I have a few tips for new FOH/Monitor engineers. 1. Grab your self a couple rolls of GOOD gaffe tape, couple different colours of spike tape. 2. Have an assortment of adaptors. XLR M and F to 1/4", RCA to 1/4" or XLR (with the correct pins jumped), I would also have F to F NL4 couplers, maybe even NL8. I also travelled with a bunch of patch cables. 4. Cable tester, you can get great testers that will test anything to anything. I've had the same one for almost 20 years. 5. Learn to solder and now adays terminate Cat5/6. 6. Smaart, OpenSoundMeter or any other software/hardware are great tools but don't blindly follow them, use your ears. 7. Protect your hearing, get custom moulded ear plugs. The ones I use have replaceable filters -9, -15 or completely closed for -35dB.
Might I add H&S procedures as well. I had to walk out of some venues because they lacked any common sense when it came to safety for the people who work at the venue or worse for the public! I.e. I was once asked to replace speakers that were hanging above an auditorium in the upper circle. These speakers weighed 35kg and were hanging on a scaff bar. I was expected to unhook, and lift that speaker by myself without a safety line attached to it. When I asked for said safety line, I was told I didn’t need it! I immediately said not going to do it unless I have someone else with me and a safety line attached to it. They threatened my employment and so I simply said OK, walked out, and never looked back.
Absolutely the right thing to do - if they're skirting the rules on this one, what else are they ignoring? "H&S law is written in the blood of the tech who came before you"
I have a venue that I'm winding down working at after this year which is almost everything you said to avoid, it is such a grass-roots DIY location that I only ever get paid by promoters directly and half the people who do sound there are volunteers. Speakers are no-name and busted with no headroom at all - everything is always broken - microphones look like they've survived the apocalypse etc. I've had some absolutely mega gigs there and probably am one of only a couple of people who can consistently get it sounding passable but after working in a professional atmosphere at other clubs in the city I always come back grimacing at the state of it. Its one of those places that was so easy to get into and get trusted to work solo that it allowed me to get on my feet - but now I'm getting paid almost 2x more in some of my other positions it's totally unsustainable to keep coming back.
@@giuseppegiannetto8362 honestly in the UK it varies incredibly heavily from place to place, my rates as a solo venue guy are anywhere from £85-165 per night depending on the venue, job etc. I'd look to whatever local union representation you have (if that exists) as your bottom baseline in order to not do yourself and other engineers a disservice by devaluing your work.
Other red flags I have come across: Late get ins - if soundchecks aren’t due to start until 5pm, get out. Places like this usually pay terribly and it’ll be a four band bill with doors at 7pm. This leaves no room for troubleshooting or time for food before the first band. For small venues, I’ll always ask for a 2pm get in and a 3pm soundcheck. House backline - There is no situation imo where the sound engineer should be involved in setting up or packing up a drum kit. If venue management want there to be house kit, that is their responsibility.
I love the video but i do have some important notes. I work in a lot of non profit mostly volunteer run venues, this is mostly also as a volunteer. These venues usually dont have the money for nice namebrand stuff. They will have weird branded PA systems and old monitors. But usually, this works well! Somethimes you just got to understand that not every place gets subsudies or has the revenue to support a great system. Its important to know what the stuff is that a venue has. For example: I mixed in a basement venue yesterday with EV tops and subs from the 90s. They sound not so great. but with with a bit of system EQ and prelistening to the room i was able to make a clear balanced mix in the room. Just dont expect the newest and the best stuff from small/low budget venues and learn how to make sub-par PA systems sound better
If you're doing non-profit, voluntary work then that's good experience if you're relatively "green" and the expectation should be put relativity low because the non-profit organization should be happy they got somebody who knows what an eq is in the first place but still, anybody with a drop off professionalism are going to do their best and use it as a learning experience. In my opinion; Once you've made live mixing your bread and butter, voluntary work should be off the table, leave that to those that need experience. (Also; judging the PA for being a brand you don't usually work with and turn down the gig for it sounds like a rash judgement, I agree. "Oh no, this PA is a.... JBL? Never heard of it (not one mentioned here but a well known brand)." At least take a quick listen if the system already is rigged up and ready to go 🤷🏻♂️)
You cannot argue with any of the points raised here. This is the formula for help[ing any engineer to deliver their best. I do think though that we have to stand back for a minute when we are talking about conditions and what is unacceptable. I have in the last few years become more involved with some bar operations and got to know bar staff and seeing what they are required to do during work. This is something to consider when we are talking about our plight of having to un tangle a badly rolled up cable or use a Behiringer copy of a 58. Ive never had to scrub stale alcohol off a floor of clean up vomit so in that context being forced to use an X32 once in a while isn't really that bad.
Eres un privilegiado. Un enfoque bueno sería, por ejemplo, como sacar ventajas laborales u oportunidades de crecimiento diseñando metodologías, dinámicas de trabajo y sistemas de sonido en Venues poco aptas. Pero no, tu perspectiva es poco realista y demuestra que has trabajado poco en tu vida. Gracias por tu trabajo en redes. ;)
I’ve worked at a couple venues in Dubai recently where these kinds of bad practices are really prevalent. Communication and finances are especially poor
i always keep spare rolls of gaffa tape with me as done gigs where there was no gaffa tape at the venue , saying about PA i just did a gig recently where the venue had for foh speakers a pair of old 12 inch 240 watt TOA speakers no subs , a 32 channel soundcraft LX7 ,and a mix of behringer ,soundlab and EV mics and i had to mix a bon jovi tribute band with this system and i must admit it was incredibly stressful
Good video many thanks, one thought which I don’t think is covered taking down the set at the end of the performance ie putting everything back where it belongs also folding up the cables correctly so the next sound engineer doesn’t have to untangle cables.
Man, the first venue I worked in had a lot of this. No name brand monitors, unreliable cables, and dodgy stands. They went up to £14 ph this year! The minimum around Glasgow is £15. I think another red flag is the constant change in what's required of you. They keep adding more and more, while they expect a discount on your work. I am just grateful that I have started to get a good reputation around Glasgow that I don't need to work in that venue anymore :D Thanks very much for the content by the way. I have been enjoying your attitude and experience based videos. Keep it up man!
I usually can get to venues and they have their stuff there so I can go!!! I keep direct boxes and extra cables on me. I mostly record the bands to give them a clip of how they sounded during their performance which leads me to doing a live recording for them. I've had some good and not so god experiences with live sound but I still do it. A lot of times the people that do not know what they're doing get these gigs and then when a Pro is hired they give us the crazy treatment lol. I try to do the best I can communication so I can get hired again!!!!!!
lol. i guess going by this, it really makes sense why i dropped out of the profession pretty much right after my apprenticeships, even then pretty much none of these conditions where ever present, haha (sorry, great video, i guess i'm just being frustrated about it yet again)
I have a few tips for new FOH/Monitor engineers. 1. Grab your self a couple rolls of GOOD gaffe tape, couple different colours of spike tape. 2. Have an assortment of adaptors. XLR M and F to 1/4", RCA to 1/4" or XLR (with the correct pins jumped), I would also have F to F NL4 couplers, maybe even NL8. I also travelled with a bunch of patch cables. 4. Cable tester, you can get great testers that will test anything to anything. I've had the same one for almost 20 years. 5. Learn to solder and now adays terminate Cat5/6. 6. Smaart, OpenSoundMeter or any other software/hardware are great tools but don't blindly follow them, use your ears. 7. Protect your hearing, get custom moulded ear plugs. The ones I use have replaceable filters -9, -15 or completely closed for -35dB.
Might I add H&S procedures as well.
I had to walk out of some venues because they lacked any common sense when it came to safety for the people who work at the venue or worse for the public!
I.e. I was once asked to replace speakers that were hanging above an auditorium in the upper circle. These speakers weighed 35kg and were hanging on a scaff bar. I was expected to unhook, and lift that speaker by myself without a safety line attached to it. When I asked for said safety line, I was told I didn’t need it!
I immediately said not going to do it unless I have someone else with me and a safety line attached to it.
They threatened my employment and so I simply said OK, walked out, and never looked back.
Absolutely the right thing to do - if they're skirting the rules on this one, what else are they ignoring? "H&S law is written in the blood of the tech who came before you"
I have a venue that I'm winding down working at after this year which is almost everything you said to avoid, it is such a grass-roots DIY location that I only ever get paid by promoters directly and half the people who do sound there are volunteers. Speakers are no-name and busted with no headroom at all - everything is always broken - microphones look like they've survived the apocalypse etc. I've had some absolutely mega gigs there and probably am one of only a couple of people who can consistently get it sounding passable but after working in a professional atmosphere at other clubs in the city I always come back grimacing at the state of it. Its one of those places that was so easy to get into and get trusted to work solo that it allowed me to get on my feet - but now I'm getting paid almost 2x more in some of my other positions it's totally unsustainable to keep coming back.
I don’t know u and sorry in advance for asking this…How much is payed a young sound guy in your city? In average of course
@@giuseppegiannetto8362 honestly in the UK it varies incredibly heavily from place to place, my rates as a solo venue guy are anywhere from £85-165 per night depending on the venue, job etc. I'd look to whatever local union representation you have (if that exists) as your bottom baseline in order to not do yourself and other engineers a disservice by devaluing your work.
Other red flags I have come across:
Late get ins - if soundchecks aren’t due to start until 5pm, get out. Places like this usually pay terribly and it’ll be a four band bill with doors at 7pm. This leaves no room for troubleshooting or time for food before the first band. For small venues, I’ll always ask for a 2pm get in and a 3pm soundcheck.
House backline - There is no situation imo where the sound engineer should be involved in setting up or packing up a drum kit. If venue management want there to be house kit, that is their responsibility.
Sounds like the first sound company I worked for. Damn, literally all the points you made!
I love the video but i do have some important notes.
I work in a lot of non profit mostly volunteer run venues, this is mostly also as a volunteer.
These venues usually dont have the money for nice namebrand stuff. They will have weird branded PA systems and old monitors. But usually, this works well! Somethimes you just got to understand that not every place gets subsudies or has the revenue to support a great system.
Its important to know what the stuff is that a venue has. For example: I mixed in a basement venue yesterday with EV tops and subs from the 90s. They sound not so great. but with with a bit of system EQ and prelistening to the room i was able to make a clear balanced mix in the room.
Just dont expect the newest and the best stuff from small/low budget venues and learn how to make sub-par PA systems sound better
If you're doing non-profit, voluntary work then that's good experience if you're relatively "green" and the expectation should be put relativity low because the non-profit organization should be happy they got somebody who knows what an eq is in the first place but still, anybody with a drop off professionalism are going to do their best and use it as a learning experience.
In my opinion; Once you've made live mixing your bread and butter, voluntary work should be off the table, leave that to those that need experience.
(Also; judging the PA for being a brand you don't usually work with and turn down the gig for it sounds like a rash judgement, I agree. "Oh no, this PA is a.... JBL? Never heard of it (not one mentioned here but a well known brand)." At least take a quick listen if the system already is rigged up and ready to go 🤷🏻♂️)
When ever I see your video it makes me happy ❤❤❤
Aw well that's very nice to hear ❤️ thank you
You cannot argue with any of the points raised here. This is the formula for help[ing any engineer to deliver their best.
I do think though that we have to stand back for a minute when we are talking about conditions and what is unacceptable. I have in the last few years become more involved with some bar operations and got to know bar staff and seeing what they are required to do during work. This is something to consider when we are talking about our plight of having to un tangle a badly rolled up cable or use a Behiringer copy of a 58. Ive never had to scrub stale alcohol off a floor of clean up vomit so in that context being forced to use an X32 once in a while isn't really that bad.
Eres un privilegiado. Un enfoque bueno sería, por ejemplo, como sacar ventajas laborales u oportunidades de crecimiento diseñando metodologías, dinámicas de trabajo y sistemas de sonido en Venues poco aptas. Pero no, tu perspectiva es poco realista y demuestra que has trabajado poco en tu vida. Gracias por tu trabajo en redes. ;)
I’ve worked at a couple venues in Dubai recently where these kinds of bad practices are really prevalent. Communication and finances are especially poor
Absolutely true… this kind of things can ruin your reputation as a sound engineer
i always keep spare rolls of gaffa tape with me as done gigs where there was no gaffa tape at the venue , saying about PA i just did a gig recently where the venue had for foh speakers a pair of old 12 inch 240 watt TOA speakers no subs , a 32 channel soundcraft LX7 ,and a mix of behringer ,soundlab and EV mics and i had to mix a bon jovi tribute band with this system and i must admit it was incredibly stressful
Good video many thanks, one thought which I don’t think is covered taking down the set at the end of the performance ie putting everything back where it belongs also folding up the cables correctly so the next sound engineer doesn’t have to untangle cables.
Man, the first venue I worked in had a lot of this. No name brand monitors, unreliable cables, and dodgy stands. They went up to £14 ph this year! The minimum around Glasgow is £15. I think another red flag is the constant change in what's required of you. They keep adding more and more, while they expect a discount on your work. I am just grateful that I have started to get a good reputation around Glasgow that I don't need to work in that venue anymore :D
Thanks very much for the content by the way. I have been enjoying your attitude and experience based videos. Keep it up man!
I usually can get to venues and they have their stuff there so I can go!!! I keep direct boxes and extra cables on me. I mostly record the bands to give them a clip of how they sounded during their performance which leads me to doing a live recording for them. I've had some good and not so god experiences with live sound but I still do it. A lot of times the people that do not know what they're doing get these gigs and then when a Pro is hired they give us the crazy treatment lol. I try to do the best I can communication so I can get hired again!!!!!!
Good info man!
lol. i guess going by this, it really makes sense why i dropped out of the profession pretty much right after my apprenticeships, even then pretty much none of these conditions where ever present, haha (sorry, great video, i guess i'm just being frustrated about it yet again)
I feel relieved, my partner and I realised just how f’ing organised we are!
I have retired! 40+ years is enough!
You just described 90% of the clubs in Italy 😂
I think probably everywhere to be fair haha
I came here to say the same thing ahah
This is basically Nashville.
Any place using a Behringer Wing console for starters.