Seventh cycle live sound students showed up bright and early at Cricket Pavilion in Phoenix to witness the audio setup for the Whitesnake/Slaughter/Warrant/Kip Winger concert. Students were treated to a guided tour from Roger Gibbons of Electrotec, the audio company providing the gear for the tour. Gibbons walked students through the complex setup that goes on each time the tour stops at a major venue, including line arrays and lighting being flown down to the setup of the front-of-house position. Early on, students met lead engineer Martin Walker. Walker and Gibbons talked about all the gear involved in making the venue’s sound the best it can be. In an unusual turn of events, students were enlisted to help with edits and setup on the Pro Tools system that was being used to record the concert every night. After the PA was set up, the system was aligned using the same Smaart software that Conservatory students use and are certified on in their live sound class.
Later that day, Monitor engineer Brian Hendry, who has mixed for many top acts including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, gave students a 20 minute talk on his approach on getting work in the industry and how he keeps getting called back for gigs. After the complete tour of the venue was finished, students then stayed for the soundcheck. Gibbons had students walking up and down rows at the Pavilion to give them an idea of the importance of system time alignment.
Conservatory student Scott Dall comments, "It was a great overall experience for all the students, even if they weren’t into live sound. Everyone in the class learned a lot and was very happy about being there and viewing the technology involved in tour sound. Roger is a great guy and is extremely professional. You can really tell he genuinely cares about the people who work for him. If I were going to seek work in live sound, Roger is the first person I would go to for a job."
Conservatory students are regularly exposed to the top professionals in the audio business. It’s experiences like this, in conjunction with an abundance of hands-on and classroom experience that set Conservatory grads apart from their future competitors graduating from other schools.
Later that day, Monitor engineer Brian Hendry, who has mixed for many top acts including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, gave students a 20 minute talk on his approach on getting work in the industry and how he keeps getting called back for gigs. After the complete tour of the venue was finished, students then stayed for the soundcheck. Gibbons had students walking up and down rows at the Pavilion to give them an idea of the importance of system time alignment.
Conservatory student Scott Dall comments, "It was a great overall experience for all the students, even if they weren’t into live sound. Everyone in the class learned a lot and was very happy about being there and viewing the technology involved in tour sound. Roger is a great guy and is extremely professional. You can really tell he genuinely cares about the people who work for him. If I were going to seek work in live sound, Roger is the first person I would go to for a job."
Conservatory students are regularly exposed to the top professionals in the audio business. It’s experiences like this, in conjunction with an abundance of hands-on and classroom experience that set Conservatory grads apart from their future competitors graduating from other schools.
