[00:00:00] Intro
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Michael: Master these seven skill sets and become a bulletproof audio tech. And here's a little bit of a spoiler. Mixing is just one of them. This is true of your professional audio engineer, as well as a weekend warrior who does it for fun, or someone who just wants to serve and love their church on the weekends.
Uh, well, why in the world should you trust me? Well, I've spent over a decade in the industry working on shows for multiple US presidents, Fortune 500 companies, Martina McBride, Jewel, Oprah, Shaq, Drew Brees, Justin Timberlake, and more. So I've been in high pressure situations, big audiences, small audiences, corporates, bands, uh, church services, all over.
So I want to help see what I've seen in the field and bring it to you as someone who might be wanting to learn and develop themselves so they can get gigs, get paid. have fun on the weekends, or simply serve their church. This could really just be a job description for a new audio tech if you're a production company.
So I also want to share with you where I've been weak in the past and currently am weak, where I'm strong, of each of these seven buckets. Excited to share with you, let's jump right in.
I'm going to go through each of these 7 to give examples of what falls into each of these skill set buckets. It's not exhaustive, but will give you a good sense of what's to be included.
[00:01:16] Rock Solid Fundamentals
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Michael: First up is Rock Solid Fundamentals. And I want to start here because you really have to have this down pat before you can move on.
to anything else. We want to present the craft to something that's fun and you get to do the big exciting stuff, but you have to eat your broccoli first, as I like to say it. So that means understanding gain structure and signal flow really, really well. Starting with simple systems, maybe a small analog desk, moving up to a giant festival rig with maybe four consoles, a bunch of stage boxes, a broadcast truck, uh, maybe some remotes, all that, is really understood any gain structure and signal flow to make it work really well between all these different parties involved.
You need to have fast and systematic troubleshooting skills. When something goes wrong, can you have a keen sense of where to go first and know in what order to look at devices and get it up and back on quickly, especially when it's high pressure? Are you fluid with the decibel scale? So this is the most common way we measure changes in levels for audio.
So when I say, Hey, We need 6dB more. Do you know roughly that's about a doubling? Or maybe even 3dB less. That's about a 40 percent less. Um, so I'll work on memorizing a 1 percent or a 1dB change, which is about 12%. A 3dB change is 40%. 6dB is a 100 percent or doubling, and then 10dB is about a 3, a little over a 3x change.
And so being able to stack those all together and roughly convert back and forth is really helpful. And what I named off is for non power ratios. This is not talking about power specifically, just to be clear there. Uh, do you understand sound in acoustic, digital, and electrical domains? So in acoustics world, sound is measured in, uh, you know, the SPL or Pascal's that's measuring.
Pressure in the digital world, it's 1's and 0's, it's bits, so do you know sample rate, bit depth, Nyquist, all these different ways of talking about digital audio, and then electrical domains. So are you comfortable with the relationship between impedance and voltage and input sensitivities and all that goes into speakers and the inputs on a desk and mic preamp gain and all.
all that. Um, and then lastly, this is becoming more and more of a really key thing to have, but it's networking, networking fundamentals. And I'm not talking about talking to your friends. I'm, uh, I'm talking about routers and switches and IP addresses and subnet masks because more often than not on a show, unless it's kind of an older rig, you're going to have some type of digital transport going on, whether it's layer two or layer three.
And that's Dante Ravenna. AS67, there's AVB, so there's probably going to be a Cat5 cable of some sort connected and geared together, and it's all relying on networking standards to make that happen.
[00:04:03] Musical Mixing Abilities
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Michael: Number two is musical mixing abilities. So we think of this as the core attribute of a live audio engineer, and it is in a lot of ways.
But I think we over indexed here at the expense of investing in these other six skill sets. But if you are going to do it right, can you communicate well with an artist, performer, or band when you're building their mix, especially if they're new or setting up their monitor mix? Do you yourself have a musical background so you can effectively put together a mix and know the genre?
So it's going to sound different at an EDM festival versus a jazz festival. Can you talk with the pianist and know like, hey, Um, your left hand, how much are you putting your left hand down low and the bass player have room. Asking questions like this builds a rapport with each of these musicians and ultimately they're going to play better and trust you more and you get a better mix.
Are you comfortable in the front of house position, in a broadcast mixing position, as well as monitors, just to name three of those. Are you familiar with the current and legacy tools of the trade? So a lot of modern digital desks, even though they are very advanced, are oftentimes emulating legacy tools.
So you'll see in a desk, an LA2A compressor, which is an optical photocell, or there's an FET limiter, the 1176. So do you know, uh, basically, have you done the reading? Do you know the legacy tools that the industry has had for a long time? are you familiar with playback and all that entails from a band perspective if they're giving you tracks?
Or maybe you're in a corporate gig and you're playing back walk on stingers and voiceovers yourself. You need to be fluent with that. And then lastly, are you able to adapt and learn multiple consoles and multiple ecosystems? Because especially if you're freelance, you might be on a Yamaha DM 7 one day, then a, uh, Alan Heath Avantis the next day, and then an X32 the next day, and then a Digico the next day.
They all take in outputs, process them accordingly, and send them out, but they all have different ways of going about it. And last in the mixing category, Do you have the ability to evaluate your mix objectively once you're kind of settled into getting the cues happening? Can you kind of slow down for a minute and say like, hey, how is this actually sounding and translating to my audience?
Then also graciously receive feedback if someone's saying like, hey, I want this differently. Can you make it happen, actually translate that into results quickly?
[00:06:39] Sound System Sense
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Michael: All right, number three is having a keen sound system sense. So this is where I've been talking a lot on the YouTube channel about is sound system design and tuning.
So I want to share that this was actually one of my weakest points out of the seven just five years ago. I actually looked up my Amazon order for Bob McCarthy's book. If you don't know, it's the Green Bible. It's everything you really need to know, or at least build a sound system. solid foundation with, with sound system.
And I ordered that in 2019. It's 2024 right now. So I'll be, I've been able to learn a lot very quickly and get a lot of experience, uh, but. I want to encourage you with that, that, you know, I really didn't know or understand how line arrays worked five years ago, but now I'm teaching other people about it and deploying lines, line array systems all over.
Not that line arrays are the end all be all, but you can learn things quickly and dive in. Um, if you, you do the homework, you give yourself projects and get out in the field and make it happen. Because, uh, I really think this number 3 is important because even if you get the mix right, uh, you don't want to mix through mud covered glasses.
You can have the most amazing mix in your headphones before you turn the PA on, but if the PA doesn't sound good or there's a bunch of seats that aren't covered, it doesn't matter. So that's understanding how to verify the sound system once, before you get it in the air and know how and why it's working correctly.
Maybe if you're dealt a bad hand and don't have the right system, how can you make the best compromises possible and communicate. that accordingly to your production manager if you need to pivot or change. Can you tune a rig quickly without getting in the way of the other departments? That means you're fluent with your tuning software, like SMAART, you can make decisions quickly, and know how to prioritize where and how to move if you do run out of time.
And then lastly, can you evaluate and listen to the rig and know what to change, even if the data is telling you something a little bit differently? Can you trust your gut enough, know like, Hey, I know I'm hitting my target curve this way, or I feel like the alignment is feeling better right here and make tweaks so that it just feels better.
Because at the end of the day, no one's looking at your SMAART data. They're listening to the rig. Can you trust your gut enough to make those changes when necessary?
[00:08:47] Ninja RF, Comm, and Stage Tech
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Michael: Number four is being a ninja, RF, calm, and stage tech. So these are the other supporting skill sets that usually funnel up to a report to an A1.
They're not as widely celebrated. Um, I wouldn't even say celebrated, but practiced as much as an A1 because almost every show has an A1 mixing it. And then, um, on smaller shows, they're doing all these other roles, um, or they're either omitted. And then it's only on bigger shows where these roles start to get sliced up and have dedicated experts handling them.
So starting with RF, I mean, that means are you comfortable, uh, Thinking about RF coverage, knowing what antenna types there are, managing gain structure with multiple antennas into a combiner, being able to work with wireless workbench and coordinate a basic frequency plot. Are you comfortable also with Sennheiser gear as well as Shure?
With the Shure stuff, can you get them on a Dante network and can control them? When someone asks you to adjust, uh, mic pad, uh, mic offsets on the fly, do you know what that is? Can you mic up a presenter quickly? Can you switch between a lavalier and a headset and get good sound out of it? So this kind of bleeds into our, our mixing category.
So that's being comfortable with RF. And then with COM, there's RTS, which is the legacy analog system. Are you comfortable with that protocol? But are you comfortable with Reetle or maybe even ClearComm? So Reetle has Bolero, which is a wonderful wireless system. They have Panels and there's ClearComm, which has FreeSpeak, FreeSpeak 2 at the moment.
So there's even different, just like there's different mixing consoles that all do the same thing. There's different comm systems for the entire crew to talk. This last big show I was on had 70 people out of it and all of them had some type of way to communicate, whether that was with a panel or a wireless compaq.
And we had a dedicated com tech who did a killer job making sure the entire crew was balanced and even had the appropriate channels to talk across. So I, again, I wouldn't say you need to specialize in these other three roles, RF, com, or being a stage tech, but eventually they are specialized in highly paid roles that are really important on bigger shows.
And so going on to stage tech, that's just, are you really good at patching, stage management, understanding the flow of a show, transitioning bands, being able to appropriately place microphones in the right spot. And then this kind of all rolls up into the A2 role is what usually is in charge of this. If you don't have a separate RF comm and stage tech, and this is really true for corporate gigs.
So the A1s at front of house mixing the show. usually has a stream going out for broadcast as well. The A2 is micing up people. They are looking at RF. They're making sure calm is good. Uh, so on smaller to medium shows for that.
[00:11:42] Stellar Soft Skills
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Michael: Number five is stellar soft skills. So can you read people? Can you communicate what you need early on and in the right way?
order. Uh, I like to say, do you know when to hold them? Do you know when to fold them? Is something that's going wrong a big enough deal to elevate that up the chain to production, or can you solve it yourself and just take care of it? Can you lead a team and set priorities? If you're loading in a gig, sometimes you're given a bunch of hands and do you know, hey, I need two audio hands here.
Go get these speakers, bring them over here. Being able to delegate and go grab two more, do something else, while seeing your entire department's goals in mind.
Bottom line is understanding the order of operations and hierarchies at play. When you have a band that's maybe not the kindest that rolls up, can you still keep your cool and communicate clearly, hold firm boundaries, don't let them walk all over you, but just know that some people are divas and want to have it their way, and know when to say, hey, this is how it's going to be, and know when to acquiesce and figure all that out.
[00:12:41] Sharp Production Intuition
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Michael: Number six is having a sharp production intuition. Are you able to see your role within a larger scope of the show, of the service, of the theater production, wherever that is? Again, I was on a 60 70 person crew recently, and I was just the A2. That was one of many many roles on there. There were seven of us in just the audio department, but then there's the show callers, this entire video department, five cam ops.
And so knowing that, hey, I'm the A2, I've been asked to be a part of this crew to fulfill a very specific thing and do it really well, but I need to be aware of the entire show and its goals and how it organically ebbs and flows as it unfolds to make sure I'm doing that well. Again, if it's a small show, it ends up being all on you, but sometimes you don't have the right gear, the band was late, the doors open in 30 minutes, what are you going to do?
Can you move forward and not have a pity party, but still make sure there is a great show? Don't be a doormat. Have a spine. Do the absolute best you can with the hand that you are dealt. Are you there, uh, on a professional show? Are there 10 minutes before call time? You're looking good, dressed appropriately for the load in.
Do you have your multi tool or Gerber or Leatherman, whatever you want to use, and a Sharpie? There's, I think, the minimum tools you need to have to be able to execute a load in well and handy to have for a show. It's a bonus if you have a Pelican with other tools, an audio interface, maybe some other troubleshooting types, some networking gear, all that, but I would say at minimum, it's A sharpie, good production clothes, and a multi tool.
Are you familiar with comm etiquette? That's being able to talk on comm and know the appropriate language. So when you're talking to just the audio department, you should be like, hey, this is Michael on audio. For my A1 I was working with this last week. His name is Michael Jackson. We called him MJ So I just don't say start talking ask for something.
I need to state what line I'm on Who am I and who am I talking to? So that's just one of many different protocols you need to be aware of for calm etiquette Also not cluttering up the production line because the show caller needs to have as much open space to be able to direct the crew And so knowing where to talk and why and how to ask questions is really important Do you know how to advance an act?
So that's when a band or some type of performer, whether it's a magician, a, uh, just celebrity who's going to come on a talk show or a band is coming to your venue. They're going to give you a document called a rider, and you need to be able to read it. And they're like, Hey, this is what they're going to need.
Can we get it? Can you negotiate that with them? Can you make sure it's ready to go when they get there and be able to read all the fine print? Because oftentimes they'll put really funny things and requests and some of that, they'll direct it to you when it's hospitality related. And you say, hey, that might be the, uh, the person who booked you is going to take care of that.
And there's a separate hospitality team, but usually all that's packaged up in one document. And usually it's about two years old, not up to date, has the wrong stuff and you have to deal with it. So just know what you're getting yourself into. but being able to read those and negotiate accordingly. And then the last thing on production, can you load a truck?
That's just a really common thing you have to do of knowing how to push cases, knowing how to manage lows, how to stack stuff, what a half pack, third pack, what the safest way to double stack things. You don't have to learn how to drive a forklift, but know how to You know, watch out for your life when you're around a forklift.
Um, that's all wrapped up in production.
[00:16:10] Disciplined, Patient Business Mind
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Michael: Okay, lastly here, and then we'll wrap this thing up, is having a disciplined and patient business mind. Uh, so this may not be applicable if you're a church volunteer, or you just do this on the weekends for fun, but if you are a professional, you need to be able to set standards and consistently stick to them.
So that means having simple, clean accounting that gets you actionable, good data. Are you able to look at the clients that you're getting, and do you have any one client that's taking up too much of the pie? If you lost them, would you be up a creek? Having good accounting means you can pay your taxes in full, on time, so Uncle Sam isn't coming after you if you live in the U.
S. I know taxes work differently in other countries. For your, you are your own marketing department if you are a freelancer. So do you know how to appropriately set up a simple website where someone could get ahold of you? I have to say the number one marketing tip I've learned is that you are not the hero.
You should not be talking a bunch about yourself on the website, but explaining your customer's problems. So if you are an amazing Com Tech. Don't say, hey, I know all these com systems. Be able to articulate to them that, hey, isn't it frustrating that when your show caller is trying to get a hold of the crew, stuff is going down and it's unclear?
I make sure that every single person on the crew can hear you loud and clear, no matter what. That's a good value proposition, because you articulated their problem first. It's also being able to have the patience and discipline to invest in the right tools. I mean, there's no shortage of shiny objects out there for us to buy, but there's only so much room on my Pelican, and I only have so much budget.
Can you prioritize what tools are going to help you accomplish things the best and professionally? And more often than not, you're usually not able to bill for it. When I go tune a sound system, when I'm mixing a rig, I don't bill for my SMAART rig, but it helps me get better results out of that rig, and it's what I'm expected to do.
There's still plenty of A1s who don't tune, they just listen and EQ, and that's fine. As long as it still sounds good and gets the results, but for me, I feel like I do better after investing in these tool sets and it's worth it for me to own them. Are you comfortable with, again, just the boring junk of insurance, like our being able to manage that and have a policy so that you're covered?
Uh, do you know when to transition from a sole proprietorship to an LLC if that's advantage, uh, advantageous for you? And then lastly, do you have good vendor and client communication? Are you timely? Are you clear? Are you sending invoices at the right time? Are they accurate? Are you keeping track of your overtime when you need it?
Okay. That was just a giant advice buffet of stuff in these seven buckets. I'm going to go through them again. You need to have rock solid fundamentals, musical mixing abilities, a keen sound system sense. You need to be a ninja RF comm and stage tech. You need to have stellar soft skills, sharp production intuition, and a disciplined and patient.
Business, mind.
[00:19:10] What is your weakest trait you'd like to develop?
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Michael: Okay, so so what do you do now? What I would think about is what's your strongest trait? What's your lead foot? Are you just amazing behind the console? Are you great at tuning sound systems? That's that might be a future specialty for you. And then now what you think about what is your weakest trait?
What do you want to develop the most and what do you see weak? Are you not really good at accounting and all the business stuff? Are your soft skills lacking? You just have a hard time reading people and communicating. You That's what I would love for you to let me know below. What's your strongest trait and what's your weakest trait?
And also, what am I missing? What other things should belong in this seven part skill set? Uh, please let me know below. My name is Michael Curtis. Uh, I love helping everyday audio techs get amazing results out of their shows and services. Thank you so much for watching. Don't forget to comment below. See you next time.
