among other questions. Don’ t get me wrong, I know how to“ roll with the punches” with the best of them. All live sound engineers need to be able to handle pressure and adapt to changing situations and think fast on their feet, but if every show feels like that- it can wear you down. So, I found for my own happiness, sanity, and longevity, it was always best to try to get every piece of info I could, in advance.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR SUCCESS.
What did I do with this information? Well, I worked with the bands to coordinate for a consistent stage set up regarding the artist stage positions and tried to see where and what backline could be shared on, if possible. This helped make transitions between bands easier, quicker, and more seamless. I put time into researching anything I was unfamiliar with in a band’ s set up, coordinated for rental backline as needed, allocated for what mics and DIs would be used and where, and made sure we had a plan for our stage patch and input list. While rotating out multiple complete worship band setups on a usual Sunday may be quite rare, transitions or additions of a utility instrument for a particular song are likely not uncommon. A reference stage plot is always your friend. Side note: When bands are sharing on the backline, it’ s important to note things like the amp settings, monitor positions, and any patching and mic changes. This is where paperwork comes in handy.
Having show paperwork certainly isn’ t a new concept, but you’ d be surprised how few engineers and teams do it. I always printed out the show patch list, the artist stage plots, and some empty stage plots( if I didn’ t receive them from bands). I’ d ask my team to note any rack or snake input changes on their paperwork, to add the details for an empty stage plot as needed, to draw where amps or monitors or other items on stage had to move between acts, and anything else of note. We used color specific spike tape on stage and noted which color corresponded to which band on the paperwork. I found that the more notes the collective audio team( and I) took, the more seamless the show ran. I also noticed that the engineers who didn’ t use their paperwork much or didn’ t take notes and tried to keep everything in their head- tended to make more mistakes.
In one case, I had an A2( audio assistant) on my team who failed to note that we had to change a mono patch from a monitor speaker on stage to a stereo IEM, and when it wasn’ t done
104 May 2025 Subscribe for Free...