How are room conditions going to change between soundcheck and service?
This goes hand in hand with paying attention to temperature but let’s take it further. What happens when the room fills up and you lose audio coverage because your speakers are blocked by people? Setting up under that balcony didn’t seem like too bad of an idea until the room filled up with people did it? Is the room so reverberant that the audience clapping and singing is going to cause a massive buildup making it harder to hear your mix?
Paying attention to your physical room surroundings before you ever mix a note can sometimes be the most important bit of context needed to get things happening.
What expectations do the musicians and/or creative team have when service hits?
Being on the same page with your band is a blog post all to its own. But for this topic let’s leave it like this: As audio engineers, we have to be on the same page with where this band and creative content is headed.
What are the musicians expecting from the mix out front? How are they expecting their music to hit the people in the seats? If they are planning on an ’80s rock revival set and you’ve prepared for the sensibilities of a jazz trio, you may want to have a conversation. Paying attention to the context of what’s about to come at you from the stage is paramount. No one wants to find out about expectation disparities during the first song.
Make no mistake, getting a bit of context BEFORE you make an audio-related decision, EQ a room, or mix an event can be the smartest part of your day.
The times I’ve blown past this have usually resulted in a less-than-inspiring mix experience. In fact, I would suggest that paying attention to this part of a mix can be far more important than the part that actually includes faders and a console. Mix well friends.
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