Live Sound Bootcamp

This question has come up over and over again through the years, and it seems to land in a topic that isn't discussed widely.  How does one move from small clubs, to big clubs, to festivals, to arenas, and sheds to stadiums?  Not just how do you get the gig, but also what changes in your daily workflow, in how you communicate, in who's on the team, and how you manage succeeding in that t...

This question has come up over and over again through the years, and it seems to land in a topic that isn't discussed widely.  How does one move from small clubs, to big clubs, to festivals, to arenas, and sheds to stadiums?  Not just how do you get the gig, but also what changes in your daily workflow, in how you communicate, in who's on the team, and how you manage succeeding in that t...

Remember last episode when we said we would land in the concept of Season 3, answering listener questions, well we screwed that up.  In this episode we answer a question that we had, about how best to go about capturing and mixing orchestral instruments, in classical environments, and also in the context of adding strings to a pop or rock act.  One would think this would be a short and simple epis...

So finally we fall into the concept of Season 3, answering listener questions.  In this episode we answer a question that digs into dialogue, corporate events, house of worship, expectations, auto mixing, noise reduction, how to make a talking human sound like what the audience expects.  One would think this would be a short and simple episode, but nope, as usual, we go on and on.

Lies and lies, we told you that we would have shorter episodes, and we told you that Season three would be dedicated to digging directly into listener questions, but this episode ended up being the very long answer to some in-person questions that we had run into recently.  In this episode we talk about how to start your day when arriving at a new venue, all the way through how to get through your...

As we enter season three of this podcast, we've decided it makes sense to finally really dig directly into listener questions.  We also had realized that while we had touched on this in many other episodes, we didn't actually ever make an episode dedicated to one of the most important skills in live audio: Troubleshooting.  We knock on a few of the most common issues one may come across,...

Sticking to the "wall of sound" instruments we chat about strings and some of the various methods for getting them to sound cohesive, or stick out as solo instruments.  While this may not be the most common input an average live sound engineer may come across, the methods for achieving natural sounds with unnatural micing are somewhat easy to transfer to other similar instrument types. ...

We gave up on the idea that we would cover multiple topics in this one episode, but in this extra-long episode we knock out one!  Choirs and background vocalists, why did we even think that this was similar to horns and strings? Because the goal is often a "wall of sound."  We chat about how to best capture groups of singers, and we dig into monitoring, equalization, dynamics processing,...

We really really did think that we would cover multiple topics in this one episode, but in this extra-long episode we barely covered one!  Not the most common input but brass instruments can be challenging to get right. We chat about how to best capture live various brass instruments, and we dig into equalization, dynamics processing, isolation, effects and a lot more.  

Since it's been ages since we've done an episode, in this extra-long episode we try to make up for lost time!  Continuing down the path of the channel by channel season, we spend a lot of time chatting about how to best capture live pianos, how to set up patches in pianos and synths, and we dig into equalization, dynamics processing, saturation, effects and a lot more.  

In this extra-long episode we skip ahead a bit, and dig into arguably the most important input, vocals.  Like all of the previous episodes we spend a lot of time chatting about how to best capture the sound, and we dig into equalization, dynamics processing, saturation, effects and a lot more, but we also talk a lot about goals and intent with vocal sounds.  This episode also features a special gu...

Covering anywhere from one to a sixty inputs this episode, we dig into playback.  We chat about how to setup the outputs in the rig, how to prioritize the sounds, the difference between monitors and FOH in this regard, how to manage these lines during your line check, and of course we dive into some of the things you can do to make it work for you.

A whole family of inputs in the channel list, this episode we dig into an assortment of instruments that come up in many genres.  Acoustic guitars and other stringed instruments can be a pain.  A pain to get cleanly into wedges for monitoring, and a pain to make sound good given how dynamic they can be, but they're such commonly played instruments.  Like the previous episodes we spend a lot o...

Throwing the hosts for a loop, this episode is an off-the-cuff dive into how routing affects your line check.  We dig into the idea of using grouping for drums, bass, and other instruments, talk about when to get this routing going, and what the benefits can be.  We really dig into idea of when and why to use group bussing, and also the processing that an engineer might use on a group versus a cha...

Guitars, often the next input in the list, can be quite complicated to manage.  This episode dives into how to capture the tones, how to process them, and even how to approach conversations with the players themselves to achieve tones that are best fit for the mix.  We touch on microphones, placement, and some options on what to do when you have one guitar player, versus two, versus three!

The next input in the channel list: Bass Guitar.  Weirdly, we don't actually talk much about basses pedals and amps, but man we really dig into the processing that an engineer can use to get the most out of this instrument.  Like the previous episodes we dig into equalization, dynamics processing, saturation and a lot more.  I'd also like to call out, that your subwoofer to mains to room...

We honestly thought this might be a boring episode, but it turned out to be one of the most interesting discussions.  In this episode we chat about cymbal selection, microphones, mic positions, processing, and a heck of a lot more.  This is a set of inputs that honestly took the three of us years to figure out how to use effectively and creatively.

In this episode we bring in a guest-expert Emmanuel “E-MAN” Cervantes (this guy literally started playing drums at age 3!), and hit the next set of inputs in the channel list: Toms.  Like the previous episodes we talk about drums types, tuning, microphones, mic positions, and a heck of a lot more.  In fact we probably overshare in this 70+ minute episode getting seriously detailed about how to mak...

As we continue through the line-check, we hit input number 2, commonly the loudest thing on stage, the snare drum.  Much like the first episode in the line-check, we dig into the drum sizes, the heads, the tuning, mics positions and processing.  

Season 2 is here!  In this season we dig into each input, one at a time.  It's like the podcast of a line check.  Input 1, the infamous kick drum.  We deep dive into the drum sizes, heads, tuning, mics, eq, dynamics and more, an entire episode dedicated to the biggest drum.

How many times have you walked into a venue or event space and found a system that's severely underpowered for the gig? Sometimes that scenario is a PA thats just too small,  speakers on sticks for a big rock show, sometimes it's a system that doesn't even cover the whole audience....  In this episode we talk through some of the options and tools you have as an engineer to get the m...

When you've got a resume this long and this varied, everyone wants to know the secrets to your success.  Sully chats with us on this episode about perspective, what to pay attention to in the show and your carreer, and the path that has led him to mixing some of the biggest acts in the world.

We ask the age-old question, What can I do to make my mix feel loud without actually just turning it up?  And what about streaming, how do I make a livestream seem loud?  What defines impact, and what are some tools we can use to maximize the feeling of impact without having to simply make the show push more SPL?

So we've talked a lot about what each of the mixing tools do, but what happens when you simply don't have enough hands to make the changes from song-to song quickly enough?  In this episode we break down 'Snapshots,' what they are, when to use them, and even why they're absolutely terrifying!

As we continue the conversation about feedback, we dive into solutions for managing the ringy mess.  Some things you can do in advance to avoid the problem before it starts, and some common scenarios where you may find yourself ripping out your hair trying to clean up the stage.