[1]During my time in placement, I have learned a lot about live sound engineering, especially when using the Sonic Lab. The room itself is extremely unique not only in its construction but also the tonal qualities and the audio set up within the space, therefor it is very different from doing sound in just about anywhere else. However, I feel that it has helped me gain much confidence in my skills as a sound engineer working at a gig or in a recording environment. It also looks very good on a CV to say that I have worked in a space such as the sonic lab and being able to run performances in such a high-tech space. It tells potential employers that I am confident setting up and engineering a wide range of spaces.

In the second semester we continued with the ensemble performance class, so every two weeks I would be sent 6 stage plans and spec requirements for each group so I could prepare what they needed for the performance. In my own time I also did some tracking for a local band, utilizing the space as a recording studio rather than a performance space, therefor I was required to change the setup of the room and the Studer desk in the room. As the room has lots of inputs and outputs, it requires good knowledge of the room and the equipment to route everything successfully then return it to the correct settings after so others can work in the room.

I decided to put my work placement learning to the test by organising a series of recorded performance of local bands to be released, for this I would need to contact acts, set up a date, create a crew of audio and camera operators and plan of what gear I would need and how the room should be laid out. I would need to program lighting cues, set up the stage area with microphones and route them to the sound desk. Then route sound from the desk to a second computer so the audio could then be tracked and mixed separately. As well as helping the camera operators set up angles and film the performances so they could be put together with the audio afterwards. This is like the point made in the music industry handbook, “it requires very little financial investment and essentially relies on one main ingredient – a good idea.  This notion is ‘production management’ on a small scale; learning to entice and excite an audience visually.  Placing a strong sense of value in the minds of an audience becomes an imperative, and if the promotion and timing of this goes well, curiosity will encourage improved chances of audience attendance.”[2]

The day of recording went very well, but it was not without its issues. I had made a timetable of when acts would arrive and when their sets should be done so we would have enough time for a swap over. I planned the day to begin at 9am and conclude at 5pm. My timetable was as such.

• 9am – load in and set up.
• 9:30am – first band set up and soundcheck.
• 9:50am – band perform 40-minute set.
• 10:30am – band finishes, 30-minute swap over – change stage set up
• 11am – second band set up and soundcheck.
• 11:30am – second band perform 40-minute set.
• 12:10pm – second band finished, 30-minute swap over
• Etc.

For the most part we were able to stick very closely to the timetable and I had used this timetable for different team members to come and leave in between acts. I did have some issues at the beginning when sending sound to the computer for recording, I couldn’t get any input signal for a while but when troubleshooting realised it was just a simple chance of setting in Pro Tools, as I was using the wrong input device settings. I was very confident that the event went really well and that it was carried out in a professional way.

I did need to correct some input gain during the first act as when doing sound checks we prepped for a specific volume level but during the performance the singer was much louder causing a bit of clipping in the microphone. I caught it fast and was able to correct it, but it is audible in the recording before I corrected it.

The raw recordings from the bands sounded really amazing, so mixing them was very smooth, just general balancing, compression, and adding some reverb to add space to the mix. As I wasn’t directly overseeing the visuals side however, there was some miscommunication between camera operators and there were instances of all cameras on the one area at once, so without a cutaway shot there is some footage where not much happens, whereas elsewhere on the stage there was a good bit of energy. If I was to ever do such a project again, I would plan to have each camera operator take an area of the stage and just get footage there, as well as making sure there is always a main static camera so we can have a cutaway whilst shots are being set up or if anything goes wrong with a specific camera.

The lights looked impressive throughout, although in hindsight I would have liked to have a bit more movement with them. I set up a series of static lighting cues with different colours and textures, however, the sonic lab is capable of using moving head lights and strobes. Which could have looked even better but short on time I chose to just set up static lights rather than rush doing more complex cues with the risk of them not working so well or looking amateur.

The experience was a lot of work, but I believe it has given me a great foundation in the live sound field, as well as event organisation for the future. It will also look very impressive on my CV to say not only that I have this experience working in such a high-tech environment but also to show my organisational skills, leadership skills, and skills with tracking and mixing music. During the day I was required to manage a team of people, while directing artists, and mixing on the go. I did however, when booking the bands to come in forgot to give some information as to the format of the recordings. My plan was to set it up as a live gig, where the artists perform a set as if it was a concert but just without the audience, however, I didn’t explain in much detail to two of them as I assumed they would understand from the title “live in session”, but now when I look back I know I should always give all the details even if I think they might not be important, because in a project that’s quite big some miscommunication can happen very easily if you’re not careful.

In conclusion, I learned the ins and outs (with more to learn) on event organising and live sound mixing. Over the two semesters my confidence in being a sound engineer has grown tenfold, I notice myself being able to keep people on track during sound checks, as sometimes people take time setting up and getting their sounds but, on a schedule, we need to have sound checks sorted before a certain time. So, on occasion you may need to keep people on task and not get distracted. There was still some room for improvement overall for the event, in terms of communication and gain staging in sound checks.[3]

I plan on doing more of these events with live recordings of bands in my own time after I finish my placement, and I believe that I have learned enough from now doing 5 in total for when I go to continue them. I know I need to make it very clear in my communication and planning what is needed from the artists. Also to make sure that all camera operators know exactly what they need to be doing, in the sense of where they should be filming, and the kinds of shots needed.

Next time I will take more care in the gain staging at soundchecks, to do this I will ask the bands while they do run throughs of songs to ensure they give me what their loudest sounds will be, so I have a good bit of headroom in the balancing. My plan is also to invest more into the set design so that the stage, or performance area looks more appealing on screen. So, we can arrange the set to fit the style of artist and further enhance the performance just a bit more.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Gibbs’ reflective cycle is a seminal theory in reflective practice (Gibbs, 1988, as cited in Jasper, 2013).
2. Rutter, P. and Sharkey, F. (2016) The Music Industry Handbook. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
3. Jackson, B.M., 2018. The Music Producer’s Survival Guide: Chaos, Creativity, and Career in Independent and Electronic Music. Taylor & Francis.

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[1] Gibbs’ reflective cycle is a seminal theory in reflective practice (Gibbs, 1988, as cited in Jasper, 2013).

[2] Rutter, P. and Sharkey, F. (2016) The Music Industry Handbook. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

[3] Jackson, B.M., 2018. The Music Producer’s Survival Guide: Chaos, Creativity, and Career in Independent and Electronic Music. Taylor & Francis.

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