Did I make the right choice to return live sound?! I have contemplated for a very long time. Did I still had the energy that it takes? Was I strong enough, mentally and physically? Could I deal with my insecurity? Would anybody give me a job? I knew this would turn my life upside down.
I had a few months to review my decision and while at first I felt that I had made the wrong decision, as time went by I felt that I had to at least give it a try. During the summer I started to tell friends, colleagues, and former co-workers of my decision to return to concert production and they all welcomed me back and offered encouragement and support.
I talked to friends and colleagues about how I was feeling, and their responses were quite surprising to me. Many talented and confident engineers told me they felt nervous before starting a new job and that they often felt that they were not good enough. I was surprised because I thought these feelings were unique to me as a woman in the industry.
I learned that it is okay to ask for help and ask questions. Your co-workers will not let you fail or let you down.
Week Five at Brit Row Production Training:
Monday we started out Digital audio. Here’s a selection of some of the keywords I wrote down: Latency – Modulation – Clocking – Dante – Cat5e. This session was a great way of digging into the digital world. I would say you all of this is confusing when you are first starting out, but Brit Row did a good job breaking it down so it was easier to understand.
It definitely made the introduction to the Yamaha CL5 so much easier. Here is an example of a digital flow. (Courtesy of EurovisionSongContest 2014)
Day three we worked on prepping outboard racks. The digital domain has made the use of external racks filled with effects, compressor’s, and processing unnecessary, there is still a need for outboard racks. It was great to learn how to build racks properly.
Day four was a rehearsal day, where we had the chance to get hands on experience on our choice of equipment.
Ready for first exams.
Day five was our first written and practical exam. I think in the end we all did fine on the written test, which had 52 multiple choice questions. The practical exam required us to set up and follow a stage plot from stage to Midas XL3, including inserting a couple of analog dynamic’s + FX. As I said, I think we all did fine. However, we will find out next week.