Episode notes
Sticking to the "wall of sound" instruments we chat about strings and some of the various methods for getting them to sound cohesive, or stick out as solo instruments. While this may not be the most common input an average live sound engineer may come across, the methods for achieving natural sounds with unnatural micing are somewhat easy to transfer to other similar instrument types. We chat about how to best capture strings, and we dig into monitoring, equalization, dynamics pro...
Podcast
Live Sound Bootcamp
Ryan John · Learning · English
Hosted by a trio of touring engineers, Live Sound Bootcamp (LSBC) is meant to help new engineers to learn live sound from the ground up, and also maybe provide some insight and humor to seasoned professionals. It is a primer on all topics in live sound. Ryan O John is a musician turned engineer, tu
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S3 · E5 · 1 Dec 2025 · 53 min
Ep 5 Moving On Up: How to Work on Bigger and Better Things Pt 1
This question has come up over and over again through the years, and it seems to land in a topic that isn't discussed widely. How does one move from small clubs, to big clubs, to festivals, to arenas, and sheds to stadiums? Not just how do you get the gig, but also what changes in your daily workflow, in how you communicate, in who's on the team, and how you manage succeeding in that transition. Welcome guest Josh Benton as we talk through the process of progression in your ...
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S3 · E4 · 16 Oct 2025 · 1 hr 15 min
Ep 4 Orchestras and Classical Instruments in Bigger Mixes
Remember last episode when we said we would land in the concept of Season 3, answering listener questions, well we screwed that up. In this episode we answer a question that we had, about how best to go about capturing and mixing orchestral instruments, in classical environments, and also in the context of adding strings to a pop or rock act. One would think this would be a short and simple episode, but nope, as usual, we go on and on. This Episode features guest host Aram P...
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S3 · E3 · 24 Oct 2023 · 54 min
Ep3 Dialogue, Talking Heads, the "Simple Stuff"
So finally we fall into the concept of Season 3, answering listener questions. In this episode we answer a question that digs into dialogue, corporate events, house of worship, expectations, auto mixing, noise reduction, how to make a talking human sound like what the audience expects. One would think this would be a short and simple episode, but nope, as usual, we go on and on.
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S3 · E2 · 12 Sep 2023 · 1 hr 25 min
Ep2 Being Efficient When Doing Shows
Lies and lies, we told you that we would have shorter episodes, and we told you that Season three would be dedicated to digging directly into listener questions, but this episode ended up being the very long answer to some in-person questions that we had run into recently. In this episode we talk about how to start your day when arriving at a new venue, all the way through how to get through your load out. There are quite a few interesting tidbits on how to move through your daily check...
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S3 · E1 · 8 Aug 2023 · 49 min
Ep1 Troubleshooting
As we enter season three of this podcast, we've decided it makes sense to finally really dig directly into listener questions. We also had realized that while we had touched on this in many other episodes, we didn't actually ever make an episode dedicated to one of the most important skills in live audio: Troubleshooting. We knock on a few of the most common issues one may come across, and some of the most likely fixes!
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S2 · E13 · 13 Jul 2023 · 1 hr 19 min
Ep13 Choirs
We gave up on the idea that we would cover multiple topics in this one episode, but in this extra-long episode we knock out one! Choirs and background vocalists, why did we even think that this was similar to horns and strings? Because the goal is often a "wall of sound." We chat about how to best capture groups of singers, and we dig into monitoring, equalization, dynamics processing, and more!
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S2 · E12 · 6 Apr 2023 · 57 min
Ep12 Horns and Brass
We really really did think that we would cover multiple topics in this one episode, but in this extra-long episode we barely covered one! Not the most common input but brass instruments can be challenging to get right. We chat about how to best capture live various brass instruments, and we dig into equalization, dynamics processing, isolation, effects and a lot more.
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S2 · E11 · 17 Mar 2023 · 1 hr
Ep11 Pianos, Keyboards and Synths
Since it's been ages since we've done an episode, in this extra-long episode we try to make up for lost time! Continuing down the path of the channel by channel season, we spend a lot of time chatting about how to best capture live pianos, how to set up patches in pianos and synths, and we dig into equalization, dynamics processing, saturation, effects and a lot more.
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S2 · E10 · 20 Jun 2022 · 1 hr 31 min
Ep10 Vocals
In this extra-long episode we skip ahead a bit, and dig into arguably the most important input, vocals. Like all of the previous episodes we spend a lot of time chatting about how to best capture the sound, and we dig into equalization, dynamics processing, saturation, effects and a lot more, but we also talk a lot about goals and intent with vocal sounds. This episode also features a special guest host, studio owner, producer, and touring musician Greg Karas.
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21 Feb 2022 · 54 min
Ep9 Playback
Covering anywhere from one to a sixty inputs this episode, we dig into playback. We chat about how to setup the outputs in the rig, how to prioritize the sounds, the difference between monitors and FOH in this regard, how to manage these lines during your line check, and of course we dive into some of the things you can do to make it work for you.
