Live Sound Bootcamp

In this episode we enjoy the pleasure of chatting with Michael Lawrence a freelance audio engineer well known for his own podcast Signal to Noise, his incredibly geeky articles in Live Sound International, his Rational Acoustics Smaart webinars, and of course his work as a systems engineer.  We discuss how his career path, some great tips on reading material, and a lot of hints and suggestions for people looking to get into systems engineering and design, but also how to communicate effectively with system engineers.

Michael Lawrence is a freelance audio engineer specializing in system optimization and SPL measurement.  He is the technical editor of several audio industry publications including Live Sound International and ProSoundWeb.  In 2019 he was adopted by audio analysis industry leader Rational Acoustics, where he works feverishly on the SPL feature-set of the Smaart audio analyzer in exchange for a diet of graham crackers and tacos.

In the last episode for Building a FOH Mix, we chat about groups and VCAs, how they're different, and when we might use each of them.  We get into some of how we personally decide when it's right to use a group versus a VCA, as well as some of the differences in workflows between using these on an analog or digital desk.

In this episode we interview one of our hosts Brendan Dreaper, best known for his touring work with Snoh Aalegra, his work in bay area venues including The Independent, and huge amounts of studio work including the non-profit Zoo Labs.  We discuss how he started his career in live sound, his experience, and what he's planning for the future.

Yet another continuation of the previous episode, in part four we deep dive into effects.  We chat about the multiple reverb types, how they're different, and when we might use each of them.  We also jump into some of how we may process the sends and returns.  We also jump into delays and the ways that we use those in a mix.  We even touch on some of the lesser used effects such as phasers, flangers, and choruses.  This episode could have gone on for weeks too!

Yet another continuation of the previous episode, in part three we jump into dynamics.  Not just the basics of how gates and compressors work, but some of the many ways to use them, and even how we all differ on our uses of each.  Compression in mixing is one of those dark arts that can be understood but somehow we all use it differently.  Enjoy this one, we could have gone for hours.

As a continuation of the previous episode, in part two we jump into concepts about the process including order of operations, setting your filters, making EQ changes.  Although it sounds like this isn't a lot to talk about, somehow we talked about it for an hour, going over all the reasons for every move, breaking down corrective versus creative changes, boosts vs cuts, and even understanding what you can and can't EQ.

Up front, it's time to figure out how to actually put together the mix.   In this episode we cover how to start at FOH, from getting talkbacks up, routing your outputs, the order of your channels and fader positions, and of course the biggest one: Gain Staging.  This episode has a lot of different ideas and opinions in it.  

Rather than getting ultra-technical, in this episode, we go over how we address issues in PA systems.  Much like the last episode on PA system design, this process is complicated and learning about it can span your entire career, so do take our basic information here with a grain of salt.  We review the goals of a PA system, the difference in perspective for tuning for a system designer and a band engineer, as well as some methods for measuring, and the things you can apply to a system to achieve your desired output.

In this episode, we dove into the basics of the FOH speaker system design.  This topic as a whole spans entire careers, so do take our basic information here with a grain of salt.  We talk through speaker types, coverage goals, placement, and how to integrate subs, front fills and other PA into your setup.  

In this episode, we jump into the first steps of understanding the signal flow of a FOH system.  Covering the physical wiring, and the patching inside of desks.  We jump through things like festival patches, methods for managing your patch, and how get out of the desk to PA systems.  It's a quick overview on the basics, to be continued in the next episode on system design.

We figured it was time to get away from technical topics for an episode, and talk about something personal.  The three of us have all reached where we are in our careers in different ways along different routes, and we had some fun with our different perspectives on the idea of how to get the job.  This episode covers the various audio jobs that exist, and some of the common paths to those various positions.  We talk about networking, and even cover some odd things like how to say no to a gig.  

This episode is the remainder of the conversation from the previous episode, and is the third in the series on building a monitor mix.  Here we get into some of the details Sends on Fader workflows, where to keep your output masters, how the room changes once it fills up, how the PA affects your mix, and of course effects in monitors.  This episode also gets pretty deep in methods for how to approach actually putting the mix together for Wedges, Side Fills, Subs, versus In Ear Monitor setups.  This episode gets pretty technical, and hits on specific workflows.

As a continuation of the previous episode, we jump into concepts for which channels to use for various methods of monitoring.  This episode also gets pretty deep in methods for how to approach actually putting the mix together for Wedges, Side Fills, Subs, versus In Ear Monitor setups.  This episode gets pretty technical, and hits on specific workflows.

We've gone through how it's all wired up, we've gone through ringing out wedges, now it's time to hit on how to actually put together the mix.  Of course we all have different approaches, but in addition to that, we jump into how the approach for In Ear Monitoring may be different than that of wedges, sidefills, or even drum subs.

The scariest part of doing sound: ringing out wedges.  In this episode we spend some time going over quite a few methods for how to ring out wedges and eliminate feedback the best you can.  We also jump into some workflows for checking your work.

Once you've gotten down the basics of the signal flow, the next step is designing how your monitor system is setup.  In this episode we run an in-depth overview for common setups for wedges, side fills, subs and in-ear-monitor setups.  

This episode pulls together an overview for the standard signal paths for monitoring, including the connections and routing from the stage, the connections for wedges, wireless in ears, and even wired in ears.

Live Sound Bootcamp is intended to be a basic primer in live sound.  It is expected that listeners have a base knowledge of audio or concert production, but from there, this series may provide some insight into how productions work.  Each host brings an individual style, workflow, and experience to the podcast.  This episode jumps into an often overlooked topic, cable management, what the best practices are for running cables on stage, maintaining safety and even building looms.

In this episode we interview engineer Manu Jimenez, best known for his work with Snoh Aalegra, Mary J Blige and his own studio Arimaka Studio.  We talk about his career path, approach to mixing, and general insights into the world of mixing and playback enginering.

Live Sound Bootcamp is intended to be a basic primer in live sound.  It is expected that listeners have a base knowledge of audio or concert production, but from there, this series may provide some insight into how productions work.  Each host brings an individual style, workflow, and experience to the podcast.  This episode delves into microphone selection including a basic explanation of types of mics, polar patterns, common uses, and more.

The third episode in the series.  Live Sound Bootcamp is intended to be a basic primer in live sound.  It is expected that listeners have a base knowledge of audio or concert production, but from there, this series may provide some insight into how productions work.  Each host brings an individual style, workflow, and experience to the podcast.  This episode goes through what information you need in your input list, along with some recommendations for best practices.

The second episode of the series.  Live Sound Bootcamp is intended to be a basic primer in live sound.  It is expected that listeners have a base knowledge of audio or concert production, but from there, this series may provide some insight into how productions work.  Each host brings an individual style, workflow, and experience to the podcast.  This second episode gives an overview for the typical signal flow of a stage, sources, connections and destinations.

The introduction to the series.  Live Sound Bootcamp is intended to be a basic primer in live sound.  It is expected that listeners have a base knowledge of audio or concert production, but from there, this series may provide some insight into how productions work.  Each host brings an individual style, workflow, and experience to the podcast.  This first episode starts at the basics, how to build a stage plot.