Coaching singers for 30 years, I found that helping an artist become the best they could be went far beyond just good vocal technique. The best singers have other skills that are often not recognized as a skill by casual observers. Even more disheartening, these skills are often not developed in singers, even those working with a great voice teacher. It’s easy to get blinded by the flashy “money notes” or crazy riffing and put all of one’s energy into achieving that bundle of skills.
A few years ago, I attended a user experience design boot camp. That course taught me that UX is so much more than designing visuals for apps and websites. UX designers conduct a lot of user research to determine how an app should function, implementing what they call a “human-centered approach” to their decision making; that is, an approach that ensures the final product serves the user.
I just got home from a load-in that I’ve been dreading for months. To my surprise, I don’t feel exhausted, I don’t have any harrowing stories of woe to share, and I’m not annoyed, frustrated, or angry. Instead, what I feel is proud, accomplished, and satisfied. I’m not immediately sure what is different about this load-in, and then it hits me: There was not one man on this team. The power of the all-women team is real, and I’m about to tell you why.
2018 has been an exciting year from TheatreArtLife! We now have 120 contributors, all live entertainment and theatre professionals working around the globe who write articles for us each month who share their journey, advice, wisdom, and experiences from the industry. We are so grateful for our staff of volunteers who run our website and […]
Up until recently, I got annoyed when someone described me as “lucky.” I would have said, that where I am in my career today has very little to do with the vagaries of fate, and everything do to with hard work.
But recently I was reminded of the well-known quote attributed to Seneca the Younger: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” And I realised, I am pretty lucky.
While I was pregnant my plan was to take off a couple of months off after the baby was born then go back to work part-time for a while. My husband, who also works in audio, planned to work from our home studio. We figured between the two of us we wouldn’t need a babysitter or daycare. How hard can it be to mix and watch a baby?
So you’ve wanted to be a sound engineer since you were a little kid. You studied hard in school, slaved away as an enthusiastic, overworked and underpaid intern, and no matter what the setbacks, you remained determined to succeed. In such a competitive industry, you’d think you’d need to be focused on nothing but sound, but what happens when your dream gets derailed?
Sometimes things are tough. We are all strong and competent, but sometimes the circumstances we find ourselves in are tough. Even the strongest and most experienced of us have bad days. There is no nirvana level of badass that we reach where events can no longer bother us.
Brazil is a huge country, the largest in Latin America, and already has more than 200 million inhabitants. Discovered in 1500 by Portuguese colonizers, it is a country that has never stopped receiving immigrants; absorbing their cultures, and mixing with them. As a consequence, it has become one of the most multicultural countries on our beloved planet Earth. And this plurality reflects directly on all aspects of our culture and habits.
Everyone has a slow season if they are a freelancer. The time of the year that this occurs for you depends on what area of the world you work, what your seasonal high for contracts is and your live entertainment speciality, but there’s always a time where you have a few weeks downtime to re-group, rest and prepare for the next season.
As production people, we spend a lot of time planning how the show is going to run, sound and look, as well as creating an environment that is safe so the audience will enjoy themselves. Just last month, I was working on one of our largest shows of the year, 2,500 tickets sold. We would be converting our recreational space into a concert hall.
Have you ever had a boss that you absolutely despised? Someone unorganized, impatient, and short-sighted?
A quality leader can make or break any business or project. As the boss, you are the face of the team. What your team does reflects on you, and vice-versa. If you’re unorganized, or don’t know your crew, or have no goals, how can you expect to lead anyone anywhere? A leader needs to have many positive qualities in order to be successful.
Recently, I was on a crew of three working a small event at a community college. As the audio engineer on the call, one of my tasks was to set up a small lobby PA before the event and take it down once the theatre portion was underway (the first half an hour or so was one person talking into a wireless mic, so I had ample time to go out and retrieve the PA). The rig consisted of one rolling rack of gear and a large Mackie powered speaker on a stand. Cake, right?
