I am a sound engineer in a famous theater

How does own end up working this field? Do you just get to school and apply? Or is it mostly a person you know kind of field?

I live in Germany. Here you can study this profession at the university. I have successfully completed the study and then started my own business.

What does the course of study cost? Asking with warm regards from US.

Per semester about 200 Euros

Thank you for the reply! May I inquire the university?

The university of applied sciences is called "Fachhochschule Düsseldorf".

is there a entrance exam to clear to get selected as a process ?

Yes there is an entrance exam. You have to perform three pieces of music from different eras and take another exam in music theory. This is because the sound engineering program in Germany is a mixture of music studies and technical studies.

Public universities are free in Germany afaik.

No, there are tuition fees, they're just not particularly high.

Would that apply for foreign students also? Or dependent on school

Foreigners can also study there. However, there is a very difficult entrance exam.

No, there are tuition fees in Germany, they're just not particularly high.

If you are in the US, you can join the marines. This is true. Back in the early 90's, someone I worked with wanted to be a professional audio engineer and, I guess, couldn't afford the school, so he joined the marines with the understanding they would train him to be the engineer for their bands and orchestras. He still had to go through basic training, but they kept their word. After leaving the marines, he worked for Claire Brothers, one of the largest touring audio companies in the industry. He is now the lead audio engineer for one of the Vegas casinos and has worked with Springsteen, Sting, Manilow, Bette Midler, and I don't know how many others.

Wow, that's impressive.

Are you doing the same show every night like Broadway, or different acts?

We have our own production, which runs about three times a week. And then we have guest artists in between.

How many seats? How’s the load in?

It is a small theater with 200 seats. But it is known all over Germany. It was the first theater in Germany for comedy, music and literature after the Second World War.

And the load in?

Sorry, my English is not so good. What do you mean by "load"? Can you use another word that I understand?

What’s your favorite show you’ve worked on?

My favorite show is our own production. It's a funny play about four parents who are sued by their children for climate change.

Do you find all live productions that you're not involved in to be too distracting for you because you can't "unhear" things you'd do differently?

Yes that's right. I always listen analytically, I can't turn that off.

your proof seems not very proof-y

How do you think proof that I am a sound engineer should look like?

A pic of you licking some audio knobs?

Yes I could do that :-).

show us your DAW

nah just kidding i never need to see pro tools again 👍

In the theater, we use Ableton Live and Qlab for sound effects.

How big is the theatre? And what type of gear do you rely on the most for your productions?

It is a small theater with 200 seats. We use a Beringer X32 mixing console and Sennheiser microphones.

do you use Dante at all?

You mean Dante virtual soundcard? I haven't used it yet, but a colleague always raves about it to me.

Do you have a favorite band or musician that you really love to work with?

Yes, I like a singer very much. Her name is Nessi:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/47mbNlW6j1QC92ag1tkEmC?si=8rNOKDbHRfKAfXPtEYD5LA

What's your favorite audio to play once you have your settings?

The albums of Alan Parsons Project have an excellent sound.

When does a knob become too big to turn and retain its function?

When does a knob become too big to turn and retain its function?

Controllers don't get bigger or smaller, but they can break. If this happens during the show, it is unfortunately very unpleasant.

What type of microphone set up would you recommend for a low-resource community theater? I played in the pit for a local theater which was using aging headset-style mics that had unbearable static. Is there anything to look for to be efficient and cut down on the cost of new mics?

You can use headsets from Monacor. They are relatively inexpensive, but have an acceptable sound.

How do you confirm the sound in the booth matches the experience for the audience?

It always depends on the sound mix. I try to make it as homogeneous as possible.

How do you confirm the sound in the booth matches the experience for the audience?

Sorry, I misunderstood the question. My English is not so good. I don't sit in a booth when mixing but sit open to the audience and the stage.

Is it me or do shaded line array systems sound really flat and bad?

I have not yet had this experience.

Speaker boxes. I can't find anything that can tell me why certain designs are better than others. Do you have any textbooks that would pertain to the subject or know where I can find sound related equations (other than the speed of sound)?

I'm sorry, but I'm not a specialist when it comes to loudspeakers. When I have to judge speakers, I listen to them very carefully. I think that's the best way to find out what you prefer.

What is the hardest instrument to mic?

I would say a drum set.

What’s your salary?

I get 200 euros for each show. One show usually lasts 120 minutes.

Follow up question: is that enough for you to live off, or do you have a day job as well? This is something I wanted to go into about a decade ago when I graduated high school, but my small town, Midwestern dad refused to help pay unless I went to a "real school."

I can live very well from it, but I also have a small recording studio where I work and earn money.

Have you ever pooped your pants on the job?

Once almost. I had diarrhea and ran out to the bathroom during the show. I had to wait for a moment when I had nothing to do.

Have you been told told you look like a good guy version of Kevin Spacey?

Thank you for the compliment.

How often do you have to assure your acts that the mix will sound less bright when the venue fills up with meatbags?

Almost every time. And then we all laugh about it.

What console do you have in there?

X32 from Behringer.

Do you have any recommended tutorials or resources for that console?

Our school has one but between the tech department who ran the wiring install and a poorly-aging building/electrical system, we can’t tell when we are struggling with operator inexperience or systemic issues.

It’s been months and I have forgotten what issues gave us trouble last time I ran the board.

Seconded on this! We’ve been having issues with our x32 and feedback coming out of the mains - would love to find material and dig into how it works better!

Feedback usually has something to do with the microphones. They occur especially when you use microphones with omnidirectional characteristics. You have to filter out the interfering frequencies at the mixing console.

Do you have any recommended tutorials or resources for that console?

No, unfortunately not. Even from Behringer there is no satisfactory user manual.

Every night I turn the knobs and get a great show.

Ah!. you got a Knob Job! Noice!

So what's your favorite knob and why?

Sorry, my English is not so good. By knobs I mean faders and sliders.

Did you go to graduate school, or the Germany-equivalent of graduate school after university?

In Germany, we do not have the concept of "graduate school". I have a diploma in sound engineering, which is equivalent to a master's degree.

Sounds like you have a fun job?

Yes very. I often get a funny show.

What is more difficult to balance, a choir or a soloist? And Why? With orchestra of course.

A choir is harder to mix because you have to balance a lot more signals.

How do sound engineers that work in largely acoustic/non-amplified arts (e.g. opera) manage to keep stage and side monitor sound from bleeding into the house? It seems that many opera/concert houses are built for natural amplification (e.g. Hollywood bowl, Beyreuth, et al.)

One option is to position the monitors so that they do not echo into the audience. The second option is to make the monitor sound as quiet as possible. There are not many more possibilities. The only thing I can think of are monitors that have the narrowest possible beam angle.

As someone who also did audio engineering for a while during school and involvement in small theatre. I have had my fair share of stupid but funny things that went wrong. My favourite being the time a 5 year old turned off the power to one of our amps between acts, had a 15 minute delay after having to close the curtain due to not being able to hear 1 of the leads.

What’s your favourite “shit show” story?

A colleague once forgot to disconnect the talkback connection to the stage. During the show, everything he said could be heard on stage. He was commenting on the show and flirting with a female sound engineer at the same time. The actors on stage had to be very careful not to burst out laughing.

I was looking at the Sennheiser e945 mic for my computer for use with my decent but no phantom power. You have experience with them? You like them? It’ll be for basic voice communication but I would like good clarity and fullness

I unfortunately have no experience with the Sennheiser e945 mic, but Sennheiser is a very good company in my opinion. We often work with Sennheiser microphones in the theater.

This year I got my first real live sound gig recording classical piano concerts in a small hall converted from an old two-car garage and workshop space. It's got a baby grand at one end and is probably 30' to the back wall. It's been a learn-by-doing experience for me as to how to mic up the piano to record the performances. I've got a pair of pencil condensers inside the piano near the hammers (panned hard left and right) and I've been cycling through my mics to get room ambience at the back of the house but it's a pretty dead room. It all goes right into logic and being a small hall there is no PA to worry about. I don't know if these are the right mics for this application or if I should have different mics on different strings or something with a larger diaphragm. I guess my question is how you would approach a single piano in a weird rectangle of a space like this?

In the theater, we get very good results by using boundary microphones that we stick to the inside of the lid. However, the lid must be closed for this. If the pianist wants to play with the lid open, this method doesn't work so well.

What's the best ground score you ever found after a show?

Sorry, my English is not so good. What do you mean by ground score?

Do you find it debilitating in your everyday life, not being able to count higher than 2?

Is this supposed to be a joke question?

What is an insider trick for getting clarity on vocals in a challenging room?

By challenging room you probably mean a room that is very reverberant. Here it helps if the actor or musician speaks or sings as close to the mic as possible. Otherwise, you can help a bit with an equalizer.

Have you ever been responsible for, or at least witnessed, a hilariously awful sound related technical error? I’m a sound engineer too and everyone working in a theater setting is bound to slip up at some point.

Sure, I've also made mistakes during the show. Fortunately, if people notice it at all, they find it rather amusing.

Do you have more knobs or more sliders?

I haven't counted, but I think it about balances out.

Do you ever have to deal with artist not showing up and not telling anyone like some horror stories you hear about madonna and a few other divas?

No, something like that hasn't happened to me yet, fortunately. But I have had bitchy female artists who have bullied us sound engineers.

Is it necessary to adjust the eq settings on a modern car with a good sound system?

As a rule, yes, because each car has its own acoustics and should be adjusted accordingly.

What's the best way to handle random lapel mic popping?

If the lapel mic accidentally pops, it's usually the cable's fault. You should check if it might be broken. If it pops during explosive sounds, then you can help yourself with a pop shield.

Do you use any Wenger products at your theater? They’re US based, so maybe not, but they do have an international sales channel.

No, we do not use Wenger products in our theater.

How do you stay updated?

Regarding Sound/ Sound Design

(So much is going on but now I am lost)

Yes there really is a lot going on in this area. But I'm not going crazy about it. I have a couple of favorite companies like Native Instruments that I get information from on a regular basis.

Have you ever used the famous "Wilhelm Scream" in a production?

No.

What’s in your personal work box?

Sorry, my English is not so good. What does "work box" mean?

Haunted?

Haunted? What do you mean?

So THIS is what audio guys do all day...

JK.. serious question now... How'd you manage during Covid? Lots of my friends in our industry weren't as lucky as me to have a back up plan

The theater I work for unfortunately had to close during Covid. I was unemployed for a year, so to speak. But I had financial reserves from which I lived. There was also support from the state for the self-employed.

Can you suggest decent quality, but not very expensive sound deadening? Trying to get my home theater to not echo as much

Sound deadending is unfortunately always expensive. The absolute cheapest solution is egg cartons. But they are, unfortunately, not very aesthetic. We built the absorbers ourselves in our studio: cover a wooden frame with fabric and fill the interior with sheep's wool.

Has any actor used the bathroom facilities and actually left the microphone on, like in Naked Gun?

Yes, but unfortunately it was my fault, I had forgotten to mute the microphone after he left. But he only spoke innocuous stuff.

What board do you work on?

Sorry, my English is not so good. By "board" you probably mean the mixer? It is a Behringer X32 digital console.

What's your favorite dinosaur?

how about t rex screams, do they impress you.

Yes they do :-)

What's your favorite dinosaur?

I don't have a favorite dinosaur.

Why didn’t you go into something more useful like lighting? ;)

Why didn’t you go into something more useful like lighting? ;)

I am also a lighting technician.

Your proof isn’t proof of your job at all. For all we know you’re making everything up

I have added new proofs to my post.

Why should I lie? What would I gain from pretending to be a sound engineer?