Life As a Soundman Sounds Good

Life as a soundman means your job is to make other people sound good. Whether you are called a soundman, an audio tech, or a roadie, it is up to you to make the artists on the stage sound like artists and not just a bunch of kids with beaten up instruments. It is, more or less, a selfless job in which you won't work for the thanks, but for the knowledge that you have made a concert better by doing your job. The musicians on the stage who have practiced countless hours to play the music they play, the fans in the audience who paid their money to see the show, the studio bosses who paid for the concert, even the sound techs who are recording the concert for a live album to be released later that year - all of them are relying on you to make the band sound great.

It is not a job to be taken by anyone who wants accolades or thanks. It is not a job for someone who wants to be onstage with the band in the spotlight. The life of a soundman is behind the scenes. You will be adjusting wires, setting up amplifiers and speakers, working the soundboards and tuning the instruments. You will know what few others do, how to find the perfect blend of artistry and technology that turns sound into music. But you won't be doing it in a studio somewhere, behind glass and in a calm, controlled environment. You work on the road, in the bad weather and with the screaming fans, to make the live show better than the recorded songs.

While occasionally the artists might thank you. Maybe they will shout out to you at the end of their performance, or give a nod to you in the liner notes of their album. Occasionally a band will even write a song about the soundmen and women who make live music into something greater than noise. But mostly, you will find that your reward is the knowledge of a job well done and being in the music industry, being on the frontlines of real music and the rush of live performances. That's what life as a soundman means: being responsible for making someone else sound good, and knowing that you do what needs to be done to keep the music going; welcome to the road crew.