The Sound. Does It Matter? (Yeah – in a Big Way.)

When you go to watch live music, you appreciate the excitement of a group creating harmony and rhythm in real time, and enjoy the output of that group in the form of songs you recognise and love.  What you probably don’t do is analyse how the sound is being produced by each respective instrument, and how it eventually makes its way to your eardrums.  It’s like watching a Lamborghini or Ferrari cruise down the street – you admire how beautiful it is, and how fast and sleek it moves, but you’re probably not thinking about how the combustion from the engine explodes the pistons which turns the crankshaft which then moves the wheels.

You probably only notice the sound if it’s bad – if the singer is too quiet, if the guitar is too loud, if the vocals are fuzzy, if loud, squealing noises are occasionally being projected forth (a sincerely displeasing effect we know as feedback).

The collective sound of a band, and the soundman upon whose metaphorical shoulders it rests, are unsung heroes of live music.  It doesn’t matter who’s performing – Beyonce, Pavarotti, the Boston Pops, Metallica – not a single one will be fun to listen to if they’re not mixed and mic’ed properly.  And this boils down to two factors: the gear itself, and the person running it.

The Dukes have invested quite a lot into their current system.  We won’t dive too far into technical descriptions, but our speakers and subs are EV Evolve 50s, and the rest of our gear is of a similar caliber, including cables, mics, and in-ear wireless sound systems for each of our core five members, so that we can hear ourselves as clear as if we were recording in a studio.

And our soundman is none other than our male vocalist and guitarist extraordinaire, Casey Smith, who was a studio engineer for fifteen years and who’s been mixing and running sound systems for decades.  Being a great musician allows him to understand exactly what levels need to be tweaked to create the clearest, boldest sound, and he constantly makes adjustments over the course of each gig to ensure that the group’s output remains balanced and the audience can simply appreciate the songs.

Again, if you’re not a soundtech or a musician, it’s difficult to notice or appreciate the difference between good sound and bad sound.  But listen to Casey break it down in terms most of us can understand:

“No one wants to go to a party that has a sound system that’s the equivalent of a 20 year-old Boom Box with 8-inch speakers.  Whether you know where it comes from or not, you want that thump.  You want to feel the music.  You want to hear the vocalist clearly and interact with the band.  You want to party with them!  You can’t do that with any old rinky-dink sound system.  You need a real system that delivers full-frequency sound with clarity that you can not only hear, but feel.

You may know nothing about audio equipment, but you know when it sounds good or it sounds bad.  That’s why we’ve invested in a killer sound system with some of the best gear available, including subs on each side of the stage that will have you feeling the low end in your chest, and loudspeakers to deliver vocals and instruments with clarity and fullness.  We want to sound as good as possible for your event, and that’s why we’ve invested in the proper equipment to deliver quality sound for you and your guests.”

And don’t take for granted that every band has made the same investment.  There are lots of great musicians out there, but if the sound is loud, muddy, and overpowering the vocals, none of that really matters.  The Dukes fuse top-notch musicians with top-notch gear, and that’s how we’ve built our reputation as the band that will always deliver an amazing show.  All you have to do is show up and enjoy the songs you recognize and love.