PNW's January 2023 meeting at Carlson Audio and on Zoom, discussed live sound work including mic cupping. L-R are Jesse Turner, Christina Moon and Vince Agne. In-person attendees were all requested to wear masks.
PNW Section held a hybrid Zoom+live meeting January 30 centered on live sound and specifically dealing with cupping the vocal mic (holding one's hand around the element), a popular performance style. Many other techniques for live sound problems were also discussed. The in-person presentation was held in the Seattle warehouse of Carlson Audio, a major provider of live sound services. 52 attended from around the world, consisting of combined live and Zoom attendees; 29 were AES Members.
PNW Chair and moderator Dan Mortensen explained that a previous presentation to the PNW Section by Steve Savanyu mentioned mic cupping, which alters the response and directivity of a microphone. This piqued Dan's interest in further examining this topic, and he knew three experienced local live sound techs who could help explain this - Christina Moon, Jesse Turner and Vince Agne. After opening formalities, Dan introduced Jesse, who showed the complete sound system they had set up in the warehouse, including gear to allow Zoomers to participate.
Vince Agne then showed how he tunes monitor wedges when pressed for time, then showed the effects of the onset of feedback with cupping. He has EQ favorites he starts with, then a system of gain settings for monitors vs. house sound. Even a hat brim and glasses can affect his settings.
Jesse and Christina joined in the discussion of the trials and tribulations of doing live sound - often no sound checks, EQ problems, playing sound psychologist, always being asked to turn it up, and generally being prepared for anything. They also took the stage to demonstrate more mic scenarios plus the typical board settings and how they sounded. Cameras and video feeds were available to see the board as well as the overall stage. After a little EQ work and testing by mic cupping and waving the mic around the monitor wedges, the system was stable.
The live and Zoom audiences participated and asked many general live sound questions, including artists bringing their own mic, cleaning and repairing mics, working solo vs. with house techs, in-ear monitors, working with poor gear, mic drops, figuring who gets attention, making eye contact with the artists, signals with the artists, show files, intercoms, and hearing tests.
Vince also related his story of getting to carry singer Jenny Lewis, whom he was doing monitors for, off the stage at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
While Zoom was less than optimal for hearing the sound nuances, people could get the idea.
Next, participants were encouraged to unmute and introduce themselves, showing our variety of attendees from around the globe.
About the Presenters
Christina Moon is a sound engineer from Seattle Washington. Working in the music industry for over twenty four years, her love of audio started at an early age, sneaking out to any show she could. Christina started out as a house engineer in clubs as well as assisting at Studio X in Seattle. She has been a touring monitor engineer for the last nineteen years for bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Death Cab for Cutie, Interpol, Beach House, Cat Power, LCD Soundsystem and Sleater Kinney.
Jesse Turner started working in live sound while going to the University of Hawaii 1998. He was working for the student union putting on concerts and working at the campus radio station while working towards a communications degree, but decided he wanted to pursue live sound instead. Jesse transferred to the Art Institute of Seattle in 2001 and graduated from there in 2003.
Jesse worked at American Music Rentals and Production doing PA, backline, lights, and just trying to make the gear work from 2003 till 2005. He then took a position at Carlson Audio in their rentals department in 2005 and has worked at Carlson till the present doing a variety of roles from stage patch to Monitor tech to System engineer and Crew Chief.
Jesse has been lucky enough to work with and tour with several acts doing monitors: Macklemore, Brandi Carlile, The Head and the Heart, T-Bone Burnett, and Jenny Lewis to name a few and countless hours running monitors at festivals for acts not carrying engineers and many venues around Seattle. He enjoys the challenge of finding out what an artist needs to perform at their best, and understanding that it is unique to each situation.
Vince Agne is a Seattle based, freelance live sound engineer. He has been working in the show and entertainment industry for 20+ years. He has worked with Pacific Northwest sound companies Carlson Audio Systems and Dansound, and was a staff engineer at Showbox Market and Showbox SoDo. He's recently toured as a monitor engineer with Jenny Lewis, Fleet Foxes, and Caroline Polachek. When not on the road, you can sometimes find him at gigs in various venues in and around town or at: Seattle Capitol Hill Block Party, Watershed, Bumbershoot, Sasquatch, Washington State Fair Concert Series, or Thing Festival. And, when he's out on the road, you might catch him making people laugh in a costume offstage, onstage, or even on television.
Recordings will be available on the PNW website, meeting archive section:
https://www.aes-media.org/sections/pnw/pnwrecaps/
