Dear Anklebiters,
I operate a sound company that is currently healthy and making money. My concern, however, is that sound reinforcement technology is moving too fast to keep up with. How can I compete in this rapidly changing market?
Thanks,
Pete Hampton, Spokane, WA
Jamie: Pete, the first thing to remember is: You do not need to have every new toy and gizmo in your arsenal to be competitive. You already have a clientele, and the fact that you are making money tells me that you are satisfying your clients. Right? But is it a good idea to keep up on tech and equipment trends, and of course, the latest and greatest innovations out there. Look, dude, you're already reading FOH. Need I say more? Paul, what do you think? Paul: Thanks, Jamie. I just finished a festival that lasted more than a week and involved three stages operating simultaneously. The move that sealed getting the contract was renting a Yamaha PM5D RH for the main stage. All of the performers on that stage had heard what the FOH console was and how their settings could be recalled at any time.
Was it expensive to use this new technology? Yes! Was it worth the effort? Yes! Did I have the skills to use the 5D at that time? No! I hired someone with those skills and then learned from them. I saved all of the settings from this year and will use those settings again next year when most of the same acts return. I cannot afford to purchase a 5D and it was expensive to rent one, but it sealed the deal for me–and I got next year's festival. Jamie, have you had experiences like this one?
Jamie: Not exactly, but I recently bought a rather special snake just to accommodate the needs of a particular artist. The motivation for this investment was the promise of contracting all of this singer's California and Nevada shows. At the time, I was only in for one show. However, with the use of my new snake (and my own expertise), I got the gig for all of this year and next year's events. That's about 15 to 20 shows. Anyway, the point here is that I bought a snake that is technologically more advanced than any of my other snakes because it was on the artist rider. Of course, I can use it on other shows. In this case, I wasn't keeping up with technology as much as attempting to satisfy my client and secure more work. So, with your gig, Paul, was the Yamaha a rider request, or did you just decide to rent it and make your show easier?
Paul: I decided to rent it because of the nature of the festival. Each year, the biggest names in this type of music perform. I thought that it would be best to dial in each performer and then save those settings. Over the course of the festival, the same people performed on the main stage at least three times. In years past, the FOH engineer had to reset their console and then dial it in again and again. Because of the 5D I had rented, the mix was the same each time, and so sound checks were done once and then saved. The performances were saved, so we had a choice of which one we liked the best. I now have skills that are more marketable, and the performers started asking if I would do other shows with them. The rental was easier for me, but also helped me keep up with technology. It cost more money, but in the long run, it proved to be valuable to my business.
