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Concert stage layout -- who made who?

Last night I was visiting a friend to listen to his SET setup. It sounded very nice - kinda the polar opposite philosophically from my own system... but anyway.

We were listeing to Bave Brubeck's Time Out. I wondered after listening for a while about the soundstage placement of the musicians. The drums were on the right (in some tracks) along with the keyboards. The clarinet(?) and flute seemed to be in the left of center portion of the stage (that's not a political comment) while something else (I can't remember what it was) was placed far off to the left.

Generally nowadays with Jazz/folk/rock the drums are in the center/back, while the star/singer is in the front while the other status instruments are immediately to the right and left of the singer/star. Okay, so here's the question: did the layout of the soundstage dictate where people stood on the stage, or did the stage dictate the soundstage?
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4yanx
1,576 posts
 
Being a former drummer, I concur with Tvad. I think Sean makes a good point about the motives behind the mixing. Looking for more impact - but I often find it annoying - hearing the high-hat on one side and the snare on the other is just TOO much. OK, if it is the Doobie Brothers with two sets, you can see it :-) Rock is especially rife with examples of incorrect soundstaging. I've personally seen a number of bands a number of times who, for instance, ALWAYS have the lead guiatrist on the left side of the stage, the vocalist next, the bassists next, the keyboard on the far right with the drummer center and behind. Even on different songs within the same LP, these staging positions vary. Now, they may move around a bit on stage, but not a full shift from one side to the other. This sometimes occurs even on LIVE LP's. But, as long as it sounds good, I don't let it bother me - nervous tic aside... :-)
ellery911
549 posts
 
man..i though i was the only one that wondered how/why the drums were spaced so widely across the soundstage (I can understand it with the Dead)...I had pretty much chalked it up to the fact that compared to you guys my system sucks big time.
bufus
149 posts
 
4yanx, on some occassions there may actually be a hihat on the opposite side from where the snare is by means of an extension hi-hat.

I am a drummer also and sometimes I enjoy having the drums go from left to right so I can picture the toms and cymbals I would be hitting. Luckily, my preamp has a "reverse" switch which allows me to swap the left and right channels. (Adcom GFP-750)
4yanx
1,576 posts
 
Bufus, a good point that I realize. I was more referring in the case I cited as the high-hat seeming to come from way left in the soundtage and the snare from the right (not being correctly spaced but in the proper relative location).

One that makes me laugh is a copy of Yes where Wakeman's keyboard renderings are stage left and Howe's gitter stylings far right. Never would have happened in a performance - but, maybe in the magic if the studio mix.....? ;-)
rcprince
3,061 posts
 
Hell, one of my favorite "panning" tricks was in the original Blind Faith album, where Clapton's and Winwood's guitar solos in the middle of "Had to Cry Today" started in opposite channels, panned to be together in the middle and then crisscrossed and wound up in the other channel (and you will NOT hear this effect in the MFSL CD of it, to their discredit!). To do that in concert you'd have to lift and move a couple of huge banks of amplifiers, not an easy trick!
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