Roundtable: The Must-Have-It Tools Of The Pro Audio Trade

Robert Scovill: I must admit that when LSI asked me what my “desert island” piece of equipment would be, I thought to myself, OK, if I’m on a desert island, the only piece of audio gear I want is a walkie-talkie with enough range to reach the closest catering person so I can request that my FOH cooler to be refilled with cold beverages every morning.

But then of course I came to my senses and realized what was actually being asked. In fact, I’ve been asked the same thing a few times throughout my time and honestly, my answer is still the same as it ever was. It would have to be my headphones. Simply put, they are my “ground zero,” my audio reference and my audio toolbox all in one. The poor man’s FFT (fast Fourier transform). An audio microscope.

They’re more often than not the path to answering nearly any audio question: Why does ‘x’ sound like that? How does my “mix” actually sound? Is there audio coming out of that output? And on and on.

It’s a head-worn control room in my daily work. Every day in concert sound is filled with tons of variables. My headphones are the one daily constant. I feel like if I’m backed into a corner, I can make any mic, console, processor and PA system work to the best of its abilities, and I can be just that much better if I have a trusted pair of headphones to help me navigate through the day. My current headphone of choice, and has been since released, is the Shure SRH840.

Now, a really close second would be Smaart and a good laptop. But only if I’m allowed to email my FOH drink orders to the catering folks from it as well.

Scott Mullane: Choosing one piece of equipment is a very complicated question. Do I keep my laser measure for measuring backline or large drum fill to mains, etc., or the laptop with Smaart or the iTunes library of tuning hits?

It’s a tough call for sure, however, if I’m honest, it’s the simple headphones or in my case, custom in-ear monitors (IEMs) that would get the most use. If you’re at a loud gig and your “spider senses” are telling you that something isn’t quite right, but you can’t hone in on it, soloing through IEMs usually identifies the culprit pretty quickly. They offer incredible isolation in a noisy environment and are very small and compact for traveling.

Having said that, I can’t take it in my luggage, but please, if I’m on a desert island, just give me a well-balanced PA.

Samantha Potter: I find it hard to pick anything other than my iPad. It’s so utilitarian. Whether I use it to control assorted boards, store PDFs of manuals, keep books, store songs to tune systems to, or entertain myself when I’m bored between gigs with games. It does so much.

I often run a lighting board and an old O1v96, and keep pictures of the set list open so I can four-finger-swipe around to manage everything. I would find it hard to replace or go back to working without an iPad. Dare I say – it’s more useful than a multitool.

Jim Yakabuski: The one tool I feel I can’t live without on any event I do is Smaart. (Of course, I’d need a laptop, audio interface and a reference mic, so technically not “one” piece of equipment, but I think it answers the spirit of the question.) Since the mid 1990s I’ve been using Smaart after touring with my audio mentor and primo systems engineer Dave Lawler and watching him tune sound systems with Meyer SIM II.

When I went back out on my own I experimented using Smaart and called Dave many times to ask him the meaning of all of the measurement readings I was looking at. He coached me along until I got to a point of confirming what I believed to be a great-sounding PA tuning (using my ears) with an affirmation from Smaart.

Michael Lawrence: It depends if the desert island in question has a recording studio or a live music venue. In the studio, I spend a lot of time working on tracks recorded by other people, and sometimes they’re in rough shape. The Waves C6 has gotten me out of more than a few tight spots in that regard.

Live, though, my Ashly Protea 4.8SP goes with me to most gigs. I have to imagine that not too many other people would drag a system processor to a desert island with them, but that unit supplies everything I need for routing, processing, and tuning purposes on smaller events that otherwise wouldn’t have DSP available.

There’s a lot to be said for the peace of mind that comes with knowing I can walk into a venue with all the tools I need to solve most common issues – all in one rack space.

Check out the rest of the Roundtable articles on PSW here.