Sound challenges for a live stream event

Ashish Saksena , owner and chief sound engineer for Purple Haze Studios says that the biggest challenge isn ’ t really technical , but it ’ s the absence of a crowd from live events . Speaking on the technical aspect , Saksena added : “ The setup is almost the same except there is no PA and monitoring is mostly either on headphones or studio monitors . The engineer may not be in the same room as the band so a robust communication setup is very important . You need to provide separate mix feeds for your light and graphics engineers , since there is no PA , they ' ll need a correct representation of the band mix .

Sound . com ’ s audio engineer Mark Thomas said that the biggest challenge was the lack of default stereo audio and HD video support on most streaming platforms . Speaking about the changes made in his workflow , Thomas added : “ While most of our setup has remained the same till the mixing engineer comes in , the systems part has had a complete overhaul since there is no PA involved anymore . Having a great Internet connection is paramount now if you want to stream to multiple platforms or stream HD video with a backup stream option .”

Sound . com ’ s founder Warren D ’ Souza doesn ’ t see any new challenges in this situation and believes that as long as you can align your entire team to the change , things will be smooth .

lockdown researching about live event execution . Since then , things have sailed smoothly .

The Importance of the video encoder

D ’ Souza feels that it ’ s very important to purchase broadcast standard gear ( with OBS being the exception as an open-source cross-platform recording and streaming platform ). According to Saksena , maintaining broadcast levels is key to a good live stream , you have to adhere to broadcast levels depending on the streaming format , live streams could also have a big amount of latency between audio and video , so you have to watch out for that . Thomas believes that video encoders are essential as most live streams provide low quality output . Speaking about hardware , he said , “ I tend to prefer Blackmagic because they are well built devices that work flawlessly .”

Pro Tips

D ’ Souza opines that a strong foundation of IT , AV Tech & Event Tech will go a long way . It will also be helpful to back everything up including power , internet and AV gear . Saksena suggests sticking with in-ear monitors and using drum shields . A general “ studio-mixing ” approach also goes a long way . Thomas emphasizes on the importance of controlling the audio signal chain from the mic to the final stream encoder . He also insists on a proper soundcheck before going live .

Ashish Saksena

Mark Thomas

Adapting to the new world order

D ’ Souza ’ s innate interest in technology and computers helped him embrace Live Virtual Event technology with ease . Saksena on the other hand , just approached it as a studio recording session and went ahead with the streams . He also said that making the artist comfortable with the new setup was critical . Thomas ’ team already had all the equipment needed for a live stream and they spent the first few months of the

What does the future hold ?

As the active caseload in India is reducing , things are slowly coming back to normal . However , pre COVID “ normal ” will still have a long way to go . Corporates , weddings , and other small sound related shows will bounce back first . Large scale events will be the last to come back . sound related shows will bounce back first . Large scale events will be the last to come back .

Warren D ' Souza

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