Live sound engineers are responsible for the sound that the audience hears, as well as how well the band or solo performers can hear themselves during their perforamcne. Live sound engineers work with live mixing desks and all manner of equipment from microphones to screwdrivers, as well as audio equipment when tuning drums or organising effects pedals.

Being a live sound engineer is one of the most, if not the most, labour intensive jobs that the music industry offers. But it’s also one of the most rewarding roles too.

Let’s talk about what’s required of a live sound engineer and how you can become one!

What Skills Do Live Sound Engineers Need?

Not only is being a live sound engineer labour intensive, but it’s also incredibly psychologically intensive too. Before your first day at Live Sound BootCamp takes place, developing the right mindset is equally as important as technical knowledge.

Live sound engineers like you need uncompromising attention to detail. Not only this, but you should develop critical thinking and active listening skills, not to mention communication skills.

Think Fast

What happens when something goes wrong? Even worse, what happens if you crumble under the pressure of something going wrong?

Things go wrong all. the. time. It’s the job of the live sound engineer to identify the problem as soon as it appears, or as soon as possible if they don’t, and bring cognitive and technical ability to solve the issue or mitigate it.

Problem-solving is a crucial skill for a sound engineer. And, hand in hand with problem-solving, comes communication skills. Live sound engineers have to communicate with an extensive list of different people from all manner of backgrounds wide range on a daily basis. These include other engineers, performing artists, stage managers, and so many other professional bodies in the audio industry.

Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

Equally as important as the ability to communicate is the ability to listen.

Live sound engineers need to be at one with the environment they’re in. Like a marine always knows where the nearest exit is does a live sound engineer have a mind map of the venue they’re working with and also the equipment they use.

They’re experts in how different sounds of human voices and instruments interact and interfere with their equipment, and assessing the sound throughout the show is second nature.

When it comes to large arenas, the challenges that may pop up are numerous and vast, often needing entire teams of skilled engineers to work around.

These skills boil down to the ability to manage a plethora of scenarios. A live sound engineer must be able to stay on their toes, asses, solve and communicate at the drop of a pin.

And you thought your workplace was a stressful environment!

Stay Cool

And on top of all that a live sound engineer must stay calm. Stress makes people stupid, and stupid people can’t solve problems.

So, a live sound engineer must be patient but, equally, have the ability to work fast under pressure. In stressful environments, conflicting ideas will probably lead to conflict between team members from time to time. A live sound engineer must be able to mitigate the problem and bring about a solution so that the show can go on unhindered.

As Careful as a Surgeon

To operate their equipment, a live sound engineer must have hand-eye coordination equal to that of a surgeon. A sound engineer needs to make adjustments to the sound on the fly, and these adjustments are often subtle on delicate pieces of equipment.

In fact, all of these skills aren’t out of place in a music studio. A music producer needs patience and the ability to improvise, as well as not being scared of doing something new. Not only does a music producer need these skills, they also need great sounding samples to work with.

We at Mixxed work with a growing number of sample labels and contributors to provide you with an affordable sample subscription service that’s more accessible than any before.

You’ll have access to our growing catalogue of thousands of loops, one-shots and sound effects that you can browse, download and keep forever for less than $3 a month.

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