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9 Tips for Easy In-Ear Monitor Setup

By Nathan Lively

9-tips-for-easy-in-ear-monitor-setup-nicholas-radina-featured2

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Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

In this episode of Sound Design Live, I speak with monitor mixer, educator, writer, and musician Nicholas Radina from Cincinnati, OH. We discuss his best tips for easy in-ear monitor setup and get deep into wireless frequency coordination and strategies for mixing wireless IEMs(in-ear monitors). I ask:

  • How did you get your first job in audio?
  • Looking back on your career so far, what’s one of the best decisions you made to get more of the work that you really love?
  • What are some of the biggest mistakes you see people making who are new to mixing wireless IEMs?
  • Could you walk us through your process of wireless frequency coordination?
  • What are some of the specific challenges of working with O.A.R.?
  • From Facebook
    • ANDY: How necessary are audience mics?
    • ANDY: Corporate RF vs rock-n-roll RF
    • ANDY: Advice for mixing monitors from FOH, especially 6 or more mixes
    • STEVE: What console are you talking about with OAR and riding the fader?
    • STEVE: What do you bring to eat on long gigs?

9-tips-for-easy-in-ear-monitor-setup-nicholas-radina-headshotThe idea is to make the tuning situation as close as how it will be for the end user.

Notes

  1. All music in this episode by ¡ZUMBA!, Salsa Caliente/Dan Barger, and Nicholas Radina.
  2. What do I do if a band comes in with a surprise IEM pack that they want me to mix for?
    1. Give them a stereo mix.
    2. Try to discourage them from using one plug in and one plug out.
    3. Find out how many outputs they need and if you can actually accommodate that.
    4. Make sure you have the right gain structure between your desk and the ears.
  3. 9 Tips for Easy In-Ear Monitor Setup.
    1. RF Coordination: Get it right. Using coordination software will keep everyone playing nice together and reveal local digital TV stations.
    2. Sonic Image: Pan instruments appropriately in relationship to where they are on stage.
    3. Gain staging: Make sure nothing looks crazy, for example the player’s pack volume is at 10, but your output is at 2.
    4. Don’t try to monitor at the same level as the musicians. Instead, check in at their level occasionally, then back it down. That’s why my right hand is always on the cue fader.
    5. Be careful with compression, especially on singers. Keep it light. Dynamics are where it’s at.
    6. Don’t leave microphones open that are not being used.
    7. Make sure your audience microphones are in phase.
    8. Make sure the pack settings are consistent from pack to pack.
    9. Always coordinate spare frequencies and keep a spare pack and wireless mic ready. Keep a spare output on a matrix so you can route any mix to the spare pack.
  4. Hardware: Midas Pro X, Pro 2, SC48, Profile, Yamaha CL, Yamaha QL, Yamaha PM5D, RF Explorer, Porter & Davies tactile monitoring system.
  5. Software: Shure Wireless Workbench, Flux Stereo Tool.
  6. 9-tips-for-easy-in-ear-monitor-setup-nicholas-radina-featuredMy Shure wireless coordination workflow–in 120 seconds!
    1. Turn off all wireless transmitters.
    2. Scan with an IEM pack at the performer’s position on stage.
    3. Sync that pack to the receiver.
    4. Repeat steps 2-3 with all IEMs.
    5. Scan with your instrument receivers.
  7. Quotes
    1. A lot of opportunities come up because you are available.
    2. Experience is it. You have to be in the belly of the beast and do the gigs.
    3. If what’s coming off the deck isn’t good, it’s hard to make it better, but it is your job to try.
    4. You feel like if you say no, the phone is going to stop ringing.
    5. Seek out the music that you like and the work you really want to do instead of the gigs that pay well that you don’t like.
    6. If you are always waiting for when you’re ready enough or good enough, you’re going to miss opportunities. Just trust yourself and do it.
    7. You need to have your own IEM.
    8. I do recommend that people buy stuff as low [in frequency] as possible because they keeping hacking off from the top down. So the lower you go, the safer you’ll be for the long term.
    9. #1 tip for mixing monitors from FOH: split channels.
  8. This interview was originally recorded live on FB. You can watch the video here.

My Shure wireless coordination workflow–in 120 seconds!

 

How to Mix Intuitively Using Daily Ear Training Games

By Nathan Lively

mix-intuitively-using-daily-ear-training-games-soundgym-headphones

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Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

In this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast I talk to Noam Gingold, composer, teacher, and founder of SoundGym. We discuss how Noam transitioned from composer to teacher to entrepreneur, and how ear training games can make you a better artist and sound engineer.

When you are a student, you have to mix less emotionally. But later, it’s the best way.mix-intuitively-using-daily-ear-training-games-soundgym-noam-gingold

Show notes:

  1. All music in this episode by Gingold X.
  2. SoundGym on Facebook and Twitter
  3. Reaktor
  4. Why are listening skills important?
    1. They are the difference between a good artist and a great artist.
    2. They provide objective feedback of your progress.
    3. It’s easier for you to make intuitive decisions when you mix.

Behind the Scenes of the Ringling Brothers Circus Sound System

By Nathan Lively

behind-the-scenes-ringling-brothers-circus-sound-system-featured

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Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

behind-the-scenes-ringling-brothers-circus-sound-system-featuredIn this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I want to share with you an interview that I did with Nate Schneider at AV Shop Talk. We talk about the technical challenges I faced while touring with the Ringling Brothers Circus, how I got my first jobs in the seven different cities I’ve lived in, and the advice I would give to 23 year-old me.

Show notes:

  1. All music in this episode by Colin Owens.
  2. Ringling Brothers Circus Out of this World
  3. DiGiCo SD5 Mixing Console
  4. [Video] DiGiCo SD5: Faders
  5. Waves Vocal Rider Plugin
  6. Nathan Lively’s LinkedIn Profile
  7. Tips for finding work in a new city
    • Create list of potential employers
    • Go door-to-door
    • Get creative with bilingual postcards
  8. John McLaughlin Official Website
  9. “It’s not who you know – it’s what you know” – unknown
  10. “It’s not who you know – it’s who knows you” – David Avrin
  11. [eBook] Master Your Craft – Sound System Tuning For Confidence And Consistency

behind-the-scenes-ringling-brothers-circus-sound-system-facebook

Start offering podcast production services to your clients

By Nathan Lively

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Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

sound-design-live-start-offering-podcast-production-services-audio-engineer-craig-hewitt-headshotIn this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I talk with Craig Hewitt about adding podcast production services to your business as a sound engineer. Craig helps busy business owners easily produce a regular podcast.

Show notes:

  1. All music in this episode by Tom Davis.
  2. Jewel Beat
  3. Thunderclap
  4. Auphonic, ATR2100
  5. Libsyn, SoundCloud, PowerPress, Blubrry, Podcast Motor Plugin,
  6. Podcasts: James Altucher, Tim Ferriss, Startups for the Rest of Us, Rich Roll
  7. Quotes
    1. The demand is very high. Businesses like Podcast Motor have dozens of podcasts.

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

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-build-self-confidence-better-productivity-simple-habit-relaxation-elena-foucher-featured

Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.

Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

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.
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