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If you’re using audio over IT, but you don’t know how it works, you will fail.

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-audio-over-it-how-it-works-you-will-fail-bodo-felusch-featured

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Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

In this episode of Sound Design Live I talk with sound engineer, producer, and trainer on network technology and Lake processing, Bodo Felusch. We discuss practicing using your audio analyzer at home without a PA, identifying a comb filter, and the importance of understanding the network your audio is traveling over.

I ask:

  • What is your favorite test track for checking crossover alignment between main and sub?
  • How did you get your first job in audio?
  • In your exercises for FFT (The Ultimate System Tuning Homework) you suggest that I shouldn’t be wasting my client’s time learning how to use my audio analyzer in the field, but this is one of the biggest challenges with learning system tuning, how do I practice at home when I don’t have a PA?
    • One of the very first things I learned from your FFT self-guided homework is that I can find the frequency and the time period of a comb filter by 1 / Frequency of first dip / 2. So if I find the first dip at 50Hz, that would be (1 / 50Hz / 2 = 10ms. How does this information help me in my sound system setup?
  • On coherence you say, “Now you don’t have friends in catering because your measurement signal is too loud.” How loud does my measurement signal need to be? Or how quiet can I make it so that I don’t loose friends in catering?
  • What is a Lake Controller? What is one of the most common mistakes people make who are new to Lake Controllers?
  • Why do I need to understand audio networks? Isn’t Dante and AVB just another fad that will go away in a few years?

Technology fails and you need to make decisions, fast, and fix it. Without knowing what is going on in the network, you will fail.

Bodo Felusch

Notes

  1. All music in this podcast by Bodo Felusch.
  2. Hardware: Lake processor
  3. CRE = Chief Redundant Engineer
  4. Books: Factfullness from Hans Rosling
  5. Gapminder Test
  6. Quotes
    1. Now you don’t have friends in catering because your measurement signal is too loud.
    2. Do your homework at home.
    3. If you measure 10dB above the noise floor you will have a 3dB ripple. If you measure 20dB above you will have a 1dB ripple.
    4. Once you transport your show relevant signals over IT, and only IT, it makes sense that you know how a network works. Without knowing what is going on with the network, you will fail.
    5. We could both be replaced in an hour, and that’s good. There is no superstar in audio.

Get Booked Solid in Pro Audio

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-get-booked-solid-in-pro-audio-purple-cow

sound-design-live-get-booked-solid-in-pro-audio-studioHere’s how it’s done. The process is simple.

Step 1 – Build relationships (aka networking)

“I need to get myself out there.”

People say this all the time, but many of those same people stop short of taking action. Maybe they don’t know who to talk to or what to say. They might not even know how to talk about what they do.

Don’t be like them. Develop a system to regularly and systematically build relationships. Learn how to talk about your work in ways that people will understand.

"Act like a human and talk to people"@NathanDoFrango on getting jobs in the production industry

— Bob Prenger (@bobprenger) February 2, 2018

Step 2 – Get referrals

Turn those relationships into referrals.

I think we can all agree that if everyone in the world knew who you were and what you were good at, you’d be booked solid. If you had a million bucks you could afford a media buy-out, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Building your network slowly and intentionally will give you much needed insight into your place in the industry.

Every time I become more clear on who my ideal client is, I’m able to get more of the work that I really love. –Kai Davis

Most sound engineers are just waiting for the phone to ring. Don’t do that. By building relationships and asking for referrals you are generating an unlimited supply of opportunities.

Step 3 – Get the gig

If you are doing the first two steps well then you are staying top of mind with potential cleints and referral sources. But if they are not hiring you and referring you, that’s a problem. New audio professionals on the scene have so much optimism and enthusiasm, but that can quickly turn to panic, fear, frustration, and burnout when they begin to understand the realities of running their own business.

Get to bottom of this problem as soon as possible. Here are some common mistakes:

  1. You are not following up. Sending out your resume once a year is not good enough!
  2. You don’t know how to talk about what you do. “I’m up for anything” is the quickest way to nothing.
  3. You are unclear about audio industry demand in your city. There is always a need for audio. Find it.

Step 4 – Deliver awesome service and be remarkable

If you are great at your job, but people forget about you immediately, you’ll have a hard time moving forward. Even if one client hires you again, they won’t remark about you to other people, which is what you really need to grow your business.

One of the keys to being a successful freelancer is finding an abundance of opportunities to distinguish yourself. This can be difficult in audio when we are the ones in the control room, backstage, and in the dark at FOH. In fact, having a successful event usually means that nobody knows we are there at all. But there are ways that you can be remarkable and still do a great job.

sound-design-live-get-booked-solid-in-pro-audio-purple-cowWhat does a remarkable sound engineer look like to you? Is it mixing naked or adding sound effects or making the sound check really fun or lifting weights before the show? What’s unique about you that you can use to add value to your service? Your skills, your sense of humor, your values?

Focus on being remarkable instead of great. What are your personal super powers? How can you bring surprise, delight, shock, and awe to your work in an authentic way that would make it impossible for people not to talk about you afterward?

Most of my personal examples are subtle. A Portuguese band started hiring me because I was the first engineer to let them do crazy things with microphones. I said Yes where others said No. A San Francisco sound designer referred me for great gigs because I was the only one who asked for them. A concert producer hired me because he liked my wireless mix system.

The first one was a coincidence, but the second two were planned. Try to get an outside opinion to help you generate some ideas. For the price of lunch you can set up a market research interview with someone who is in charge of hiring people exactly like you.

If you’d like to get my opinion on your business and what you can do to be remarkable, sign up for my 30-minute Get Booked Solid in Pro Audio one-on-one strategy session.

Sign up now

During this powerful one-on-one session, we’ll work together to:

  • Identify the key relationships that you need to get the best gigs.
  • Uncover the communication breakdown that is sabotaging your success.
  • Create a next-step action plan.

If you’d like to take advantage of this very special 30-minute Get Booked Solid in Pro Audio private workshop, sign up now.

Networking and Referral Strategy for Sound Engineers

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-networking-referral-strategy-sound-engineers-ed-gandia-featured

Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.

Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

sound-design-live-networking-referral-strategy-sound-engineers-ed-gandia-headshotIn this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I talk with Ed Gandia from The International Freelancer’s Academy about how to build a solid networking and referral strategy that will help you get more of the work that you love. We discuss:

  • Strategies for personal referral.
  • Why people give personal or professional referrals.
  • When is the best time to ask for a referral?
  • Who is a good prospect?
  • What to say when you reach out.
  • How to measure the ROI you provide for your clients.
  • How to copy successful people, in your own style.

Show notes:

  1. All music in this episode by Max Tundra.
  2. Ed’s podcast – Smarter Freelancing.
  3. Tap your network. How to get business through friends, colleagues, and relatives.
  4.  Referrals:
    1. Create a referral expectation. “I hope I gain enough of your trust that you refer me to others.”
    2. Ask (the right way). No one has ever lost a client because they asked for a referral. Ask when you are praised. “Most of my business comes from referrals. I trust you, therefore I’m asking you.”
    3. Don’t wait till you’re desperate. Make it a habit.
  5. Book Yourself Solid-based Bucket Strategy
    1. Create a list of 60 of your warm contacts.
    2. Once a day, write to the person at the top of the list and then move them to the bottom of the list.
      1. Connect on a personal level.
      2. Share a new thing that you’re working on. “Can I send you a couple of links about it?”
    3. Respond with credibility indicators.
  6. Gary Vaynerchuk and Wine Library
  7. Kosta Brown Pino Noir
  8. Mark Sisson and Mark’s Daily Apple
  9. Quotes:
    1. People give professional referrals for intrinsic reasons.
    2. Identify good prospects based on attributes, not demand.

sound-design-live-networking-referral-strategy-sound-engineers-ed-gandia-quote

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