Strategies and a Suggested Standard Operating Procedure for Soundcheck

Welcome to Part Two! For a monitor engineer, consistency is key in making sure musicians always have great-sounding mixes, smooth communication, and awesome performances. Let’s explore a solid method for dialing in perfect mixes and living your best life in monitor-world

Part One

Ringing It Out

Before the Band Arrives

Recall your start scene.
Use pink noise to check that all monitors are functioning, set, labelled, and positioned as intended. Do this for your cue wedge too, which ideally matches the stage monitors for consistent referencing. Confirm your talkback system works to both stage and FOH. Do a line check to make sure the patch is correct and noise-free. Confirm every input is showing up at a reasonable level and troubleshoot anything that’s not.

Zero out the mix sends.
Start with a clean slate for each performer’s mix by making sure no input channels, other than talkback from FOH and MON, are being sent to the mixes. Check that aux or bus sends are activated and outputting properly for the room. Decide on pre – or post-fader per channel or mix and be extra mindful of which ones are post-fader, as fader moves will affect the artist’s mix. This can be useful, for example you can mute problematic channels quickly and catch the nuances of solos. If the band’s rider states what is desired in their IEM mixes a good starting point is 0 dB for vocals, -10 dB for instruments, and less for everything else.

Confirm the stage plot and input list with the band or manager.
Update the stage team and FOH if anything’s changed and adjust your start scene accordingly. At festivals, a clipboard or whiteboard you can draw the stage plot, input list, and monitor mixes on can be helpful.

Add wireless and IEM channels to your software.
Once the input list is validated, add any wireless and IEM channels into your coordination software (e.g., Wireless Workbench or Wireless Systems Manager). Always have a few backup frequencies ready in case of interference.

Do a wireless frequency scan.
Conduct a scan (as discussed in Part One: Ringing It Out) to check for any RF interference in the venue. Use your system’s scanner to identify the clearest frequencies and update the wireless system accordingly making sure all transmitters are synced and ready to go. If you don’t have a dedicated RF tech, make sure to continuously monitor RF levels pre-show and during the show and be ready to swap gear or channels if needed. If interference arises after the scan, assess whether it can be addressed within the changeover time. Sometimes you may need to prioritize getting the stage workable.

Be Careful with In-Ear Monitoring (IEMs)

Avoid sudden moves on the mix, those sends go directly to the artist’s ears. Make small, deliberate adjustments. Hearing health is a priority for all of us, and I strongly advocate for investing in custom musician’s plugs.
This should go without saying, but: NO hot patching and don’t drop mics. Pay attention to the details. Be gentle, because everything matters.
Consider inserting a limiter on IEM outputs as an additional safeguard.
Monitor these mixes using IEMs yourself, ideally the same brand/model the artist is using, or a neutral reference IEM with similar isolation and response.
Some vocalists may notice latency due to the lack of vibrotactile feedback with IEMs. An analog vocal path can help reduce this perceptual disconnect.
Audience mics on the sides of the stage, lightly fed into IEMs can help the band feel less isolated and more connected to the crowd.

Soundcheck Process

Introduce yourself:
Use the talkback mic, make eye contact, and confirm the band can hear you. Use mnemonics or other memory activating techniques, like the method of Loc, or simply writing down names, to remember as best you can the band members’ names. Remembering names is a soft skill that speaks volumes, it shows respect, builds rapport, and reinforces all the hard skills you’ve worked so hard to develop over the years.

Start with vocals:
Most performers rely on vocals as their main reference. Getting this right first helps everyone feel grounded; it’s essential for communication and is often the loudest input requested in monitor mixes. That said, some bands or FOH techs may prefer to start with channel one, usually the kick drum, you can always just ask and check what works best for the team, but I would default to vocals first and then moving on to the rhythm section.

Guide the band through the check:

Set gain, HPF, phase, and EQ per input (you may even be able to get a rough starting point of these settings before the band arrives with your input list).
Bring each input up in the performer’s mix first, then distribute to others as needed.
Suggest and agree on signals the band can use if they need adjustments during the show.
Ask the band if they want any effects in the monitors, sometimes a little reverb on the vocals is superb.
If working solo, consider using a tablet or iPad connected to the console to make quick on-stage adjustments without needing to run back and forth. Being able to adjust mixes in real-time while standing next to the performer and listening to their mix can be faster and more personal than using the talkback.
Avoid maxing out sends and keep space in your mix. Try subtractive mixing -if an input really needs to cut through, lower other channels to find the requested balance, carve spectral space with EQ, and adjust panning. Don’t just push it louder, plan each mix intentionally.

Some Tips on Handling Feedback Before reaching for the EQ

Reposition the monitor
Try flipping the phase on DI’s and vocal mics positioned very close together to check for phase issues. Listen to what sounds better to you and go with the one that feels right.
If time’s short, pull the level down and ring it out later.
Again, listen to the wedges! Once the band is playing, walk the stage if possible. Listen from their perspective and verify placement and angles.
Need help identifying frequencies? Tools like SMAART or Open Sound Meter can quickly verify what your ears are telling you.

Always Remember

“Don’t take things personally!” What Does a Monitor Engineer Do?

Leveraging Technology on Stage

Using a tablet like an iPad connected to the console can streamline soundcheck and save you a lot of literal steps. Just make sure you’re on the right Wi-Fi network/subnet and enter the correct IP address from your console. Additionally, some systems, such as Klang, allow musicians to control their own monitor mixes their own device. If the band is comfortable with this, it can empower performers to punch in their own preferences. Let them know you are there to assist, adjust settings, and even teach them how to use software whenever needed. Remember, making them feel confident and comfortable is the priority. Even if the band is self-mixing, check in to make sure their devices are connected properly and that they know how to use the system.

Final Touches Before the Set

Verify settings, confirming levels and routing.
Walk the stage and listen again!
Ask about cues or changes.
Confirm everyone in the band can are happy with their mix and are show ready.
Use a graphic EQ to tame feedback.
Spike the stage with color-coded tape outlining monitor placements and equipment positions.
Safe any channels that won’t change between acts, for example MC mics.
Save your scene! Be careful when recalling scenes!
Double-check vocal mics and monitor mixes

When the Show Starts

“Look up!” The Sound Engineer Is the Conduit2
Stay sharp, monitor world doesn’t end after soundcheck. Stay focused and ready for real-time adjustment.
Amplify the artist’s energy and the entire space will resonate with them.

By following these strategies and suggested operating procedures you’ll be able to deliver a smooth, personalized soundcheck experience that supports the performers and keeps you loving life in monitor world. Stay consistent, be proactive, communicate clearly with artists and crew. Keep on gigging and don’t forget to giggle sometimes.

I love references and cite it out when in doubt!
Check out these two fantastic articles by Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato, one of the OG SoundGirls. Her wisdom on live music mixing continues to inspire and guide generations of engineers.

While you’re at it, dive into the psychology of mixing monitors by Becky Pell—a must-read for anyone serious about understanding the human side of sound.

Reference links:

1https://www.mixingmusiclive.com/blog/what-does-a-monitor-engineer-do

2https://www.mixingmusiclive.com/blog/the-sound-engineer-is-the-conduit

Additional Resources:

https://www.rationalacoustics.com/pages/smaart-home

https://opensoundmeter.com/en/

https://soundgirls.org/ringing-it-out/

https://www.prosoundweb.com/different-strokes-mixing-monitors-for-disparate-personality-types/

Starr McLaughlin – Monitor Engineer for Japanese Breakfast, Alex G, Jessie Murph

Starr McLaughlin is an industry gem, casting a bright light on everyone she encounters. With 10 years of experience under her belt, she’s garnered an impressive resumé that includes indie-rock sensation Japanese Breakfast, Alex G, and most recently Jessie Murph. She is also a cardholder of IATSE Local 917 and Local 8.

Starr grew up in an audio-centric household with both parents having met while working in the entertainment department of an Atlantic City casino. It was destiny: by the end of high school, she knew that she wanted to pave the way for a career in live sound. She earned her Associates in General Studies from Atlantic Cape Community College and was later accepted to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia for Music Business & Entrepreneurship, though she chose not to attend. “While I value everything I learned, my college studies had very little to do with my success today.”

Delving in, Starr shares her story, pairing it with relatable wisdom and excellent gear advice:

How did you get your start in the audio field?

I want to preface with how lucky I am to have parents already in the industry. Although I had to work hard on my own to make anything of myself, having my parents give me advice and connect me with certain people along the way was a huge help. At the age of 17, I started volunteering at a local Performing Arts Center and a church. I got on the overhire list with my local union when I was 18, took calls as a stagehand, and eventually got into doing part-time audio visual (AV) work in the Atlantic City casinos. I got a full-time job at the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City, and this is where I sunk my teeth into mixing.

What inspired you to pursue audio as a career path? Were there any significant life events that led you to it?

I can pinpoint the exact moment when I decided this was what I wanted to do. I was running sound for my high school’s spring musical, Hairspray. The teacher who was in charge of the tech club had a gig, so I was left alone to, y’know, ruin the show. I had no clue what I was doing. Signal flow was a brand-new concept, I didn’t know what a high pass filter was or that I could have stacked a list of snapshots. Also, side note, the high school had an Avid Venue SC48 (it was an Avid-sponsored school, weird right?) Anyway, here I am, with 22 wireless Lavalier mics and near-zero knowledge of how wireless works (Disney magic, maybe?). The show, from what I remember, was rough tech-wise. Like a lot of feedback, late cues, etc. But there was this one moment, during ‘I Know Where I’ve Been’ where everything sounded great. I remember getting chills and thinking “This is it, this is what I want to do.”

How did your early experiences/internships/jobs help build a foundation for where you are now?

Working as a stagehand for the casinos made me quite versatile. I can be a decent helper in any area, especially if it’s throwing up a fast fold or lining a ballroom with pipe & drape. Being willing to jump in on any crew kept the calls coming in. It also taught me the correct terminology for various things outside of audio, as well as all the colloquialisms we love to use.

When I started doing more AV calls, I met my friend Scott, who did part-time AV at the casino but was a full-time AV installer. I began working for him in 2016. Doing installations was a whirlwind of knowledge. You have to learn all the different avenues of signal flow for building racks. It was also helpful to learn the theory behind designing systems such as Q-Sys, Audio Architect, Media Matrix, or Crestron. Your design has to make sense to the end user – who could be anyone. I found that philosophy very helpful later on doing monitors. Working installs afforded me the luxury of taking my time. Even under deadlines, it’s typically a longer timetable than a standard live gig which is: get in, do a show, get out. It was nice to sit in an office, take my time building racks correctly and to code, and having Scott to ask any questions too.

When I got a full-time job at a casino, I started on the AV crew. I was on the Hard Rock’s opening crew, so we were the first people on the floor fixing problems that the installers left for us. We had stages that had no power, and venues that had no stages in which they wanted 15-piece bands to play. During my first few months there I worked 70-100 hours a week. It was insane, and while I don’t think anyone should have to overwork themselves, I got a boatload of experience. There were many trials by fire and I managed to keep landing on my feet. Eventually, I was moved over to the audio crew and got to start working in the bigger rooms as opposed to just mixing in lounges.

What were some important lessons you learned early on in your career?

Always, always, always ask questions! SO important! People respond so much better to you admitting when you don’t know or are unsure about something, than doing it wrong.

Ask if someone is ok to lose power. This applies to unplugging anyone’s gear, even if it’s someone’s pedalboard, ask first please!

Silence is golden. I love to talk to people when working, but my gig is my number one focus. I always try to make sure I am attentive and ready to break off a conversation and focus on the gig.

Stay off the phone. If an artist, manager, or anyone looks over to someone for something and they’re buried in their phone, it is a bad look. At the gig, the number one focus should be the gig. Break time is for phones.

Be neat! I am a stickler for tidiness, especially on stage. Keep your cables neat, keep the patch bay neat, and tape down tripping hazards (typically after line check). Cables are your lifeline. You need to be able to see where everything is going and be able to unpatch, repatch, and replace in record time.

With velcro cable wraps, the felt side of the velcro should be facing out. If the pointy side is out, everything will stick to it and that is disgusting.

Touring wise: Don’t take long showers if people are waiting to shower. Literally, no one will ever let you live it down. Time yourself on your showers and get it down to like, at most 10 minutes in the shower, MAYBE another 10 to moisturize, dry off, and stuff. If you absolutely cannot cut down on time, offer to shower last. Learn from my mistakes!

Try to remember people’s names. Keep a note somewhere (physical or on your phone) of who you are working with. Calling someone by name shows so much respect, and they will want to work harder with you if you treat them with respect.

Learn to swallow your pride. This is a service industry, and the musician is always right (even when they’re wrong). A band that is paying you to help them, wants you to help them, they don’t care to hear all the technical jargon of why you can’t help them. Some days, the only acceptable response is “I will work on fixing that right now.”

You’re never going to stop learning new things. No one knows everything, and that’s ok! Take everything as a learning experience.

Did you have a mentor or someone that helped you?

Johnny Modugno at the Hard Rock in Atlantic City. I got to be Johnny’s A3 numerous times while I was full-time. Johnny taught me many skills, but most importantly he taught me his philosophy behind being a “monitor engineer.” He would always say “Personality is 95% of our job” and “always act like you’re into the music. When a band member looks over for something, you want them to see that you’re into what they’re creating.” While patching in the split he would say “Starr, these are your lifelines. When you get a tangled mass of whips, take the time to clean it up. It’ll save you later.” He is the epitome of an UN-grumpy soundman and brings zen, happiness, and badassery to stage left. Johnny is also just an absolute pleasure to be around, he is so passionate about the work he does. I aspire to be like him, he’s my top role model and I hold his philosophy with me and push it forward wherever I go.

Scott Coumbe, of M. Cramer & Associates, is a very notable mentor, critic, cheerleader, and friend of mine. Scott was one of the first people I met on my very first day doing AV at Harrah’s in AC. Our first interaction was kinda tempestuous, honestly. His very first words to me were, verbatim: “I wish you were better at your job.” (Yes, that made me cry). Soon after we met though, I began accompanying him to his installs. He taught me how to build racks, make cables, and program and integrate systems. He’s someone I can call upon at a moment’s notice to help troubleshoot, get advice from, or simply chat with to pass the time. I can quite literally say I would not be where I am today if it were not for all the time Scott invested in me.

MJ Snelsire, of Hard Rock in AC. We affectionately call her “the den mother” because she takes such good care of everyone on and off the stage. MJ is one of the most bad*ss, kindest people I’ve ever met. She’s been mixing for over 40 years, starting at the age of 15. She had toured with acts such as Donna Summer before coming to start a career in Atlantic City. I’m pretty convinced she knows every colloquial audio term and piece of nomenclature that exists in the world. MJ walked into this industry, so we could run (she’s a runner, she even ran with the Olympic torch before). She’s faced numerous trials of adversity and has gone through hell and back because her passion shines brighter. MJ is smart as a whip and tough as a bull. She has always looked out for me. She helped guide the way and taught me how to cope with being the odd one out on the crew. I’m extremely lucky to have her to learn from, and I relish every chance I get to work on her crew.

Harrison Fore, FOH for Japanese Breakfast, Alex G and Alvvays, is also my husband. He is one of my biggest supporters, and I would have never started touring if it wasn’t for him. He trusted in my skills and brought me on as an A2 even though I never toured before. I love getting to learn from him and grow as engineers together. Even if he steals my shiny new gear and replaces it with his old raggedy stuff while my back is turned.

I know that you have experience in multiple environments, but tell me about a typical day on tour for you:

The following is a typical show day on tour for me with no funny stuff (no disco load out, bus call is 4 am, zero clownery). I’ll be honest, I usually sleep as long as I can. I try to wake up at least an hour before load in, earlier if I’m trying to shower. I always do a skin routine when I wake up, get dressed, brush my teeth, and go find the closest coffee shop. Next, I’ll head into the venue and scope it out. I’ll try to do some reconnaissance. Like finding the green room and seeing if the hospitality rider has arrived yet. After that, I head to the stage. I first scope out all the emergency exits, then I check if anyone is lurking in monitor world that I can bother. If I find anyone from the local audio crew, I will hand them a hard copy of our stage plot & input list.

During load-in, I help push until the audio is in. First, I try to get my world in position and powered on. Depending on who I’m with, I will either set mic stands and mics or if the FOH is doing that, I’ll move onto wireless. I pull up Shure Wireless Workbench on my laptop and start a scan (Disney magic). So now I’m like, in a holding pattern for at least 45 seconds. Perfect time to go back to the green room and scope out the snack situation.

Now that I’ve refueled, I get back to work. Sync up wireless, and walk them around. If everything checks out and the monitor world is feeling good, then I’ll start patching the stage. Depending on who I am out with the patching responsibilities vary. I do prefer to be the primary patcher because I hate a messy patch job. If it’s not up to par I will redo it. I know some people prefer to have their cable slack all piled up at the stage box, I am not one of those people. In the event of a miss-patch or bad cable, it seems like a setup for failure. I am also anti-loom if it’s more than like… three cables (sorry everyone who has a drum loom). The time I will spend untangling the leads would be better spent patching. Are you still reading? Hello?? Come back!! Alright, alright, I’ll move on. After a patch is complete, if we have the luxury of time, we shall perform a tap-through – which is a line check without the musicians present.

Time for soundcheck. Soundcheck is a good way to gauge a room’s acoustics and pray it changes when the bodies hit the floor for the show. It’s amazing how much a room can affect your iem mix. Sometimes your vocalist will like the natural reverberance of a room and it’ll add to their mix. More times than not, however, the reflection of an empty room will be too much and drown out the clarity of a vocal, causing a very muddy mix. Too much low-end can have a similar effect. There are some stages where the low end will be delayed every so slightly that it’s off-time, which is super disorienting.

Post soundcheck has 4 musts: 1) re-battery 2) eat dinner 3) step outside, even if it’s for a minute 4) Grab a setlist and mark down important notes.

Pre-show and changeover happen. Gotta do any pre-show rituals, they are a MUST!!! The show starts and once the first song is over, usually I feel a lot better. That’s when I lock in and just… Well, do it!

Immediately after the show, we rolled into load out. The first thing I do is pass out set lists. I believe they are a tangible memento. Also, “reduce, reuse, recycle”! Load out is always a fun event. I am trying to get better at delegating. It’s a learning process to decide what will help you load out faster, and what are some things you ought to do yourself. For certain acts, I’m responsible for the trailer pack. I like to think packing the trailer is one of my strong suits. Delegating to the hands what I want done? Am improving.

After the trailer door is closed, I say THANK YOU (always a big thank you!!!!) to the local hands and house people. I will go collect my things from the greenroom or grab toiletries from the bus to wash my face, brush my teeth, FLOSS! (don’t forget to floss!) and put comfy clothes on. If I decide I want to shower, I try to shower last (because I notoriously take long showers). I’ll put dirty clothes away in a suitcase and take out the clothes I will wear tomorrow. As the night winds down, this is the perfect time to talk with everyone. With Japanese Breakfast, we would watch shows together (like Squid Games, or Great British Bake Off), or play games. After a little socializing, I’m usually ready for bed. So I climb in my bunk and read a bit of a book or play my switch and fall asleep.

What do you enjoy the most about your job(s)? What do you like least?

I love the people I meet and the friendships I’ve fostered thanks to this career. I have met some of my closest friends through touring and gigging. I love that my work (especially touring) has helped me to come out of my shell, gain confidence, and be more independent.

This industry has a beautiful community of knowledge and connections within it. I love meeting someone I follow on Instagram in real life. I enjoy that most of the time if I ask someone to show me something or ask for advice, people are more than willing to help and share their experience with me, as I am with them.

As for what I like least, I guess it would be that everything takes a lot of time. With Touring, you are gone for weeks at a time. Seasons change, people have weddings, you miss holidays and warm moments with your loved ones. With local gigs, they are demanding of your ability to say yes. So if you are offered 10 days straight of gigs, with 6 of them doubles, you usually have to take them. It’s a feast-or-famine lifestyle, and your off days are spent recovering instead of doing things you want to. You’re also working weekends and holidays… You miss out on a lot with this job. All that to say, I get a lot of joy and fulfillment from what I do. Even the hard days are worth it for me.

What obstacles or barriers have you faced? How did you deal with those adversities or issues?

I have struggled with extreme anxiety since I was a child. I’ve always been incredibly shy, easily overwhelmed, and had an extreme lack of confidence. I was officially diagnosed with an anxiety disorder when I was a teenager, and then as an adult in college was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Having the ADHD diagnosis helped me identify why I had such debilitating anxiety.

I surprised myself (and my therapist) when I started taking stagehand calls and didn’t curl up in a ball and panic. I wanted to be an engineer so badly. My desire and passion for audio drove me to conquer what I never thought possible for myself. I was able to push through my fears and make it in this industry – and I won’t lie, this is a tough, high-stress, difficult-personality kind of business. Constantly putting myself out of my comfort zone was extremely challenging, but it gave me daily breakthroughs. Like being a monitor engineer, you can’t be scared to talk to people. Musicians need you to communicate with them. I can still be a little awkward, but I don’t fear speaking like I used to. Exposure therapy, I guess.

Having those disorders affects me presently. More often than not I feel anxious, disorganized, and overwhelmed. That won’t go away, I just deal with it better. I believe cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has helped me the most along the way. It taught me healthier ways to cope with my mental illness and improved my outlook on life in general. If you are struggling with your mental health, 10/10 recommend seeking therapy. I know it’s hard to find time, and healthcare situations vary, but there are many resources out there to assist you. Such as the Roadie Clinic and Musicares.

Having a good support system is also necessary for coping with any kind of adversity or obstacle. I’m very grateful to have the community I do. Being around the right kind of supportive people will do wonders. Toxic people will hold you down, but the right kind of people uplift you.

What are some ways in which you stay organized and focused?

I label everything! I try to streamline wherever I can by labeling or looming. I also try to exclusively use velcro cable wraps to keep cables organized. Smart devices are modern marvels. I use my Apple Watch to set reminders and timers for myself. I also wouldn’t survive without Google Calendar. On my iPhone, I will set one of my dock’s apps to Master Tour, which I check more than any social media app at this point. I also constantly write notes to myself to document things I need to remember and create lists. As for personal organization, I try to take a few minutes every day to clean up my areas. I will make my bed every morning on the bus and try to make sure my space is tidy and my dirty laundry is put into a laundry bag. Either post soundcheck, or during load out (if I have a second) I’ll try to make sure everything is neat & organized. My goal with my spaces is that anyone looking for something can either look in a drawer and see it or ask me and I can tell them exactly where it is.

What are some of your favorite day-off activities?

I love going on hikes, exploring museums, thrifting, and doing group activities. A day hanging out with friends is a day well spent. Doing anything together with my buds on the road is extremely refreshing and fulfilling to me. I also love to just sit in a hotel room and watch Netflix, do a proper self-care routine, and have a long shower.

Do you have short- or long-term goals that you’d like to share?

A short-term goal of mine would be to keep a healthy workout habit while out on tour. This next one is a little intimate, but a long-term goal of mine is to figure out how to start a family in the coming years and maintain my career. It’s something I’m actively seeking advice on, so if any industry moms are reading, please hit me up.

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Do you have any advice for women/non-binary folks entering the audio industry?

First and foremost; treat every woman and non-binary person you meet as if y’all are in some secret club. Don’t fall into the trap of viewing them as competition, we have enough of that. We are on the same team. Work together, learn together, help each other out. They are the only people who can understand what adversities you are facing. Second, always be mindful that we as non-men are going to be held to a different standard, so always bring your best. A lot of men automatically find us intimidating, even if they don’t mean to. People can be unkind when they feel threatened, so they’ll grab at straws to try and bring others down. Third, choose your battles. “Mansplaining” for example, is extremely annoying. Instant headache. It’s tiring to deal with, but in many cases, you have to be the bigger person and not let it get to you. I believe in saving energy, and only calling out those that are asking for it. However, this goes without saying, but don’t let anyone be mean or disrespectful to you, and never tolerate sexual harassment. Lastly, never forget why you are doing the job. Audio is an art form, and it’s a labor of love. This industry (especially anything live) is a tough one to be in. We do this because we love it.

What are some of your favorite “must-have” skills?

I love this question! I think the ultimate skill is being NICE and knowing how to ask questions. I wouldn’t mind at all if I never worked with another grumpy sound person again, and I’m glad that archetype seems to be dying out a little. Coming into a venue, I would rather have my house person know little, but be inquisitive and pleasant, than having someone who seems bitter about being paid to be there, or someone who means well, but doesn’t know when to say “I’m not sure what you’re asking for” or “Could you show me how you want this done.” The other more literal “must haves” would be to have some knowledge of frequency recognition. Not that anyone has to be like “oh that 2.5 khz in the guitar is driving me crazy”, but like knowing if something sounds “muddy” or too “sibilant”, and where to search for that. Rational Acoustics has a great bumper sticker/t-shirt logo called “The Seven Bad System Dwarves” which is a great visual representation of naming what you are hearing. Getting good at it can make it much easier to ring out stage monitors too. The biggest baseline “must-have” skill is undoubtedly knowing signal flow and being able to (calmly) troubleshoot. That is where the signal starts (microphone), where it ends up (speaker), and the path it is going in between (XLR, stage box, split, mixer). Knowledge of signal flow is essential to troubleshooting a system.

Any gear/gadget favorites?

I love my Sound Bullet, it’s so handy for troubleshooting, or going through and testing cables – and it’s smaller than a Q-box. My P-Touch Cube labeler was a life-changing investment. I love that you can connect to it via Bluetooth & the app saves all your recent labels. My Leatherman Wave (I don’t like the spring of a Gerber) is my most reliable tool, but I wish I had it in pink. I have this little duster guy (Hin from Howl’s Moving Castle) that makes me smile when I see it. Dusters are very helpful, especially during a very dusty festival and the days after. The Hoto 4-in-1 rechargeable compressed air capsule (it blows and sucks!) is a new addition, but I’m excited to take it out. I got it for my husband, but it worked so well that I stole it for a tour. I have a Ryobi drill that is small and USB-C rechargeable – I like that it’s light and doesn’t take up much room in my pelican. There are lots of mics I like, so I’m gonna tell you the one I don’t like. I don’t like the Beta 52 on its own, I mean, as an out it’s fine, but to use it by itself without an in? Mid. I will shout out Se, their mics are gaining a lot of popularity and for good reason. I love their stuff, especially the V7 vocal mic & V-Kick. Shure is also always a solid brand (even if I beef with the B-52 on its own). We got a pair of Shure 313s (pretty ribbons with a red grill), which we use on guitar amps with JBrekkie and Alex G. We paired them with SM57’s and it’s just phenomenal. The 313 adds such warmth – it even managed to get a compliment from a guitarist using IEMs once. Now that’s saying something! As for consoles, I like the Allen & Heath D-Live, especially the CTi1500. It’s small, but a powerhouse. It has my favorite workflow, it’s very intuitive. It feels like it has combined many good features of other digital desks. I appreciate that A&H listens to their consumer base and tries to improve based on their end user’s experience. Onboard-wise, the Point Source Enhancer (PSE) as an option for gates is a game changer on a noisy stage. Also, I use the heck out of the Dyn-8 multiband comp/dynamic eq.

What’s in your backpack/pelican? Any fun clothing items that you can’t live without at work?

In my backpack: laptop, folder for stage plots/input lists, an organizer for chargers/essential cables, Pinecil Soldering Iron, my Sound Bullet (TSA will always think it’s a vape and I should probably put it in my pelican), Nintendo Switch, Analogue GameBoy, my IEMs (JH16v2), ear protection, foldable tote bag, tiny cosmetics pouch (inside is hand cream, facial mist, lip balm, perfume, dental floss).

Pelican: RF Explorer, talkback (SeV7 Switch), hot pink 6ft XLR with black Neutrik connectors, assortment of audio adapters, turnarounds, Y’s, and cables, Sharpies, several USB sticks, headlamp, flashlight, hearing aid vacuum, alcohol wipes, assortment of tapes, headlamp, spare IEM’s, 4-in-1 air compressor (doubles as a vacuum), small drill, soldering iron, small vice grip, solder, extra iron tips, fanny pack with gloves, wire strippers, flush cuts, microdriver (for cable creation, microdriver is essential for phoenix connectors & also straightening out the wires inside a CAT cable). I also keep a “self-care” kit: body wipes, sunscreen, hand cream, body spray, spf lip balm, tide sticks, lint roller, ointments, bandaids, Listerine (doubles as mic cleaner in a pinch), Advil, tampons, hair ties. Everything in my pelican is inside a bag or case. I use Klein tool bags to hold different collections of things, as well as Pelican micro cases to hold adapters and small things that I want extra protected. I like the quality of the microcases, but they are a tad heavy. Also, I have three pelicans: mic pelican (this one is waiting for the day I pick up a Foh tour), a small pelican for short-term gigs, and the Green Monster. Green Monster is a Pelican 1615 Air. I love her, but she gets above flyweight a little too fast. Oh! Small stature person hack: grip tape on the face of your pelican! Gives you a sturdier ego riser 🙂

As for fun clothing items (or general tour items), I cannot live without: I want to be buried in my Patagonia rain jacket and Tilley hat. Lifesavers for outdoor gigs! I like Bombas socks, Lulu Align Leggings, big oversized sweatshirts, and Brooks sneakers. Saving your feet is very important. Buy socks that are comfortable on your feet, and bring two pairs of comfortable, well-fitting shoes to alternate between. I always bring a heating pad, a foldable yoga mat, and resistance bands for working out. I also keep a lacrosse ball handy to roll out any knots or sore muscles.

Also, wanna take a second to shout out Amy Truong (@amytrng on instagram), they share so much information in terms of well-priced gear/clothing, audio info, label creations, RF workflow, and Costco finds. I live for their reviews, recommendations, Disney thrift finds, and their entire audio journey. Go follow them!!!

Do you have any certifications/memberships you’d like to spotlight?

I just took the Rational Acoustics Smaart Essentials course. Although I’m not a certified user because I haven’t taken the test (I wanna practice first), the class itself was extremely informative.

Tell me about something you wish you could change about the touring industry?

I wish there was a union or something for freelance engineers. It would be nice if we could earn healthcare and vacation time or something.

Any shout-outs or thank-yous you’d like to include?

Shoutout to my folks, One F Jef and Dawn McLaughlin – thanks for always supporting me and being the fantastic people you are. Huge shoutout to my Local 917 family in Atlantic City! Love y’all. Shoutout to the Brooklyn Bowl in Fishtown crew, and Local 8. Giant shoutout to Rachel Dispenza, you are a gem and I love us learning together and being able to tour with you. I am so appreciative of you my friend <3 A big thank you to Michelle: thanks for giving this small-town AC girl a chance to tour with the big dogs awoooo. Thank you to Deven, Katie, Kat, Collen, and Tim. Thank you TORI!!!!! Shoutout to all my wonderful audio leads in AC: Chris Carll, Timmy Antolini, and Dan Curley! Thanks to everyone in JBrekkie, Alex G, and Jessie Murph.
Starr’s Instagram: @good.on.mons

Profile by Victoria Butash

Victoria has worked in Live Sound for over eleven years and is currently on tour as a monitor engineer with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit and works with Sylvan Esso as a monitor engineer. In addition, she works for Big House Sound, Inc. and Sound Image.

Karla Barrera Mixing at Both Ends of the Snake

Karla Barrera has been working in live sound for over twelve years and got her start working at clubs throughout Los Angeles, as a house tech, including The Viper Room. She works for Launch, and Motion Audio, and tours as FOH and Monitor engineer and is currently touring with Mt. Joy as their monitor engineer.

Karla has an extensive background in music, playing in symphonic, marching, and jazz bands, as well as drum lines. Karla says “Music was a huge part of my life and being able to play music in my teenage years really inspired me. I loved reading music and practicing whatever instrument I was into at the time while also reading the album credits on records that I loved. That’s when I discovered the people behind the recordings and production of a record. It sparked my interest in wanting to be a part of music behind the scenes.” Karla attended concerts and this solidified her path in audio, she fell in love with the ebb and flow of energy from the artists to the audience and knew she wanted to become a FOH engineer.

Karla would enroll in The Art Institute of Los Angeles and graduated with honors. She would cut her teeth interning at The Viper Room, and under the mentorship of Matt Andrade was able to focus on her mixing and teching skills. Karla credits several mentors that took the time to teach her how to be confident in her work, including; Christian Murphy, Jason Hines, Doron Dina, and Francis O’Riley (Franky Fingers).

Karla says some of the things she learned when she was starting out was signal flow on analog equipment, and considers it so valuable. She also learned that it was important to recognize signs of burnout. Karla recounts her experience with burned-out engineers “There were so many people I came across that were burned out and didn’t care as much about providing a good service to local bands. I learned that we are in a position of service to an artist and that it’s important to provide a good experience to them without ego.”

Career Now

What is a typical day like?

On tour:

Load in / set up / sound check can be from 10 am – 4 pm

⁃ Set up monitor world on stage left

⁃ Direct hands to help me flip my desk, build mic stands, run hoses across the stage, etc…

⁃ Put up antennas and Scan for new frequencies

⁃ Make sure the artist is comfortable in the new space.

Dinner break 4-7 pm

⁃ Make sure all body packs have fresh batteries.

⁃ Allows time for a shower if I didn’t get to it in the morning

⁃ Reorganize my suitcase/day bag. Has to be done every other day or else life becomes more chaotic than it already is.

⁃ Go out for dinner w other crew members / wait for the group Uber eats order/catering

⁃ Stretch

⁃ Nap

⁃ Change into show clothes. Or just fresh socks and shoes.

Show/load out 8 pm -12 am

Just to do it all again the next day (unless it’s roadie Friday)

How do you stay organized and focused?

I drink Guayaki Yerba Mate or a cafecito. Also, PACKING CUBES !!! Oh and I take notes constantly.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

My favorite part is constantly learning and growing. I feel like, after every tour, I evolve into a new version of myself. I’m constantly soaking up new information and implementing new techniques.

What do you like least?

When you build a file on an offline editor and the venue desk does not have the latest firmware.

Just a heads up: Digico SD12 had an update in October 2022 to v1619 and the only offline editor available for download is v1619.

If you tour what do you like best?

I enjoy working directly with the artist and collaborating on ways to have the best-sounding show.

What do you like least?

Weird sleep schedules and having to wake up in the morning and find the nearest bathroom in a new city/venue.

What is your favorite day of activity?

Being in nature and getting some fresh air. It’s important to get off the bus or out of the venue and connect with the earth.

What are your long-term goals?

I have some bucket list venues I would love to mix shows at (Madison Square Garden, Sydney Opera House)

Also, work with more Latin artists down the line.

Continue to become more knowledgeable and gain more practice networking pro audio equipment in all aspects.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

One of the most recent obstacles I’ve faced was having a family member end up in the hospital while I was away. It was a rough time for me because I had to set aside my feelings and emotions in order to mix a good show. I learned to keep myself together somehow.

Also, before I started touring with a console, I felt like a lot of house engineers couldn’t picture me as a seasoned sound engineer. I always felt like I had to prove myself to new people all the time. That was annoying. Once I started touring with my own desk, I felt like it somehow gave me more credibility as an engineer. I guess you could say that comes with the growing pains, but also mainly because I’m a Latina woman mixing sound. It just doesn’t compute with some people right off the bat that I could, in fact, mix and navigate my way around any desk and mix in any room or at any festival. I’ve had many “first time doing this” experiences on every single gig I’ve been on. They’ve all been different, but I always managed to make the best of every situation.

How have you dealt with them?

When it comes to personal family issues and not being able to help with what’s going on back home, it’s just not easy to deal with it. I knew prior to accepting my latest tour that my mom was struggling with her health and I was open to management about it. If my sibling told me he needed me in person, I would have to leave the tour. It hasn’t gotten to that point this last tour thankfully, but I had to keep working without letting the stress back home affect my work. I think being open and honest can sometimes help feel more supported by management/clients.

Also, I burned sage and palo Santo on stage left to help cleanse my space and mind to maintain a healthy and focused state of mind.

Re: preconceived notions of me – I learned to care more about what the artists/management think about my mixes and work ethic.

Advice you have for other women and young women who wish to enter the field?

Always try new things; don’t stay in the same place for too long. There is so much room to grow in the world of production.

Watch YouTube videos / listen to podcasts about audio about live sound/rf coordination / SMAART / DANTE / live sound desks / learn to network consoles with waves or UA / learn how to multitrack on every console

Must have skills?

Learn analog and digital signal flow
Customer service skills help while under pressure

Favorite gear?

Neve Portico 5045 (not the plug)
LP Claws

Karla’s Top 100 Favorite Albums!!

Karla’s Top 100 Favorite Albums

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell
Radiohead – In Rainbows
The Mars Volta – Frances the Mute
TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
Thom Yorke – The Eraser
Jimi Hendrix – Axis: As Bold As Love
Bob Marley – Kaya
Arcade Fire – Funeral
The Black Keys – Brothers
The Strokes – Room on Fire
Lianne La Havas – Self-Titled Album
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Self-Titled Album
Aniceto Molina – Los Mejores Exitos
Nick Hakim – Green Twins
Imaad Wasif – The Voidist
The Budos Band – Long in the Tooth
Charles Bradley – No Time for Dreaming
Shuggie Otis – Freedom Flight
Moses Sumney – grae
Little Dragon – Machine Dream
Beirut – The Flying Club Cup
The Black Angels – Passover
Fever Ray – Self-Titled Album
The Knife – Silent Shout
Toumani Diabate – New Ancient Strings
Al Green – Call me
Pedro Infante – Palabritas de Amor
Badbadnotgood – IV
Bjork – Medulla
Portishead – Dummy
Sufjan Stevens – Age of Adz
Interpol – El Pintor
Chet Faker – Built on Glass
Charlotte Day Wilson – Stone Woman
Donavan – Sunshine Superman
Nick Drake – Pink Moon
SadGirl – Water
Haelos – Full Circle
Idles – Joy as an Act of Resistance
The Kills – Blood Pressures
Band of Skulls – Baby Darling Doll Face Honey
Them Crooked Vultures – Self-Titled Album
Los Angeles Negros – Y Volveré
Calle 13 – Self Titled Album
Hercules and Love Affair – Self-Titled Album
Selena – Amor Prohibido
Durand Jones & The Indications – American Love Call
Caifanes – Self Titled
Siouxie Sioux and the Banshees – The Rapture
Bat for Lashes – Two Suns
PJ Harvey – White Chalk
Television – Marquee Moon
Devotchka – A Mad And Faithful Telling
The Unicorns – Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?
Band of Horses – Cease to Begin
Heartless Bastards – Arrow
Teleskopes – Self Titled
The Hives – Tyrannosaurus Hives
Savages – 2013
Shout Out Louds – Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground and Nico
Devendra Banhart – Cripple Crow
Helado Negro – Far In
Soft Hair – Soft Hair
Marconi Union – Weightless
Glass Animals – ZABA
Phantogram – Eyelid Movies
Dirtwire – Electric River
HVOB – TOO
Janis Joplin – Pearl
The Growlers – Are you in or are you out?
Dungen – ta det lungnt
Dr. Dog – B Room
Moonface – Heartbreaking Bravery (w/ Siinai)
Karen O & Danger Mouse – Lux Prima
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
Radiohead – King of Limbs
Yves Tumor – Heaven to a Tortured Mind
Antibalas – Where the Gods Are In Peace
Wings – At the Speed of Sound
U.S. Girls – Half Free
All Them Witches – Nothing as the Ideal
ZZ Top – Tres Homres
Spoon – They Want My Soul
José González – Veneer
Kokoroko – Could We Be More
Blood Orange – Coastal Grooves
Curtis Harding – Face Your Fear
Nina Simone – Baltimore
Cream – Disraeli Gears
Juan Gabriel – Lo Mejor En Bellas Artes – 40 Aniversario (En Vivo)
Zola Blood – Black Blossom
Future Islands – On The Water
Sault – 5
Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
J.S. Epperson – Splendor
Lee Fields – My World
Grizzly Bear – Shields
Local Natives – Hummingbird
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew

Victoria Butash -Monitor Engineer for Jason Isbell and Sylvan Esso

Victoria grew up surrounded by music, as her dad was a musician as well as his friends, and at age ten began exploring songwriting. She was part of the choir and band at school and can play a variety of instruments. She attended Capital University, in Columbus, Ohio with the notion of becoming a studio engineer, but realized quickly that her love was in live music and the dream of touring. She would graduate with a Bachelor of Music in Music Technology.

Career Start

How did you get your start?

I honestly didn’t know what exactly I wanted to do when I started college. I didn’t even know if I wanted to be in college at all. At first, I thought that I wanted to pursue being a studio engineer, and I realize now that that was a result of my program being so studio-focused. As soon as I got a taste of the live sound environment, I was sold. My first paid gigs were in small clubs. My friend recommended me to cover a few shows, and soon I was being scheduled regularly and was being offered shifts at other clubs that were similar in size. I was bartending to keep a steady income, but eventually, I realized how much those two tracks conflict and decided to pursue other audio opportunities.

What did you learn interning or on your early gigs?

One of the biggest lessons I learned early on was that there is more than one way to efficiently and correctly accomplish something and that you can learn so much from simply observing. I learned and practiced the nuance of asking the right questions at the right times. The other big one was that you absolutely do not have to yell or be a bully to get things done in an effective way. I watched a lot of others try that tactic, and it exclusively garnered resentment amongst the people that you want on your team. There’s a time and a place for being stern (safety), but you absolutely do not have to use it as your primary tactic.

Sylvan Esso Crew

Career Now

What is a typical day like?

Wake up at least an hour and a half before walk and chalk, and check Google Maps to see where we are and if there are good coffee spots within walking distance.

Even though I’m not flying anything currently, I still go to walk and chalk to determine my footprint on SL and make sure that I’m being left enough room to operate and make adjustments if not.

Load In

Build MON world and take a look at the air space with RF Explorer and Touchstone Pro

My RF products are all Shure, so I use Touchstone Pro to visualize, and then import data into Wireless Workbench to analyze and deploy my frequencies and pair receivers/transmitters.

Open the previous show file, review my notes, and update snapshots accordingly

Once the backline is built, I run my looms to stage boxes and power drops and help patch the stage

Find some time for lunch and another coffee, and if there’s enough time I’ll call a loved one

Line check with backline pals

Soundcheck

Organize stage/prep changeover if there’s an opener

Dinner

Show

Load Out

How do you stay organized and focused?

The most important thing is taking care of your mind and body – if you’re not drinking enough water or eating consistently, your mind will not be at its best.

Outside of health, I find that having a step-by-step routine for getting your day started and setting up is helpful. If you continue to practice the same routine every day, you’ll be able to troubleshoot faster and be considerate of your team’s schedules. For instance – I wouldn’t ever run stage looms first thing because the backline has rolling risers that need to be built and placed. I really don’t like when I hear others use the phrase “work smarter not harder” condescendingly, but I can attest that running out a hefty sine loom is much easier if you don’t have to move it because it’s in the way.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

I love being a part of the interpersonal relationships within the tour team and talent. I think that being a monitor engineer means that your crew is instilling a lot of trust in you. It’s your job to create a sonic space that honors the musician as well as the backline techs that work tirelessly to preserve tone. It’s an amazing feeling to experience the energy on stage as it morphs from song to song.

What do you like least?

When things go wrong, it’s hard not to take it personally. Even if you’re fully prepared and have done the work to secure spare lines, spare frequencies, etc., the equipment can still fail in a way that isn’t immediately fixable. That aspect can be anxiety fuel.

Luckily, I work with incredibly understanding folks who keep their frustrations in check and trust that I am doing my best to make the issue go away. It’s been great to know that if something comes up, we can have a civil conversation about it later.

If you tour what do you like best?

I have always (kind of) joked about how my number one passion in life is food and touring is my gateway to experiencing all of the world’s best food. Seeing the world is such an amazing perk.

I also love that I get to partake in so many fantastic friendships.

What do you like least?

I think that living out of a suitcase surrounded by up to 11 people in a small space as well as being away from your loved ones gets tiring during a long tour. It certainly forces you to choose what items are most important to your every day. I think even the most social people need a break with privacy sometimes, and it can be hard to come by.

What is your favorite day off activity?

I have two priorities: Find the best coffee. Find at least one good meal.

Outside of that, I usually bring my rollerskates on the road, so I’ll find somewhere to skate and listen to music. I also genuinely love hanging out with my crews, so I like planning fun group activities – especially if they can be outside. I also always make time to phone my loved ones.

What are your long-term goals?

I just want to continue staying on top of the newest technologies and seeing the world (and eating all of the food that the world has to offer!). Eventually, I’d love to dive into more Production Management. I also want to continue exclusively working for and with good humans.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

My biggest obstacles have always been my own anxieties: whether I deserved to be where I was, whether I could handle challenging situations, and being worried that I’m not communicating well enough with my team. The industry’s volatile nature has left a lot of my friends and coworkers with these same anxieties, which means that many of us can share in them and help each other deplete them. You can only control what you can control.

I would be remiss if I didn’t note that I’ve experienced a fair bit of sexism and sexual harassment. I’ve worked in spaces that didn’t feel safe, and I’ve been brushed off for asking for help.

I’ve noticed that – for me at least – it hasn’t been as up-front as it once was. Post-COVID lockdown, there’s been a level of accountability that didn’t quite exist before. That’s not to discount anyone else’s experiences, but I’m glad to feel somewhat safer in my work environment.

How have you dealt with them?

Letting go of the things you can’t control is a powerful thing. I see a therapist once every two weeks, which really helps with the struggles of having anxiety and being on the road full-time. I really, really encourage everyone who tours to seek telehealth therapy options. Many cities have programs that can help with financial support for mental health services. If you live in the Austin area, please reach out to SIMS for mental health support.

I’ve had to get better at advocating for myself and my safety, as well as the safety of those around me. I do my best to work hard and foster an environment where everyone feels welcomed and appreciated.

Advice you have for other women who wish to enter the field?

Never stop learning. Remember that no single person knows everything; it’s okay to look something up on Google if you’re second-guessing. Do your best to stay focused through the beginnings of your career: it’s gonna be tough, but you can push through. Meet everyone and try to remember their names – that goes a long way and helps with networking. Make sure that you’re ALWAYS taking breaks to drink water and eat – even on the busiest days. If you only have the budget to purchase one nice tool to start out with, grab a multi-tool like a Leatherman. You will more than likely encounter some form of sexism/discrimination, but do not let that stop you…and always reach out to a Production/Stage Manager, Tour Manager, or Venue Manager if you need help. You should not be expected to work in an unsafe environment, and safety includes sexual harassment or sexism. Advocate for your health, your pay, and your safety. And as you move into positions with more authority, despite what you may see others do, you can accomplish things with kindness and comradery instead of fear.

Must have skills?

I think the biggest skill to being on any team is work ethic and the ability to see everything and everyone from the “same team” point of view. We’re all here to do the same job, even if we work in different departments. People on your team will also notice when you care about your work, and that is a valuable trait.

Be communicative and open. Take responsibility if you mess up and put fail-safes in place to avoid the issue in the future. At the same time, also know when to let a bad night go.

Do your best to stay calm and collected when troubleshooting. Something will definitely go wrong at some point, so be prepared with the knowledge and tools to track it down and fix it.

Last but not least: do your best to be pleasant while respecting your boundaries and your teammates’ boundaries. We all have to work together through long, sometimes arduous days and then we have to get onto our tiny house on wheels and live together, which is a lot. I’d say that getting along with your team goes further than technical know-how.

Favorite gear?

My Leatherman, JH Roxannes and UE 18+ PROs, my RF Explorer, soldering irons, my SoundTools Rat Sniffer, label maker (with cool glitter tapes), anything from the Neve 500 series in a rack, and honestly…zip ties. Haha.

I just want to pay homage to those who helped me get to where I am. In no particular order: my dad Jeff and my mom Cindy, Rick Rhoads, who introduced me to recording and opened the door to a plethora of incredible music, Dr. Mark Lochstampfor, Greg Harbert, Joey Pasternak, Andie Cascioli, Melanie Renecker, Kip Montgomery, Zach Anderson, Nate Peterson, Alicia Blake, Karrie Keyes, and Jeremiah Karni.

Rising Star – Carolyn Slothour Live Sound Engineer

Carolyn Slothour is an up-and-coming independent FOH and Monitor engineer, who has been working in the industry for just over five years. She works as an A1 and A2 at a few production companies based in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, including a company called Zero Fossil which is a clean energy/solar-powered production company. She is the house engineer at a local venue called Brillobox and fills in at several other local venues while not on the road. The past year she has been touring as FOH, tour manager, and playing flute with a variety of artists including Mija, !!! (Chk Chk Chk), Alison Sudol, & a rock theatre group called Squonk Opera. She has several tours planned for 2020 as well.

Carolyn has always been passionate about playing & performing music and decided to move from New Jersey to Pittsburgh to attend college at the California University of PA to follow her love of music, while not really knowing what path she would ultimately take within the industry. The Music Technology Bachelor’s degree she received covered a wide range of things, including music performance & theory, music business, and recording & live sound technology. During her time in college, she interned at a recording studio and production company. While interning, Carolyn discovered she was most passionate about live sound. Having attended and performed in live concerts throughout her life, she says “I realized it made sense for me to work in an environment I’ve always loved and felt at home in from the start.” From there she started picking up freelance sound gigs and has been building her diverse resume of audio work since.

Her current goals are to mix at more large-scale festivals and continue to grow in many different ways. “I have always loved to attend festivals, and working them has become some of the best times of my life, despite the usual “throw-and-go,” high-stakes style mixing at them tends to be. I enjoy the rush and the feeling of accomplishment when it all comes together. I also hope to continue to grow in several different areas of the music industry – including live sound, performance, studio engineering, sound design, composition, and production. I love to learn and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.”

Can you tell us about a tour or show that you’re proud of? A challenge that you pulled off?

My last FOH tour with !!! (Chk Chk Chk) was one that I’m very proud of because I was able to combine my two passions – mixing FOH & playing the flute. When I first met the band, they asked if I would be interested in playing flute with them on a couple of songs of theirs. I was absolutely interested and ended up playing flute on 2-3 songs every night from FOH. It could be a little challenging at times to take my focus away from mixing and put it on performing, but playing the flute is like second nature to me and it felt great to play in front of large audiences with such a great group of musicians. I’m a huge fan of their music, so it was definitely the most fun I’ve ever had at work. I also recently mixed FOH for Mija at Corona Capital Music Festival in Mexico City, along with some extremely talented musicians & engineers. The festival brings in around 146,000 people, so that was a pretty special gig for me as well.

Can you tell us about failure and what you learned from it?

I wouldn’t necessarily call this a failure, but one mistake I made recently was creating a show file at a venue while on tour within someone else’s show structure. It all worked fine until I loaded it up at the next venue with that same console, & there was a lot of basic setup that did not work for the new venue. The house engineer and I spent a while trying to figure out why a variety of things did not work correctly and I ended up finding that certain settings were set very strangely when the show file was initially created. After all that trouble, the show ended up sounding great and it was a good night. But I definitely learned the hard way to only travel with show files that I personally created from the start.

What do you like best about touring?

My favorite thing about touring is that every day is never exactly the same as the last. There are always different challenges & different people, in a different place, so it’s never boring. It’s taught me to take life one day at a time – not only in my career but in all aspects of my life. It can be a stressful job, but it also takes a certain amount of ‘letting go’ and just going with the flow. And I feel really lucky that my career enables me to travel around the globe and see places that many people only dream of.

What do you like least?

My least favorite part about touring is being away from my cat, & not being able to focus on playing music & my other interests as much as I’d like. I try to make time for my hobbies on the road as much as possible though.

What is your favorite day off activity?

My favorite day off activities is finding crystal shops & beautiful nature spots where I can relax and spin poi or play the flute. I also enjoy searching for good vegan restaurants in whatever city I’m in.

What, if any, obstacles and barriers have you faced?

Freelance audio is a competitive industry, and every engineer has to prove themselves in order to build a reputation. Sometimes it’s a little harder to prove myself to those who may not have faith in women to do a great job, but it’s to be expected when less than 5% of audio engineers are not men. Women tend to be held to a higher standard, but that is a blessing in many ways. We work harder and better in order to make it. If you’re truly passionate about your job & have a solid work ethic, you won’t have trouble finding gigs.

How have you dealt with them?

I’ve grown a thicker skin since I started freelancing. As in any job, there are people who are unpleasant to work with or don’t believe you will do well. The key is to focus on your own work & put in 100% effort so that they have nothing negative to say after seeing/hearing you do your job well. It’s important not to compare yourself to other engineers because everyone is on a different path and will come across opportunities at different points. Having a positive attitude helps immensely.

The advice you have for other women who wish to enter the field?

Take the time to learn the basics and do prep work – read manuals, ask questions, & have the initiative to figure things out on your own. Then when you’re put in front of a new console, or any new piece of hardware or software, you’ll have some base knowledge to figure out how it works quickly. Never be discouraged by your lack of knowledge. Most of the learning you’ll do will be on the job, so try not to worry too much about what you do & do not know. No engineer knows EVERYTHING. It’s also very important to not have an ego about your knowledge and experience because it will keep you from learning and is generally just a bad attitude to have. There’s always something to be learned from a situation, as well as from fellow engineers. Plus, the more knowledge you have, the more you’ll realize how much more there is to learn. As long as you keep the drive to learn & adapt, you will go far.

Must have skills?

Communication & social skills are a must – those were honestly the hardest ones for me starting out because I was always a fairly withdrawn & antisocial child. But it’s the key to getting a lot of gigs. You must be friendly, understanding, easy to get along with, and able to stay calm in stressful situations and never place blame. Generally, people will hire someone they like before someone they don’t, even if they’re a little less competent. Adaptability is also a very important skill – when you work with different people & different sound systems every day, you have to be able to work with many types of personalities and limitations.

Favorite gear?

I’m a huge fan of analog consoles and gear in general because it tends to sound really great right off the bat. I always enjoy mixing on the classic Midas H3000, and I’m a sucker for good outboard compressors. As for digital consoles, my favorite brand is DiGiCo because they have the power to do pretty much anything I want. I’m a firm believer that if something sounds bad through a sound system while completely flat, you should change the mic first – so great mics are very important to me. I’m currently in the process of building my personal mic closet, so I enjoy testing out different mics that venues have in-house. My favorite combination of microphones varies from artist to artist depending on the sound I’m going for, but it’s usually a mixture of Sennheiser & Audix microphones. My favorite kick drum mic combination is a Shure Beta 91a inside, and an Audix D6 outside.

The SoundGirls Podcast – Carolyn Slothour: FOH Engineer and Flutist

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Adriana Viana: Engenheira de Som Brasileira Independente

Read English Version Here

A Brasileira Adriana Viana trabalha como diretora técnica, e técnica de PA e monitor freelance. Situada em São Paulo, já trabalhou com diferentes artistas da música Brasileira, como Teatro Mágico, Flora Matos, Plutão Já Foi Planeta, Rodrigo Teaser – Tributo ao Rei do Pop, e mixou shows de artistas internacionais no Brasil, incluindo Mark Lanegan, a banda jamaicana Toots and the Maytals e o guitarrista de blues Jimmy Burns. Atualmente está em turnê com uma das maiores compositoras brasileiras, Adriana Calcanhoto além de operar o PA das bandas Far From Alaska e Rashid. Ela também assina a direção técnica do Women’s Music Event, onde monta uma equipe de mulheres qualificadas para operar toda parte de audio do evento.

Quem vê Adriana operando uma mesa de som pode ter a impressão de que ela passou a vida inteira mixando. Mas quando ela começou a trabalhar na área há 12 anos, ela não tinha autorização para mexer no equipamento de áudio. Adriana sempre teve interesse pelo audio ao vivo – não apenas ia aos shows, mas também acompanhava seus amigos nas montagens e nas passagens de som. “Eu pensava, o que esse cara faz? Ah ele arruma o som… eu já entendia a profissão, sabia que tinha um cara que montava, um cara que fazia o som, um cara que fazia a luz, e achava super interessante.”

Quando soube que haviam duas vagas em uma locadora de equipamento de áudio, ela foi fazer uma entrevista no intuito de entrar no mercado, entender melhor a profissão e aprender.

Chegando lá, descobriu que as duas opções eram: recepcionista ou almoxarife. “Eu falei que queria ficar no almoxarifado! Me perguntaram se eu tinha experiência, eu falei que não, mas que era muito organizada e queria aprender para entrar no ramo.

Eles precisavam de alguém que conferisse tudo que tinha lá, contar cada coisinha. Então quando vinha um técnico, eu perguntava: o que é isso? ‘É um Shure SM58’. Esse outro também? ‘Não esse é um beta 58’. E aí eu fiz a contagem, deixei tudo organizado, dava entrada e saída nos gaveteiros.” Todos enfrentam dificuldades ao começarem uma carreira no áudio, mas Adriana aponta que mulheres ainda têm uma dificuldade extra que é enfrentar assédio e machismo. Adriana não foi ensinada sobre a parte técnica, e como solução para aprender, ela lia todos os manuais que encontrava. Sem apoio na empresa onde trabalhava e sem dinheiro pra fazer um curso de iniciação ao áudio, comprou um livro de fundamentos básicos do áudio e começou a estudar. “Eu ia aprendendo do jeito que eu podia, pegava apostila, livro, ia lendo o que eu encontrava. Eu ia acompanhando nos eventos e ficava observando.”

Um dia, em um dos eventos que Adriana costumava acompanhar, um técnico freelance percebeu seu interesse em aprender e convidou-a para acompanhar seu trabalho em uma casa de show “nos sábados, às 14h. Ele não operava, ele era roadie de palco, fazia todo cabeamento, patch, monitor, e tudo que ele sabia ali ele me ensinou. Ele falava, ‘isso é um XLR, isso é um P10, isso é um multicabo’. Ele me passou a visão geral do sistema, as conexões e eu fui aprendendo. Eu trabalhava de segunda a sexta na empresa de som, e todo sábado por meses eu ia de graça pra aprender. Cabeava, microfonava, ligava os monitores, AC, ficava na house vendo o técnico operar. Só olhando. Quando sentia uma brecha, eu perguntava.” Logo, o técnico que ensinou Adriana precisou de sub – e quem melhor para substituí-lo do que a pessoa que ele treinou? “Eu comecei a trabalhar como técnica de montagem de palco e logo eu comecei a operar, depois entrei no Centro Cultural São Paulo e fiquei fixa no setor do som. Aí comecei a trabalhar em várias empresas de som, fazer muito show. Eu sempre saí para trabalhar e aprender, eu lia manuais, não tinha dinheiro pra fazer IAV, nunca fiz, então eu lia apostilas. Tinham pessoas que me ensinaram algumas coisas, eu pude acompanhar grandes técnicos trabalhando, então você vai absorvendo. Mas foi muito na cabeçada também, de meter a mão e ir pra cima.”

As pessoas notavam o bom trabalho de Adriana e as propostas de trabalho iam aparecendo. Um dia, mixando uma banda na casa de show em que trabalhava, a banda gostou tanto de seu trabalho que passou a chama-la para trabalhar em seus shows. “Eles tinham equipamento próprio, eu ia junto ligava e operava.” Ela enfatiza, “tudo foi aprendizado, todos os processos pelos quais eu passei, todas as bandas. As oportunidades foram aparecendo e eu aproveitava.” Quanto mais ela trabalhava, mais bandas notavam seu trabalho e mais propostas de trabalho ela recebia. Logo, ela começou a viajar com a banda Teatro mágico como técnica de monitor, um divisor de águas em sua carreira. “Era outro esquema, todo mundo de fone, pan pra lá e pra cá, clicks, procedimentos diferentes de trabalho, RF, sistema sem fio; ali eu aprendi muito, eu fiquei três anos lá e quando eu saí muita galera me chamava pra fazer monitor.”

Agora que Adriana é um técnica reconhecida e com muita experiência, conversamos sobre os aspectos técnicos do seu trabalho e as particularidades de trabalhar com som ao vivo no Brasil.

Ao ser perguntada sobre quando começa a adiantar a pré-produção de um show, ela nos contou que “assim que eu recebo o contato, já faço. Tem show que eu recebo um mês antes, tem show grande que a produção técnica do evento já pega os contatos e já começa a pré, tem uns que é três dias antes do show. Eu peço o email, já envio o rider e peço o contrarider, via e-mail ou WhatsApp. Quando não dá pra fazer visita técnica eu peço foto, eu vejo online qual a casa de show. Tudo é formalizado por escrito, tudo que foi acordado, com todo mundo ciente, contratante, diretor técnico, dono da empresa de som ou técnico da casa, envio uma lista com tudo que eu preciso. Depois, se tiver algum problema com algum desses equipamentos, tem que avisar, e se precisar de substituição, tem que avisar com antecedência. E na passagem de som, se algum dos ítens não estiver funcionando perfeitamente, tem que ser resolvido na hora, senão não dá pra fazer o show. Eles sempre dão um jeito, mas tem que ficar em cima, e eu deixo muito claro, eu sou chata. Tem uns caras que dizem ‘ah tá bom, vai tá tudo certo’, e você chega lá e o equipamento é ruim. Então eu digo: se não trocar, não vai ter. Eles dão um jeito e trocam.”

A falta de profissionalismo na pré produção já serve de alerta para Adriana. “Respondem de forma genérica, ‘tem 4 monitores’, mas não dizem qual falante, qual drive, qual tamanho. Aí eu peço foto, porque as vezes só de olhar você já sabe, e já diz se tem que alugar outras caixas, porque essas não vão servir. Se você falar com outro profissional, você envia seu rider, ele manda o contrarider, você negocia o que não te atende e as opções para substituição, e você chega num acordo, só que quando não é um profissional, você não tem como negociar, é difícil, aí eu vou direto no contratante e informo o que está no contrato e o que não está sendo atendido.” Outro problema é quando as pessoas não são nem qualificadas para saber a diferença entre bom e ruim. “Você joga ruído rosa numa caixa e ela não reproduz corretamente, e o técnico diz que tá boa e tá funcionando. Como que um cara que trabalha com som não ouve? Ele não ouve o que tá ruim, ele não ouve nem um humming.”

Em quais consoles Adriana prefere trabalhar? “Eu gosto muito de encontrar mesas boas, gosto muito das mesas Soundcraft linhas Vi, 3000, 2000, gosto muito de Digico SD8 e SD9. Midas e SSL são ótimas mas difíceis de achar.” E o que ela mais costuma encontrar? “Yamaha M7CL e LS9, são equipamentos de muito uso, e se não fazem a manutenção direito, não dá. É o que eu mais pego, mas não entram em nenhum dos meus riders, nem com banda pequena, eu não peço, porque normalmente é o que vai ter. E até atende o input e o output, efeitos, equalizadores gráficos, mas o problema é o mau estado delas.”

Adriana não costuma encontrar equipamentos periféricos além do console, talvez um par de equalizadores gráficos, que muitas vezes não estão funcionando direito, então ela se adaptou a resolver tudo direto no console.

“Eu nem peço, porque pode ter um cabo de insert ruim ou mal colocado, aí o som não chega e você só perde tempo. Melhor ir no console, estou acostumada a trabalhar com qualquer console. O que tiver, você vai e faz. Tenho minhas preferências, mas o que tiver eu faço, não fico dependendo de equipamento. Claro que muda, né, as ferramentas, quanto melhores, mais fácil seu trabalho. Mas eu tô acostumada a torcer M7, LS9 e X32.”

As bandas brasileiras têm uma queixa comum antes de contratar Adriana como técnica de monitor. “O maior problema que as bandas tem é se ouvir. Uma banda que só pode ter um técnico, não vai ter um técnico de monitor, normalmente esse técnico vai fazer o PA. Muitas vezes é um técnico que faz só um show e depois vai embora. Músico que tá acostumado a ter técnico de monitor, se acostuma a se ouvir bem, e no dia que não tem, passa um perrengue.” Por isso, quando Adriana é a única técnica de som na equipe, ela levanta uma mix básica de monitor antes de ir para o PA, porque “enquanto eles não tiverem se ouvindo, eles não vão tocar. Não adianta o PA estar bom se eles estiverem errando, se eles não tiverem se ouvindo. Eu penso assim. Tem gente que não se importa porque foi contratado só pra mixar o PA, mas eu acho que tudo isso agrega no trabalho, se você chega e faz um trabalho mais completo a banda vai te dar muito mais valor e falar ‘a Adriana resolve tudo pra gente, quando for um show maior com cachê melhor a gente aumenta a equipe, mas por enquanto ela é o suficiente’”.

Então as bandas contratam apenas um(a) técnico(a) por causa da verba ou por que acham que não precisa de dois? “Tem bandas em que os músicos estão acostumados a não se ouvir e não tão nem aí. Tem bandas em que eles fazem questão de ter um técnico de monitor, mas a produção não tem verba, prefere chamar algum outro profissional, tipo dançarino ou figurinista, do que priorizar a equipe técnica.” Adriana costuma trabalhar com bandas com uma atitude profissional, e enfatiza que mesmo as bandas pequenas querem cada vez mais ter uma equipe eficiente e buscam contratar no mínimo um técnico de som, um iluminador e um roadie. Quanto maior o show, maior a equipe. Ela faz questão de não ocupar o cargo de roadie, para não tirar o trabalho de outra pessoa e explica para as bandas a importância de ter uma pessoa na equipe dedicada a esse cargo. “No meio do show, se der um imprevisto, quem vai virar as costas pro público pra resolver? O artista não pode resolver isso, tem que ter um roadie pra ir lá resolver o problema no seu instrumento, afinar sua viola no meio do show. Eu tento ao máximo agregar equipe, sempre, eu to acostumada a ter equipe grande porque funciona muito bem e um ajuda o outro, tudo funciona melhor. Eu sempre tento aumentar a equipe e mostrar a importância e a diferença que faz.”

Comparando a realidade brasileira com a americana, Adriana aponta que “aqui você tem que saber fazer tudo: alinhar o sistema, coordenar o RF, mixar PA e monitor, várias coisas. Lá fora é tudo mais setorizado, o que acabando sendo mais organizado. Aqui a gente acaba fazendo tudo porque, se sou só eu e começa a fugir um microfone sem fio, é da parte do som e isso complica o meu trabalho, então eu já garanto o RF. Se for um evento maior, tem que ter uma pessoa pra fazer isso, a casa de show tem que me entregar o equipamento funcionando, mas em shows menores com banda menor que a gente leva nossos próprios microfones e in ears, eu não vou deixar o artista passando sufoco.”

Sobre os problemas técnicos que costuma encontrar, Adriana suspira “a gente passa por muitas coisas”, mas encara essas situações já prevendo como resolver: “se você passa por algo e aprende, você se antecede, previne e toma medidas para evitar que aquilo aconteça, senão você tem que parar o que você está fazendo para resolver um problema. Independente do que seja, você já tenta, os cabos são todos por aqui, já vou fazer o RF, já vou checar tudo, já vou testar antes, logo quando chegar, pra ter tempo, então você vai se antecedendo. Vai dar um monte de imprevisto, cabo que pára e não funciona, canal que entra humming, mas a experiência faz com que você consiga lidar com isso de uma maneira mais rápida. Ok, aconteceu algo, resolve dessa forma; RF tá ruim? Então põe a base no pé da cantora, sabe? Então tem coisas que você já vai tomando medidas mais bruscas para garantir, não dá para perder tempo resolvendo um monte de problema, porque normalmente é só a gente que tá lá pra resolver.”

Falando em prevenir, perguntamos a Adriana o que ela costuma levar para os shows: “Eu levo par de pilha nova sempre, fita, hellerman, toalha, listerine e alcool gel, duas grades de sm58 – se for outro modelo eu limpo, caneta, pen drive. Uma artista reclamou que o microfone tá fedendo? No outro show você já entrega um microfone limpinho. Uma cantora reclamou, eu liguei no dia seguinte pra produção e avisei que tava indo comprar duas bolinhas de microfone e pedi pra ela me depositar. Acabou! Então você tem que achar soluções práticas ao invés de falar que está com problemas. Acho que equipe técnica é isso, achar solução e evitar problema.” No início da ano, Adriana viajou para a Europa com os irmãos, e mesmo sendo uma viagem de férias, ela levou fita. “A gente usou tanto! Colei o tênis do meu irmão que tava abrindo o bico, o livro da minha irmã soltou a capa, passei fita! Meu óculos tinha aberto, prendi com fita. A gente usou tanto, e meus irmãos riram, ‘só você mesmo pra viajar com fita!’. Eu também ando com um multiteste, porque são coisas que podem te salvar. Quanto menos você depender dos outros, menos problema você vai ter.”

Algo que notei ao acompanhar Adriana em montagens e passagens de som, é que ela costuma levantar a cena do zero. “Cada dia é um dia, não é sempre a mesma mesa. Eu tenho muita cena no meu pendrive, mas é difícil usar, já tive que fazer muitas vezes do zero porque a mesa não lia o cartão.” E é claro, cada dia é uma sala e um sistema de PA diferentes. Para verificar a resposta de frequência do sistema, Adriana costuma usar ruído rosa e na sequência tocar suas músicas de referência. “Eu gosto muito de Change The World, do Eric Clapton”, ela também toca versões dub de músicas do The Police para testar os subs. “Costumo usar também Massive Attack, músicas que eu tô acostumada, eu sei o que eu tem um detalhe aqui e ali”. Ela toca Everybody Here Wants you do Jeff Buckley, por causa do reverb longo da caixa, “tem PA que não tem o reverb da caixa, que não tem a resposta dos harmônicos. Tem uns que o stereo está péssimo, tem o stereo de altas, de médias, que estão na mix. Quando chega um backing vocal aberto e não veio, você sabe que aquela região de frequências não está certa.”

Em 10 anos, ela quer continuar fazendo o que está fazendo. Ela gostaria de passar mais tempo no estúdio aprendendo técnicas mais apuradas de captação e mixagem, “mas eu não posso parar de trabalhar para ficar aprendendo no estúdio e ganhando muito pouco. Eu preciso trabalhar. E eu realmente gosto do que eu faço. Tem uns trabalhos que você faz que você se sente parte mesmo. Eu fico feliz quando sei que no dia seguinte tem show do Far From Alaska, ali é a gig do coração! Eu não me vejo fazendo outra coisa. Quando comecei a trabalhar com som, eu nunca mais parei, eu sempre trabalhei muito. E a galera gostava e chamava de novo. Quando você é determinado e se esforça pra fazer o melhor, não importa o que seja, você colhe o que planta.”

Desde que começou sua carreira há 12 anos, Adriana só parou de trabalhar quando estava grávida de sua filha Luka, e mesmo assim trabalhou até os oito meses de gravidez. “Depois que ela nasceu eu fiquei seis meses só em casa com ela, depois eu voltei a trabalhar, por isso eu não tive mais filho, porque eu não posso perder esse timing e financeiramente eu não posso parar de trabalhar. Mas eu gosto muito do que eu faço, e eu gosto de fazer vários trabalhos diferentes ao mesmo tempo, estilos, equipes e produções diferentes, isso tudo é agregador e o aprendizado é maior.”

Adriana já foi chamada várias vezes para dar cursos de áudio, mas sua resposta é mais prática e direta: “Vem trabalhar comigo que você pega!”. Uma pessoa inclusive pagou para ter aulas particulares, e ela formulou como repassar todo seu conhecimento da melhor forma possível, mas ao fim ela resumiu “Eu levei muitos anos para aprender tudo isso que eu te ensinei em um mês. Agora, depende de você. Bate em porta de empresa de som, bate em porta de barzinho, casa de show, diz que você está estudando áudio e pede pra acompanhar, se ofereça como assistente. Você quer mesmo? Bate em portas”. Adriana não se sentia a vontade de indica-lo, pois ele não tinha experiência. “Eu aprendi com um técnico que nem sabia para que servia o botão de high pass, ele apertava pra descobrir, mas tudo mais que ele sabia, ele me ensinou. E eu sou muito grata a ele por isso.” Recentemente, Adriana estava mixando PA e no meio do show foi surpreendida pelo técnico que a orientou no início da carreira, ele foi lhe dar um abraço e dizer o quanto estava orgulhoso do seu progresso. “A gente tem que correr atrás. Hoje em dia é fácil, tem muito video, workshop, técnico que vem de fora dar curso, tudo agrega. É importante saber mexer no equipamento, mas o mais importante é saber o que você tem que fazer com esse equipamento. Equipamento é uma ferramenta, como se fosse um computador ou uma máquina de escrever, você pode aprender muito sobre som e audio, e conhecer as ferramentas, mas o mais importante é o ouvido.”

Adriana reforça: se a gente não correr atrás, nada acontece. “Nada caiu no meu colo. As coisas foram acontecendo porque eu ia me mexendo, nunca fiquei parada esperando nada. Graças a Deus todo esse tempo eu não fiquei sem trabalho. Quanto mais você trabalha, mais trabalho aparece. Isto é fato.”

Profile by Gabi Lima, engenheira de audio, produtora, compositora, instrumentista, cantora e comedora de doce.
Gabi Lima is an audio engineer, producer, songwriter, musician, singer, and candy eater. She is based in São Paulo, Brasil

Adriana Viana: Independent Brazilian Sound Engineer

Read Portuguese Version Here

Adriana Viana is a Brazilian freelance Front of House, monitor engineer, and technical director. Based in São Paulo, she has worked with many Brazilian artists such as Teatro Mágico, Flora Matos, Plutão Já Foi Planeta, Rodrigo Teaser – Tributo ao Rei do Pop (a Michael Jackson tribute concert) and mixed international artists when they played in Brazil, such as Toots and the Maytals, Mark Lanegan and blues guitarist Jimmy Burns. She is currently the front-of-house engineer for Far From Alaska and Rashid and is also on tour with one of Brazil’s finest songwriters, Adriana Calcanhoto. She is also the technical director of Women’s Music Event, where she puts together a team of qualified women to run sound for the entire event.

Those who get to see Adriana in action might get the impression that she has been mixing all her life. But when she started out in this business 12 years ago, she wasn’t even allowed to operate any equipment. Her interest sparked from going to a lot of shows, and as most people bitten by the audio bug, she would tag along with her musician friends for soundcheck. “I wondered, what are those guys doing? I could see there were people in charge of the audio equipment, of setting it up, mixing, doing lights, and I found it super interesting.”

She learned of a couple of job openings at a local rental company and went in for an interview. She then discovered the only two positions available to her were: answering the phone or keeping track of warehouse inventory, so she chose the latter, to be closer to the equipment. “They asked me if I had any experience and I didn’t, so I told them I was very organized and I wanted to learn so I could get in the business. They needed someone to manage their inventory, so I took that opportunity. When techs brought in equipment, I would ask: what is this mic? They’d tell me; it’s a Shure SM58. Next time they’d bring a similar mic, and I’d ask, “Is this a Shure SM58? They’d inform me that it was a beta 58, so I’d learn the difference. I would keep stock, count, and organize all the equipment going out and coming in”. It’s already difficult for anyone coming into this industry to work their way up, and Adriana points out that it’s even more difficult for women who have to deal with sexism and harassment. Adriana wasn’t really taught anything about the equipment, instead, she’d find the manuals and read them. She wasn’t given the opportunity to operate the equipment either, and couldn’t afford formal training, so she bought a book about audio engineering and started studying it.“I just learned by reading manuals, workbooks, books, just any printed material I could find. I was eager to learn so I’d go to events and watch.”

At one of the events that she’d tag along to, a freelance tech noticed her eagerness to learn and invited her to his regular gig “every Saturday, at 2 pm. He didn’t mix, he was a stage tech, ran all the cables, patched everything, and taught me everything he knew. He’d tell me, this is an XLR, this is an instrument cable, this is a snake, he taught me how the system was set up. I worked Monday through Friday at the rental company, but on Saturdays, I went to his gig to learn. You could say I worked for free, I’d run cables, set up mics and monitors, then I’d quietly watch the front-of-house engineer mix, and I’d ask questions when he had a break.” Soon, the tech who taught Adriana needed a sub – and who better to call than the person he trained? “I started subbing for him as a stage tech, and soon after that, I was mixing, then I became the house engineer for that venue. Then I started working for other sound companies as a tech, and I worked a lot of shows. Then I worked at other venues and learned even more. I was always out there learning and working, I read manuals, I couldn’t afford to go to school for audio engineering, so I never did. I watched people working, and I learned. I would always go for it and just try and do it.”

People noticed her hard work and kept hiring her for more gigs. While working at a venue, she mixed a band who liked her work so much they asked her to go on the road with them. “They had their own equipment; I’d set it up and operate it.” She emphasizes, “all I went through, all the bands I worked with, that was my learning process. Whenever there was an opportunity, I’d take it.” The more she worked, the more bands noticed her excellent work, and the more she would work! She soon landed a gig with the popular Brazilian band Teatro Mágico as their official monitor engineer. “It was full-on wireless, in ears, stereo mixes, click, everything! I learned a lot in those three years, and more people kept hiring me to mix monitors.”

Now that she’s an experienced and well-respected live sound engineer, she talked to us about the technical aspects of her work and the particularities of working with live sound in Brazil.

When asked how early she starts pre-producing a show, she replied, “as soon as I’m hired to do it. Sometimes a month ahead, sometimes a couple of days before the show. I ask for the venue’s tech contact so I can send in my rider right away and get theirs back, via email or WhatsApp. If I can’t do a site survey, I ask for photos, too; I also look online for more info on the venue and their equipment. I exchange all the information in writing, so everything that’s been agreed on by promoters, managers, the rental company, techs, and directors is documented, and everyone is informed. If the full rider can’t be provided, I ask that substitutions be worked out ahead of time, and inform that everything needs to be working during soundcheck or the show won’t happen. I stay on top of things, I request all the necessary info, and some guys will dismiss it with ‘relax, everything will be alright,’ and when I get there their equipment is terrible and their system isn’t working correctly, so I show them all the documented info and state: you either provide us with the right equipment or there won’t be a show, so they do.”

People who don’t act professionally during pre-production are a red flag for Adriana. “They give generic answers like ‘there are four monitors’ but won’t tell me the specific brand, model or specs. That’s why I ask for pictures, so I can identify if the equipment meets our needs, and if it doesn’t, I specify what they should rent instead. With real professionals, you can work out a deal between what you need and what they have, but you can’t really negotiate with people who don’t act professionally, they walk in circles, so I go straight to the promoter and let them know that the rider is not being met. The promoter then demands that all technical aspects of the rider be honored.”

Another problem is when people aren’t even qualified to tell good from bad. “You play pink noise through a speaker and it sounds terrible, but the house tech listens to it and says it’s working fine. Some people can’t hear hum noises either.”

So, what consoles does she request in her rider? “I love getting good consoles to work with – Soundcraft consoles, the Vi, 3000 and 2000 series, I like Digico SD8 and SD9. Midas and SSL consoles are great but hard to come across on the road”. So what does she usually get? “Yamaha’s, usually in bad condition, unfortunately. M7CL, PM5D, and LS9 are the most commonly used consoles, and if they’re not regularly checked and well maintained, they won’t work properly. I never request them on my riders, not even when mixing a small indie band – because that’s what I’ll usually get anyway, and though they have enough inputs and outputs, they’re usually poorly maintained.”

When it comes to outboard gear, she says venues usually just have a pair of graphic EQs, and if that’s not available or in poor condition, as often is the case, she’ll resort to using the console’s graphic EQs on her outputs. “I avoid poorly maintained equipment; the cables might be in poor condition too, so as not to waste time, I deal with it in the console. I’m used to working on any console that’s available. I have my preferences, but whatever is there, I’ll use it, I’ll mix on it. I don’t depend on equipment to do my job. Of course, the better the tool, the easier my job will be, but I’m used to getting a good sound out of not-so-good equipment.”

Brazilian bands have a common issue that makes them hire Adriana as a monitor engineer. “They have trouble hearing themselves on stage. If the band can afford an engineer, they’ll usually hire just one engineer, not two different people for monitors and FOH. And that one person will mix FOH. Sometimes it’s a one-off gig for that tech. Musicians that are used to having a monitor engineer are used to hearing themselves well, and when they happen to not have a monitor engineer, they’re in trouble.” That’s why even when Adriana is the only engineer in the crew and is mixing FOH, she’ll get a basic monitor mix up for her musicians, because “I can’t begin to mix FOH if they can’t hear themselves – they won’t play right. It doesn’t matter if I have a great-sounding PA if my musicians aren’t playing well if they can’t hear what they’re playing. At least that’s how I see it. A lot of people will just stick to mixing FOH because technically, that’s all they’re getting paid to do, but I think this makes my work better, more complete. And if I do a good job, the band recognizes and appreciates it, they see that I presented a solution, and I make sure they get a monitor engineer when their budget is bigger.”

So do bands only hire one tech because they don’t think they need two or because of a tight budget? “Some bands never heard themselves well on stage, and they’re used to it. Some bands only play if there’s a monitor engineer. Some productions don’t allocate the budget for it – they’d rather spend the money on a different professional, a dancer, a stylist, than having a larger audio crew.” Adriana is used to working with professional bands that hire at least one sound tech, one light tech, and one roadie. The bigger the show, the bigger the crew. She also makes a point of not working as a roadie and informs bands of the importance of hiring one, as that’s someone else’s job that she’s not taking. “If you’re playing a show and something goes wrong, is the artist going to turn their back to the crowd to fix it? That’s a roadie’s job. I try to add as many people to the crew as possible because everyone’s work is better that way. I always put together a good team and show the artist how important that is.”

Reflecting on the reality of working in Brazil compared to the US, Adriana points out that “You have to know how to do everything – tune the system, set up wireless equipment, coordinate the RF, mix FOH, mix monitors, a lot of different things. Overseas there seem to be different professionals for different tasks… but here, if something goes wrong with the audio, that’s all part of my job, and I want to make sure everything works. If it’s a big event, you need people dedicated to specific functions, the equipment needs to be working, but in smaller shows, my artists will bring their own mics and in-ears, and if something goes wrong, I have to fix it. We may not have an RF tech, but we have common sense. Each situation is different, but I won’t let the artist encounter difficulty and do nothing about it.”

When asked what difficulties she usually encounters, she sighed, “We go through so much…” but replied with a problem-solving attitude: “if there’s a problem and you learn how to deal with it, you can anticipate it and make sure it doesn’t happen again. You take precautions to avoid possible problems. And if you set up correctly and test ahead, you won’t have to stop what you’re doing to troubleshoot it. Things might go wrong, you might get a bad cable or a noisy input channel, but experience makes you identify possible issues and deal with them faster. Ok, something is not working, we’ll set it up differently. Poor wireless signal? Send the singer’s mix to her floor wedges. You know? You take precautions so you won’t waste time trying to fix a bunch of different things, because usually, I’m the only person there to fix it.”

Speaking of thinking ahead, we asked Adriana what she takes with her to a show: “Fresh batteries, tape, Hellerman tool, towels, Listerine and hand sanitizer, a couple sm58 grilles, pens, memory stick. An artist complained that the mic was stinky? Well, next show, you hand them a freshly clean mic. An artist complained, I called her production and said I was on my way to buy two spare sm58 grilles and asked them to reimburse me. There, problem solved. You have to come up with solutions instead of complaining about the problems. Good audio techs will find solutions and avoid problems.”

Earlier this year, she went to Europe on vacation with her siblings – even off duty, she took gaff tape with her. “I taped my brother’s shoes; they were coming apart on the sides; the cover was coming off on my sister’s book. I taped it! My glasses were falling apart; I taped them. My siblings were amazed that I took tape with me on a vacation trip. I carry around a multimeter too. The less I depend on others, the fewer problems I have.”

One thing I’ve noticed from watching Adriana set up and sound check, is that she’ll usually build up her scene from scratch. “Each day is different; I don’t always get the same console… I have a lot of scenes on my memory stick, but I hardly ever use any. Sometimes the console won’t read the flash drive!”

Needless to say, she encounters different rooms and PAs every time. She uses pink noise to check the system, see if all frequency ranges are responding correctly, then she’ll play some music. “I really like Eric Clapton’s Change the World,” she also uses dub versions of The Police songs to check the subs. “Massive Attack, you know, music I’m familiar with, so I’ll know what’s missing.” She plays Jeff Buckley’s Everybody Here Wants You, which has a distinctive long verb on the snare, “I can tell if the PA is reproducing the harmonics. With these mixes, I can also check the stereo image, especially the mid and hi mid-range. When you play a song that has a wide backing vocal mix, I can tell what’s there and what isn’t but should be.”

Ten years from now, Adriana hopes to be still doing what she does. She wishes she could spend more time in a studio learning recording techniques, but she “can’t afford to stop working and assist at a studio making less money. I gotta work. And I really love what I do. Some gigs make you feel like you’re part of them. I go to sleep happy because I know the next day I get to work with Far From Alaska, this gig is the apple of my eye! I don’t see myself doing anything else. Since I started working with live sound, I never stopped, and I’ve always worked a lot, and the more I work, the more work I get. When you’re determined, and you work hard to do your best, you reap what you sow.”

The only time Adriana stopped working since she started 12 years ago, was when she got pregnant with her daughter Luka and even then worked till she was eight months pregnant. “I took a six-month break when she was born; then I had to go back to work, that’s why I haven’t had more kids, because I can’t lose momentum, and it’s also not financially possible for me to stop working. And I really love my job; I always worked for different bands at the same time, different styles, different crews, different productions, it all makes my learning much richer.”

People keep asking Adriana to teach about live sound. Her reply? “Tag along, and you’ll learn.” One guy went as far as paying her for private lessons. Hard-working as she is, she developed a teaching plan and taught him everything she knew. In the end, she told her student, “It took me years to learn what I taught you in months – from now on, you’ll have to learn from your own experience. Look for a gig, go to venues, say you’re learning audio, ask if they need an assistant. Do you really want it? Knock on doors.” She said she couldn’t recommend him for gigs, because he didn’t have any real live hands-on experience. “I learned from a guy who didn’t know what an HPF button on a console was, he kept turning it on and off to find out – but everything else he did know, he taught me. And I’m very grateful.” Recently Adriana was mixing a show where her mentor happened to be, so he went up to her and gave her a big hug to tell her how proud he was. “You have to go after what you want. Nowadays there’s a lot of information available, youtube videos, workshops, panels. It’s important to know how to operate the equipment, but most importantly, you have to know what to do with it. It’s a tool, like anything else, you can learn a lot about audio and about your tools, but the most important thing is your ears.”

Adriana insists: things don’t happen if you don’t make them happen. “Nothing fell on my lap. Things happened because I went after them. Thank God I was never out of work. The more I work, the more work I get. That’s a fact.”

IEM Maintenance & Troubleshooting

The Glamour Starts Here

Special thanks to Josh Thomas for all his help with writing this article.

A few years ago, I went to a talk about mixing for in-ear monitors (IEMs), given by one of the top monitor engineers in the UK, Mr. Justin Grealy. As someone who mainly worked in-house, but had to accommodate more and more acts turning up with their own IEM systems, I was intrigued to learn as many tips and tricks as possible to give artists great mixes. I was not expecting most of the hour to be taken up with all the different ways to get earwax out of an IEM. Some were admittedly genius – hairdryers were mentioned at one point – but I didn’t understand at the time just how important good IEM hygiene and maintenance is for a successful mix. No amount of volume, pretty effects or space-creating trickery will make up for the sound being muffled by a wall of wax, or cutting out because of dirty connections.

IEMs can be the biggest purchase you make in your early career, so it’s worth taking the time to find the right ones for you. If you need them to work with the same act regularly, try to get the same make and model as they use (or the main person uses if they all have different ones). The goal is to get as close as possible to what they hear. Discuss with management whether their budget will cover part or all of the cost.

If you need them for one-offs or working in-house, get the best quality that you can afford. It can make a massive difference to what you hear, and so how well you can react and make subtle adjustments in a mix. Generic IEMs are cheaper and quicker to buy than a custom moulded pair, but getting a custom fit will properly seal the IEMs against the ear canal, which helps with isolation from external noise and provides a better bass response. If possible, go to a local IEM dealer and demo a few different ones before you decide. Remember, you want the ones that will reproduce the signal most accurately, not the ones that sound nicest (e.g., if the pair you have are rounded off in the higher frequencies, your mixing could sound too harsh to people who have IEMs with a flatter frequency response).

Regular cleaning of your and your clients’ IEMs is essential. Small grains of dirt on an IEM can make their way into your ear, scratch the delicate skin in the canal and lead to infection and swelling. Dirt, sweat, and wax can block the drivers’ tubes, corrode the connections and even end up in the tiny and sensitive electronics, causing damage. I would like to say if you take good enough care of them, they can last you a lifetime, but custom moulded IEMs should be replaced about every four years. The shape of your ear canal changes subtly throughout your life, so after a few years, the fit won’t be as exact and will stop forming a seal. Specialist gels like Auragel or foam wraps like Comply can help to form the seal again, but they are only a stopgap solution. Once you notice your IEMs loosening it’s time to get a new pair, from a new fitting, not the measurements the IEM company may have kept on file (these are for replacing lost or damaged IEMs).

The central part of cleaning IEMs is removing wax from the tubes that lead from the drivers to your ears. Your IEMs should come with a loop of wire with a plastic handle for this, but if they didn’t, or you lost it, or the wax is further down the tube than it can reach, there are a few do’s and don’ts you should bear in mind.

First, be gentle. Keep a close eye on what you’re doing and be careful not to damage any filters or circuitry inside the IEM. Don’t use anything that might break off and get stuck in the tube! Mechanical pencils look kind of perfect for this task, but they are a terrible idea. Also, avoid using anything pointed or sharp, like a needle. You could scratch the moulding, making tiny grooves where more wax and dirt can build up, and potentially where bacteria can fester. Using a loop, optionally followed by a specialist earwax vacuum, is the way to go. I try as much as possible to hold the IEM upside down, so any wax that gets dislodged falls out instead of further into the tube, and I use a gentle scooping motion, at an angle, to get behind the wax and bring it back out instead of risking pushing it further in. Compacted wax blocking a driver can render an IEM useless, and it can be costly and time-consuming to send back to the manufacturer to fix. I then clean the outside of the moulds with alcohol swabs.

Cleaning an IEM with an earwax vacuum, nozzle inserted at an angle

If one ear keeps cutting out, look at the connections between the cable and the IEM. It might merely be loose, but check that there isn’t any green or black stuff at the pins or in the socket. Black is most likely dirt, but green is corroding copper, usually caused by sweat. Cleaning this off with a cotton bud (Q tip) dipped in alcohol or contact cleaner (being careful not to let any liquid get into the body of the IEM) can fix this, but you need to prevent it happening again. Leaving the IEMs to air out after use, keeping a small sachet of silica gel in the case, and checking them regularly can help. If the owner likes to wear their IEMs in the gym, tell them, it’s time to invest in standard earbuds, or it will become a costly habit!

Two different brands of IEM with their respective cables. On the left, the socket is recessed into the casing where two dots can be seen, on the right, it is the area in black. There is no evidence of dirt or corrosion.

If the ear connections are fine, the minijack connector or belt pack socket might be dirty or corroded and can be treated in the same way. The minijack has to be fully seated for both ears to work. If the right side is intermittent, but the left is fine, the jack might be pulling out of the socket slightly, so the right side’s ring no longer makes a connection. Leaving more slack on the cable or taping it in place should help. If it isn’t the jack, gently wiggle the cable as you’re sending signal, to see if there’s a weak spot. IEM cables can get abused, being yanked and pulled during costume changes, snagged on door handles, crushed in their cases. It is wise to carry spare cables for each type of IEM you have so you can swap them out straight away if there’s a problem. Don’t wait until you need one, because it can take weeks to get them, especially at busy times of the year.

If the above steps don’t fix your problem, it might be an issue with the pack or radio frequencies, which is outside the scope of this post. If one ear has lost a big chunk of its frequency spectrum, or it sounds like it’s distorting at low levels, one of the drivers might have blown and will need to be sent for repair. Another reason to keep an eye on your bandmember’s pack volume levels and to mix responsibly!

There are all types of little gadgets and supplies you can keep with you to help with IEM maintenance and troubleshooting. IEMs and hearing aids have a lot in common, and it’s worth checking out audiologist suppliers as well as IEM specialists for things like cleaning loops, ear wax softener and earmould stetoclips (like a stethoscope for hearing aids). Always have plenty of alcohol/anti-bacterial wipes to hand, and thoroughly clean each piece of equipment between IEMs with a new swab to reduce the potential for cross-contamination and general grossness.

Whether the thought of dealing with other people’s earwax turns your stomach, or like me, you find cleaning IEMs strangely satisfying; it does more than keep your equipment at its best. It’s always good to get a reputation for being helpful and useful, and you can spot potential problems before they develop. It’s much easier and safer to deal with issues in your downtime than halfway through a show. It can also be an excellent opportunity to start the conversation with clients about anything they’ve noticed about their IEMs but hadn’t thought to mention, or how they’re dealing with volume levels and looking after their hearing in the long term. For example, increased earwax production can be the body’s defense against sustained, overly loud listening volumes. Showing that you’re interested in their hearing health now and in the future, and willing to go the extra mile, can cement your relationship and improve trust and communication, which will do more for your mixing than any effects unit ever could.

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Soundcheck Process

Always Remember

Starr McLaughlin – Monitor Engineer for Japanese Breakfast, Alex G, Jessie Murph

How did you get your start in the audio field?

What inspired you to pursue audio as a career path? Were there any significant life events that led you to it?

How did your early experiences/internships/jobs help build a foundation for where you are now?

What were some important lessons you learned early on in your career?

Did you have a mentor or someone that helped you?

I know that you have experience in multiple environments, but tell me about a typical day on tour for you:

What do you enjoy the most about your job(s)? What do you like least?

What obstacles or barriers have you faced? How did you deal with those adversities or issues?

What are some ways in which you stay organized and focused?

What are some of your favorite day-off activities?

Do you have short- or long-term goals that you’d like to share?

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Do you have any advice for women/non-binary folks entering the audio industry?

What are some of your favorite “must-have” skills?

Any gear/gadget favorites?

What’s in your backpack/pelican? Any fun clothing items that you can’t live without at work?

Do you have any certifications/memberships you’d like to spotlight?

Tell me about something you wish you could change about the touring industry?

Any shout-outs or thank-yous you’d like to include?

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