PHOTO BY : DANIEL MACADANGDANG / SEATTLE REFINED service was really what would like drew me in even further . I have never experienced customer service on that level before where the actual creators and the owner of the company , the owners of the company , would hand deliver their product to you .”
Having the right gear and a good relationship with the people who make it and get it to him is definitely important part of the job for Snipes , and being a monitor engineer is a busy and involved process . Helping to run a show night after night for tens of thousands of people can obviously bring a lot of pressure , but Snipes is able to carry himself with a confidence that he has the right tools and skills for a job like this , no matter how nervous he was at first . As monitor engineer , part of what he has to do is really get to know the artist ’ s voice , performance style , and music — which can be a lot of homework and take experience to develop .
“ You definitely have to spend some time with [ the artist ] and monitoring is a little different than front of house ,” Snipes explains . “ I ’ ve been privileged to be able to be on both sides , but my approach to doing front of house is trying to make it sound more like the record and monitors is more so about making
40 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
the artist comfortable . I ’ ve learned being a recording engineer first , monitors is very similar to a recording engineer in the sense that you want them to feel comfortable ; that ’ s the best way to get the best takes with artists in the studio — making them comfortable . So essentially , live is the same element . It ’ s just a matter of making him comfortable and hearing what he wants to hear , not necessarily making it sound like the record . What does he want ? Does he want a lot of reverb ? Does he want his voice above the tracks ? Does he want a great balance of that ? Does he want to sound dark , bright , all these different elements . So , knowing the language in which he speaks and how he wants to hear himself , but really studying what makes him comfortable on stage , that ’ s pretty much what the job is .”
There are several things related to Post Malone ’ s stage setup and performance style that Snipes has to account for in how work , and depending on the layout and size of the room they are playing . In each venue , Snipes will do a walkthrough , making a checklist of the venue features he must take into consideration .
“[ Post ] performs a lot in front of PAs , or the PA is literally surrounding him ,” Snipes says . “ In the case of this last tour , he was literally in the center of a massive PA . So it was just a matter of taking into consideration how that bleed was going to affect him on the stage .”
The PA setup can change depending on the room — different venues call for speakers to be hung differently , and bleed and delay times are components Snipes keeps in mind . Since Post Malone uses in-ear monitors , there are things that don ’ t change , but Snipes is responsible for keeping an eye on how the PA will interact with the performer onstage . While conditions can differ from venue to venue , Snipes says part of his job is creating a consistency in what Post hears onstage each night as well .
“ If it ’ s not broke , don ’ t , fix it ; it ’ s one of those things ,” Snipes says “ We ’ ll always want to try to improve areas where we can , but it ’ s a very thin line , in terms of improvement , and not really changing and staying consistent , but improving at the same time — it ’ s a very hard thing to do .”
On the note of consistency , Snipes admits that keeping everything consistent is the main challenge of working on such big shows night after night .
“ There are just so many different things that could go wrong ,” Snipes explains . “ The challenge is remembering every single thing to go through and verify and check , because there ’ s a lot of different things . And it ’ s not just creating a good mix , it ’ s like [ quality controlling ] the cable and his in-ears , checking for blown drivers — there are literally so many different things that you have to do as a monitoring engineer ; you can ’ t just unmute the inputs and go . It ’ s way more than just the console , it ’ s so many other elements , like making sure the batteries are recharged before him going up . A lot of the main challenge is the different things that you have to check and verify before that artist goes on stage . Because once they ’ re on stage , that ’ s it .” Post Malone ’ s onstage mobility is a key reason Snipes is thankful to be operating with in-ear systems , as the singer is not confined to a single spot behind a microphone stand . Post Malone ’ s performances involve a command of a large stage , with Post using up every bit of the floor and not often staying in one spot for very long . While the stage designs on Post ’ s tours often involve innovative setups and unconventional shapes , this isn ’ t something that affects Snipes ’ job all that much .
“ As long as he can hear and there ’ s no blocking in terms of the antenna to this pack , well , I ’ m good ,” Snipes says . “ I ’ m open to whatever they want to do design-wise — we typically don ’ t even see it until closer to tour anyway .”
That said , Snipes still finds himself impressed by what the design team manages to come up with .
“ This one has probably been the most extravagant design I ’ ve ever seen in general ,