BASE Sound Engineering Course – 17 &
18 January 2009
Traveling from Abu Dhabi to Stroud in Gloucestershire, just for a weekend course in sound engineering… am I mad?
While Abu Dhabi is a fascinating city to work and live in, it has become a bit starved of live music, so when any band gets up to play they get a lot of attention. There is also a keen and critical audience.
I first became involved with a local band by making the mistake of saying that while their performance was very good, the sound was just rubbish; their response was…”so you think you can do a better job then?…”
The following week I found myself standing in front of a 24 channel mixing desk, with the daunting task of making this band sound better, in an ‘L’ shaped room with less than average kit, and having only ‘swotted’ for a few hours on the web to get a grip of the basics.
My background in electronics and amplifier design certainly got me off the ground, however the inevitable squeal and howls that crept in during the first set made me realise that this is no easy task. The second and third set went better, although (as I found out during the course) I was basically mixing on the gain controls, and fighting with the sliders all night. Luckily, the band (and the audience) agreed that the sound was fundamentally better, so, charged with enthusiasm I sweated my way through another three or four gigs with them, and although things went ok, I realised that I needed to understand ‘sound engineering’ and not just sound mixing, if I was ever going to do this properly.
Having trolled the web I found the ‘BASE Sound Engineering’ course, which seemed to have the right content, aimed at someone like me; a short structured hands-on training program for anyone with a real interest in sound engineering, and at a reasonable cost. There was nothing like this available in either Abu Dhabi or Dubai, and fortunately I was able to take the time off, so I flew to the UK specifically for the weekend course.
The course is presented over two (quite intense) days in an informal atmosphere by Howard Williams. And what a great bunch on the course… all from different backgrounds but with a common interest in music and how it is presented live.
Stepping through the weekend, Howard quickly conquered the demon feedback and explained about gain structure, setting up and ringing out monitors. This was when I realised that I had been doing it all wrong, and having the basic theory of frequency and octaves explained helped enormously.
As well as everyone cabling up equipment, we all had a chance to get our hands on high quality mixing, outboard, and PA gear, that you would normally only be able to look at with your nose pressed up against a shop window.
Setting up the drum mics and using outboard effects for gating and vocal compression was something I hadn’t tackled before, again the combination of ‘hands-on’ and guidance from Howard made things slot into place.
Back in Abu Dhabi, the band I work with play a brand of Irish folk music… tricky to say the least. There are a lot of high pitched notes from the fiddles and whistles, and a low thud from the bodhran (an Irish drum), constant knocking about of the mic stands, stage rumble, and the habit of changing instruments without warning.
The course helped me tackle some of the basic issues with the band and venue, such as the speaker position for the ‘L’ shaped room; the penny dropped when Howard explained about the canceling effect of speakers ‘out of phase’, which was the case for my set up, so repositioning them removed the dead spots and gave me somewhere to rest by beer. Then I tackled the feedback problems with my new found knowledge of ‘ringing out’ once I found the fundamental frequency, adjusting the higher frequencies removed the ringing sound but with a 2 to 4 db increase. And the simple things, such as telling the vocalist to hold the mic closer to his mouth all helped getting a better sound.
Since then as well as a regular with the band and doing two venues in one night with the same band, I have confidently engineered the sound for a local (very professional and talented) jazz band, at a top brass US charity event, and have been invited to set up the theater sound for their university.
While I’m not ready to give up the day job just yet, I still have a lot of fun, and people actually come up to me and say they thought the sound was great… that they could hear all instruments clearly and individually.
So… was I mad, far from it, the course was great fun and I learned such a lot.
Thanks Howard…
Daniel King
I was sitting in the Fleece sharing a pint with a mate after watching Nina Nastastia and chatting to the sound engineer. "I'm going on a sound engineering course" I confidently told him. He was less than impressed. "There's no course that can teach you how to do sound you've just got to get out there and do it", he said dismissively overlooking the fact that someone has to let you near their expensive and precious equipment first! I still went. And maybe he's right there is no course that can teach you how to do it. But Howard at Base Sound comes pretty damn close in a single weekend. There was a really good balance of theory and practical. Lots of stuff you've read in magazines and books, picked up over the years in bands, or even done in Physics at school (do they still teach that?). But somehow it all seemed to make more sense when the bits of kit are sitting in the room with you. And just as you are starting to think "yeah I think I get that" Howard thrusts a bit of gear into your hand and says sort that. And you panic. And then you calm down and realise you can do it. And suddenly the 32 channels on that desk which have always looked so daunting even though you KNOW that they are basically one strip repeated stop blurring in front of the eyes and become clear and mean something and even though you are still trying to plug the wrong end of something into somewhere suddenly you know it's the wrong end, and WHY it's the wrong end and where the right end is AND what to do with it. So lots of practical. We had a good crowd of mixed abilities but all eager to learn. We set up a whole band and even though all of us seemed to be bassists we sorted who played what, plugged it all in, drum kits,mandolins, everything. And we played Teenage Kicks. And the sound of course was great! Great fun, great value for money, and I was able to step out of there straight into sorting the sound out for not only my bands but for some friends who wanted some sound engineering help on Bristol Urban Beach and am helping out at BARRSFest in September after which I'm hoping I'll be able to find some paid work. And Howard's even offered to help with that. So practical at all levels with enough theory to back it up. Thanks Howard.
Quentin (Bristol)
www.noprimadonnas.co.uk
www.myspace.com/noprimadonnas
''As being a music student, I found attending this course has increased my knowledge in sound engineering extremely, not only has the course expanded my knowledge it has also helped me in finding the correct path to pursue my chosen career. I recommend this course to anyone who is looking into sound engineering as a career or just as a hobby. Very insightful and very enjoyable.''
Scott Tancock (Swansea)
First of all a big thanks to Howard for inviting me on a great two day live Sound Engineering course, there was a good mix of practical and theory. Like you would expect the first day was mainly theory but good for me to recap on sound and its makeup, also the explanation of Microphones,Mixers,Amplifiers, Speakers,Gates, Compressors, Effects Processors, Equalisers was very valued because all equipment has its little deferences. Day two the practical day, this is where us students started having big smiles when performing tasks such as EQ, ringing out and routing a sound source through the desk and getting it right. Howard had a lot of time for everyone on the course especially on specifics. This course is a must for anyone considering live sound engineering.
Many thanks
Kevin Howlett (Stroud)
The course was very helpful and informative and not knowing anything about
live engineering to being able to set up and to get a good sound has given me
a great basic understanding of live sound engineering.
Gary Follett (Bracknell)
I have already been sound engineering for several years but the course has now given me the ability to improve things and have more confidence. At rehearsal last week the rest of the band said they could already hear an improvement in the sound after I applied what I had learnt on the course.
Graham Cato (Surrey)
Traveling from Abu Dhabi to Stroud in Gloucestershire, just for a weekend course in sound engineering… am I mad?
While Abu Dhabi is a fascinating city to work and live in, it has become a bit starved of live music, so when any band gets up to play they get a lot of attention. There is also a keen and critical audience.
I first became involved with a local band by making the mistake of saying that while their performance was very good, the sound was just rubbish; their response was…”so you think you can do a better job then?…”
The following week I found myself standing in front of a 24 channel mixing desk, with the daunting task of making this band sound better, in an ‘L’ shaped room with less than average kit, and having only ‘swotted’ for a few hours on the web to get a grip of the basics.
My background in electronics and amplifier design certainly got me off the ground, however the inevitable squeal and howls that crept in during the first set made me realise that this is no easy task. The second and third set went better, although (as I found out during the course) I was basically mixing on the gain controls, and fighting with the sliders all night. Luckily, the band (and the audience) agreed that the sound was fundamentally better, so, charged with enthusiasm I sweated my way through another three or four gigs with them, and although things went ok, I realised that I needed to understand ‘sound engineering’ and not just sound mixing, if I was ever going to do this properly.
Having trolled the web I found the ‘BASE Sound Engineering’ course, which seemed to have the right content, aimed at someone like me; a short structured hands-on training program for anyone with a real interest in sound engineering, and at a reasonable cost. There was nothing like this available in either Abu Dhabi or Dubai, and fortunately I was able to take the time off, so I flew to the UK specifically for the weekend course.
The course is presented over two (quite intense) days in an informal atmosphere by Howard Williams. And what a great bunch on the course… all from different backgrounds but with a common interest in music and how it is presented live.
Stepping through the weekend, Howard quickly conquered the demon feedback and explained about gain structure, setting up and ringing out monitors. This was when I realised that I had been doing it all wrong, and having the basic theory of frequency and octaves explained helped enormously.
As well as everyone cabling up equipment, we all had a chance to get our hands on high quality mixing, outboard, and PA gear, that you would normally only be able to look at with your nose pressed up against a shop window.
Setting up the drum mics and using outboard effects for gating and vocal compression was something I hadn’t tackled before, again the combination of ‘hands-on’ and guidance from Howard made things slot into place.
Back in Abu Dhabi, the band I work with play a brand of Irish folk music… tricky to say the least. There are a lot of high pitched notes from the fiddles and whistles, and a low thud from the bodhran (an Irish drum), constant knocking about of the mic stands, stage rumble, and the habit of changing instruments without warning.
The course helped me tackle some of the basic issues with the band and venue, such as the speaker position for the ‘L’ shaped room; the penny dropped when Howard explained about the canceling effect of speakers ‘out of phase’, which was the case for my set up, so repositioning them removed the dead spots and gave me somewhere to rest by beer. Then I tackled the feedback problems with my new found knowledge of ‘ringing out’ once I found the fundamental frequency, adjusting the higher frequencies removed the ringing sound but with a 2 to 4 db increase. And the simple things, such as telling the vocalist to hold the mic closer to his mouth all helped getting a better sound.
Since then as well as a regular with the band and doing two venues in one night with the same band, I have confidently engineered the sound for a local (very professional and talented) jazz band, at a top brass US charity event, and have been invited to set up the theater sound for their university.
While I’m not ready to give up the day job just yet, I still have a lot of fun, and people actually come up to me and say they thought the sound was great… that they could hear all instruments clearly and individually.
So… was I mad, far from it, the course was great fun and I learned such a lot.
Thanks Howard…
Daniel King
I was sitting in the Fleece sharing a pint with a mate after watching Nina Nastastia and chatting to the sound engineer. "I'm going on a sound engineering course" I confidently told him. He was less than impressed. "There's no course that can teach you how to do sound you've just got to get out there and do it", he said dismissively overlooking the fact that someone has to let you near their expensive and precious equipment first! I still went. And maybe he's right there is no course that can teach you how to do it. But Howard at Base Sound comes pretty damn close in a single weekend. There was a really good balance of theory and practical. Lots of stuff you've read in magazines and books, picked up over the years in bands, or even done in Physics at school (do they still teach that?). But somehow it all seemed to make more sense when the bits of kit are sitting in the room with you. And just as you are starting to think "yeah I think I get that" Howard thrusts a bit of gear into your hand and says sort that. And you panic. And then you calm down and realise you can do it. And suddenly the 32 channels on that desk which have always looked so daunting even though you KNOW that they are basically one strip repeated stop blurring in front of the eyes and become clear and mean something and even though you are still trying to plug the wrong end of something into somewhere suddenly you know it's the wrong end, and WHY it's the wrong end and where the right end is AND what to do with it. So lots of practical. We had a good crowd of mixed abilities but all eager to learn. We set up a whole band and even though all of us seemed to be bassists we sorted who played what, plugged it all in, drum kits,mandolins, everything. And we played Teenage Kicks. And the sound of course was great! Great fun, great value for money, and I was able to step out of there straight into sorting the sound out for not only my bands but for some friends who wanted some sound engineering help on Bristol Urban Beach and am helping out at BARRSFest in September after which I'm hoping I'll be able to find some paid work. And Howard's even offered to help with that. So practical at all levels with enough theory to back it up. Thanks Howard.
Quentin (Bristol)
www.noprimadonnas.co.uk
www.myspace.com/noprimadonnas
''As being a music student, I found attending this course has increased my knowledge in sound engineering extremely, not only has the course expanded my knowledge it has also helped me in finding the correct path to pursue my chosen career. I recommend this course to anyone who is looking into sound engineering as a career or just as a hobby. Very insightful and very enjoyable.''
Scott Tancock (Swansea)
First of all a big thanks to Howard for inviting me on a great two day live Sound Engineering course, there was a good mix of practical and theory. Like you would expect the first day was mainly theory but good for me to recap on sound and its makeup, also the explanation of Microphones,Mixers,Amplifiers, Speakers,Gates, Compressors, Effects Processors, Equalisers was very valued because all equipment has its little deferences. Day two the practical day, this is where us students started having big smiles when performing tasks such as EQ, ringing out and routing a sound source through the desk and getting it right. Howard had a lot of time for everyone on the course especially on specifics. This course is a must for anyone considering live sound engineering.
Many thanks
Kevin Howlett (Stroud)
The course was very helpful and informative and not knowing anything about
live engineering to being able to set up and to get a good sound has given me
a great basic understanding of live sound engineering.
Gary Follett (Bracknell)
I have already been sound engineering for several years but the course has now given me the ability to improve things and have more confidence. At rehearsal last week the rest of the band said they could already hear an improvement in the sound after I applied what I had learnt on the course.
Graham Cato (Surrey)