Week 7: Styx and Post-Production

Setting up the Keyboard

Lighting Setup

Keyboard up Close

Setting up the Drum Kit

Guitar Maintenance

Sound Checks

View From the High-rise

Positioning Lights

View from the Keyboard

Hey everyone! I thought I'd take this week to talk about one of the most exciting parts of my project: My day with the band Styx!

When I first arrived, the crew was still unloading a lot of equipment and beginning to set up, but everyone was very friendly. Right away, I was able to get a lot of information about how setting up for a large show works, and I got to watch the keyboard setup, the drum kit, and the lighting get assembled and put into place.

The crew was very conversational, and I was able to talk to quite a few of them one on one. I learned so much about touring and the music business, but some of my favorite discoveries are:

-Healthy working relationships are key, since most jobs, especially while touring, are passed through word of mouth. In addition, the crew practically live together while touring, making friendly relations essential.

-Audio engineers start with small, local bands and can work their way up to touring with larger ones over time.

-The exact setup backstage changes depending on the venue. Every venue has a different layout, meaning the crew needs to be able to adapt.

-Drums and guitars typically need far more maintenence than keyboards do.

-To make each band and crew member's instruments/roles easy to adapt to and for the band to hear what they are playing, many different audio mixes are created, and everyone listens to a slightly different mix.

-Every light needs to be individually positioned in order to adapt to different venues.

-When multiple acts perform on the same night, the opening act typically uses about 70% of the headlining act's lighting setup.

-Large bands like Styx have two sets of equipment and buses, each one in a different part of the country. This is so that the band can travel large distances in a very short amount of time, and still have all the equipment needed to perform.

After all the equipment was set up, I went backstage and was given a tour of the crew's bus and makeshift office. Since they travel constantly, everything needs to be easy to set up, and even easier to take down. I was given a very substantial lunch (too much for me to eat), and then I was able to talk to the lighting engineer. She walked me through not only her job and her role in the shows, but also how lighting works in a variety of different circumstances, and plays an important role in live music. She has a great appreciation for learning, and shared with me a very BASIS-like philosophy: There is something to be learned from every experience. I completely agree, and my experience talking and learning from the crew was certainly no exception!

I was also able to talk quite a bit with the band's tour manager, who told me a lot about both the positives and the negatives of a music life and living on the road. He has many jobs, but he is in charge of booking venues for the band, keeping track of all reservations, booking hotels and airline tickets, controlling finances and spending, and any specific needs the band members may have. I learned so much from him, more than I could possibly put into this update, but some of the most important things he told me are:

-In a life of touring, relationships with family and friends can be severely strained because of large amounts of time away from home, and little contact.

-Artist image and image management are important parts of building a touring act such as a singer-songwriter or rock band.

-Timing is everything, and the amount of revenue generated by a show largely depends on getting the right venues at the right times.

-Larger tours have multiple managers in order to delegate duties effectively, while in smaller tours one person manages far more.

-Because of the direction of the music industry and declining record sales, artists are relying on the revenue from live shows more than ever.

-The agency side of the music industry is far less volatile than the touring side.

-Low staffing means that everyone on the tour takes up multiple roles and jobs.

-In an environment where you see many of the same faces every day, and you live with the same people for entire tours, respecting people and boundries is essential to coexistance as a crew and as a band.

The band members arrived later in the day to begin their pre-show sound checks and prepare, and I was able to speak with them afterwards. Since there is so much to talk about and so much that I learned, I'll include a lot of the information I learned from the band and the show itself in my next update! I have a lot to share, and I can't wait!

Until next time,

Noah W,