Acoustic music presents the most difficult challenge for live sound engineers. Very often, excellent acoustic artists can have their concert ruined by "rock-and-roll" sound engineers who simply aren't used to dealing with the intrinsic nature of acoustic music. Precise and attentive engineering is required to avoid feedback and obtain a good sound both on stage and in the concert space.
Folk festivals also provide an excellent training environment. Expect critical artists, attentive audiences and very fast change-overs. It is not unusual to engineer 15 acts per day, each with varied arrays of instruments and set-up, yet all requiring first class sound. And its not all "diddley-de" music either! Folk and world music now can include drum kits, keyboards/synths, DJ decks as well as fiddles and accordions!
Over the years I have mixed a wide variety of music style, and I can say categorically that acoustic/folk/world music is by far the most challenging. By developing an engineering skill-set in acoustic music, it is possible to translate those skills to other areas of live sound reproduction with ease.
Folk festivals also provide an excellent training environment. Expect critical artists, attentive audiences and very fast change-overs. It is not unusual to engineer 15 acts per day, each with varied arrays of instruments and set-up, yet all requiring first class sound. And its not all "diddley-de" music either! Folk and world music now can include drum kits, keyboards/synths, DJ decks as well as fiddles and accordions!
Over the years I have mixed a wide variety of music style, and I can say categorically that acoustic/folk/world music is by far the most challenging. By developing an engineering skill-set in acoustic music, it is possible to translate those skills to other areas of live sound reproduction with ease.
Workshops and training courses in live sound engineering for concerts, festivals and events
Contact: 0800 6129089
