Interview with Mr.Zah P.
World Class London UK Sound Engineer
by Sif Keys
Photo by Kok Ann
The Overall feel, functionality and groove of Java Jazz festival was surely captivating & certainly awe inspiring in some areas. Personally I thoroughly enjoyed my 3 day visit to Java Jazz Jakarta after hearing about JJ for several years I decided it was time to see it to believe it. However without being too judgmental and with a view to offer a thread of sound constructive criticism to the organisation there is without a doubt some major room for improvement to say the least.
Logistically the system in which the festival goers were handled was inadequately executed especially during the prime time on Saturday night. It was virtually impossible to move around freely and literally every concert show was delayed with no explanation, sometimes up to one hour or more which led to an exhaustingly intolerable amount of congestion. An appropriate system to organise the hoards of people entering and exiting the halls was apparently missing.
Two separate channels for entrance and exiting would have resolved major congestion and avoid head on collision. Safety issues need to be addressed in the future not to mention an opportunity for pick pockets to have a field day. Despite large banners hanging outside some of the halls, Instructions in general were inadequately displayed in terms of location and direction of halls leading to more confusion.
With regards to acoustics there was no link of consistency between the concert halls. Major attention and observation should have been considered to ensure that certain halls with bad acoustics were dealt with appropriately. There is nothing more frustrating than watching World Class international Artists and musicians performing but having to endure poor quality sound; some halls were literally just a mesh of noise with massive reverb over powering any chance for musicality to be appreciated in some instances. However some of the halls were acoustically treated which made a big difference but the let down here for some acts were very poor sound engineers. It really needs a sound quality engineer team to make sure there is consistency between acts.
Sure I appreciate the fact that there are many acts which lead to new setups and miking in the same room; however these days with the digital boards it makes life easier. Each act also had some form of sound check so no excuse to have such bad sound. However in some venues the sound was great and you sometimes had situations where two different acts in the same room had great sound for one and terrible for the next.
An example is Michael Paulo. He is a saxophonist and the most important part of his band’s sound is his saxophone. It sounded like a wasp and if he could hear what his sound was like on the main PA he would have freaked. It was so piercing that I could not even stay in the room. So sad. This happened for a few acts.
Eric Benet for example on Friday had to play most of the show without the main piano coming out off the main PA. It was only realised when performed a song with just the piano. At least if there is a team of sound quality control engineers they can easily walk into a room and within a few minutes assess the problems and address them. For myself I can do this within seconds to minutes and identify the problems immediately and resolve the problems. I think artists like Michael Paulo should come out and listen to his Sax sound from the main PA and address the issues because it really is a shame and there is no excuse for it these days.
Going back to Eric Benet even the vocals were too quiet it was not balanced properly and this completely dampened the entire performance. Yes I know most people really don't have a clue between good and bad sound but there are a lot of musicians in the crowd that know and I am sure feel the same way.
On a much more positive note the Sunday Gospel group Performance and shows was just incredible, amazing and one of the best acts of the whole festival. Sound was great and the band and singers as we'll as the guests were just simply awesome. Only criticism again was insufficient miking of the choir. There were mics placed in the front but not at the back so the male voices were lost since the front line were all girls. This resulted in a lack of depth for the choir. Again a big shame as simple thought into mic placement would have made a huge difference.
The babyface show, although had logistic problems for the crowd getting in and out, was brilliant. The band outstanding not to mention babyfaces incredible songs. The band was incredibly tight to the point of perfection. Granted the backing vocals and percussion appeared to be triggered live on a computer but it was just brilliant and his drummer in so many ways stole the show with his precision and subtle but technically amazing playing.
Bob James was simply a joy to watch and the sound was not too bad except his Rhodes from the keyboard which was distorted at times. Again a simple gain adjustment would have resolved this issue. The piano sound again could have been so much warmer rather than harsh.
In general most of the venues had poor quality piano sound. This was due to bad miking and bad eq. Once again a simple problem to resolve. Even on Sunday when Bob James trio performed in the room upstairs not sure if it’s called the acoustic room. It was sad that the piano sounded harsh and the bass was unbalanced. This room uses the digi design equipment with the venue console and in general was the best sounding room of the festival but again this lack of attention to the small but important detail made the musicians less enjoyable to listen too.
I hope that my comments and perhaps other people who have the same views will be considered and a way to move forward and improve for the future to set Java jazz as not only one of the biggest festivals in the world but one of the most quality and excellently organised festival in the World Today.
Mr Zah P
Interviewed By Sifkeys
Photo by Kok Ann
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