The main duty of a sound technician is to assist the sound engineer and he has only one important responsibility, which is to be attentive. Loading and unloading are second only to that primary responsibility.
Be attentive
There are many facets to being aware of. First of all, a good sound technician will attend to the needs of the engineer. Being attentive means paying attention. The engineer should have no difficulty communicating with his technology. Some of the common means of communication used during shows are:
- Two-way radios or closed-circuit communications. systems
- cell phones
- Text messages
- hand signals
- a shake of the head
A technician must follow the example of his engineer and must constantly look at the engineer to see if he needs something. The engineer of any show has many things on his mind. There are many things that he has to be responsible for in order to achieve truly professional results. The engineer must focus on several things at once: the artists, the sound, and the audience. One thing you shouldn’t have to focus on is getting your technician’s attention. Every time the engineer has difficulty communicating with his technician, the technician is not doing his job. It is the responsibility of the technician to be attentive. The engineer must you never have to leave your seat after the performers arrive. Sound technology must also be attentive to the needs of artists. When the artists are preparing, it is the responsibility of the sound technician to provide the following:
- Give each artist their cable and tell them, “This is for you” or “You plug in here,” for example.
- We must not touch the equipment of the artists and they must not touch ours (within reason, of course). We have to play drums to mic them up, but we politely ask if that’s okay and make sure to ask if any of our mics are in the drummer’s way. Singers will obviously find it necessary to touch our microphones and that’s fine too. However, it is the sound engineer’s job to make any necessary adjustments to the microphone stands to obtain the optimal placement for each performer. No artist should have to adjust a mic stand. Every time that happens, the sound guy isn’t doing his job. The artist must only concentrate on his instrument and the interpretation of it. Playing music is an emotional experience and if an artist gets upset because he has to adjust the microphone stand, her emotions will be negatively affected and it will degrade her performance.
- The sound technician must adjust the monitors to suit the artists’ preferences. Sometimes they want them closer, or further away, or turned from one side to the other. It is essential to keep monitors out of the feedback zone, i.e. not pointing at microphones that can induce feedback.
Every time the engineer leaves his seat to attend to those duties, the sound guy isn’t doing his job. The engineer cannot concentrate on setting up the board, the monitor mix, the artists and the audience if they also have to do the technician’s job. The most important job of the sound technician is to be attentive. Being attentive means more than attending to the needs of the engineer and the artists. Being attentive means attending the show and paying attention at all times. Listen to issues that may arise and alert the engineer of any concerns.
Look at the system. If there is a speaker that is off-axis, the sound technician should notice something like that right away and correct it without hesitation. If an artist is trying to communicate something, the sound engineer should also pay attention to it. It is the responsibility of the engineer to understand the communications that come from the artists during a show, but more importantly, it is the job of the sound technician to be attentive to the needs of the engineer and the artist. That might mean helping the engineer figure out what the artist is trying to communicate. Also, if a microphone stand slips, slips out of position, or falls, the sound technician should correct it immediately.
Sound technicians always wear black. This is partly because they sometimes have to sneak off the stage during a performance. Their black clothing reflects less light than any other color and therefore draws less attention than if they were dressed in fluorescent yellow for example. But he also tells the audience that he is not a member of the gang. He’s a sound guy and he’s just doing what sound guys do. He is attentive to the needs of the artist or the engineer, and he is doing it well.
Bottom line: If you don’t learn anything else from this article, at least learn this. The main duty of a sound technician is to be attentive, paying attention at all times and attending to the needs of others with the sole objective of an impeccable show.