Tony Sabato
Monitor Engineer
Showco/Clair Brothers
Quote: "We don't need a soundcheck!"
Tony Sabato is a production manager and monitor engineer with sound giant Clair Bros., who has mixed for clients such as Blondie, Enrique Iglesias, Styx, ZZ Top, Staind and Live. In this photo, he is pictured (left) with FOH mixer Jeff Gilmer, in Sydney, Australia on Live's Awake world tour, for which he mixed monitors. Tony and Jeff also worked together last year with Staind. When not touring, Tony spends time with his wife of 10 years and his three children.
Hobbies: Golf, fishing
Equipment: Midas H3000, Future Sonics Ear Monitors, Distressor, Showco SRM
Don't Leave Home Without: Gig Bag, cell phone, credit card, plane ticket
AKA "Captain Bob"
3R Sound
Austin, TX
Quote: "Never skimp on your mixer or your mics!"
Bob Merkett has been a singer/songwriter for the past 15 years, and a soundman for the last five. "I got tired of not knowing what to ask for as a performer," he explains. "The information, I found, was vast and expansive. I couldn't believe so many people could do the same job I was doing, yet in a completely different way."
Bob's latest client is South by Southwest (SXSW), a music festival in Austin, where he'll be mixing for three days. The festival features local singers/ songwriters, as well as singers signed to local labels. On other gigs, he specializes in acoustic shows and smaller venues: "people looking for better-than-average equipment and a sober soundman," he jokes.
Hobbies: Wrapping cables
Equipment: "My main mixer is a Midas Venice 160. I wouldn't have anything else, though I started out with a Mackie 1604 and did just fine with that. I also like the Mackie active speakers, SRM450s, 1535s and the 1501 subs. My shows never need any more power than this, and besides, my van is crammed enough as it is. My favorite mics are Shure Beta 58s. I enjoy the Neumann KSM series as well, but I find very few singers who understand how to use them well enough to justify the cost."
Don't Leave Home Without: My favorite compressor–RNC1773, made here in Austin!
