What Came First? The PA or the Mix?
Having dedicated time like this is the audio dream. It’s what we all
long for when we’re sitting in the back seat of a 12-passenger van
picking soggy fries off of our arses: the ability to actually work on
a new mix before the show.
Well, fair warning: while this time seems god-sent, it can easily
be the devil in disguise.
When building a mix on reference monitors, you have to trust in
what you’re doing and hearing without the fear that it will translate
poorly to a given PA system. If your mix is together in this medium
but you don’t like how it sounds over the big speakers, then you
should start addressing the PA, not your mix.
This is where confidence and experience are key. It’s not the
ability to make your snare drum sound better; it’s the ability to know
the exact point in the process that’s negatively affecting it. EQing
your master bus to fix that bad snare drum is like a doctor fixing
constipation with CPR. I’m a much better engineer for being forced
through this learning curve. This knowledge would have saved my
mental state weeks of torment trudging through those muddy festi-
val fields in 2018.
To Infinity & Show Number One
With this prolific message now etched into my brain and U.K. re-
hearsals coming to an end, we set off for Amsterdam and show
number one.
We are at the beginning of our relationship with Clair Global,
and it’s exciting to be working with an audio vendor that shares
the same end goal of great sound first, bottom line later. Or at least
that’s how they make me feel!
In addition to this new partnership comes a new PA in the
form of Clair’s Cohesion box, a new SE for me to form a working
relationship with, and an entirely new audio crew.
I love chatting with PA crew. You often find that even the
younger additions to the team have been on some pretty big, or at
least interesting gigs. You wanna know what it’s really like mixing
FOH for your dream artist? Chances are your fly team can fill you in
on the gory details.
In this case, we have two fantastic crew members from Clair
Global flying the system: Sarah Blakey and Ed Peers. They are head-
ed up by Systems Engineer Jeff Wuerth. It can be enlightening
having a conversation after a gig over a beer about their thoughts
on the show. These guys see a wider spread of shows in arena envi-
ronments than I likely ever will. They are as useful a tool as Smaart.
If you get the chance to pick your own team, then understand the
benefit good choices can really have here.
It can be quite daunting assimilating all of this at once. With
three days of rehearsals in Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome before two
back-to-back sold-out shows, I was feeling the pressure of so many
moving parts. I spent every spare minute of the day (when audio
was not offensive to other departments) working through virtual
soundcheck, agonizing over different PA profiles and shadings to
get to the benchmark I had set for myself: a world-class mix for a
world-class tour.
It’s easy to look back today after 12 great shows and say, “Hey
man, 12-shows-ago-Tom should relax!” But the truth is, I was feeling
exactly how I should have been feeling: nervous. Not just that, but
willing to work harder than anyone else to make the show sound
great. Truthfully, maybe somewhat neurotic!
SHAWN MENDES AMIDST REHEARSALS
Frankly, having spent such extended amounts of time in the
same space, surrounded by people who thrive on constant move-
ment, it was time to get a gig in the bag and start rolling. You have
to be honest with yourself and know when to step back and stop
mixing before your results become a blur.
Show one went off without a hitch.
The hard work from everyone had paid off and I like to think
that my stress was well worth it. There are things that we contin-
ue to refine day after day, but that’s the entire point! To say I was
happy with every single sonic element would be a lie and, frankly,
fucking boring. As I continue to learn the personality of this PA, day
after day, things are constantly improving, including my ability to
discern between a bad mix element and a bad system element.
With 12 shows left in the European leg, I’m truly excited for what
the rest of the tour will bring – especially as we move into the
States this summer and really blow the roof off this thing.
You wanna know what’s better than having an awesome show
in front of 80,000 people? Absolutely nothing.
Originally from the U.K. and now based in Canada, Tom Wood is an
in-demand FOH engineer currently touring the world with Shawn
Mendes on The Tour. He has also worked with Florence and the Machine,
Liam Payne, Protest the Hero, and many others.
PROFESSIONAL SOUND 33