Nevertheless he was there, attended all sessions, and was indeed attentive. While Blyth might not need the ministrations of Andy Dockerty, Chrys Lindop, Dave Kay and Andy May, he was not alone; there were four engineers from the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), and plenty of others with more than a passing knowledge of what all those thousands of knobs are for.
‘Going Live’ is in its ninth year - Blyth was just slightly off - and continues to be heavily subscribed. "We’ve always been over-subscribed," said Elizabeth Gates. "There’s over 100 this year. We’ve had to turn people away."
For a two or three-day packaged event (depending on your level of knowledge) it is very, very affordable, which is surely why I found so many freelancers here who’d paid their own way. "There’s nothing else like it around," said one. Chrys Lindop, as the inventor of in-ear monitoring and the founder of Garwood, arguably need never work again, yet he’s here giving his time and knowledge - why? "It’s important. Where else can people go to get this type of information?"
Now you don’t come out of this course with a qualification, there’s no testing, but does that make it invalid? For those of you battling with building training programmes for the entertainment industry, try this statement for size. "Nobody in the audio industry puts any value on formal training. I’ve done a fairly intense Studio course at the School of Audio Engineering in Glasgow and it means nothing. They want experience, you’ve got to do the time." Colin Ramponi is a young Scot who despite being presently unemployed had managed to pay his way onto the course. "I learned more in four days working for SSE at T in the Park, than on the whole Studio course."
Ramponi’s sentiment was echoed time and again by attendees with whom I spoke, not that any of them found little value in courses that produce qualifications, far from it, but there was no mistaking the sense that all these people felt the industry itself, the companies who might give them the job, don’t value formal training as an employment qualification. That raises a big question; is the industry just paying lip service to qualifications in order to satisfy the needs of legislation and insurance, or are they genuinely seeking more able personnel?
Day one is for beginners; hosted by AdLib at their warehouse in Speke, it’s for people who think a crossover is a man in lady’s clothing. The morning of Day Two and the course proper at the Arts Centre starts with a lengthy and formal presentation of PA systems from microphone through to speaker and all points between. Then begin the break-outs, where the 100 attendees are split into four groups, each circulating through various sessions with the four respective ‘tutors’, sessions that cover all aspects of live sound mixing from VCAs to Voicing PAs.
It was these breakout sessions, and the Q&A sessions with the engineers, where most benefit was to be gained. Not only did we all receive an authoritative view on many complex subjects, we were also freely given the cumulative years of experience all these men had to offer. That experience was key to demystifying the subject - it made every topic look simple, and the informal atmosphere emboldened those attending to ask even the most obvious questions.
All in all, a balanced and informative three days. I leave Tony Mason, a freelance sound and lighting man, to sum up. "I got lots of ideas: it was great to have techniques shared by professionals and to discover alternative solutions . . . A good foundation course for beginners, a great refresher for others."
Steve Moles
