# Bad sound on SNL



## Destropiate (Jan 17, 2007)

I was watching SNL last night to see Them Crooked Vultures play and I thought they sounded terrible. I actually didnt even stick around for the second song. Now I do like this band and Ive always been a fan of Josh Homme and his guitar tone, the problem was last night i couldnt even hear it. His rythm guitar parts were drown right out by the lead player and the vocals were really muffled and low in the mix. 

It happens quite frequently on SNL I've found but only when a band comes on that plays something a bit heavier live than the normal pop acts who play the show. I cant figure it out cause the SNL band sounds great mix-wise so the sound people seem to know what they are doing. Is it cause there isn't alot of time to set up properly for a band who actually has equipment to play through? I saw the Ting Tings on there and they sounded great (cant stand them) but they consisted of a backing track a "drummer" a "singer" and a marshall halfstack that was inexplicably set up and turned on for some reason in the middle of the stage . I was thinking that maybe they cant play loud enough to get a good mix going on that SNL set but Dave Grohl was beating the hell out of his kit so it must have been loud.
What do you think?


----------



## fretboard (May 31, 2006)

Agreed - the worst I've heard them sound. They might have been nailing the tune - but I couldn't hear it. We just got a new TV this week so I thought it might have just been that and I had to change up the audio settings on it, but I don't think so. Didn't stick around for the second tune either.

I did hear that the next issue of Guitar World has a transcription to "New Fang" in it, but I don't believe it's out yet.


----------



## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

Yeah - sounded horrible. I wasn't familiar with the band but after that have no interest either.


----------



## Destropiate (Jan 17, 2007)

Im actually pretty interested in why rock bands on alot of late night shows in general sound really bad. I've seen very few loud rock bands sound good on any late night show. Like i said pop acts or lighter acoustic stuff always seems to sound fine. I wonder if its a volume issue, the audience might not want their ears blown out while trying to catch a few laughs.


----------



## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Ya there is a big thread on this over at TDPRI as well. A lot of people who had never heard the band write them off after seeing them on SNL. I don't watch SNL so I went and checked out the clips on youtube and was shocked. That is not an accurate representation of how the band sounds at all. That SNL mix was horrific.

There are live performances all over the net. If you want a more accurate representation of the band, this is a good one to start with: http://www.wdr.de/tv/rockpalast/extra/videos/2009/1208/them_crooked_vultures.jsp (this is not a video you can embed, it's an entire concert from the Rockpalast TV show).

And for the lazier people, here is an embedded clip 

[YOUTUBE]oG2Pizk4ZdU[/YOUTUBE]


----------



## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

It doesn't surprise me that a band sounds terrible live on SNL...rare is the band or artist that sounds good live on that stage.

Not sure the reason, but it's always seemed like a good performance on SNL is the exception not the rule.

Well, other than the lip-syncers...


----------



## Starbuck (Jun 15, 2007)

It's likely due to the fact that alot of the "pop" acts lip synch (Asslee Simplton anyone?) and they are not really set up for live Rock and Roll, you'd think they would have ironed that out after all these years.


----------



## Destropiate (Jan 17, 2007)

Starbuck said:


> It's likely due to the fact that alot of the "pop" acts lip synch (Asslee Simplton anyone?) and they are not really set up for live Rock and Roll, you'd think they would have ironed that out after all these years.


 Thats pretty much what i was thinking, even still how long has that show been on the air? You would think they could have ironed that out by now. I mean its a pretty huge venue for popular acts from all genres, im just suprised it doesnt sound great all the time instead of bad most of the time.


----------

