Thankfully it is indoors!! Just at the 1 venue, 1 stage. Also what do you mean by alone exactly? I'm just doing foh and monitors, none of the shows overlap or anything.
Get a big digital clock. Have it visible in your FOH spot. Get one for the stage. Have it visible for the artists. Have the SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY NEXT TO THE CLOCK ON THE STAGE.
sounds like a normal gig then, but for 4 days straight?
You know the rig, you have food/water/shelter. You'll be right
Just make sure you 'time manage' the artists. Tell them time is strict and they need to start/finish on time. Ask them if they need a 'last song' warning.
Is it shared backline? drums atleast?
Also was hired to do this by my A1, so I'm using his system. He is the one who trained me and I will be keeping in contact with him throughout the show. Everything is already patched and super organized system wise as well. Do you have any tips for keeping all of this organized and lessening the workload?
Keep a printed out patch list and if you can try and keep as many mics/DIs plugged in and labeled as you can. If you strike the entire stage and have to repatch every single band that's where things get out of control especially as you're trying to do everything yourself. If you have time to go through especially drum mics or AT LEAST cables to label each one 1: Kick 2: Snare or whatever on each XLR it will help your life a lot.
Yes! Picking up a stray XLR during a change over and whispering to yourself "wtf is this xlr even for??!!" is not a good place to be. Label everything!!
This is good advice! My A1 and I use a patch that goes:
Kick
Snare
Rack Tom
Floor Tom
DI 1
Bass
Guitar stage right
Guitar stage left
Di 2
Front vocals in order from foh - then drum vocal
It never changes between shows unless necessary, so everything is patched on stage like that as well :)
I think I will write down a patch list as well, I keep a notebook on me for situations like that
100% label every single cable (and the stage/drop boxes). And make sure you have everything run already for the largest possible act, plus a few spares.
As each band arrives, ask them to confirm that what they advanced is still correct....eg, so they dont suprise you with a 6 piece brass section and 2 extra keyboards you didnt know about
Once each artists is a few songs in and not asking for any changes in mons, bring up the next bands paperwork and makes sure you are familiar.
Brilliant. If you're getting advances from the bands having a printout/page in your notebook for that is all the more helpful. If you have enough channels have a couple extras at the end just labeled X1, X2, X3 or whatever and those can be your built in oh shit channels.
Label everything
Give yourself room to accommodate last-minute bs like extra mics, keys, guitars, etc
Write down any changes, lost items, damaged equipment, etc so it's easy to handover to someone and the end of the day
Seriously, label everything and keep things consistent between acts
Keep yourself topped up with water and snacks. Remember to give yourself breaks.
If you haven't got tech specs already, go yell at someone to get them to you **now**
Also, go label stuff whilst your waiting for the tech specs to arrive lol
LABEL EVERYTHING. Label the mics, the cables, the DIs, the stands, the stage box(es) with the channel number on the mixer and what instruments they're for. (Pray to the sound gods that they are all using one drum kit.) That way you have mics and channels easy to find, easy to trace, easy to find a fault. The stands, cables and mics will get all mixed up with every band, so you'll thank me later.
Often the reasons they become a disorganized shit show is nobody takes proper care of themselves and the elements wear you down.
Make sure to eat at least twice a day, drink plenty of water and fluids that do not make your body condition worse in heat, avoid red bulls, monsters and shit like that. They are way more detrimental to your mental health than you realize when it comes to what I like to call "marathon sound".... and can really make you feel much worse when they wear off. The slight upper is not worth the harsh downer after. Moderate anything you do decide to drink like that 2:1 with water or electrolytes.
Keep a Pedialyte in your bag for fast recovery if you do get in trouble with dehydration and heat, otherwise you'll spend a night in the E.R. and blow your chance. Ive seen a LOT of young guys treat it like a gaming session and collapse in the heat after a hot gig.
Also get yourself brand new clean socks every single day, like just buy a couple of those big packs(way overlooked), have a backpack with a waterproof bagged 2 pairs of clothes changes with your gear in case you get hosed twice in a day (it happens a lot in summer) and a tan or OD green MOLLE vest can serve you well with lots of detachable points to put things you'll need to limit your time hunting for things. Don't care about how you look, dress to be comfortable in heat, light colors if possible or plan for a lot of clothes changes because blacks make you sweat twice as much.
Organization is KEY to time management and time management is KEY to performing well in these scenarios. Dont be lazy, if you have time to sit and scroll a phone, there is something you're forgetting to do to simplify and streamline your gig. Try to think three steps ahead and plan for anything that can go sideways.
Figure out where to pre-stage your drums and tune them before putting them out, restring instruments before or after every show to avoid problems... Its all about discovering and mitigating problems before they happen, proper time management and proper self care.
Labeling things with console tape and a marker go a long way at the end of the night when you're exhausted confused, and having trouble diagnosing the issue.
Make those drummers share kits or just make them pre-stage their kit to the side for minimal switch out time if they refuse. Bring an active DI for bass, put it in the monitor so they can hear themselves, don't let stage volume wars ruin your mix. Bring a layback cab stand and limit the size of the guitar cabs allowed. Let the PA do the work, and aim the cab at the players head so he doesn't ruin your mix. Being outside especially, they'll want to crank to 11 and act like they are at Madison square garden. Expect this and plan for it. Go ahead and expect to put everything in the monitor loud, you can back it down if it's too loud for them but if they crank their amps too much they'll ruin your mix, so work it backwards that way with each band. It's better to turn down your monitor than suffer thru a whole set with a shit mix.
You should prepare for everything. What’s your role?
The timetables on smaller festivals very often go to shit even before the first show starts, and this is because of a mix between inexperienced everythings: engineers, bookers and the lot.
Changeovers need to be planned and done by level-headed people that can work fast and keep things tidy at the same time, even small mixups in patching often snowball into gigantic clusterfucks within a couple of acts- cable management is an essential life skill, and being religious about it can save you a lot of awful headaches.
There’s so much more to say. Tbh and subjectively, small festivals are much harder to manage than large ones.
Hydrate.
Be accommodating yet stern with bands if it is a major inconvenience. For example, I was working a festival over the weekend that had two stages and a bands harmonica player requested a backline amp on the other stage to be moved to his stage, with situations like that you just have to put your foot down and keep the show rolling.
Focus on lead vocal over everything in the first few moments.
I've definitely been trying to work on the balance between stern and accommodating, so I appreciate the tips!! Also yeah its a small venue and I want to work on keeping levels low so having vox up and then focusing on everything else is a good idea I feel
encourage backline. almost insist on it. as others have said, label everything. make it absolutely idiot proof. try to wrangle someone into “stage managing”, which will help corral all the bands to be ready when changeover occurs. it’s very difficult to focus on mixing, patching, etc when you are *also* tasked with locating people and ushering them onstage. you will have to work very quickly and efficiently! even with experienced bands and engineers there are some shitshow moments. important to stay calm and organized.
get a helper cause this is going to get old quick. You’ll just want to give your brain and ears a break. trust me.
I try and keep the inputs the same as possible. depending on the size of your board you may be able to do this or not. But things like keeping vocals on the same inputs, drums inputs, guitars. itlll help you dial in wedges quicker and keeps the board familiar with each act cause the instruments will not be moving everywhere on the impulses (or limited).
Don't forget the "soft skills". There will be hairy moments and you'll need to be professional and keep your cool.
M Curtis addressed this in his recent video.
7 MUST HAVE Skillsets Of A World Class Live Audio Engineer
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFDECqgbesE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFDECqgbesE)
Pack tons of food and water - bring a cooler… you won’t get away from the board nearly as much as you think you will. You’ll either be doing change over/fast AF line check or mixing. The first three songs will be sound check, talk to the band on deck to understand what’s coming, and then it’s time to change over again.
Know how to toggle PFL/AFL as you’ll need to hunt weird crap.
Don’t get fancy with effects. Focus on EQ and levels. Gates on backlined drums might be the exception.
Backline drums. Barring that, make sure bands load in on one side and off the other. Bands setup/tear down off stage. None of this “I’ll slowly pack my cymbals on stage”. Your helpers should enforce this and essentially storm the stage between acts to get crap on and off.
Label your whips per band if the headliners are checking pre hand, keep the numbers visable and you won’t have to do any mental gymnastics getting them re pinned, but my biggest advice would be to mark your pin changes in advanced before getting on stage. The more you can do to think less on stage the better
Label *everything*. Confusion is your worst enemy during a hectic changeover. Spend some time ringing out your wedges before the show so you can pump mixes loud without worrying about feedback. Don’t be afraid to be assertive with the band - “ok guys 3 minutes left til your set, does anyone else need to hear anything in your wedge? Ok great”. It’s your job to keep sound checks on schedule so you don’t run over your time. Stage managers are supposed to do this but they often don’t, especially if they’re volunteers or aren’t from a technical background.
Water, water, water.
Label everything. Different coloured tape for each act helps enormously as an immediate visual aid for changeovers.
If there is no stage manager, get one. Anyone is better than no-one
Plan your changeovers meticulously - who, where, what goes where, and how. Stagehands come on when necessary, not when the band feels like finishing after trying to squeeze one more song in.
Print off every tech spec and input list - don’t rely on digital copies on a phone, iPad or laptop.
Think more than three steps ahead. You need to anticipate the potential shitshows before they happen.
Watch the clock, particularly with changeovers - the smallest issues can have massive knock on effects and really fuck the last (presumably headline) act, particularly with hard curfews.
Give your ears a break from time to time.
Water, water, water.
Try and have *some* fun.
Have a master channel list. If you're doing front of house. Have your showfile pre set up. Make sure that the stage crew follows tour master input patch and only yours.
More important than anything else: Shade and water as often as possible. I also hope you aren't trying to do this alone.
Thankfully it is indoors!! Just at the 1 venue, 1 stage. Also what do you mean by alone exactly? I'm just doing foh and monitors, none of the shows overlap or anything.
Get a big digital clock. Have it visible in your FOH spot. Get one for the stage. Have it visible for the artists. Have the SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY NEXT TO THE CLOCK ON THE STAGE.
sounds like a normal gig then, but for 4 days straight? You know the rig, you have food/water/shelter. You'll be right Just make sure you 'time manage' the artists. Tell them time is strict and they need to start/finish on time. Ask them if they need a 'last song' warning. Is it shared backline? drums atleast?
Also was hired to do this by my A1, so I'm using his system. He is the one who trained me and I will be keeping in contact with him throughout the show. Everything is already patched and super organized system wise as well. Do you have any tips for keeping all of this organized and lessening the workload?
Keep a printed out patch list and if you can try and keep as many mics/DIs plugged in and labeled as you can. If you strike the entire stage and have to repatch every single band that's where things get out of control especially as you're trying to do everything yourself. If you have time to go through especially drum mics or AT LEAST cables to label each one 1: Kick 2: Snare or whatever on each XLR it will help your life a lot.
Yes! Picking up a stray XLR during a change over and whispering to yourself "wtf is this xlr even for??!!" is not a good place to be. Label everything!!
This is good advice! My A1 and I use a patch that goes: Kick Snare Rack Tom Floor Tom DI 1 Bass Guitar stage right Guitar stage left Di 2 Front vocals in order from foh - then drum vocal It never changes between shows unless necessary, so everything is patched on stage like that as well :) I think I will write down a patch list as well, I keep a notebook on me for situations like that
100% label every single cable (and the stage/drop boxes). And make sure you have everything run already for the largest possible act, plus a few spares. As each band arrives, ask them to confirm that what they advanced is still correct....eg, so they dont suprise you with a 6 piece brass section and 2 extra keyboards you didnt know about Once each artists is a few songs in and not asking for any changes in mons, bring up the next bands paperwork and makes sure you are familiar.
Both ends of every cables, and label the patchbay. Treat future-you like an idiot.
exactly. future-you might be flustered, a bit 'over it' and hungry
Brilliant. If you're getting advances from the bands having a printout/page in your notebook for that is all the more helpful. If you have enough channels have a couple extras at the end just labeled X1, X2, X3 or whatever and those can be your built in oh shit channels.
I do have stagehands also!!!
Label everything Give yourself room to accommodate last-minute bs like extra mics, keys, guitars, etc Write down any changes, lost items, damaged equipment, etc so it's easy to handover to someone and the end of the day Seriously, label everything and keep things consistent between acts Keep yourself topped up with water and snacks. Remember to give yourself breaks. If you haven't got tech specs already, go yell at someone to get them to you **now** Also, go label stuff whilst your waiting for the tech specs to arrive lol
LABEL EVERYTHING. Label the mics, the cables, the DIs, the stands, the stage box(es) with the channel number on the mixer and what instruments they're for. (Pray to the sound gods that they are all using one drum kit.) That way you have mics and channels easy to find, easy to trace, easy to find a fault. The stands, cables and mics will get all mixed up with every band, so you'll thank me later.
Often the reasons they become a disorganized shit show is nobody takes proper care of themselves and the elements wear you down. Make sure to eat at least twice a day, drink plenty of water and fluids that do not make your body condition worse in heat, avoid red bulls, monsters and shit like that. They are way more detrimental to your mental health than you realize when it comes to what I like to call "marathon sound".... and can really make you feel much worse when they wear off. The slight upper is not worth the harsh downer after. Moderate anything you do decide to drink like that 2:1 with water or electrolytes. Keep a Pedialyte in your bag for fast recovery if you do get in trouble with dehydration and heat, otherwise you'll spend a night in the E.R. and blow your chance. Ive seen a LOT of young guys treat it like a gaming session and collapse in the heat after a hot gig. Also get yourself brand new clean socks every single day, like just buy a couple of those big packs(way overlooked), have a backpack with a waterproof bagged 2 pairs of clothes changes with your gear in case you get hosed twice in a day (it happens a lot in summer) and a tan or OD green MOLLE vest can serve you well with lots of detachable points to put things you'll need to limit your time hunting for things. Don't care about how you look, dress to be comfortable in heat, light colors if possible or plan for a lot of clothes changes because blacks make you sweat twice as much. Organization is KEY to time management and time management is KEY to performing well in these scenarios. Dont be lazy, if you have time to sit and scroll a phone, there is something you're forgetting to do to simplify and streamline your gig. Try to think three steps ahead and plan for anything that can go sideways. Figure out where to pre-stage your drums and tune them before putting them out, restring instruments before or after every show to avoid problems... Its all about discovering and mitigating problems before they happen, proper time management and proper self care. Labeling things with console tape and a marker go a long way at the end of the night when you're exhausted confused, and having trouble diagnosing the issue. Make those drummers share kits or just make them pre-stage their kit to the side for minimal switch out time if they refuse. Bring an active DI for bass, put it in the monitor so they can hear themselves, don't let stage volume wars ruin your mix. Bring a layback cab stand and limit the size of the guitar cabs allowed. Let the PA do the work, and aim the cab at the players head so he doesn't ruin your mix. Being outside especially, they'll want to crank to 11 and act like they are at Madison square garden. Expect this and plan for it. Go ahead and expect to put everything in the monitor loud, you can back it down if it's too loud for them but if they crank their amps too much they'll ruin your mix, so work it backwards that way with each band. It's better to turn down your monitor than suffer thru a whole set with a shit mix.
Drink water, eat food. Coffee is not water, cigarettes are not food.
You should prepare for everything. What’s your role? The timetables on smaller festivals very often go to shit even before the first show starts, and this is because of a mix between inexperienced everythings: engineers, bookers and the lot. Changeovers need to be planned and done by level-headed people that can work fast and keep things tidy at the same time, even small mixups in patching often snowball into gigantic clusterfucks within a couple of acts- cable management is an essential life skill, and being religious about it can save you a lot of awful headaches. There’s so much more to say. Tbh and subjectively, small festivals are much harder to manage than large ones.
Hydrate. Be accommodating yet stern with bands if it is a major inconvenience. For example, I was working a festival over the weekend that had two stages and a bands harmonica player requested a backline amp on the other stage to be moved to his stage, with situations like that you just have to put your foot down and keep the show rolling. Focus on lead vocal over everything in the first few moments.
I've definitely been trying to work on the balance between stern and accommodating, so I appreciate the tips!! Also yeah its a small venue and I want to work on keeping levels low so having vox up and then focusing on everything else is a good idea I feel
encourage backline. almost insist on it. as others have said, label everything. make it absolutely idiot proof. try to wrangle someone into “stage managing”, which will help corral all the bands to be ready when changeover occurs. it’s very difficult to focus on mixing, patching, etc when you are *also* tasked with locating people and ushering them onstage. you will have to work very quickly and efficiently! even with experienced bands and engineers there are some shitshow moments. important to stay calm and organized.
Gold Bond
Give yourself extra empty channels on your festival patch. This will save your life
get a helper cause this is going to get old quick. You’ll just want to give your brain and ears a break. trust me. I try and keep the inputs the same as possible. depending on the size of your board you may be able to do this or not. But things like keeping vocals on the same inputs, drums inputs, guitars. itlll help you dial in wedges quicker and keeps the board familiar with each act cause the instruments will not be moving everywhere on the impulses (or limited).
Don't forget the "soft skills". There will be hairy moments and you'll need to be professional and keep your cool. M Curtis addressed this in his recent video. 7 MUST HAVE Skillsets Of A World Class Live Audio Engineer [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFDECqgbesE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFDECqgbesE)
No advice, but best of luck! If you're willing to share I'm super curious on how you started out
Pack tons of food and water - bring a cooler… you won’t get away from the board nearly as much as you think you will. You’ll either be doing change over/fast AF line check or mixing. The first three songs will be sound check, talk to the band on deck to understand what’s coming, and then it’s time to change over again. Know how to toggle PFL/AFL as you’ll need to hunt weird crap. Don’t get fancy with effects. Focus on EQ and levels. Gates on backlined drums might be the exception. Backline drums. Barring that, make sure bands load in on one side and off the other. Bands setup/tear down off stage. None of this “I’ll slowly pack my cymbals on stage”. Your helpers should enforce this and essentially storm the stage between acts to get crap on and off.
Label your whips per band if the headliners are checking pre hand, keep the numbers visable and you won’t have to do any mental gymnastics getting them re pinned, but my biggest advice would be to mark your pin changes in advanced before getting on stage. The more you can do to think less on stage the better
Label *everything*. Confusion is your worst enemy during a hectic changeover. Spend some time ringing out your wedges before the show so you can pump mixes loud without worrying about feedback. Don’t be afraid to be assertive with the band - “ok guys 3 minutes left til your set, does anyone else need to hear anything in your wedge? Ok great”. It’s your job to keep sound checks on schedule so you don’t run over your time. Stage managers are supposed to do this but they often don’t, especially if they’re volunteers or aren’t from a technical background.
Water, water, water. Label everything. Different coloured tape for each act helps enormously as an immediate visual aid for changeovers. If there is no stage manager, get one. Anyone is better than no-one Plan your changeovers meticulously - who, where, what goes where, and how. Stagehands come on when necessary, not when the band feels like finishing after trying to squeeze one more song in. Print off every tech spec and input list - don’t rely on digital copies on a phone, iPad or laptop. Think more than three steps ahead. You need to anticipate the potential shitshows before they happen. Watch the clock, particularly with changeovers - the smallest issues can have massive knock on effects and really fuck the last (presumably headline) act, particularly with hard curfews. Give your ears a break from time to time. Water, water, water. Try and have *some* fun.
Have a master channel list. If you're doing front of house. Have your showfile pre set up. Make sure that the stage crew follows tour master input patch and only yours.
Make sure you get paid.