25 Pro Tips For Your First Corporate A1 Gig (It's Harder Than You Think)
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- Опубликовано: 15 июл 2024
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Wanting to make the jump to corporate audio gigs?
High level corporate gigs means more than “just some guy yapping at a podium”. I love mixing a great band just as much as you do, but corporate events offer a unique challenge few audio techs are up to.
You’ve got to stay calm and collected with big name talent on stage, often with zero rehearsal time.
You must effortlessly nail your walk-on and mic cues, often involving complex changes on the fly.
Mixing the room AND a killer stream feed simultaneously is now the standard.
If this sounds like fun to you, check out these 25 tips from my career so far. They’ve helped me wrangle events for Condoleezza Rice, The Most Interesting Man in the World, Oprah, Shaq, Hue Jackman, The President of the United States, the Arkansas Governor, and Eric Musselman.
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I'm an A1 audio engineer for corporate gigs and just the other day, someone reached out to me asking which skills we need to succeed as an audio engineer for corporate events. This video covers most of the stuff I said to this person. Learn Yamaha desks, PA such as d&b/L'acoustics, RF Technology, Dante, Qlab, etc.
Another big thing to learn is comms. GreenGo and Clearcoms are the most common I personally bump into these days.
Also, carry with you all sorts of adapters it's really helpful such as XLR to Jack, Female to Female XLR and/or Male to Male XLR.
Be ready for a videographer asking for an audio feed five minutes before the gig starts with their Zoom recorder.
The biggest skill to have is people skills. Also learned how to speak to non-technical people when there is an issue or when there is no issue. Ex: you are working in a room with poor acoustics. The event manager or sometimes the client approaches you asking you to get rid of the "echo". Explain to them that sadly, it is the acoustic of the room and it's beyond your control.
Great tips! Also - Always pre-download your playlists; never rely on stable venue internet access. One more: I find it helpful to introduce myself to any presenters beforehand and give them a bit of coaching on mic handling technique. It is also a good check-in so they feel comfortable and supported.
Love this, thanks for sharing!
Great vid! Three thumbs up. I would add a #26: Always power lock any wireless mic given to a presenter. Anyway, it was great connecting with you this year. I hope to see you much more in 24!
Thanks a ton, Jason! Yes, that's a killer pro tip #26. Hope to do more gigs with you in '24 as well!
Having done a lot of corporate over the years, I think your tips are really useful for people who are new to it. I have seen a number of techs come into a corporate environment from another area of the industry thinking "it's just a guy talking with some VTs". What usually happens then is they absolutely choke hard, burn the show and enrage the client all because they were nowhere near across everything they needed to have sorted to make the show work. Having come from mixing bands to doing conferences in ballrooms, I remember the learning curve and wish someone had laid it all out as clearly as you just did when I started in corporate. Nice one!
Great video. I've been an A1 in the corporate realm for the last few years and you nailed all of the major points. Corporate work can be "boring" at times but it is also technically demanding and requires a lot detail oriented processes and workflow. I've seen new guys come into this world from the band and club scene and really, really struggle at first. One thing I'd also recommend is to just show up with a positive attitude and always relay confidence to the client. There is a hospitality aspect to corporate world that doesn't exist so much when dealing with bands. If you're tough to be around then you may not get a call back, even if you're a great tech.
One thing I’ve been doing lately is having a mic assignment grid pulled up in google sheets with my A2 where we will track all assignment changes in real time. We also change the cell color as mics are passed out and then again when I verify that they sound good in cans. It’s a game changer on high RF count shows.
PLEASE do one of these vids for A2 as well! I'm a lifelong musician just getting started in this arena with a couple gigs under my belt, looking to convert my skills and experience into something usefull in corporate AV work. Of course I'm aiming for A1 jobs eventually but will be spending some time at A2 first. This vid was very helpful and informative, so i would love to see one like it addressed closer to my entry level.
Will put that in the hopper, for sure!
Make your routing for streams with an easy quick way to add/remove the walk-in playlist (usually music with royalties). Many of the streaming services will disable the stream if they detect royalty music on the stream. However, many times the video engineer will want to 'check audio to the stream' before they are live and this is usually while doors are open and music is playing, so it makes sense to be able to add or take away walk-in music from the streams without affecting other destinations.
Great video, you covered all the things I had to learn through experiencing them!
I would ad a few more here
for A1s: Work on the plosives, specially on handhelds either by EQing or dynamic comps.
When streaming, having a DeEsser will definitely help.
Always go over the run of show and make sure your A2 also knows it too. If you think things don’t make sense then speak out.
for A2s: Locking handhelds and packs is a good practice.
Before handing the mic to people asking questions, let them know the mic is on, so they don’t tap tap tap on the mic.
If you have fireside chats or panels on the stage (using lavs) make sure to place the mic on the correct side of the jacket, not away from the mouth when guests talking to a moderator.
Excellent video! Not enough of this real world content out there. You’re a champ for doing this!
Thank you so much!
Awesome video! I'm a live music A1 who has been doing corporate gigs for a few years now. Your tips are good, and may seem obvious to some, but need to be stated! I would add: RF scanning and coordination is important to manage well. Also, spend time learning the run of show and key presenters throughout the event. know your clients, and know what your cues will be ahead of time so that you can be "in the moment" and keeping your eyes "up" when the gig is moving quickly. I find it useful to label tape names onto mics before the A2 mics up presenters, so that everyone can clearly be on the same page about who's mic is who's.
Thanks for this, Chris! Yes, I need to do a followup video on some A2 tips, including yours here.
Thank you this is great content touching on Corporate work!
We have found that Spotify is actually not public friendly. It’s for private use only not for public broadcast due to licensing laws. We have been pushed to using soundtrack for business which is the business version of Spotify with licensing. Not as user friendly but better than being smacked with a huge licensing fine
A special licensee is also needed to play music publicly. I think it is related to ASCAP.
Very Well done video.
Sometimes i monitor RF with rf explorer or workbench even with 2 channels, instead of just using the internal scan blindly. I was in an airport recently and it helped a lot, the noise floor was insanely high due to all the comms going on, even with no other events happening at the same time. Knowing how RF is limited and how it's behaving is an absolutely great tool for audio.
Also, corporate is involving more and more networking and it's a good thing to have a grasp on. Getting the basics of how a network is setup is a very usefull knowledge for about everything you will do.
I would add Simultaneous translation and digital microphones setups as well for the audio guys.
You will 100% be put in those situations and you need to know what to do because those usually involve important clients.
Last, you will 99% of the time have a podium on stage with 2 mx414 or 418 or some gooseneck mics. These are one though beast to master once you start corporate.
People WILL talk far away from the mics and very quietly while 500 people are eating and talking, so make sure you can prepare for that.
Groups: Podium, Lavs, Headsets, Handles.
Great video. I also have a thing to add: don't rely on anyone, especially if they aren't techs! If the customer says that they would bring something, like walk-on music, a recorder or something, always have a back up. Don' rely on internet access.
Most of the topics and challenges in the video or in the comments are the same anywhere you go in the world. I live in Germany and it's the same. I worked in a bunch of places around the world, and it's the same.
I love doing corporate, but it can get stressfull and more chaotic that a mid to large size rock and roll show so preparation and 'reading the client's mind' is key. Corporate customers basically just want a few things, but some tend to communicate that in a complicated way: they want to understand the people on stage and the questions, they want to see the slides and hear the videos. That's it. Any kind of music is nice but intelligibility/information is priority one.
Greetings.
Two things I would add about recording, I have had certain companies get very upset that we recorded anything because all of their information is “confidential“. allegedly They communicated this to the company I was working for, but it never got back to me. So be careful!
Also, I have had multiple x32 crash one plugging
/unugging the usb drive, even when formatted properly so be careful when you choose to do that!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing.
My biggest corporate show was for a very well-known pharmaceutical company. Everything was just as you say (pre-recorded VO's, attention to aesthetics, etc.) except I had to manage 18 channels of wireless! Organization and over-communication with your A2 are key. Thankfully, we had a V2 who was managing the stream mix via iPad into m32.
Great to have someone in video world helping you out!
Great tips!
Pretty amazing array of info!
Thank you!
MY FAVORITE YET! LETS GO MAN!
Thanks a ton, Cam! I learned many of these from you.
I prefer using DJ software for music cues as it starts the songs immediately, and if I want to start the song at a particular place, using DJ software makes it very easy to locate the exact beat you want to start the song at, and even set a hot cue point. Spotify no longer integrates with DJ software, so I use Tidal now for that reason. I'm using Algoriddim DJay Pro, which is relatively inexpensive (compared to industry standards such as Serrato).
I'll have to check those alternatives out!
That is Great Nuggets on Corporate live-Gig Event mixing brother Michael good Training.
As always, thanks for the kind words : )
Great info!
Wow, Great video! Thank you!
Thank you so much!
#16 👏🏾 Stroke of genius.
Thank you!
Great video Michael! I would add setting up comms (like Clearcom FSII) (and being familiar with 4 wire and dante to get into zoom), RF management of breakout zones, dealing with house AV/ unions, setting up hybrid phone bridges, having a sound effects/ music library subscription and a well stocked pelican as musts. Also don't forget the gold and bronze sharpies if your A2 doesn't have em!
Love it! I need to add this to this list of the followup video of 25 MORE tips : )
Thanks for the 22min master class! It is all there for the noob, all of the important bases covered (and much more!) that someone might not think of if they haven't done corporate before. Well done!
I would add two items since this is prep tips for noobs. First, get a script or speaker schedule in advance. Study it and get clarifications, print it out with room for notes and day-of-event changes. This is where you get most of your cues and to be ready for them. Clearly you are assuming you have this, but my first corp gig (over 30 years ago) I showed up thinking it would be the simplest job ever (hey just a couple of suits talking into mics, right?), and it was far from it, and having this ahead of time would have helped immensely, just be mentally prepared. (It got easier, of course).
Second, have a plan for out-of-scope additions, like the lobby jazz trio or the CEO's son covering EVH's "Eruption" on electric guitar in the middle of the show (it happens). Meaning, bring extra mics, stands and cables, maybe a small powered wedge (if it's your gear) and make sure your contract makes the project scope clear, and that it is going to cost for last-minute adds (a big "cha-ching!). Be ready to say NO if it's too big an ask and still be able to start on-time.
Love this! Thanks for the extra pro tips.
I highly recommend using Companion’s Shure wireless integration to handle/observe RF/AF levels. Super easy to use and really easy to setup.
A suggestion when testing RF coverage: You should assume the worst case scenario and hold your hand over the antenna while also being turned away from the receiver so your body is in-between the receiver and the mic. If you do all that and still get signal then you are safe. If the signal starts dropping out when the antenna is covered then you should look at changing your RF power or receiver antenna location.
I put my packs to high tx whenever I can.
@@reghuram9781 That is just bad practice. You should not use high power unless it is necessary.
@@ErikTheAndroid I thought so too but it’s been working out for me. Especially when the packs are really hidden
Research about intermodulation. The more RF energy you have, the greater intermodulation you have. I suppose there are use cases where you need to get over a noise floor but often it is best to get the antennas closer to the transmitter.
Also, you will have to change batteries more often when on high power.
I do almost exclusively corporate shows. My pet peave is the proper use of gain structure. So many folks fail because “the powered speaker of choice has a detent at 12 noon” you need gain in the channel which can be controlled. An input fader at or near unity moving 1/2” represents a less drastic move than the same fader at -20db.
You're totally right here. Shade down your matrix output or attenuate the signal at the speaker, don't have your input levels in the dirt.
I’ve found that for the common speaker on a stick, when using perfect gain structure, the knob is not set at noon. Instead, with perfect gain structure, the setting is usually best at nine o’clock.
Not sure why it doesn’t show my other comment… but great stuff, really helps me out a lot
Excellent video. Corporate audio is all about mixing in correct context. Mic to mic volume and tone must be consistent from presenter to presenter. I often find folks who treat a remote Zoom participant or a dialog-focused video differently and have them far louder than the mics in the room. Work to keep the dialog mix consistent and in context, both in the room and on the record mix.
I love Qlab, of course I do theatre but it's such an employable skill these days.
Hi Michael, great as always, but what about PC users? I am not personally a Mac fan although I can use Macs as they are often assigned to a show.
- How do you cope with Comms, listening to the show and comms? I would love an open-style headphone to hear better.
1. I use Stream deck to play back songs, stingers Vog's etc
2. found a way to have stream deck trigger video with VCL that doesn't show frame or controls
3. I usually use RUclips to find songs and scrub through. I have a downloader software so I can download and edit it for a stinger.
4. Audience Q/A make sure you prompt the MC to encourage people to speak close to mike. If there are room runners tell them to stand at the front and not the back so people can see them and signal they want to ask a question.
There are a handful of audio cue playback programs for Windows, the one I have worked with is Show Cue System. I know that my experience with Show Cue System, and I believe that this applies to all of the Windows playback programs, was that while certainly capable, the UI was not nearly as slick as QLab. (the UI color scheme and design feels straight from the early to mid 2000s)
U could try program called QwertyGO. I was using that before I got a mac. Does some things even better than Qlab (looping for example). But Qlab really is the industry standard for a reason and it keeps getting better with the updates (and more expensive aswell)
My first corporate job was crazy. 1. I was falling asleep because I didn’t have enough sleep. 2. Always take the microphone away from moderators or mute them. 3. Learn how to automix your mics.
Hey, great video! I've been in the corporate audio for 10 years myself and can relate with almost everything mentioned in your video. That being said, we tend to use headmics way more than lavaliers. Those came handy during Covid studio gigs, but with the live audience being back at the venues lavaliers seem too risky and prone to feedback. Do you guys really mess with those daily in the US? Maybe we have put them aside due to the weird tendency to use old warehouses for corporate gigs (and tents in the summertime). Or maybe we haven't met a decent brand for lavaliers.
Greetings from Estonia
Great question! At least in my experience I've used lav mics much more than headset mics, but I see a trend for some of the "upper tier" shows preferring headsets more these days.
Put your licenced and royalty free music in the same VCA. Now, you can fade in/out both music at the same time with one fader.
Yup, great tip!
Hi Michael! Great video and advice for a smooth and stressful event. i have only one question, Where did you get the audio Playback music and VOG with royalty free ? That's could be a good improve for me where sometimes there are problems with the licenses. Thanks mate!
Most of these I actually got from a fellow A1 friend. For shows that are not streamed, I use some top 40 tracks that have been edited to start from the chorus and hit hard. As far as royalty free, they're from artlist.io
This was very thorough. Are you on linkedin?
Thank you very much! I technically do have a LinkedIn profile, but I honestly haven't updated it in 6-7 years.
Great Video! Corporate AV is a very different thing. Any chance for a QLab tutorial?..if you haven't done one already.
No QLab tutorial yet, but that would be a great one to cover.
Excellent tips! Quick question: Does it necessarily matter if using Spotify or Apple Music? Only because I already have Apple Music and I'm wondering if I would still have to go and get a Spotify subscription.
IMO, use whatever subscription service you want; but do read the license agreement to see if they prohibit public playback of the music. I know in the early days of the iTunes music store, they specifically prohibited this use of purchased music tracks. I use Tidal because it integrates with DJ software.
What would you do if someone dosent speak loud and you have the lav mic in the best position? For me my gain is so hot that I'm picking up unwanted noise just to hear him
I had the understanding that playing spotify for gigs was a copy write violation without paying the fees like clubs do to use cover music.
Do you have any go to USB drives (brand/model) that work for a Yamaha record backup? I have been through dozens that TF will not acknowledge
Hmmm, I honestly have minimal experience with the TF, but my FAT-32 formatted SanDisk worked just fine.
When talking of room mics, you name the them ''NAT'' is this how you write it ? or what's the acronym for ?
"Nat" or "Nats" - for "natural" sound. I think that term is borrowed from the film world?
hello there! whats the alternative to qlab? didnt understand its name. tks
Farrago by Rogue Amoeba Software.
@@MichaelCurtisAudio great! im using Multiplay right now. good to know more options, tks
Isn't this against the Spotify ToS? I don't think you're doing anything ethically wrong, but worth considering.
Technically yes, but what I get handed 90% of the time from clients to play for walk-in (if they don't say "hey just play your own") is a Spotify playlist. I've asked clients to give it to me in other formats because of the ToS concerns, but they really don't care.
@@MichaelCurtisAudio I understand, same scenario with me.
When talking of wireless mics, you name the staff ''A2'' is this how you write it ?
Can you ask that question in a different way?
In the US corporate audio market there will usually be an “A1” on the console and an “A2” managing talent micing and perhaps comms. Sometimes there will be several A2s.
You might need all this for one show.. and the next day you will get paid the same to turn the master fader up one time..
No joke!
None of it matters the corporate sector of live production is all lies and slander as soon as the back bill gets to the client.
In the Cincinnati market, there are only a few Yamaha consoles in circulation, most use the X 32 or M 32
Edit: if I had waited 10 more seconds, I would’ve heard you say that lol
No worries at all ; )
Just wanted to pop in to say I think it's pronounced Chiel de Vries, instead of Chiel de Vries. It sounds like a dutch name, not French. So there's this (to most Americans) horrible throat sound and then you say Eel (like the fish). Or more throat friendly, you can say "Keele".
I see the Yamaha CL all the time just log enough to push it out of the way and use something else. The Yamaha's have the worst sounding thin preamps I have ever heard.
To each their own! I personally have zero problems with Yamaha's sound, and if Dave Rat's and Alpha Sound's videos can be trusted, under much technical scrutiny and measurement their preamps are actually quite linear. You're of course entitled to your own ear's opinion.
How is this not viral yet? Let's make it happen, people