The Job of the Live Sound Engineer Isn’t So Different From Leading Participatory Arts Sessions in Mental Health Settings by Paul Carroll (Plugin Project blog)

The 2000s were a great time for artists new to leading participatory activity to develop their skills and establish themselves in the field through the many volunteering, training, mentoring and work opportunities on offer at the time. The industry has changed though and some of us freelance practitioners have found we need to seek out slightly different work to maintain a steady income.

I have always been interested in music technology and working on creative music projects has provided opportunities to develop skills in studio recording and live sound, aspects of the job that I found I really enjoyed. Eventually, I think it was eight years ago, I started helping out with the live sound at my local library when they started hosting touring artists from as far away as Australia. I then started picking up work at a busy café in a Birmingham suburb working with similar artists and more recently I have been on short tours with progressive folk band the Bonfire Radicals. Between this, a bit of live performance myself and leading music workshops (predominantly in mental health settings) I have managed to keep fairly busy.

At first, I used to see the different jobs as separate, disconnected parts of my working month. More recently, however, I have grown to understand that there are similarities in what is on offer and how my skills working in mental health settings 100% come into play when I’m doing live sound.

The first similarity, particularly at the library, is that the work brings high quality music to those who otherwise wouldn’t find it as accessible. For example, a touring artist from Nashville comes to Smethwick, where local people are less inclined to venture into Birmingham; in my community music facilitation, I bring creative music making opportunities to inpatients at hospitals, or support young people who find mainstream colleges challenging spaces.

Secondly, both jobs involve making people feel comfortable in a new place, sometimes after they’ve only just met me. At a gig I will take time to confirm the artists’ requirements and reassure them that I understand and will do what I can to fulfil them. In the music workshops I will take time to find out about the participants’ expectations of sessions and their musical interests and reassure them that I will do what I can to adapt to their needs and tell them that they can step out if they wish, showing them the fidget toys available if required.

On some occasions my colleagues at music venues might warn me about a particularly “picky” or “difficult” artist. A venue manager once warned me that the performer arriving that night shouted at them last time when they weren’t happy with the lighting. I have found that the reality of working with artists with reputations such as this have mostly gone smoothly as long as they can see that you are responding to their requests and doing everything you can. I can see that, through working in mental health with people with varying needs, I have developed the patience to work with more challenging performing artists.

I had an interesting conversation with one performer after a sound check, who was quite frank about how they hated sound-checking in a new venue, immediately having to work closely with the engineer, someone they’d only just met. After this, and drawing from my own experiences of anxieties before playing gigs, I always try and be friendly and helpful when doing sound.

One final technical note on this subject is that I suspect that having a musician’s ear when dealing with live PAs helps me EQ each instrument / voice. I would say I am a cutter rather than a booster and by that I mean that when I hear each sound through the PA, I use my ears to listen for the unpleasant, stand-out harmonics and reduce those frequencies. Sometimes, I even sing the ringing note to help me find it.

And I think listening skills just about sums it up and the more I work, whether it’s in live sound or mental health, even more do I value personal skills over technical skill and knowhow.