Skills
Below is a thoroughly non-exhaustive list of kit I’ve used and skills I have; in the midst of it all is an urge to keep learning new equipment, techniques and skills from other more experienced engineers.
Mixing Desks
Yamaha
I am comfortable using Many of the Mid-Range Large Format Desk in the Yamaha Line: LS9, M7CL, QL1/5, CL1/5.
Allen & Heath
I have plenty of Experience on the Allen & Heath Qu Series (16, 24, 32) as well as the newer SQ Series.
Digico
I’ve used the Digico SD Series (5, 9 and 11) for a number of Conferences and can comfortably run a show from them.
Using Yamaha mixing desks I’ve mixed Conferences, Dinners/Banquets and Events of varying sizes, from a single Lectern Mic to 12+ Lapel Mics with a Choir and multiple feeds to Cameras, Records, other onsite locations and Outside Broadcast.
I am also comfortable with Allen & Heath Qu Series & the SQ Series digital desks (16, 24 and 32) for breakout sessions and main rooms as well as a number of analogue desks from different manufacturers.
With a solid grasp of Signal Flow and Gain Structure I can turn my hand to most desks and applications.
PA Systems
I have plenty of experience using a range of the usual suspects.
d&b: Y Series (Y7, Y10), V Series (Point Source & Array), B-Subs, E Series, T-Series
Nexo: PS Series
L’Acoustic: Using but not Rigging Kara & Kiva-II
Martin Audio: WaveFront (WT) Series, F Series
And plenty of other Active and Passive Systems too.
Microphones & RF
I’ve used Sennheiser G2/G3 Series and 5K systems and Shure’s Axient, ULXD & QLXDs with Lavaliers, Handhelds and every sound engineer’s favourite: DPAs.
For Top Tables I tend to favour the Sennheiser ME36 (if available) and for Lectern Mics it’s the ME34 (where possible, obviously…).
I’ve used others including AKG & Audio-Technica but have just found these to be rock solid and great sounding.
DSP, Outboard & Software
Working mainly in Conference and the Corporate environment, more and more DSP is built into the Desk so I’m encountering less and less Outboard kit but I have experience of using the usual suspects: Graphic EQ’s, Compressors, Gates, Effects and Speaker Management Systems/Delay Units.
QLab is never away from my side when I’m operating a show; from a simple bit of background music and maybe an emergency announcement to a full show of cues and stings.
Voice Of God
I also do Voice of God live or via a suite of Pre-Recorded Clips that I keep in a QLab File ready to deploy.
I’m adding new snippets all the time to increase the usefulness and spectrum of events covered.
General AV & Soft Skills
General AV
I’m skilled in Powerpoint, Keynote, Projector Setup (Sony & Panasonic) and Screen (Dalite Fast-Folds, Stumpfl) line-up. Basic Lighting and Rigging, PASMA trained for Mobile Access Towers, comfortable working at height.
XLR Soldering, IEC, Mains and NL4 cable making.
I have a wide variety of “get out of jail” kit including a Decimator MD-HX a MicroCue 2 Remote Clicker, a 9 Band Graphic EQ, a broad selection of Video Adapters, an Audio DA, my own PC Balance Boxes and soon a BlackMagic Design ATEM Mini 4x HDMI Switcher. There’s other stuff in the old Peli of Doom but who wants to read a boring kit list?
Soft Skills
It’s widely accepted that Technical Skills are just the tip of the iceberg in this industry; being a good “people person” is most of the art of the show.
I am calm under pressure, presentable and respectful of others, have a very good sense of humour, can mix and interact with everyone from world leaders to the catering crew. I work well with the teams I’m in and can be reliably left to my own devices to complete a task on a rig or a solo show/breakout session. Happy to start early and finish late and willing to travel domestically or internationally (with enough notice to arrange things). I also make a cracking cup of tea.