13 May Role: sound engineer
In my role as sound engineer I was responsible for putting the microphones on all our presenters and guests, controlling the sound levels from the microphones, video packages and credits and ensuring that all the microphones and receivers had enough battery power to last the duration of the run through and the show itself.
During my first day in the role it was pointed out to me that I left checking the batteries too late; the kit room had already shut. I was aware that I needed to check the batteries in all the equipment with time to make changes if required, but I hadn’t considered that I needed to do this before the kit room closed in order to get hold of new batteries. The following week I ensured that the first thing I did in the morning was check all the batteries.
One complication I ran into was being unable to both control the sound and change people’s microphones during the show. The solution I came up with was to write a detailed list of which microphones needed to be changed onto which presenters/guests and instruct a fellow student to complete the changes during the show.
The key things I learned in this role were to anticipate problems such as needed to change people’s microphones and to be constantly aware of needing to adjust levels during the shows as many of the video packages had varying levels.
