Sound Design Live

Build Your Career As A Sound Engineer

Position Yourself for Non-stop Touring as a Stage Manager and Lighting Technician

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sound-design-live-non-stop-touring-stage-manager-lighting-technician-heatherlyn-egan-workIn this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I talk with Heatherlyn Eagan about how she has managed to book back-to-back tours since university by positioning herself as a stage manager and lighting technician. We discuss electricity, lighting fundamentals, and non-stop life on the road. Plus, these questions:

  • How did you get your first job in lighting?
  • Can you make more money as a designer or a technician?
  • How do you stay busy in the touring world?
  • How do you stay happy and sain on the road?
  • How does cruise work compare to bus and truck touring?
  • What are the basics I need to know to start working in lighting?
  • How do you feel being a woman in the lighting design industry?
  • What are some lighting horror stories?

Show notes:

  1. All music in this episode by Stockholm Vodou Orchestra.
  2. Heatherlyn’s book is The Meteoric Rise and Fall of Nat Nelson: Vaudevillian Extraordinaire
  3. Template = gobo = pattern = pie tin
  4. Quotes
    1. I have more work more often [as a tech] than I would as a designer.
    2. I have my little niche in the touring world. I am a stage management lighting split. Which has, on the small and medium scale tours, become a necessity.
    3. Most of these tours go out with a 25′ box truck, which doesn’t require a CDL.
    4. I’m a stage management lighting split. The minute they would see that…Ok, come here.
    5. When it came down to it, I had my pick of what show I wanted to do.
    6. If you are touring with 10-15 people, it’s important to have some alone time because you are seeing the same people day in and day out.
    7. It’s very important to understand what you need out of the day and make sure you get it.
    8. Generally whoever is asking will tell you want they want. If they don’t, ask.
    9. Generally once I dock the truck in front of a bunch of stage hands my level of respect goes up.
    10. I have a very specific genre of books that I like to read. It is historical fiction that takes place in NYC 1880-1912.

Is IATSE worthwhile for sound engineers?

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In this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I talk to Nat Koren about his audio career with the San Francisco Opera. We answer these questions:

  • What are the pros and cons of working with the union?
  • How do you mix an opera?
  • What does a sound designer do for an opera?
  • What specialized gear do they use at the opera house?
  • How do they mix the show and operate 12 cameras without any humans in the room?

sound-design-live-iatse-opera-sound-engineer-nat-koren-park

Show notes:

  1. All music in this episode by The Nagual Orchestra
  2. IATSE = International Alliance of Stage Employees
  3. BAFTA = British Academy of Film and Television Arts
  4. Meyer Sound CQ-1, CAL96 column array
  5. Pyramix, Horus
  6. Dante, AVB, CobraNet
  7. Quotes
    1. The benefit of working with the union is that I am able to make a living and have healthcare.
    2. I could be here from 8am to 11pm. I often am.

Build self-confidence for better productivity with this simple habit of relaxation

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build-self-confidence-better-productivity-simple-habit-relaxation-elena-foucher-headshotIn this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I talk with Elena Foucher about meditation for busy people and how to build self-confidence for better productivity. Plus, Elena leads a guided meditation starting at 29min. We discuss:

  • Alternative relaxation techniques to traditional, sit-down meditation.
  • How to measure improvement in your meditation practice.
  • How to improve your sleep.
  • The definition of mindfulness and why it seems so hard.
  • Why low self-confidence is so common, and ideas and strategies to improve it.
  • How to recognize stress in the moment, before you spin out of control,
  • Living in Hong Kong.

The point is not to get rid of stress, or emotions, or thoughts. That’s not what meditation does. What it does do is help us interact with those things in a healthier way. We can make choices about them instead of being overwhelmed by them.

Show notes:

  1. All music in this episode by Rui Faustino.
    1. Toothbrush Meditations
  2. Osho meditations
  3. Homeostasis – Allows the human body to maintain a stable internal environment in response to changes in external conditions.
  4. Meditation triggers – Something that happens in your life, preferably three times per day, that reminds you to practice meditating.
  5. Quotes:
    1. Meditation is a way to focus on something.
    2. It’s like building a muscle. It gets stronger and stronger. You’ll notice over time that you are able to relax more deeply as you practice. I recommend that you practice three times a day.
    3. George Kao said, “There’s the confidence of learning a skill and knowing how to do it, and then there’s the confidence of just going out and doing it.”
    4. Meditation is hands down the most powerful thing I do for personal development. Nothing else comes close.

For Live Sound Engineers: Surprisingly Simple Tips to Prevent Back Injury on the Job

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In this episode of sound design live I speak with Brandi Smith-Young, a fellow at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy, board-certified orthopedic specialist, and founder of Perfect 10.0 Physical Therapy, about preventing back injury. She specializes in injury care, injury prevention, and performance training for gymnasts, dancers, parkour athletes, and performing artists.

We answer these questions:

  • Is your job as a sound engineer breaking your back?
  • Is your job in a chair taking years off of your life?
  • What’s wrong with caffeine?
  • Does work count as exercise?
  • How often should you replace your work shoes?

Smith-Young discusses:

  • How to breathe for stability.
  • The top ways that people lift incorrectly.

Details from the podcast:

  1. sound-design-live-sound-engineer-prevent-back-injury-brandi-smith-youngAll music in today’s episode by Trash80.
  2. Brandi’s DVDs: Finding Your Inner Core, Finding Stability Within
  3.  Clips
    1. Thank You clip from arytopia
    2. Japanese clip from Reitanna
    3. Thank you please wait for assistance from shadoWisp
  4. Brandi’s list of priorities for preventing back injury on the job through proper recovery:
    1. Diet & nutrition
    2. Sleep
    3. Core strength and stabilization
  5. My interview with Wendy Jo Peterson
  6. 2 Tbsp. almond butter + 1 Tbsp. coconut oil = complete protein/omega lift that helps with your energy level.
  7. Daily cardiovascular routine (3-4 days/week)
    1. 2min warm-up (jumping jacks, jogging, etc.)
    2. 30sec sprint (Start with 50% of your max heart rate where you can still have a conversation, work up to 90% of your max heart rate where you can’t talk.)
    3. 90sec recovery
    4. repeat no more than 8x
  8. Functional Movement
  9. Quotes
    1. The extreme ranges, where you are constantly lifting or constantly sitting, you’re at risk for injury.
    2. The chair takes years off of their life.
    3. People eat too many processed foods. Stay on the outside of the grocery store.
    4. You need some form of cardiovascular activity every day outside of work.
    5. It’s all about functional movement and postural alignment.
    6. A dysfunctional core is one of the main contributors to injuries. [28:38]
    7. The rubber in tennis shoes only has a 1-year shelf life. After a year, they start to degrade. [37:47]
    8. You need to replace your work shoes every year at minimum. [39:14]

One Critical Skill You Need to Get Stage Theatre Jobs: How Surrey University Is Training Audio Engineers

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In this episode of Sound Design Live, I speak with Paul McConkey, the sound module coordinator at the University of Surrey, about the most important skill you need to get stage theatre jobs in the West End of London. We talk about his career path, from earning a record contract to building a recording studio, touring with rock bands, and finally teaching the professional production skills course at the University of Surrey. We also discuss training for the stamina to succeed and how work placements serve the performing arts.

sound-design-live-stage-theatre-jobs-surrey-university-paul-mcconkey-training-audio-engineersThere’s a lot to deal with in the entertainment business, and most of it requires people skills.

Details from the podcast:

  1. All music in this episode by iso999
  2. Guildford School of Acting
  3. Depping = Acting as a deputy.
  4. Quotes
    1. You work for free for us for a while, but eventually you get a reputation and that reputation is gold dust. (11:17)
    2. Getting a job is a lot of fitting in, half the time, because it’s a family. (11:51)
    3. There is a wealth of work within audio. There is a possibility to diversify.
    4. If you are good with your people skills, you can train yourself up to be good at [a particular] area. (14:24)

sound-design-live-stage-theatre-jobs-surrey-university-paul-mcconkey-training-audio-engineers-we-will-rock-you