supposed to be. If at all possible, keep the band off the stage until everything is ready to go. This will definitely make soundcheck go much smoother and the artist much happier!
Rick Naqvi
PreSonus Electronics
Tell your musicians soundcheck starts 30 minutes before it actually starts. Then they will all be there on time, and you actually *might* get a soundcheck.
Scott Cameron
Greta Van Fleet, Jason Bonham, The Black Angels, Taking Back Sunday
I always check the vocal mics first. It helps establish communication and really helps speed things up onstage.
Brian Pomp
Macklemore, Macy Gray, Avenged Sevenfold
Shock collars. Pain is a good motivator [laughs]. It’s really up to the bandleader to keep it running smoothly. Getting musicians to do anything collectively is like herding cats and really can only be done when the click track starts.
Shawn Dealey
Counting Crows, Production Manager/FOH Audio at The Clyde Theatre
Take the time to double-check your work onstage before you go out to the console. Double-check your patch and mic placement to make sure you have everything in the right place (or where you want it to be). Then speak with your crew or band and give them a quick rundown of what is about to happen. If you are on tour, I would hope that you have a system down with everyone you work with on a regular basis. If you’re working with a band for the first time, just give them a quick rundown of how you would like things to progress, starting with drums, bass, etc. Let them know to be ready and waiting for their turn to line check their instruments. Taking a few minutes to go over this will save you from a frustrating, possibly painfully slow, process.
Russ Long
Amy Grant, Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael McDonald
Communication is the key. Someone (usually the monitor engineer or musical director) needs to take charge and make sure everyone is focused on checking the sound (thus the name soundcheck), not jamming.
Kent Morris
Peavey, First Baptist Church Atlanta
Don’t be afraid to step in and be the peacemaker onstage. Become the diplomat for the band.
Doug Gould
WorshipMD.com
Always do a line check first. Have a routine. Repeat the routine as many times as necessary for every member of the band to know how the routine works. Do mains first; monitors last if using wedges. Use a talkback mic to speak to musicians. If something fails, take a quick minute to make sure there is nothing on your side that is causing the problem, for instance, channels not bused or muted, fader or trim all the way down, phantom power for mic or active DI not turned on, etc. Then ask the musician if his guitar amp/pedals are on/plugged in.
Eddie Mapp
Paramore, Stone Temple Pilots, Papa Roach, Evanescence
Good communication.
Josh Fisher
Jesus Culture
Soundcheck can be very inspiring. I like checking more than the show in most cases. It can also be extremely frustrating. It’s really in the hands of the monitor engineer. I recently said I trust my monitor engineer with my life. They have so much responsibility. They need to be able to make sure everything is working, then be able to take control of everyone onstage and get them focused on the task at hand. Not to mention be able to fix everything that goes wrong, know how to change guitar strings and drumheads, and supply everyone with their favorite brand of water — on top of understanding the sound spectrum and making 10 people happy who know nothing about the sound spectrum. It helps if the monitor engineer knows each person’s mix preferences and knows how to improve each individual mix without the person having to ask, without them noticing, and without distracting them. I personally don’t like my mix to be changed unless I ask for it. And my monitor engineer knows that as well.
In order to have a smoother soundcheck, it helps not to jam on your instrument at all. Soundcheck is a time to work on getting good tone, and it’s hard to do that if the bass player is practicing his slides up and down the neck over and over. Another tip is that the monitor engineer be constantly communicating what they are doing in the talkback. For example, saying in the talkback, “kick up for drums, kick up for bass, kick down for keys, kick up for guitar, kick down for vocals” while making those changes. That helps everyone onstage to be on the same page. They can also control the amount of distraction and bring order and focus, which leads to smoother, quicker, less frustrating soundchecks. What if you don’t have a monitor engineer and use Avioms? I’ll get into that in my book entitled One Thousand Things You Need to Understand Before You Walk Onstage.
Jeff Barnett
Director of House of Worship Sales at Sweetwater, FOH Engineer
First, get line check out of the way. Soundcheck shouldn’t start until we’re sure everything is plugged in and working. Second, most digital mixers come with EQ and compression presets for every conceivable input source. While these presets probably aren’t exactly what you need, they can provide a great starting point and save you a lot of time dialing things in during soundcheck. If a preset can get you 75% of the way to the sound that you’re after with one button press, use it!
Lynn Fuston
Sweetwater Manager of Written Content, Twila Paris, Pine Hills City Church
One of the key things to having a smoother soundcheck and show is making sure you know all the band members by name. If I’m working with a new group or musician, I go onstage and introduce myself. I’ll write down names on a cheat sheet if it’s a large group. Having a personal connection and letting the band know you’re on their side goes a long way in establishing trust. I try to let the band know that I’m not just the tech guy, but we’re all on the same team.

Hopefully, you learned a few things that will help your next gig run smoothly. If you have any questions about live sound or achieving a great live mix, give your Sweetwater Sales Engineer a call at (800) 222-4700.
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