Pay It Forward, Pay It Back

Many of us working in professional audio have heard of legendary recording engineer Bruce Swedien. After all, he’s worked with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones,… Read More

The Top 10 Things That Can Never Be Taught Often Enough In Audio

Let the countdown begin… 10. Musicians feel most comfortable and play best when they hear what they need to hear on the stage. Of course,… Read More

Waiting For The Talisman: On Human Nature & Things We Can Do To Improve Now

Talisman (noun): A magical figure charged with the force which it is intended to represent. It’s probably part of human nature that we tend to… Read More

Misconceptions & Bad Semantics

I’ll bet you have some of these, too: things people say or concepts they have wrong but won’t change, despite considerable evidence. The pro audio… Read More

Avoiding Mr. Murphy: Getting It Right In The First Place

I’ve heard it said many times, in many different situations, that we tend to think we don’t have time to do something right, but then… Read More

Another Side Of Prep: Checking Egos At The Door & Entering With The Right Mindset

If you’ve read my previous articles over the years, you’ll know that attitude figures prominently in many of my themes. It’s… Read More

Proper Prep: Practice ≠ Rehearsal ≠ Sound Check

Something that easily defines “X number of minutes or hours we can’t get back” are those times when we end up waiting for someone to… Read More

More Winning Together: “The Things I Wish Musicians Would Do Differently Are…”

My previous column (here) brought together responses I’d received from a wide variety of musicians, several of whom also work in audio,… Read More

The Sound Of Sound: Analyzing Acoustic Versus Amplification

What makes acoustic sound sound acoustic? I got to thinking about this once when I attended a performance of Wozzek by Alban Berg at the… Read More

Focus On The Knobs? Making Technology Transparent In The Quest Of Art

At one time or another, all of us who have sat behind a mixing console at a show are asked “do you know what all… Read More

Winning Together: “The One Thing I Wish Live Mix Engineers Would Do Is…”

One recent day I got to thinking, “Wouldn’t it be great to come up with an idea for an article that would write itself?” It… Read More

Make It Stop! There’s No Excuse For Loud, Bad Sound

Preserving our hearing is critically important, but that’s not what motivated me to write this piece. Really, I just can’t stand bad sound! To a… Read More

Subjective Versus Objective: If It Sounds Good, Is It?

As with the ever-ongoing debates about “tubes versus transistors,” “analog versus digital” and “Mac versus PC,” there’s not likely to be agreement any time soon… Read More

Setting The Pace: Thoughts On The Power Of Leadership

Whether you’re a mix engineer, system tech, technical ministry leader or a member of a sound crew, some universal concepts apply to success in leadership. Read More

In This Together: A Manufacturer Perspective On The Wireless System Market

The major wireless manufacturers have poured significant resources into lobbying the U.S. government and educating the professional audio market about what’s been happening with FCC’s… Read More