Luke McRitchie and Brian Maddox join the show in Episode 275 to talk about their experience working together as mixers for the Olympic Broadcasting Service’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics. They share what it’s like mixing up to 16 simultaneous broadcast channels at once for one of the largest viewing audiences in the world, as well as insights into making the leap from a full-time staff position to freelance work, and how the Signal to Noise Discord community directly led to Luke flying...

In Episode 274, Sean and Andy open it up to listeners in the Signal to Noise Discord and Facebook groups to ask them anything, who provided a lot of great questions about work/home life, gear they bring to gigs, business goals — and, of course — tacos! This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.Episode Links:Episode 274 TranscriptBe sure to check out the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the ...

Ever wonder what it’s like to mix sound at Madison Square Garden for the first time without as much as a line check, let alone a proper sound check? In Episode 273, front of house engineer Ben Ivey shares his thrilling experience doing just that for country artist Warren Zeiders. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.Ben also talks about his journey from learning church sound alongside his sound engineer dad to balancing life on and off the road, mixing sound for top acts tha...

Let’s get down to shackles and eyebolts in Episode 272, as riggers Siobhan Colleen and Katrina Puleo join the show to demystify rigging. Whether it’s a ballroom or an arena, Siobhan and Katrina share their vast experience of what to look out for and how to make life easier and safer for you, your rigging team, and the rest of the production. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.Siobhan Colleen is an entertainment and live events professional with a background in rigging, fal...

In Episode 271, Sean sits down with Nikki Sanz, founder and CEO of Giggs, a platform designed to revolutionize how professionals in the live event industry hire, find work, and connect — essentially a LinkedIn for our word-of-mouth, niche market. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.After working with a diverse range of clients including Live Nation, the Ryman Auditorium, CMA Fest, and touring with Eric Church, Nikki pivoted from the “gigxiety” and challenges of both finding...

In Episode 270, the hosts are joined by live sound engineers and software developers Justin Tyre and Stephen Bailey, who earlier this year launched ProdCom, new software for the live event industry that provides real-time multichannel text transcriptions of talkback mics, intercom chatter, or any other audio fed into a MacOS computer. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.Stephen and Justin talk about how the idea came about as a way to make their own work as live sound engin...

In Episode 269, it’s time to break out your best dayglo shirts and leather jackets, dig out a slap bracelet or two, and get your 80s on, as Chris Pou, FOH and production manager for 80s rock cover band Electric Avenue, joins Sean and Andy to talk about what it takes to recreate those classic 80s sounds (spoiler: allllll the reverbs). Chris also digs deep into the Waves LV1 fly rig he built to tour with, how he decided on that platform, and what it takes to build it and keep it rock-solid reli...

Co-hosts Andy and Sean celebrate their first anniversary together on the podcast in Episode 268 with a look back on highlights from the past nearly 50 episodes as well as look forward to what the next year of the podcast has in store. They also discuss a momentous week in live sound news — the discontinuation of the ubiquitous Yamaha CL and QL console families and the reveal of Sennheiser’s exciting new Spectera wireless WMAS system.Episode Links:Sennheiser Unveils Spectera Wideband Bi-direct...

Frank Padikkala of Audinate joins the show in Episode 267 and talks with Sean and Andy to talk about all things Dante. Frank is a senior technical sales engineer for Audinate, and brings his years of experience in IT/cybersecurity as well as AV integrations together to help clear up a bunch of common misunderstandings about Dante and AV networking in general. From IP addresses to managed versus unmanaged switches to VLANs and more, get ready to peel back the layers and learn how to make your ...

Picking up where they left off in Episode 265, Sean and Andy continue their conversation with Phil Graham and Merlijn van Veen about all things subwoofer, including whether or not to haystack, ways to deal with power alleys (and whether or not it’s worth the cost), and more.Phil Graham started building hi-fi loudspeakers with his grandfather as a teenager in the 1990s and joined the B&C Group five years ago. Today, he’s the chief operating officer (COO) of Eminence Speaker, acquired by...

There are a lot of myths and misunderstandings when it comes to subwoofers and sub arrays, but the reality is that there’s no reason to be afraid of them. In Episode 265, Sean and Andy huddle up with two very smart folks when it comes to low end — Phil Graham and Merlijn van Veen — to bust subwoofer myths and help us all understand them better for our next gig.Phil Graham started building hi-fi loudspeakers with his grandfather as a teenager in the 1990s and joined the B&C Group five year...

In Episode 264, Sean and Andy talk with two members of the production team for the Broadway musical How to Dance in Ohio, sound designer Connor Wang and Liz Weber, who was a member of the Access Team for the show and also works as a sound engineer. The musical is based on the Peabody Award-winning documentary about the challenges and triumphs of a group of autistic young adults working toward their first spring formal dance, notably starring actual autistic actors as the characters. Connor an...

Veteran audio professional Mike Dias picks up where he left off with last week (in Episode 262), digging into the other side of his career in the worlds of in-ear monitors and microphones. He spends time addressing and demystifying some myths about IEM technology, discusses why we each tend to favor a brand and/or types of IEMs that we do, and digs into changes with the Earthworks mic lineup over last few years. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.When Mike isn’t selling mi...

Veteran audio professional Mike Dias returns in Episode 262 to convince us that networking needn’t be a four-letter word! Whether you’re a sound company owner, a freelance engineer, or full-time staff, networking is an important non-audio tool in the toolbox. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.When Mike isn’t selling microphones (as a management coach and consultant for Earthworks) and serving as the executive director of the In-Ear Monitor International Trade Organization...

It’s been a year of huge growth and focus shifts for Evan Turunen and Turunen Audio Visual — first featured in Episode 221 — so Andy and Sean wanted to check back in with Evan and see how things have changed and what he’s learned since he last visited. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.Topics discussed include making a similar major inventory pivot similar to the one Sean recently did for his company (Audio Engineers Northwest), moving the company into a proper warehouse ...

For the first time in 10 months of podcasting, Sean and Andy were together in the same place, so how better to celebrate than with a livestream? They talk about meeting up for a music festival Sean’s company (Audio Engineers Northwest) provided a PA and support for, in addition to presenting a demo of the TT+ GTX 12 line array (courtesy of show sponsor RCF). This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.They also discuss how accommodating an artist’s needs for the second day of the f...

Summer concert and event season is in full swing, and Sean’s company (Audio Engineers Northwest) has been running full steam with some exciting gigs the last couple weeks. Two of his regular freelancers, Kyle Shaw and Matt Ratza, join the show this week to talk about what it took the last couple weeks to pull off a huge open air concert on a dockside barge with audience both landside and on boats, and then flip the same PA over in 24 hours to cover a 50,000-attendance Fourth of July fireworks...

Over the Fourth of July holiday, Andy teamed up with some Signal to Noise guest host alumni, as Kate Foretek pulled up the co-host chair once more to hang with previous guest host, theatrical sound designer and live foley artist ien DeNio. The jam-packed episodes includes tales of travel hijinks, pounding beers as part of a puppet show sound design and much more. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.ien DeNio is a New York City-based trans non-binary sound designer who sough...

This week, the hosts get nerdy with Chris Tsanjoures, one of the Rational Acoustics folks behind the Smaart measurement platform, a veteran podcast guest and an avid enthusiast of squiggly lines and measurement geekery. He answers all of Sean and Andy’s questions about Rational’s new Smaart Data Modeler in addition to addressing some of their other Smaart-related questions. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.Smaart Data Modeler is a new DSP modeling software tool designed ...

Fresh off mixing the Broadway musical The Outsiders to a Tony Award win for Best Sound Design of a Musical for sound designer Cody Spencer, Broadway sound engineer and regular SoundGirls contributor Heather Augustine sits down with Andy and Sean to chat about her long touring career (including Billy Elliot, Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, and Mean Girls), her transition from touring to subbing on Broadway shows such Funny Girl, SIX, and A Beautiful Noise to mixing her first...

In Episode 255, Andy is joined by DC-area based sound engineer Joe “Chef” McGrath, fresh off working together on a now rare “industrial musical” in NY this week. They start off talking about Joe’s extensive work as the mixer for the Ultimate Rap League, and why the mic of choice for them for rap battles might be the brand you’d expect, but almost certainly isn’t the model you’d guess! This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.From there, they discuss different aspects of freelanc...

It’s time for an end-of-spring check-in, as Andy and Sean sit down at the microphones in Episode 254 to catch up on everything they’ve been up to the last month. Sean talks about his trip to Texas to help with a loudspeaker demo for RCF and gives Andy and the listeners a follow-up on his adventures in freewire DSP from a couple episodes ago. Meanwhile, Andy shares some stories and thoughts from a busy month of out-of-town jobs, including a massive multi-city corporate event, a major show mish...

Veteran front of house engineer Paul Bevan joins the show in Episode 253 and discusses his eclectic career that includes mixing a wide range of gigs, from regal (Boston Pops Fourth of July) to raucous (Mott the Hoople), and just about everything in between. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.While his music mixing resume is extensive — including The Spin Doctors, Hall & Oates, The Chieftains, and more — and his corporate and broadcast resumes are equally vast, Paul is ...

In Episode 252, the hosts are joined by Elliot Carroll, director of audio services for Show Imaging, who talks about the business side of audio — deciding what gear to buy (or, more importantly, not buy), when to say yes or no to a proposed project, training staff, keeping staff happy and healthy on job sites, and much more. Elliot’s spent the past 20 years specializing primarily in corporate audio, with stops along the way doing festivals in below freezing weather in Denver, and even running...