Advice Needed for New Audio Engineer

[igeek207]

Hello Everyone. So I have just been promoted to the new guest stars audio engineer. Although excited, I'm a little scared as I have never really worked with audio too much. I was told, they just need to sound good. OK. LOL.

So my biggest concern is that the location of the audio/lighting is directly stage right. Once a show is in progress there is no chance to get off the stage without passing across the stage, so basically once a show starts I'm stuck in the booth.

Is there an app or device that could be recommended that would send like levels to me remotely so it would at least give me some idea as to what the house is hearing?

I know there have been numerous complaints in the past that the music wasn't loud enough or the vocal weren't loud enough etc.

I really want to show the club I'm appreciative of this new responsibility as well as honor the guests and patrons.

Any information I can provide let me know.

All tips, tricks, advice, is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[KBToys82]

Would depend on what sound board you are using.

My sound booth is in the balcony, and while I'm sure it makes no sense to many on this boards, I voluntarily chose to put back the glass screen in front of the booth, albeit not completely closed off. I did that because I want the students in the booth to be able to run the production, without me constantly having to tell them to lower their voices because even talking in regular speaking volumes can be heard in down in the audience.

Anyway, what I did to combat closing off the house sound is set a pair of monitors next to the board, and spent several trips between the house and the balcony to try to match the volume of what the audience hears to what the booth hears.

It's not 100% perfect, but it's pretty close that only 2-3 times in a musical do I have to tell the students to raise/lower a microphone.

 

[FMEng]

That's a poor location to mix from, but then you know that. Some digital consoles can be controlled remotely by touch pad or laptop, so let us know what console you have. None of the following suggestions are ideal but, hopefully, helpful.

If the booth is quite sound proof, you could listen on a monitor speaker. You'll need to make many comparisons during reharsal to get a feel for how booth sound equates to house sound. Adjust the monitor volume to equate during rehearsal, then don't change it.

If you can hear reverberant sound from the hall, in the booth, then it's a matter of ear training during rehearsal again.

The console probably has meters than can be assigned to the main mix buss. Hopefully, the range on them is such that you can observe them when the levels are known to be good in the house, then use them as a ballpark guide.

 

[TimMc]

What is the nature of the performance? Is there a chance that the mixer is a recent digital device that can be remote controlled via phone/tablet app?

 

[Calc]

You can mix from inside a booth with monitors, but it won't be the same. You can set it PERFECTLY during a rehearsal, and once you add a couple hundred butts in seats the room will sound different.
I'd side with others recommending some sort of remote-control solution based on what board you have. I'd still recommend having a Plan-B in place for at least the first few performances, since RF also changes drastically when you add people and their phones/watches/bluetooth devices to the room.