12 Essential Apps For Live Audio Techs (You Need To Know These)

Video Transcript

There's so much software out there. What is critical to your career as a live audio engineer? What should you learn? What should you have? Which one should you use? Well, today I'm going to share with you the 12 buckets, a software that I use that helped me prepare for shows, get results on shows, clean up audio.

Anything that can make anything sound better for a show I'm going to share with you today. So we're going to have 12 audio buckets today, and then I'll give you the specific applications within those buckets that I use. I'm not saying that there's other software out there that can do it just as well.

I'm just going to share you with my story, my experience of what I use. But w why I want you to take away from today is that you should have at least something in each of these 12 buckets that could help you make things sound better on your shows. Cause you want things to sound great. You want to get called back.

You want to get more gigs. So having and being fluent with all this software is really helpful to you and your career.

Something else I think would be really helpful to you is my audio math survival spreadsheet. I want you to be able to stop guessing when you're designing and taking measurements in the field.

You do that with math. But instead of having to look up all these different calculations, all of the place, I've compiled them for you all right here. Being able to figure out phase delay. So that helps you align mains in subs. If you want to understand decibels a little bit better, you can put this in here and start to compare those numbers.

Like a starting value of 10 to 20. That's a doubling. So that's a six DB change when we're talking about voltage. Anyway, it's got a whole bunch of stuff in here. I hope you check it out, help you plan wineries, better help you make better sounding summaries. Check that slash audio tool kit.

I hope you will snag that and you will enjoy it. Okay. Let's jump right into the 12 essential audio app buckets that you've got to have to make sure your shows sound.

First up out of our 12 buckets of audio apps that you absolutely got to have is our two channel audio analyzer right here. I have opened sound meter. It has an open source pay what you want piece of software that you could download today and full functionality and start getting results. You can capture audio data, like you see here, be able to see graphs and make decisions about what's going on with the sound system and get meaningful results.

Quickly another software that's very popular was called smart by rational acoustics. I own and use it as well as fantastic. But if you're a beginner or just starting out, I think open sound meter, not only from a cost perspective, but just a simplicity perspective is a fantastic place to start. So that's number one.

On deck, we have an loudness meter. This is the Eulene loudness meaner meter two, and it is available as a free version with a more limited parameters that you could adjust. I have the pro version here. I think it's 60 bucks. But what a loudness meter helps you do is to measure the program, audio loudness of your broadcast mix.

And that is critically important to make sure you're out the right level for any standard that you're making it for for a radio is going to YouTube. Is this a Facebook live? It's just a plain old recording. You need to make sure your levels are staying in check. So make sure it's snag this one. It monitors the input of a source.

So what it cannot do, if you can open up a Spotify right now and start playing music, it's not be. We need to set up an inputs. So set up the digital output of your console in your computer hostess plugin. Um, as the standalone app, it can also run in your doll. And so you have other metering plugins running as well.

You can also do a really handy thing where you click here import a file, and it will show you this graph here and see how you did. So take a recent recording of yours, upload it in here and see if you stay to the certain loudness standard that you're going after as a Eulene loudness meter, download that and get the free version.

Number three piece of software you got to have is a console file editor. You don't always have the opportunity to sit in front of a desk and make decisions and you have to build ahead of time. I really like wrapping my head around my routing scheme. My console file flow from working on one. That's a familiar with I'm not familiar with.

So make sure and download that right. You have edit. I was just on a M 32 today. So it was all my brain. I also have the CLL editor since I'm on the Yamaha cl five C3, a whole lot, also the QL. So being able to open up the software plan a file ahead of time, get used to it. It's critical to make sure you are prepared for the shows that you're on.

Number four is a music catalog and DJ playback software. You're not often specked as the DJ on a show, but sometimes if you're the audio human, you're expected to be able to pull out songs out of your back pocket. So you need a software service like Spotify or apple music or title to be able to make that.

My go-to is Spotify. It's what I pay for and use and able to have access to songs on the fly and make it happen. Of course, you've got to be careful if you're streaming somewhere and make sure what you have is royalty free. If it's going out to the whole world, uh, you need to talk with your production manager about that, but if you just need walking music and that kind of stuff, I use Spotify.

And be able to make playlists for my clients and make sure that the vibe is set. Well, I also have my reference playlist here, which is also available in my audio toolkit and neither the songs that I have in play through a system that I know really well that I like to reference and make sure my system is doing what.

number five, we have audio prediction side. To make sure our sound system is going to do what we want before we show up to the show. We need to be able to have good results in predictions. So we're not showing up empty handed and guessing when we're onsite, when the rigors are already waiting on us to get a PA in the air.

I think a fantastic app to learn it as map three. This is by micro sound and only has Meyer products. But I think it's the best designed one out of any manufacturer out there. It's just great to learn on you. Get the built-in processor so you can mess with that. You can put microphones out there and get measurements.

You can have all sorts of different kinds of PA's different size. This latest version, at least on my end. One is a little bit buggy, but I can get over it. Uh, before this was map XT know the 2d version. Now we have mapped 3d. I recommend that you also learn at least ease, focus three. It is PC only. So I'm running it on parallels, which is how I can run windows on a Mac machine.

And so this is a design I did for a recent graduation that I ran sound for last week. You're just seeing here the PA, right. But you're able to design. Uh, system in east focus three and it used this files called G L L's they're called system definition, files and manufacturers like QSC, our CF I think Evie, it just kind of a colon.

That you can put speakers in and take data and then shove it into the software. And so you can mix and match different manufacturer types. There's some things that are bummers about it, that you can only get one Okta resolution on the waiting, but all in all, it's still can do a whole lot for you and give you a great.

In the field, uh, and get hope, make sure you're prepared for the shows that you showing up for. So that's map 3d and ease focus three, or the two prediction softwares I'm using the most. I would also recommend that if you're in an neck of the woods where there's a certain manufacturer, that's very popular.

Let's say it's ELA acoustics, definitely learn sound vision. Or if you are in a, in a place that uses DNBi rigs a lot, make sure unlearn array count.

I think that's their software name anyway. So just do your research and if a certain sound company around you uses a specific brand a lot, got to know that, but I think the GAF the ground, please learn map 3d and ease focus. Three. You'll get a lot of mileage out of those.

number six. Is there audio cue playback system right here? I have Farago by rogue amoeba software. Another popular one is Q lab. So what this does for you is I'm able to load a bunch of audio files in and I can map them to my keyboard, or I can put them in list mode is simply play them. Because sometimes you have a bunch of or voice of God announcements like an allies, gentlemen, welcome John, Ms.

John Smith to the stage or there's music bumpers. So just a bunch of cues. You have them all in order. So you're not having to drag them into iTunes, scrubbed around and search around to hit play. You can have him right here. Set the in and out points set the levels, put note beside them. This is the cue numbers I have for this specific show that I'm on tomorrow.

So I'm able to hit enter and just simply moved on the list and make it easy on myself for audio playback that again. That's Farago by rogue amoeba software. You can also check out.

number seven is a multi-track recording software. Being able to take the digital out of your contract. Some direct outs, maybe directly off the preamp on your stay drag, whatever patch, this voluntary multi-track recorder, and be able to have kick snare hat, everything coming in that makes it easy to be able to have virtual soundcheck later.

So you can pipe it right back. End right back out into your console. This is also great. If you want to practice mixing, being able to multi-track your show. Get back at home on headphones or in your own studio at home and slow down and practice EEQ practice compression making stuff. Sound good. Then you'll be able to translate the results next time.

You're on a live show and make it sound even. It's also great to have this. If you're recording voiceovers, especially if we're on corporate shows, you might have talent show up last minute. And just like we talk about audio cue playback software, and Farago, you need to have voiceovers and voice of God announcements to play.

So I've been asked last minute to, Hey, go, go back to. You know, hotel room, the client set up a recording, rig records in voiceovers, throw it in an audio editor, you know, slice it up, make it sound good, and have it ready for the show that night. And so this is Reaper. It's what I use at 60 LRS or personal license.

I think it's two 60 for a commercial license. You can also use something like audacity that's free as well. Anything that can record multi-track audio into it, it's going to work logic, Cubase reason. All of them will do.

Number eight is an audio editor. One I didn't mention earlier was waves tracks live that is strictly a audio recording software, the export out the stems and drag it into an editor that can actually make trims and fades, adjust volumes, apply effects, that type of thing. So again, that's Reaper for me. So you can have a separate recording software.

Some people like specific ones, cause they're ultra stable. I think Reaper is, or they might be comfortable with something else and faster when they're editing and actually mixing and getting. Flow. I know logic is becoming very popular these days. If you have a Mac, so anything is going to work, they all sound great.

It's up to you in your own specific workflow. Just make sure you can edit audio and get it spit back out on a show for something that's recorded.

number nine is audio coordination software here. I've got wireless workbench by. Sure. So I'm able to import all these frequencies or get them on the network, bring over here and run some calculations on them. Here are my primary frequencies. I need to make sure that the scans I do in the area or the frequencies of chosen or calculated all match up and make sense.

So this helps me make sure I'm not harming myself in my wireless, making sure my frequency is gonna stay well. It helps me monitor. I'm not attached to the network now, so I can't see it. But if I had all these RF units on my network, I'd be able to see their levels, their battery, their transmitter status, all sorts of things.

So getting comfortable with this type of software is wonderful. I understand there's more manufacturers out there besides tshirt or Sennheiser there's AKG. There's Electrosonics, all of them have their own proprietary software that they use with those products. But you can also import stuff that's outside of the sure.

Product range with this software. Uh, I'm not sure if you can monitor it or not, but you can. Import the device and the band, and it will give you a frequency that you can dish out to that device. So this is what I use all the time since I'm using sure. Wireless, usually the UL XD or the accident series.

It's great stuff to make sure get wireless workbench by.

number 10 as a patch sheet editor. So I've got Google sheets here. You can use Excel, you can use notion you can use air table, whatever you want. Just make sure you have an easy way to be able to chart out your IO. And then. Easily share it with someone else. So you've, you're an, a one on a show, usually worried about the PA making sure outputs are there B you may be responsible for working with the band and planning all of it.

And you have an 80 show up. They're going to be patching the stage for you. So being able to have an easy to read, well, laid out IO. It is key to make that happen. So this is the show I'm on tomorrow. These are the sources. I have this template for the X 32 and 32 is also available in my audio [email protected] slash audio toolkit.

And you can put that to work for you. Yeah. So it feels obvious. Just be able to have this, the backup of the napkin. Doesn't always working. It's a little bit more complicated. So having a easy to read pet sheet, it makes everyone's lives easier. It makes you work.

lastly is getting comfortable with some sort of audio over IP and control software. For some reason, Dante controller. For me right now, but this is Dante virtual sound card. This makes my computer able to use this audio output and spit it out. If I'm on the network over to a Dante network, which means to have audio over the internet protocol, which is super cool.

Let's be capture or playback audio to any other device on the network. There's a VB, there's some. Maddie, you know, just being able to get comfortable with this type of workflow is really helpful. I wish I could show you Don take control of the day. It's not launching. I gotta probably reinstall it, but anyway, it's it helps me route audio where I need it in the digital audio domain, Dante ordinate, the who makes Dante has levels of certifications.

You can get down to level one, two and three they're really well done. I highly recommend you take those courses and get more familiar with audio over.

All right. Here's number 12, our bonus round here's, here's a lightening round of five other, a little bit more niche pieces of software, but I think it would still be helpful for you. First up is descript. It can do transcription. So sometimes the client asks, you know, the audio person. Hey, did you record that?

I need this turned around and be able to read it. So just script does much more than that. I use it as a video. For the video that you're watching right now. So here's a little bit of inception, but you're able to upload video or audio files and does a really good job of transcribing. You can add chapter markers, you can publish a webpage for review, just a really handy utility piece of software.

Next would be audio clean-up. As a de isotope RX nine, I can open an audio file. Listen to open up this recent track that I did for a client, and I can make edits here. This has a fantastic tools for cleanup. So move, removing mouth ticks for removing them background noise, maroon. So if you're recording the videos that we talked about earlier, I've had to do it in the middle of a Fort.

It was a Corolla. Yeah, it would bring in a. Uh, USB audio interface. I got power from my computer dragging a 58, have the guy hold a 58 in his driver's seat and read the videos from a laptop and make it all happen. So I was able to use this software and help clean things up and make it sound like. You can check that out.

I am an R or X advanced. You can get the basics version or get the plugins, but it's really helpful to make dialogue sound cleaner and better. You also need a audio system recorder. So what this does, I'm using audio hijack by rogue amoeba software. I can take the output of Spotify and record it. I don't do this to steal music.

But on the show I was on today, they needed a cue. I needed to load into Farago of a certain track, and I could only find it on Spotify. Couldn't find it anywhere else. So I played the output from Spotify, recorded it locally, then loaded it into Fraga. So I didn't have to rely on the internet or my Spotify connection and make sure that queue was hit on time.

last later lightening ground. We have sound source this. In your system tray, and you're able to host plugins. So here I have Eulene loudness too, and this is how I can cheat and have audio playing back and be able to have a plugin here. Also have the tonal balance control to plug in, which is slowly weighted RTA.

I have the good Hertz can opener studio plugin, which helps. Provide some cross feed on headphones and make sure it's not sounding too much like headphones. It kind of sounds like it's on speakers. I have headphone and room calibration software hosted here and have a dinner plugin. So it source I can do a few other bells and whistles, but the main thing I use it for is to host plugins here on my system output.

So I'm not having to switch around and do it in the doc or do without it, if I'm not within my doc.

That's all 12, make sure to download those taken for a test, spin almost every single one of them have a free trial version. What I will let you know below is what apps are you using that I've missed this? Is there a specific niche? One in one of those categories that I don't know about? Or am I missing a bucket, please let me know below, make sure and grab the audio toolkit.