FOH at Large

There are very few days that we work less than a ten-hour day, and that’s on a good day. From load-in to load-out, we’re lucky if the clock stops ticking at the ten-hour mark, and even if it does, we still have to take into account all the time spent just traveling from one place to the other. Time is money and as I see it, we manage to spend more time than the money we make. I’m not complaining. I’m just stating a fact, because by the time this piece is published, we may all be lying at the bottom of the fiscal cliff clutching our empty wallets due to expired tax cuts.

In regard to audio, it’s great to be on a concert tour as a band’s engineer, where the gig is all about the music. Monitors or front of house, small or large venues, opening band or headliner — it is still about the music. In venues catering to a musical performance and a music-loving clientele, these rooms and halls are specifically set up to provide for the best possible audio system. Granted, there are those times when the town crier is standing behind the front of house console with the police chief and an SPL meter telling you that the audio is restricted to be no more than 90 dB at the FOH mix position, and you humbly nod your head in agreement while, at the same time, realize that the SPL coming off the stage is 110 dB before the mains are even turned on. Or a specific piece of gear that is crucial to the show is unavailable in a town so remote that you cannot even imagine that anyone in the vicinity has even heard of the band. I am well aware that even in the best of situations, there are technical problems and audio heartaches, but at least it’s still rock ‘n’ roll — or something like it.

Note: Baker Lee was among those East Coasters plunged into darkness via a massive power failure resulting from hurricane Sandy, so his column this month combines some new material and with a bit of a classic “FOH at Large” from 2010. We hope you enjoy this blast from the past. —ed.

Just recently, I had a conversation with a former FRONT of HOUSE editor. We were discussing the particular qualities of the different IEMs on the market and, during the conversation, he mentioned that he was getting a new set of Ultimate Ear monitors that very day. I reminded him that, a few years back, I had received a set of UE earsets and that I was going to write about them in this column.

Not so many years ago, before the digital revolution, there was a clearer distinction of defined boundaries in regard to places, things and ideas. Telephones were connected to a wall or a desk, and if one wanted to receive or make calls from a certain location in their home or office, they’d need to have an extension of their phone line installed in the desired area. If anyone was away from their home or office when the phone would ring, then the incoming phone call would most likely be missed, thereby leaving the caller and the recipient unconnected.

I just finished reading the book, Here, There and Everywhere, by famed Beatles recording engineer Geoff Emerick. Not only is this a great book for Beatles fans, but it also provides recording and live engineers a glimpse into the beginning of modern recording and production techniques. Emerick documents his career from his 1962 internship with the iconic EMI’s Abby Road Studios all the way through to the completion of the band’s 1969 Abby Road album and onward into his professional association and work with Paul McCartney, as well as a plethora of other well-known acts.

Call me archaic, but I actually find the English language to be a great way to express one’s thoughts — regardless of intent or purpose. From relaying simple instructions in concise terms to loquaciously waxing poetic, English — when used properly — is capable of conveying thoughts and feelings with nuance and elegance. This does not mean that we need to roll our “R’s” nor speak in Shakespearean English, but as intelligent people, we must find a middle ground between “Wherefore art thou?” and “Where you at?”

Anyone who has seen Walt Disney’s 1937 animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, should remember this classic tune by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey: Just whistle while you work…Put on that grin and start right in To whistle loud and long; Just hum a merry tune, Just do your best and take a rest, And sing yourself a song . When there’s too much to do, Don’t let it bother you, forget your troubles, Try to be just like a cheerful chick-a-dee, And whistle while you work. Come on get smart, tune up and start To whistle while you work…

Audio, music, baseball and girls are pretty much all I think about — and not necessarily in that order. Well, not really girls (since I’m married), but something just like it. Believe me, I’m not trying to imply that I’m shallow but… Okay, I’m a superficial scum, so sue me, but they do all go together, although maybe not in this article. So just for expediency, if I forget about the girls, it leaves audio, music and baseball.

An engineer friend of mine (now retired from the business) started his audio career in the early 1970s and spent the most part of the ensuing 30 years traveling throughout the world, mixing front of house and monitors. As well as being an excellent engineer, he is endowed with a charismatic charm, wit and a talent for networking. He was in with the Rock ‘n’ Roll elite and always had work with top-name acts in the business. In the latter part of the last century, he navigated a glamorous course that took him on an odyssey via the world of towering platform boots, big hair and colossal snare drum sounds to the north country of plaid shirts and ripped jeans. After a final bit of touring — which took him across an ocean of lip-synching divas to the lucrative strip-mined fields of boy-bands — he finally hung up his shoes and decided to settle down.

Here is an open letter to any and all clients that that require audio and production assistance. Please understand that I recognize you, as the client, are most likely spending a huge amount of money on your incredibly important event and also be aware that, as a bronco buster, this is not my first rodeo. After all, if you were going into the hospital for an operation would you tell the surgeon where to cut, or how to stitch? I think not. Therefore, what compels you to dictate to me how to do my job? You own an ipod? You did sound for a friend in college? Please…get over it.

An engineer with whom I shared mixing responsibilities had an interesting way of seeing and expressing the technical world in which we audio people exist. To him everything was “sexy” or had “sex appeal” and, depending upon his own personal interpretation, a good mix, or great sounding reverb, was either of the two. While I never quite understood the difference — or if there were one — I would like to believe that he was speaking metaphorically and not literally about objects and things that are sexually neutral. Regrettably, in this ever-expanding world of strange that we call home, I am hard pressed to assume anything about my fellow man despite my unflagging optimism. Regardless, his “sexy” descriptions of sound equipment and their associated sounds confused me at first because as much as I enjoy and like certain audio gear, my lustful urges are oriented elsewhere.

Recently, the question was asked of me, “How do I get into The Big Time?”  How indeed? Although I understand the person’s desire for success, and I certainly do comprehend what is meant by “The Big Time,” I seriously have no absolute viable solution to the query.  The good news is that, for any neophyte seeking a job in the audio business, there are many available avenues to “The Big Time.” The bad news, on the other hand, is that, once you arrive at your destination, it may not seem as glossy as “The Big Time” you once expected.  Therefore, I must say that it’s not as much the destination as it is the journey, because if one keeps seeking the big gig just around the corner, then it becomes increasingly difficult to see that they may have finally arrived. (That’s right; I spent my New Year’s Day watching the Twilight Zone marathon).