Beating stage fright

Many of us will have experienced stage fright at some point. 

But what is it, why does it exist and how do you beat it? 

Whether you're stepping out on stage for the first or the hundredth time, the dreaded stage fright can get its icy fingers into you and turn you into a nervous, gibbering wreck. Sometimes it won't affect your performance - other than making you feel panicky and miserable - but other times it can cause you to completely dry up. 

Stage fright is basically the "fight or flight" response which is hard wired into your nervous system. If you've ever spilled a very large angry man's beer or your car has hurtled towards a cliff edge you will have experienced it. 

When you experience the fight or flight response, your body is pumped full of adrenalin and your blood is redirected from your extremities to your muscles. Your breathing gets deeper and your heart rate increases to pump energy rich blood around your body. This was a useful physiological reaction when our ancestors were being chased by sabre tooth tigers, but it is utterly counterproductive when you are trying to sing, play an instrument or remember some lines - because it also makes your throat dry up, makes you shake and can give you mental block and tunnel vision. You are physiologically primed for an energy burst to save your skin, but just like a rabbit in the headlights, it can actually make you freeze.

In the long term this reaction causes stress. Stress can damage your immune system and leave you open to infection. 

Obviously a small amount of adrenalin before a performance is a good thing and can make you feel excited and can help focus you, but having a huge adrenalin dump designed to save you from certain death, is a bit of an overreaction when all you are doing is trying to entertain people. 

Very interesting, but how do you beat stage fright? 

1. KNOW YOUR MATERIAL. 

If you're playing a new song or it's one of your first gigs, take some extra time to rehearse. Record the songs on your phone and listen to them several times. Write notes on the structure. Learn it so much that you are utterly bored of it. Make sure it is an old friend that you know intimately because as soon as there is a room full of eyes and ears focusing on you, things change. Perhaps you've had a drink, you'll have stage smoke and flashing lights in your face, you'll be fighting technical problems like not being able to hear yourself and all you can see is a sea of faces looking at you. Suddenly it doesn't feel like the rehearsal room anymore and if you aren't able to play the song absolutely in autopilot, you will probably get thrown off course and start the adrenalin pumping. 

The SAS don't start jumping through windows and throwing stun grenades at terrorists without having done hundreds of hours practicing the same thing over and over again in a realistic "killing house". When they do the real thing and there are bullets whizzing past their heads, they have done it so many times before that it's almost ordinary. So that said…

2. PREPARE FOR BATTLE. 

As melodramatic as it seems, a gig can be a battle against all the things the possible things that can go wrong. You need to be switched on to give your best performance. 

Backstage at most gigs there will be band members doing rituals to bring them up to their most resourceful state. Friends and family will be sent away twenty minutes before stage time and band members will be doing yoga, vocal warm ups, shadow boxing (what I do), playing Tetris or getting into a band huddle. 

Everyone has their own idiosyncratic ritual to get themselves in the zone. That's why backstage is usually always so off limits. It would be such a disappointment walking in on your favourite ice cool star is prancing around singing camp show tunes or looking in the mirror reassuring himself he's awesome. 

Whatever ritual you come up with to get yourself relaxed and pumped, you should end up being able to walk on to any stage with a spring in your step and no thoughts of panic. 

One excellent trick is hypnotic anchoring. Whenever I'm feeling pumped or have just played a great gig, I will press the tips of my thumb and index finger together. Over time an association is built up and if I need to be switched on instantly I will press my thumb and finger together and some of that switched-on feeling will come back. Many tv presenters, politicians, athletes, actors and comedians use the same method before stepping out onto the stage.

3. HAVE BACK UP. 

There will always be a moment of potential panic at a gig: Your amp has stopped working and you need to borrow another. You can't hear the monitors properly. Someone's thrown up. Someone's caught fire… This is all normal. Luckily you now know your material like a scholar and you're as in the zone as a buddhist monk, so not being able to hear the bass isn't the end of the world any more. Just as boxers have corner men telling them to relax and breath, having friend nearby with spare strings and some gaffa tape is equally as comforting.

If you don't have your own crew holding your hand, there will be people working at the stage anyway, so take the time to say hello and be friendly. If you can play the gig knowing that these people are on your side and are likely to jump to your aid should technical disasters happen, you are onto a winner. 

Here's a little tip - being nervous or shy can actually make you appear aloof and arrogant to those who don't know you. So try to look as friendly and approachable as possible, because nobody is ever impressed by arrogance.

4. BE COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR SURROUNDINGS. 

If you are an old hand at playing gigs, the stage is as comfortable as a couch. However, if you aren't that experienced and you have the opportunity, take a some time to familiarise yourself with the stage and venue and don't be intimidated by it, it's where you belong and where you will shine. 

You are your actions. By that I mean, if you are feeling happy and then force yourself to frown, you will eventually fool your brain and actually start feeling grumpy. Give it a try now. Of course it also works the other way. If you are in unfamiliar and potentially intimidating surroundings, force a smile and act relaxed and you will actually fool yourself into actually becoming genuinely happy and relaxed. 

If you're still grumpy, give the smile method a go. After a couple of minutes you'll feel nice!

The fight or flight reaction is hard-wired into all of us vertebrates by millions of years of evolution, so even if you have done a thousand gigs, the potential for stage fright never goes away. Now that you know the four methods to keep it at bay however, you should never suffer from it again. 

Incidentally, I once played the same festival as Metallica, a famously neurotic and messed up band. They toured with their own portable multi-storey complex, complete with a rehearsal room, gym, an army of crew, a psychiatrist and their own dressing rooms. The reason for this was:

1.  to stop themselves freaking out by knowing their material
2. preparing for battle
3. having back up 
4. being comfortable with their surroundings 

Hope this helps,

Love Bobby x

The Adelines - Alleyways (Live)

Recorded in one take and filmed in two takes. Watch in HD for better sound. :)



Love Bobby x

What time do you call this?

Happy new year! Sorry I'm a month late. I've been a busy Bobby.

As a new year gift, I've done a podcast especially for you lovely, lovely people via Edit Radio. Listen, download share etc. If you like it, let me know and I'll do some more of that sort of thing. It includes some never before heard songs, some of which I penned myself. 

http://www.editradio.org
link to the file --> [edit] radio podcast 163

Anyway, yeah, I've been a little busy and haven't done a blog in a while and I apologise. I've been busy doing various things including special effects for a sci fi film starring her out of Pulp Fiction and him out of Pirates of the Carribean and him off of Game of Thrones. I'm not sure what I can say about it so I'll keep quiet. 

I also did the Resident Evil DVD launch yesterday in which I played the hero and it involved running around with a machine gun killing baddies to impress/scare jounalists. Anything for a weird life.

As well as the usual band recording that takes up most of my time, I've recently been experimenting with a bit of filming bands in the studio. The results will go up here very soon. I'm actually going to start making music videos eventually, so if you're in a band and need a video or a record made or both at the same time, hit me up! 

Love Bobby x

Recording Drums. My method.

Recording Drums

If you are recording a band and are wondering how to get a good drum sound you might want to try my method. After years of trial and error, I've settled on this as my "go to" set up - as it's a versatile way of recording drums and getting a good balance of a big overall kit sound as well as dynamic punch. 

Ideally you will have a selection of mics, but if you just have a few vocal mics to hand, then go with them. You can get a perfectly decent drum sound with just SM58s. 

You can either go for the minimal 3 mic method or the whole 11 mic deal. 

With the 11 mic version, when it comes to the mixing stage it is so versatile that you can go from big and roomy to balanced and realistic or ultra dry and up-front, just by pushing the room and kit channels up or down. 

The Drums 

Firstly, you want the drums themselves to sound good, so new heads are a must. If the drums sound good now but the heads are old, 99% of the time it will sound even better with new heads. It's worth a bit of time and effort at this point to get the drums tuned nicely and then keep checking throughout the recording. I will often get this done the day before the tracking starts so that the heads can settle a little. Additionally, If you don't have decent cymbals then borrow or hire some. On "tape", the difference between cheap cymbals and good ones is huge. 

The Drummer

You can do lots to fix a drummer's timing with editing (if you are that way inclined), but you can't fix a drummer's touch. As cymbals and other drums bleed into all of the microphones on a kit, it can be a battle to keep unwanted bleed under control. This is helped hugely by a good drummer's playing.  

If you stand in the room with the drums and there's a harsh overpowering cymbal sound, the mics will also pick up that sound. You can overcome this by getting the drummer to play the drums harder than the cymbals. Just a few days practicing before recording and really listening to the sound of the whole kit and attenuating your playing so that it sounds balanced, will be a huge step forward.  

Queens of the Stone Age went to the extreme fighting cymbal bleed when Dave Ghrol recorded the drums on Songs for the Deaf entirely without cymbals, then overdubbed them later. That way they could treat the drums with a little more compression and not worry about the cymbals overpowering the sound. 

Whether you are a beginner or advanced drummer, when in the studio, raising the hats and cymbals up and away from the close drum mics will help cut back cymbal "bleed" and enable you to get a better sound. 

Okeydokey then. Let's work our way around the kit. 

Kick Drum

If the drummer will let you, take the front skin off, place a pillow inside against the batter head and a mic facing the beater slightly off centre inside the shell. I use either a Shure Beta 91 or an AKG D12 and experiment with moving the placement until it sounds best. In some genres, the kick and the snare are the loudest thing on the record, so it's definitely worth experimenting and getting these right at this stage.

Processing: EQ out any nasty frequencies in the 400-500hz range. If you need to, add some 60hz for nice low thud and some 2-6kHz for snap. I will always gate and compress this to make it punchy. Sometimes a transient enhancer will really help a kick drum, so try one if you have that option. I use the SPL Transient Designer Plug in. 

Kit Mics

This will give a realistic stereo sound of the drum kit and will effectively mimic what the drummer hears. 

Place a mic (I use a large diaphragm condenser) approx three feet above the centre of the snare and another one to the right of the drummer's right shoulder (around chest height) also exactly three feet away from the centre of the snare. Use a tape measure or some string to make sure that they are both exactly the same distance. 

Processing:  Pan hard left and right. I will usually use the Dada Life Sausage Fattener plug in here at about 10% and leave the EQ flat.

**Using these two channels and the kick drum channel is the 3 mic method. For the 11 mic version, use this as the basis of the kit sound and then use close drum mics to pick out individual drums. **

Snare top

Place a mic (I use an SM57) one or two inches above the rim of the snare between the tom and hats and pointing at where it is hit. Again, experiment with the placement here. millimetres can make a difference. 

Processing: There will often be some boxiness on the snare top channel at around 400Hz-1kHz. This can be EQ-ed out. For some punch, I add a bump of 200Hz and to add crack, a touch of 4 - 8kHz. I will usually gate the snare and gently compress so that on the loudest hits are reduced by around 3db. I'm fond of the Waves Kramer PIE plug in for this. 

Snare bottom (optional)

I will always add a snare bottom and then choose later whether to use it or not. If I do, I use this mic for the fizz of the snare and the top for the punch. Place a mic (SM57 or small diaphragm condenser) pointing directly up to the centre of the snare at around 4 inches. 

Processing: I will gate enough to get rid of the kick drum and add a touch compression. Since this mic is below the snare on the rattle side and away from the hats, you can be more liberal with the top end EQ than the top snare mic. 

Hats (optional)

Sometimes there are plenty of hats coming through the overheads and kit mics but using a hi hat mic will allow you to get some definition. Use a condenser (if you have one) and place it so that the hats block a line of sight to the snare. Again, experiment with the placement. 

Processing: Roll out all of the bottom end EQ and most of the low mid end. Often I will cut quite a lot of 5-6kHz as it can sound rather nasty and add some 10kHz. I will sometimes pop an Antares tube plug in on the hats to smooth them out. Pan to sit in the same place as in the kit channels.

Toms

I close mic (For this I use EV468s or SM57s) the top skin around an inch up, at a 45° angle to the drum surface and 1-2" in from the drum edge. Ringing can be eliminated a little with moon gel or gaffa tape (if it's not nice sounding). 

Processing: There will almost always be a need to EQ out some mid at around 400-500kHz. I might add some 200Hz to a rack tom and some 100-200Hz to a floor. Toms will resonate when other drums are hit and the cymbals will come through this channel in an unpleasant way, so I always heavily gate toms so that they only open when the toms are hit. Much of the body of the toms will actually come through the kit mics. Lastly, I pan them so that they sit in the same place as they do on the kit channels.

Overheads

Since you have a fair amount of cymbals from the kit mics, this is to pick out the attack, sizzle and sparkle. As with the hats and kit mics, use condensers if you have them. I will place two about a foot and a half above the cymbals. Sometimes I will use two on the crashes and one additional one on the ride. The placement depends on where the drummer puts them and the aim is to pick up as much of the cymbals as possible without being too far away. 

Processing: Pan left and right by about 45 degrees. Roll off the bottom end and if you need sparkle, add some 8-20kHz.  Pan them so that they fit in the picture created by the close room mics. Sometimes you might need to pinpoint harsh frequencies around 6kHz and notch them out. 

Smash (optional)

I place a stage vocal mic (SM58) three to six feet in front of the kick drum and compress the bejesus out of it. A touch of this channel can be blended into to glue the kit together in the middle and give it some big fat hairy balls. 

Room

If you want a huge roomy sound then you can place one or two mics as far away and as wide as you like and then blend them in. (Ribbon or condenser mics are great for this but use what you've got). You are limited here by the size of your room, but there's nothing stopping you from placing these mics outside of the room and down the corridor. 

Processing: If using two, pan them hard left and right. I will use the Waves MPX tape emulation here and the Kramer PIE comp. Often I will use a gate and side chain it to the snare top so that it only opens when the snare is hit. This will give the snare a huge perceptually loud sound.

And we're done! nearly...

Before you get going balancing, it's worth checking the phase of each channel. When mixing, start by balancing the kick and snare, add in the kit mics, then the toms, then hats and cymbals and lastly experiment with the room mics. 

Sometimes the song will need a dry, close sound in which case use more of the close mics, less of the kit mics and none of the smash and room mics. Sometimes the song will require a big, bombastic roomy sound. In which case go crazy with the smash and rooms. 

Once you've recorded your music, you'll need a professional to mix and master it for you. 

Bobby x

some silly videos

Occasionally I'll mess around with videoing and editing silly things. 

beating myself up

exploding head

dioyy die

the power of chi

the power of the dark side

chopping my hand off

relationship issues

Creativity

Creativity

Sometimes, thankfully rarely,  I will record a band that will passionately want to sound like something that has come before, a carbon copy. So instead of me being the producer working with them, I will become engineer working for them. 

That's a fair situation. They are passionate and if thats what they want, then I will make it happen. But in the back of my mind, I will already know that the end product, a pastiche, won't resonate as much as exciting records by those artists that strive to create. 

I relish working with artists that come to capture a moment or a feeling or mix elements that have previously not gone together before. Most of all, to capture themselves. 

There are many modern studio tricks in which to morph and manipulate sounds and cleverly turn one thing into another, but just because you can, it shouldn't mean a young band - with its unique foibles - should make a carbon copy of a previous band. Those foibles are something to be enhanced and exaggerated rather than erased and corrected. 

Take Bob Dylan. Technically he couldn't sing. He was nasal and untrained. Perhaps with modern technology he would have been given the Xfactor treatment and been corrected and conformed. Most likely though he would have been forgotten. Instead, his individuality shone and you can still hear people doing Bob Dylan vocals. 

What Jimmy Hendrix considered mistakes at the time have just become the way you play guitar.

Individuality and originality are the elements that the a&r guy gets excited about and what the good producer latches onto and amplifies. Sometimes it is exactly what the new and unconfident artist wants to erase to conform to the zeitgeist.  

That's not to say that one shouldn't look back. Take Nirvana. They attempted to do John Lennon style songs in the style of ACDC. Whatever mistakes and individuality they had were enhanced and the result was something new. 

The Beatles would take influences from outside of their field and perform it their way. Liverpudlian rockers doing Rogers and Hammerstein, recorded with engineers and producers throwing the rule book out of the window. The result turned out so influential that literally everyone with a guitar or a mixing desk can trace a line back to what they achieved.

Whatever band takes the world by storm, there will inevitably be hundreds of unsigned bands attempting to be that band. How many times have you been to an unsigned gig and seen a brilliantly realised The Libertines or Oasis mark ii? The unsigned band playing perfectly in the style of the Hot New Band playing songs exactly in the style of the Hot New Band but wondering why they remain unloved. With their musical talent, if they just twisted a couple of elements in a new and creative direction, they could be loved.

No matter how exposing it feels, it's better and so much more exciting to record the real you (with your various influences) and then if you are to manipulate the sound in the studio, take it in a fresh new direction. It's even possible to take influences from outside of your genre or even outside of your creative medium to create a new approach. Black Sabbath were influenced just as much by horror films as other musicians. 

What is creativity then?

1. finding an absolutely new solution

2. taking an existing theme in a new direction

3, mixing elements of that have previously not been together. 

The lightbulb was created as an absolutely new solution. The plug in air freshener was a new way of delivering perfume. Combine the lightbulb and plug in air freshener and you have a way of lighting and freshening the room at the same time*.
* © Bobby Bloomfield 2012

How is one creative?

There are two modes that successful artists work in. 

1. The playful, child-like imaginative mode in which you are riffing with new ideas and in a state of flow. 

2. The grown-up, knuckle-down let's-get-this-done mode. 

In the recording studio, in film studios, in the artist's studio, one has to be able to flit from one mode to the other. Playfully think of something new or combine existing elements into something new and then knuckle down and make it happen. Back and forth. 

Nobody has put it better than John Cleese in this talk. I recommend that you have a listen.

Bobby x

the ultimate guide to soundchecking. maybe.

I may not be the number one world expert particle physics or the leading voice on crochet, but there is one thing that I am undeniably an expert on - soundchecking and linechecking. 

As a veteran of well over 500 gigs over the last twenty years and having been a sound guy soundchecking other people's bands, I can say I know definitely my onions without feeling any false bravado. 

I've gigged with some of the worlds most famous and professional bands on and watched them or their crew soundcheck. I've also seen many hundreds of small bands sabotage their own gig by not quite understanding what the sound check is for. 

I've played outdoor gigs to thousands of people and tiny little venues to 6 people. Wherever you are playing, the purpose of the soundcheck is exactly the same. 

1. For each member of the band to hear what they need to hear via the monitors on stage, ensuring that that they play well.

2. For the sound engineer(s) to set the gain, sort out any eq, dynamics, effects etc. and give you a mix that will sound great out front.

It is not time to:

1. pose or chat about the latest series of Breaking Bad.

2. practice your new flashy licks or the middle 8 of the new song.

3. check out new tones on your amp or pedals.

4. be difficult to cultivate your "cool" image.

5. impress everyone with your songs.

The last one is important, this is not the time to impress anyone, save that for the gig itself. There may be the awesome guitarist of the headline band standing at the bar watching you but don't be tempted to start showing off. If you really want to impress him, do the soundcheck like a pro. They will be much more likely to watch the actual gig then. 

I've seen bands that appear on the front of magazines soundchecking in their pyjamas and embarrassing specs. I've also seen them go from flakey difficult arty types off-stage to thoroughly professional, soundchecking automatons when called to do their soundcheck duty. I'm sure you've seen the roadies set up the stage for a band at a festival when it's all performed like a highly planned SAS assault. It should be the same with you and your soundcheck. For my last band, even if we were arguing and hadn't slept for three days, when it came to soundcheck, Andy Mcnab mode kicked in and we were all thoroughly on it.

Unless you are a touring band with your own crew and a whole day to kill in a venue, sound checks are definitely NOT the time for dicking around. That will only cut into your allotted time and annoy the sound engineer. Worst of all, if you dick around, the on-stage sound will effectively be random and irritating when you come to play. Wonder why there's horrific feedback and you don't know where you are in the song? That's because you didn't do the soundcheck properly dummy.

If you have your own sound engineer the whole thing is a well rehearsed routine. But for the sake of an example, lets imagine that you are supporting a mid/level band at a fairly decent venue that holds 300-400 people. You don't have your own sound engineer, you are using all your own gear and this is your big chance to impress a load of new fans. Its the first gig of the headline band's tour, so their soundcheck has overrun by an hour while they iron out technical issues and because the NME insists on photographing them on the stage. They have totally eaten up your soundcheck time and you now have a maximum of 15 minutes to get yourself and the sound people ready before the venue doors open. 

The worst thing you can do is wait and watch the nightmare unfold, get a pint and hope the NME start asking you questions too. Then when the stage is free start unpacking your drums and guitars, set up on stage and start jamming. By the time you've set up the doors will be opening and you've fucked it. The sound person will have had to quickly try to check that the lines are working and you will leave the stage not knowing how it sounds and potentially with some instruments not being heard out front. It's then a roll of the dice whether the gig will be decent or not. Most likely not.

Faced with that 15 minute nightmare scenario soundcheck, this is how it's done.

As soon as you arrive at the venue, introduce yourself to the in-house sound engineer and if there is one, the monitor engineer. These people will be working really hard for you so find out their name and treat them really well. If you're eating delicious chic chip cookies, offer them one. If you haven't sent them a tech rider in advance, let them know the set up of your band and the rough sound you are after. Communicate it words that they will understand. Don't say "we want to sound powerful and passionate". Say "kind of a dry foofighters sound" or "new folk with plenty of vocal reverb" or whatever. 

Also let them know where on the stage you need power and how many vocals there are. Find out how they would like to run the soundcheck and write down your monitor requirements. It might look something like this:

DRUMMER -Andy

lots of kick. some snare and bass. a touch of guitars and both vocals.

BASSIST - Rachael (stage right) 

lots of bass and lead vocal, some kick and snare, some guitars. No backing vocals.

GUITARIST - Quentin (stage left) 

lots of guitar and own vocal, a small amount of bass and lead vocal

VOCALIST - Bunny (centre stage)

lots of lead vocal and a touch of guitar. Nothing else.

While the NME's hottest new band are eating into your precious soundcheck time, after you've let the in-house engineers know the score, unpack your gear in a corner and quietly completely build your drum kit, amps, pedal boards etc. This means that when the stage is clear you can just lift or roll everything on stage and have everything miked up and plugged in in three or four minutes. Then once you know everything is working, be quiet and wait for the engineer's instructions. if the amp is making the right sound then don't start playing your best licks. If the sound person is clipping a mic to the underside of your snare don't play the drums and deafen the guy. If it's working and in position, leave it.

Usually you will start with the kick drum. While the rest of the band are quiet, hit it just as hard as you will for the gig. Four on the floor at about 100bpm will be perfect for the engineer. If you do lots of quick doubles in your set, throw a couple of them in there so that the engineer can check the gates. If there is a monitor engineer, let him know if you want the level of the kick drum up or down in your monitor using hand signals. remember to smile and thank him when it's set. Keep going until the front of house guy is happy. If he's doing your monitors then let him know if you want some in your monitor. This goes for the rest of the band too. If the bassist wants some kick drum, now's the time to mention it. 

Next up is snare, same deal. blap blap blap at 100 bmp until the front of house guy is happy and whoever wants to hear it, can. 

The engineer(s) will keep going in this manner through all of the instruments and channels. Along the way you can make sure that you can hear it in your monitor if you want to. 

When it comes to guitars or synths, play various loud and quiet sounds so that the engineer can make sure it sounds good for all of them. If he recommends that you turn your distorted channel down, he's right. Just do it without being precious. If he says your amp is too loud for the venue, don't throw a hissy fit, just turn it down and make sure you have it in your monitor. He will know what works in this particular venue.

If this process has taken up all of your allotted time and you now have to leave the stage, congratulations. You have now done what is known as a line-check. You and the engineers now know that the lines are all working but you don't know exactly how they sound in relation to each other. It won't be perfect but it's much better than nothing. The front of house guy will have it sounding pretty decent within a minute of the first song of the gig. You've given the monitor guy your rough level requirements so it should be roughly in the right ballpark. You can always communicate to the monitor engineer using hand signals what you need turned down or up during the first couple of songs of the gig. Chances are it will be fine.

If you do have time left and you get to play a bit of a song or two, congratulations, you are now doing a soundcheck. Pick a song in which everyone is playing their instruments and has a good range of sounds. Play whilst taking mental notes of the sound until halfway through the first chorus, then stop. This is not to impress anyone, you're not looking for a round of applause, it's purely to check the balance of the instruments in relation to each other - so don't feel like you have to play the awesome solo section for the guy at the bar. 

Now, there will most likely there will be something not quite right with your monitor mix. So, in an orderly fashion and not all talking and waving frantically at the same time, the drummer can ask for his changes, then the bassist, then the guitarist and then the vocalist. Then you can play a little bit more of a song until the front of house guy is happy.

One important thing to bare in mind is that if everything is really loud but you can't hear one thing enough, sometimes it is much wiser to ask for everything else to be turned down before turning that thing up. If you only ever get things turned up in the monitors it will all be blisteringly loud and that's when you will start damaging your hearing, causing feedback and the monitors will adversely affect the sound front of house. Monitors too loud is also the reason most unsigned bands sing out of tune. 

There. You're done. In fifteen minutes you've gone from nothing to the front of house and everyone on stage having their own mix. If you do have any more changes, let the engineers know, Even if they are moody bastards, thank them for being so professional and helpful. Now you can go and have a drink, get changed into your sequinned costume and do your tantric yoga (or whatever gets you pumped for the gig), safe in the knowledge that the moment you get on stage, it will sound perfect to both you and to the audience. You will play ten times better. Trust me. 

Being a live engineer is the most thankless task on earth. They work really hard and usually just have bands and audience angrily making hand signals at them throughout. I always make the effort to thank them after the gig and suggest you do to. 

Bobby x