so the band i'm recording wants me to be their sound-guy

[wayne kerr]

i wouldn't do it for less than $35.

[ryanlikestorock]

I took a live gig for 6 months last year because a band like my mastering work. Weird, I know... but, we were friends and they trusted me. I'd never done live sound before and 5 shows in we were playing to 3000-7000 people. Insane. I was in way over my head.

80-100 shows later, I think I almost know what I'm doing. I much prefer the studio, but I'm glad I've done both.

If you learn quickly and on your own, try it out. It's a great way to travel. But, the live world will definitely give you a good ass kicking. Make sure you can handle it. Learning how to work in an uncontrolled environment can be a bitch - feedback, sound of room, etc.

[knobtwirler]

I got offered a chance to run the board at a multi-band punk show at the Brookly Brewery and I didn't even know what I was doing. I learned one important thing that night and if I hadn't done this one thing, I would have looked like a genius.
The guitars are loud, forget about them unless suddenly they are quiet for some reason. The drums are loud, forget about them. The vocals need to be heard so make sure they sound great. When the venue becomes enormous like MSG, that's when you have to give whole band equal attention to reinforce the sound and make it sound like a record. I was an idiot and tried to bring the guitar mics up on the PA system that was too small for the venue, and the vocals disappeared. One mistake, I was a total failure. If it's in your blood, take the gig. If you're a studio rat, stick to that. If you're special, do both.

[Roboburger]

I always wanted to be a recording engineer, but since being a live guy takes $0 investment, and setting up a decent small studio is 10k more than that, I went for the live guy gig way back when.

Funniest damn thing, if you make the band sound great, typically everyone tells the band how great they were, but if there's a ring of feedback, all those dagger-like eyes are on you. (If you're a recording engineer and you plug a mic that some austrian designed (not you) and plug it into a Mic Pre that Some british guy designed (not you) and route it to a Tape Machine that you also didn't design and it sounds great, you're a flippin' genius. Not that I'm bitter. hehehe.) Tour managing is similar, too. If you do you job well, there's rarely a problem and it looks like you're not doing anything and the band wonders why they are paying you.

Live work uses the same tools as recording and the same rules of thumb as far as gain structure, etc go, but the application is wayyy different. You don't have the same kind of control live as you do in the studio. You don't have time to try a few things out. Your customers (the crowd) are very quick to vocalize their opinions, and those opinions often clash with yours.

However, I love Live work. It's taken me around the planet, and I've seen the faces of thousands of people made happy by a great show. I'm a bit of a ham, so being well-regarded in town is very fulfilling (and I like the free drinks). It's a feeling I haven't quite matched in the recording world, but I'm smalltime. If I hadn't fallen in love with the greatest gal on the planet, I'd be on the road today.