“I always knew I wanted to work in the music industry, but I never wanted to be a musician,” says UK-based Sound Designer Mick Potter. “When I was 13 or 14 I always could name who produced and mixed a record. I was always interested in that side of it. The main people I could name in theater, in my teens, were orchestrators and sound designers.”

It was this interest, the 45-year-old, Yorkshire-born Potter explains, that initially prompted his desire to work in the record industry. Freshly inspired by the work of sound designer/record producer Martin Levan, and the ongoing evolution of sound reinforcement technology for live theater, he ultimately switched gears to pursue a career in live theater.

After graduating with a degree in Creative Design at London’s Central School of Art and Design, Potter landed a spot as mixer for Andrew Lloyd Weber’s productions of Cats, Song and Dance, and Starlight Express.

“It was just about the time that some of the first really huge modern musicals were hitting the stage,” he recalls. “There was all this fantastic new technology. It was kind of the first time you could start to recreate serious quality, creative sound in a live environment.”

After honing his chops as a freelancer, Potter found work exclusively as a sound designer; first taking over the design helm for Weber on his production of Bombay Dreams in 2002 before moving on to revamp the design on the Vegas installment of Phantom of the Opera and redoing the London and New York productions when their respective runs continued well in excess of previous expectations.

Since then he’s become one of the premier sound designers in the UK and first in line for all of Weber’s productions over the better part of the last decade. The success he’s found over time hasn’t dulled his enthusiasm or his work ethic, though.

“It’s an odd job. You’re not working nine to five. You’re don’t get paid for every time you clock in. Or for doing schematic drawings, mixing stuff in Pro Tools, going to endless meetings. You’re only as good as your last show, no matter what your reputation might be,” he laughs.

Looking back at the work he’s done, Potter has little to worry about. His resume reads like a laundry list of some of the most popular musical productions in recent memory: Jesus Christ Superstar in London, the world premieres of Bombay Dreams both London and New York, Hair in London; the previously mentioned Phantom of the Opera in Las Vegas, New York and London; as well as Evita, The Sound Of Music and the London production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Mick Potter with his Olivier Award (click to enlarge)

Along the way he’s also received the prestigious Olivier Award for Best Sound Design in 2005.

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“It may seem an odd thing to say, but there’s a certain kind of musical I seem to do. I’ve never done un-amplified, naturalistic musicals, and I’ve never done a play.”

Still, his overall preference tends toward productions that possess a particular blend of cinematic grandness and intimacy, where the sound design is a key aspect of production and the show poses the challenge of finding the perfect balance between a complex score and a more naturalistic quality.

Certainly the most recent Weber production of The Sound of Music fits the bill, as does the new Palladium production of Sister Act he began work on more recently, with composer Alan Mencken. The preference, he explains, is a result of the most important strength he believes he brings to the gig – a deep love of both music and sound reinforcement.

“I think that’s my main strength,” he notes. But another key to the ongoing demand for his services is his philosophy and approach: “On every show you have to come at it fresh; being very clear on what the brief is and not falling into the trap of doing a generic sound design on any show because it’s the way you work.

“Once you talk to a creative team about the brief of what a show is, you need to prepare for every eventuality – be able to create what they want from that moment. Nobody’s going to call you and tell you what to do.”

“I try and be invisible as much as possible,” he adds. “When you’re putting on a show, nobody wants a superstar sound designer. There are enough other superstars in the theatre.”

That’s not to say he doesn’t have to go to the wall at times to get what he needs. Everybody has to at some point – the key, Potter explains, is to do so reasonably and confidently, whether it’s about getting the necessary gear and budget, bargaining for positions in the house with the set and lighting design departments, or ensuring there’s adequate time allocated for the needs of both him and the crew.

“There’s a scenic designer, a lighting designer, a choreographer, the director, the cast, the music department, and they all want the time. It’s very easy to get snowballed over, at which point you’re not going to end up delivering a good product.”

Part of delivering the best product is being relentlessly specific about his gear needs, particularly when a production goes on tour. Simple errors can have a profound and cascading negative effect.

“The mic’ing for an instrument not being right will affect the way it sounds in the house. That will affect the way it sounds on stage. Then a performer won’t be happy and the mix will go out of balance and someone will try to fix it in the wrong place, which then makes it worse. You have to be specific at all times.”

He generally specifies Meyer Sound and d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers for his designs. He was also an early proponent of digital technology, seeing a net benefit in terms of flexibility and programability immediately, and he still regularly specifies a Yamaha PM1D digital console for his shows.

Having said that, an upcoming project may prompt him to explore other avenues in terms of the technology he’s most familiar with. Updating the gear package for the upcoming Weber sequel to Phantom, Love Never Dies in a similar manner to what he’d done previously for later incarnations of Cats and the original Phantom.

Gear and process aside, Potter’s favorite moment of the job comes only after putting months of work into a gig. “When we put the orchestra in the pit and it turns into a musical,” he concludes. “When it finally becomes the thing everybody’s been working on.”

Based in Toronto, Kevin Young is a freelance music and tech writer, professional musician and composer.