May Issue - FOH Online

“ How do I get into the big time?” Was a
question that was recently asked of
me. How indeed? Although I understand
the person’s desire for success, and
seem to comprehend what is meant by “the
big time,” I seriously have no absolute viable
solution to the query. The good news is that
for any neophyte seeking a job in the audio
business there are many available avenues
to “The big time.” The bad news, on the other
hand, is that once you arrive at your destination
it may not seem as glossy as “the big
time” you once expected. Therefore, I must
say that it’s not as much the destination as
it is the journey, because if one keeps seeking
the big gig just around the corner, then
it becomes increasingly difficult to see that
they may have finally arrived.
Most every live engineer I know is either
a musician (of varying degrees) or a fan that
wants to be as close as possible to the music
they enjoy. Mixing a band, whether it be the
front of house or monitor position, gives any
engineer the enviable status of being part of
the show. Just like the musician on stage, the
engineer is there at that one singular moment
in time, reveling in the glory and excitement
of the live performance. You, as the engineer,
are capable of making or breaking the show
and yet the cheers are never really for you.
Even though you may be appreciated for your
talent you are never called back for an encore
performance to once again show off your
brilliant usage of effects or your mastery of
compression and noise gates. No. Your amazing
command of preamps and equalization
will never be adored or cherished in the same
way as the guitarist’s every lick, the vocalist’s
soulful turn of a phrase or the drummer’s remarkable
groove. No audience will ever show
their appreciation for the sublime way in
which you rang out the system or so perfectly
set the delay stacks. This is it, you have fi nally
36
FOH-At-Large
Better Heard
a n d N o t S e e n
COMING
NEXT
MONTH...
FOH Interview
We sit down with Bob
Seger’s front man for a
page-turning interview.
Installs
Fresh-water, salt-water
and desert — we examine
the Pearl, the new ultravenue
at the Palms
Casino.
MAY 2007
How do you get big if it’s your job to be transparent?
arrived at the big time.
That’s right, you
are toiling, unnoticed
in the dark, just as you
did in the “small time.”
Nothing has changed
except that now that
you have reached “the
big time” your coffers
are being filled with
gold and jewels instead
of the meager
pittance you were receiving
in “the small
time.” Yes, and you finally
have a bunk on
the bus. This is it!
But while I am able
to describe “the big
time” I have as yet to explain
how to get there.
There is, of course, the
standard method such
as going to school and
learning how to be a
studio engineer. After
four years you graduate
and get a job in
a studio as an intern
making nothing as you
learn how to be a gofer.
Realizing that everyone
ahead of you will have
to die before you get a
chance to engineer you
take a job in a small
club doing live sound
for the local bands that
pass through. While the
money isn’t great you
are at least working at
doing something you enjoy and before you
know it you’re hooked. Pretty soon your reputation
grows and the local band you’ve been
working with gets a record deal and invites
you to tour with them — you’re on your way.
In a parallel universe somewhere, some
young bright kid, with dreams of being a famous
musician, graduates high school and
joins a band. The band is great and they are
on their way, but unfortunately while they
wait for the big deal to come through the kid
needs to make a little cash to pay the rent, so
he takes an entry-level job with a local sound
company. He catches on quickly and before
long he’s mixing small shows. One thing
leads to another and the shows get better,
the bands get bigger and the next thing he
knows his band has broken up and he is mixing
for a living in “the big time.”
No matter the scenario, most live engineers
learn their trade by working in a
club, a sound company or for a band, and
more likely than not it’s a learn as you
go situation. Gain structure, frequencies,
Ohm’s law, delays, routing, signal flow, sol-
Put your ego aside and let the sound pass through you.
www.fohonline.com
BY BAKERLEE
dering and truck driving are all important
skills that one must master to get to “the
big time.” But, Grasshopper, the most important
thing one needs to know and master
if they are to make it to “the big time”
is how to be invisible. Unlike the band on
stage that needs to exude personality and
to be bigger than life, the engineer needs
to be transparent. His job is to open all the
channels (literally and figuratively) and allow
the energy to flow. Being transparent
he lets the power of the performance pass
through him and into the room without
any distraction for the listener.
Performers, such as actors and musicians,
need to make a statement with their
personalities and are required to communicate
with an audience by creating bigger
than life characters that can dominate a
stage or screen. Even a good lighting show
needs personality, and the LD will still elicit
“Oohs” and “Ahhs” even if only mediocre at
best. Audio, on the other hand, is best felt
and not heard (old Zen audio saying). Any
audience, whether it is a theatre or concert
crowd expects the sound to be perfect, and
the only time they notice the engineer is
when there are errant frequencies, feedback
or lack of clarity in the mix. Once you
have mastered the physics of sound then it
is time to become invisible and translucent,
put your ego aside and let the sound pass
through you. Stop mixing and be one with
the performance. Do not color the sound
with what you think the sound should be,
but instead allow the sound to dictate to
you its own essence and then become invisible
as the perfect sound passes through
you to be consumed by a blissful audience.
By quieting the inner voice, shutting down
the ego and becoming invisible you will not
ever need to seek “the big time ever again
as you realize that “the big time” is within
you, and not a destination to be sought
after. Remember, Grasshopper, be invisible
— and when you no longer seek it “the big
time” will find you.
Make yourself visible to Baker at
blee@fohonline.com.