Hey guys BigNate84 here
And welcome to my video series about live sound
This is the introduction video
So you've come to the right place if you're just starting out
If you're a beginner, an amateure sound guy
This video is designed for you and this whole series is designed for you
To give you some helpful information
Now from my experience most people kind of fall into live sound
Maybe youíre the most tech savvy person in your house of worship
Or your organization or theatre group or whatever it is
And you muster up the courage to get behind the soundboard
And you do it once and it kind of goes ok
So people ask you to do it again and you do it again
And it kind of goes ok
And then before you know it you are the live sound guy, right?
And maybe you donít have any formal training
And itís just kind of a hobby that youíve picked up
Basically Iím here to help you out
If youíve done it for a while and maybe you donít know as much as youíd like to know
Or maybe youíve never done it before and youíre brand new to doing live sound
This video series is designed for you
Some of the topics Iíll be covering are
Mixing, amplification, speakers, microphones, DIís
Weíre going to get into what a bus is, what a sub-mix is
The difference between analog and digital audio
Wireless technology and much more
Thatís kind of a broad overview
A thirty thousand foot view of some of the topics that Iíll be covering here
And recently I have been getting tons of questions about live sound
From different users on YouTube and Google+ and Facebook
People are just curious about it and thereís a lot of beginners out there that just donít
know where to start
So Iím hoping to break down all this information into nice little sound bites
So that you can pick and choose what you want to learn
Or you can sit back and watch all the videos back to back
And give you a broad overview of basic theory behind doing live sound
And some practical, helpful advice for doing sound in the real world
Because itís one thing to tell you how to set levels, how to set up your gain structure
But then itís another thing to actually do it in the real world
And get a really good sound check out of your musicians
So weíre going to be talking about some of the dificulties
That you might be having as a live sound guy
And how to get your performers or musicians on the same page as you
And how to get on the same page as your performers or musicians
Thatís going to be invaluable if you are a live sound guy and you donít play an instrument
I would definitely encourage you to pick up and instrument
Start singing, anything
I think itís really important for a live sound person to at least know the basics
Of what it takes to be a musician and to perform live in front of people
Thatíll help you behind the mixing console
You know youíve probably heard it said before that the sound person is like the extra member
in the band
And thereís a lot of truth in that
There are a lot of artistic things you can do with the mix to compliment the band
Thereís also some things that if you donít do right you can work against the band
So itís good to have an understanding of music
Basic song structure and just what it takes to be a musician
So that you can relate to the musicians when youíre mixing
One of the other things that I want to stress, very important
Listening, critical listening and analytical listening
Your ears are the most important thing about you if youíre a sound guy
You really need to hone your skills and practice listening to the sounds youíre hearing
Listening to how the sounds interact in the room that you happen to be in
And all this is really going to play a huge role in your success as a live sound guy
I just canít emphasize that enough, just listening, it sounds so basic
But itís something you really have to work at, and practice at, to become better at
Just like anything else in life
Now let me tell you a little bit about myself
Because youíre probably thinking, whoís this guy?
Whoís this guy BigNate84?
What does he know?
Well I started doing sound in about, give or take, around 2000, give or take a year
or two
I had a band, actually a got a picture of them right here
This was my band, yeah we were really rebels without a cause
We went by the name Unauthorized Use
Anyway those are my buddies Chris, Joe and Keith
And I was the guy, I played bass, I was the guy that actually set up the mixer
And I just kind of fell into it
And, you know, trial and error, just figured things out the hard way
Then I decided that I wanted to make sound my profession
So I went off to the University of Massachusetts, Lowell
And started in the Sound Recording Technology program
So I have a bachelors degree in sound recording technology
I have always been a guitar player and bass player on the side
So I kind of have that going for me which is I think also really important
Then after school I worked as a stagehand in 2005 and 2006
And I worked at some pretty large scale productions
I worked backstage at the Goo Goo Dolls, Dave Matthews Band
What were some of the other ones?
Tom Petty, Def Lepard, Nine Inch Nails, Steely Dan, John Mayer
So I got a lot of experience as a stagehand and seeing how people set up sound systems
in the real world
In a large venue, so that was a really good experience
After that I got a few professional gigs here and there as a front of house engineer
And for those of you that donít know
A live sound guy may also be considered a front of house engineer
Or FOH, if you ever see that abbreviation anywhere
Just know that FOH stands for front of house
And thatís basically where the mixer will set-up and mix from
Because thatís the sweet spot, right in the front of house
Usually itís in the center
Currently I work as a CAD engineer for an AV company
So I design the systems, commercial systems that we install
And thatís kinda been my professional gig for the past few years
But this whole time since 2000 Iíve been involved with doing live sound in some capacity
On a voluntary basis at my local church
Hereís my old backstage pass
Back when I worked there it was the Tweeter Center
Before that it was Great Woods
I believe itís called the Comcast Center now
But itís basically the big amphitheatre thatís outdoors in Mansfield, Massachusetts
And for those of you that donít know most people just say
Itís close enough to Boston, they just call it Boston
But technically itís in Mansfield
So that was my old backstage pass
This got me into a lot of shows backstage, had a lot of fun, learned a lot
And yeah so that was cool
Anyway before I close out this video I figured Iíd share with you some great resources
If youíre chomping at the bit and you just want to learn as much as you can about live
sound
I have got some great books for you
I will start with ìThe Art of Recordingî by William Moylan
This is a great resource right here
Actually William Moylan was one of my professors at UMass Lowell
He wrote this book and it is a great resource
Next weíve got ìAcoustics and Psychoacousticsî by David M. Howard and James Angus
So thatís this guy right here ìAcoustics and Psychoacousticsî
Now if youíre wondering what the difference is
So acoustics is how sound actually is in reality
And psychoacoustics is how humans perceive sound to be
There is a difference, I donít know if youíve thought about that or not it might have just
blown your mind
Next weíve got ìThe Assistant Engineers Handbookî
Oh yeah, and this one is by Tim Crich I probably should mention that too
This is a lot of info Iím throwing at you I donít expect you to go out and buy all
these
But maybe youíll see something that catches your eye
This next one is ìAudio in Mediaî by Stanely Alten
Some good stuff there
Oh and this is like the Bible for live sound guys
This is ìSound Reinforcementî itís a Yamaha book
Itís written by Gary Davis and Ralph Jones
This stuff is pretty technical but if youíre a live sound guy
Iíd say out of all these books if you could have one
This is probably the one you should pick up and be familiar with
And lets see the last recommendation I got is ìThe Microphone Bookî by John Eargle
Actually I believe I met John Eargle at the Audio Engineering Society convention
AES 2006, with best wishes John Eargle
Yeah he even signed that for me I donít know if you can see that
I think Itís probably too bright
The purpose of this video like I said before is to teach beginners live sound
In kind of a more laid back comfortable atmosphere
I just want to create this video series basically designed for people that donít know anything
I donít want you to be intimidated by it there is a lot of technology a lot of things
you can learn
But I am just hoping that, since thereís not a lot of videos on this topic out there
on YouTube
Iím hoping this can help out a lot of people
And like I said before I specialize in making How-To videos
Itís kind of a hobby of mine, itís kind of a small business also
So come, bring your questions, I will do my best to answer them
And I hope you have enjoyed this video and stay tuned for the next one