Musician vs Technician feedback week 1 - Sound engineer.

Today was week 1 of our plan from nick to try on every hat of being a musician, producer, engineer, technician and performer.

Today my band were the engineers for setting up live sound for "Oceans of Apathy". In all honesty I had completely forgotten about what our role would be today and I had not done any research into how to set up live sound for a band.

Once we started I felt a bit clueless in all honesty, I think working on figuring out how to set up Tims wireless in ear monitor first threw me off a bit as I had used one. After asking Phil and Nick for a little guidance I soon felt confident in what I was doing. We had our technicians (POD 6) setting up the stage, as well as myself and Charles connecting the guitar cabs, bass amp, and drums to the mixing desk.

We had a little problem with the drums which took up quite a bit of time, after we spent some time on figuring out why aren't we getting any sound, we realised that the drums seemed to only work through channel 10.

After we had sorted this out myself and Nina began walking the band through soundcheck, adjusting levels where needed and making sure the mix was as good as it could be before the band played.

I really enjoyed being behind the desk working at front of house, after we started I felt very confident in what I was doing and had a lot more fun than I thought I would. The band were great to work with, they listened to us when we asked them to, and they also let us know what they needed and were very professional about it.

What have I learnt?:

I have learnt that I really enjoy working as a sound engineer for bands, and I also completely understood how to work the desk in the short time we had, where at first I wasn't sure what to do, then less than an hour later I felt completely confident In being behind there.

What impact did my actions have upon the team?:

I like to think that I brought some positivity and a sense of professionalism behind the desk. I hope that they felt they could trust myself and Nina behind the desk to give them great sound quality that they needed to perform at their best.

Would you consider pursuing a university course or employment in the role you undertook?

I wouldn't take a university course as a sound engineer, but I would enjoy doing it as a job absolutely. There is something strangely satisfying about getting the levels perfect for the band and making sure their performance can be as best as possible.

I fully enjoyed what I had done today and would like to do it again.