bruce reiter wrote on Mon, 09 June 2008 23:39 |
Mark Hadman wrote on Mon, 09 June 2008 19:26 |
Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of technology, But it was an absolutely ridiculous gig the other day - small festy, two minutes changeover, the last thing I needed was to see an O2R/96 at FOH, accompanied by an HE who couldn't (or wouldn't) set up a tap tempo delay on a soft key for me and, it turned out a few minutes in, hadn't actually got any FX returns routed anywhere anyway, and the vocals were distorted to hell because there weren't enough pres on the desk so they were using an overcooked B*******r A/D unit hidden away in a rack along with a couple of inexplicable B******r digiEQs ...
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hi mark,
it is your responsibility to know how to operate the equipment. read the manual and figure out for yourself how to use the soft key function or whatever. ignorance is no excuse.
best,
bruce
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I am "Pro" digital.
Ignorance may be his problem, but who controls the time you have to check that FOH is properly patched?
In the end you can have exactly the same problems and it has nothing to do with analog or digital.
He has no choice but to jump in and learn the different desks he will see on his tour or ask the system tech to mix the show because he is not capable.
Harsh situation, but that is it in a nutshell.
For nine months of the year I had enough work to stay home and work theater and anything else that MSU needed along with some convention work.
In the summer I would go out with an 18' straight truck and do small to medium fairs and festivals out doors.
One of the reasons I did it was because the sound company I worked for was always up grading gear, while the theaters, arenas and convention center ballrooms almost never did.
By going on those gigs I got to learn the new gear.
First time I saw a PM3500 and a BSS Varicurve I learned how to use it from the manual in the time between setup and when the band got there for sound check.
This happened at the beginning of every summer.
Where it helped was when I went back to doing theater in the fall I knew how to run the new gear the Broadway shows would come in with. Otherwise if I looked at the money I should have been doing something else with my IA card. Actually I did about half the summer with the sound company and the rest doing other IA gigs, that might not even use my audio experience, but paid twice as much.
Hanging screens and stapling pleated cloth on the walls of a 4plex theater may not be as much fun as mixing the old Rock&Roll I grew up with, but it sure pays better.
To make a long story short, learning how to run new gear is part of your job and will ALWAYS make you money in the end.