Archive for Conferences
Quotes
“The difference between greatness and mediocrity is not measured by the quality of the tools at your disposal – rather in the quality of the approach.” – Robert Scovill
“Take what a man makes and use it, but do not worship it, for it shall pass” – unknown
“It’s not about the stuff, it’s about what they did with the stuff” – Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten
Raise your credibility score!
I’ve written on this before, but I think there’s some new pearls here from Scovi in one of his breakouts at Willow this year. Such an important part of the game that is live audio is making the artist comfortable with you regardless of what your actual skills are. So often audio guys keep the gig because of a high credibility score and it has absolutely nothing to do with audio skills. It’s important to show people we’re really together, organized, ready to go…they can trust us. Nothing will serve the team better then you being a trusted, professional engineer. God is in the details – why aren’t we detailed people? Develop into a detail oriented pro!
Poorly handled “tasks” can be the enemy of your credibility. Things in the wrong places on stage, no power, not on time, not ready to go.
“The difference between greatness and mediocrity is not measured by the quality of tools at your disposal – rather the quality of the approach.” Over rated, under paid dude with lots of TEC awards on his shelf
Here’s some ideas on how to improve your score that are really close to my heart right now…
Be accountable as the audio engineer. It’s really simple to say but can be much harder to do. This behavior is infectious and nothing will raise your credibility score more than saying its my fault, I did that, and then making sure it never happens again. That last part is most important because you’ll only be allowed to mess up so many times and it will be time to find a new seat on the bus or a new role to play. Learn from every mistake and only make the same ones once.
Do not make problems mysterious. Digital consoles don’t do things all by themselves – they must have human interaction. Computers seldom just hiccup. Wireless mics rarely just turn off during a service or aren’t ready for an artist on their own. Most times if something doesn’t happen the way we intended, its ultimately our fault and it requires courage, confidence, and humility to be accountable to the rest of your team.
Monitor Cam
Dave Skaff shared an interesting story on building the relationship with U2 as their monitor engineer. As you know, their stage designs are always very open and unique with the monitor desks placed under the stage, viewing the performers via video on their consoles.
I asked what were the challenges in trying to communicate and be in relationship with the band when you’re so disconnected by location. Video was so important to him in seeing the band, but he also relied heavily on an internal talkback system between him and the band techs so they could pass on notes to him from the guys. He also spent time up on the deck listening to what they were hearing for context.
What I found really interesting wasn’t so much what Dave needed but what Larry, the drummer, requested. Larry wanted a camera so that he could see Dave at all times down under the deck. His biggest concern was knowing when he needed something that he could see Dave responding. This little psychology lesson is HUGE towards the importance of good relationship and communication between the engineer and band.
Dave said as he was early in his relationship with them, they were used to it taking a long time or require multiple requests before changes would be made. Their requirement to him were that changes happen FAST – 10 seconds or less. With this in mind, in order to train them that he was always watching, he would sometimes make drastic changes when asked knowing full well he’d dial it in more finely but he wanted them to know he was paying attention.
On one of the largest stages in the world, for arguably the biggest band in the world, the same rules apply: responsiveness, attention to detail, and relationship are everything for success in the world of audio!
Willow
Had a great time at the Arts Conference this year. The main sessions were great but the best experience for me was time with mentors soaking up every bit of knowledge and experience I could. I’ve got lots of insights to post over the next week or two. Big thanks to Scott and Nathan for all of the hang time, Dave Skaff for a great lunch and even more fun later that night, and all of the Willow crew for one of the best productions I’ve ever experienced in that room.
