Audio Technology students host Open Mic event as part of university module 

Audio Technology students had the chance to put their skills to the test at a recent live music event, as part of their Sound Reinforcement module.

Second year students were tasked with operating and setting up audio equipment at the Open Mic event hosted in the Student’s Association Re:Union Bar & Grill, which saw a number of musicians play live to an audience.

The event, which took place on 10 November, allowed students to get live event experience for the first time and helped them discover what it’s like to work in a realistic industry setting.

Students Ellie Fulton, Matthew Wolber and Elliott Bain were amongst the students who provided audio support at the event and felt that it was a great learning experience:

What was your particular role when you worked at the Open Mic event?:

Ellie: “Whilst working at the Open Mic events, my role included helping to move the equipment to the Re:Union Bar so that we could start setting up the stage and the PA system. The way that we set up the equipment was based off the lab sessions prior to the Open Mic events so we had a rough idea of what was expected of us.”

Matthew: “In that role, my job (along with my classmates) was to set up the audio equipment before the performers go on and operate the sound board to make sure everything sounded good when they went on.  We also had to stick to a schedule so that we had everything set up and working before we could get the sound checks finished before the first performance.”

Elliott: “My main role was the same as everyone else on the course, we were responsible for setting up the stage and equipment, bringing on the performers at the right times and producing the overall sound of the performance. There would be four of us crowded around the mixing desk handling the soundcheck, and then adjusting the levels throughout the gig.

Also, at the second gig I was there as a performer. My role for that was to turn up, sit around for a while and then go onstage to perform three songs to a bar that was a lot busier than I expected it to be. I had to take off my glasses so I couldn’t see the crowd, and I played so well my friends asked me to end my set early...”

Tell us about the experience, have you had the opportunity to work on something like this before?:

Ellie: “This was my first time working on something like this and I found the experience really enjoyable. It was stressful at times, with having to get the equipment set up and working within a time limit, but once the performances started it wasn't as bad. The musicians who had volunteered to perform were very understanding of the fact that we were still learning, they were very patient with us which helped to ease off some of the pressure.

Matthew: “The experience was a lot of fun, and it felt good to get practical experience operating a sound board for performers as well as solving problems with the sound setup as they came up. This is the first time I have had this level of involvement in the actual operation of the sound board/tech aspect. I had participated in a couple events in behind the scenes roles in school many years ago but this is the first time for me actually running it.”

Elliott: “The experience was great and was a very new thing for me and my friends. Most of us had not done anything like this before so it was interesting to do important things that you can’t really be taught in a lecture. Such as communicating with the performers, setting up several soundchecks at once, and being prepared for equipment going wrong mid performance.

Also, the experience of performing live music was great too. I’ve only recently started playing my own songs live, that was definitely the biggest crowd I’ve ever played to (and the first time in front of my friends). At some open mic nights I’ve attended, the performers outnumbered the crowd. So it’s great to play those songs and hear the reaction to them.”

Looking back, what did you learn from the experience and how has it helped you in relation to work in the industry?

Ellie: “This experience has shown me what would be expected from me if I were to go down this career path. It's also given me more confidence in setting up the PA system and finding problems within the set up. It was good to be able to put everything that we had learnt beforehand into practise at these events as it all started to make more sense after doing these events.”

Matthew: “One of the main things I learnt from the experience is how to track down a problem and correct it. We had an issue with our right side speaker setup that we discovered during the first performer’s set, so we had to come up with a plan to fix it in between him and the second performer. Luckily, we were able to make the fix and get the second performer on with no trouble.”

Elliott: “I learned how important it is to communicate with the performers and other sound engineers in order to have a great gig. Which is a skill that would be important to any career in sound production. I also learned how to handle things going wrong or how to make performer sound better than actually are. Although the latter was definitely unnecessary for my performance.

The last thing I learned is that my fellow students loved my own songs so much they started laughing at them, I wonder if Noel Gallagher ever had that reaction!”

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By Rachael McAlonan

Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media  here