Training: Built to Spill, and Jeff Beck @ The Moore Theater

One great thing about working for The Neptune Theater is that they are a part of STG. That means that I am able to work at the Moore very easily. The plan is to go hang out with my friend Dan until I know the P.A. inside and out. Then when Dan goes on tour I’ll be his fill in. That is until I go on tour.

Dan and I have always shared gigs. I got him a job at Staging Techniques in the repair shop about 4 years ago because he got me a job with Saturna touring as a guitar tech at the same time. Now my friends Dan and Kevin have been giving me all the work I need. It is great to have friends like these. It is rare in life that you can find one friend like this, but some how I have many. This is thanks to the The Vera Project. Many of my best longest lasting friends are from The Vera Project. This blog is dedicated my good buddies Dan Droz, Ryan Rood, Rowdy Gleason, Rafael Echeverria , Josh Peterson, and many more.

I recommend The Vera Project to anyone looking to learn how to engineer, produce or to find great friends.

My first 2 shows at The Moore are Built to Spill and Jeff Beck. I can’t think of any better way to spend my night then watching these two classic great bands and learning the sound system at the Moore. Built to Spill was awesome. It was great to see how comfortable they were playing together as they played some extended versions of their songs.

I spent about half the show side stage by the monitor desk, a Digidesign Profile digital mixing console. I spent the other half of the show at FOH where Dan was using a Yamaha 3500 analog console. There are a number of things I appreciate about a full-featured professional console like the 3500. I like how big it was and how there was a knob, fader or button for everything. No menu screens to get lost in. It was broken into 2 sections of 24 channels with the master section in the middle. It could easily support 2 or more large bands without having to do any re-patching at the console. I also liked the solo in place feature that you can use during sound check. When the solo in place button is pushed when you solo a channel you will only hear that channel through the P.A. The Digidesig Profile is also a very impressive console. It can do everything the 3500 can and do it in less space. Plus it is totally flexible with compressors and gates on every channel, and total recall. 

 

Katie Herzig @ The Tractor

I recently saw Katie Herzig at the Tractor Tavern, this was one of the best shows I’ve been to in a long time, and I see a lot of shows. Katie Herzig is one of my all time favorite artists. I did sound for Katie about 6 years ago in Colorado when I was really getting serious about audio engineering. This was when Katie was a solo artist again after her band Newcomers Home broke up. Back then she had a great drummer Brian McRae DrumOverdubs.com playing with her and a couple other musicians. 

She moved to Nashville about the same time I moved to Seattle. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her play a few times over the years when she was on tour in Seattle. First she was solo as an opener, then she had a band with cello and electric guitar, and it was always great to see her and hear her songs with that configuration. Now she has a 6 peace band touring with her and it is incredible. Its is very dynamic as it goes from sparse arrangements behind Katie’s acoustic guitar and vocals to epic choruses with 5 part harmonies, synth bass, keyboard drums, cello and electric guitar. There were even some marvelously crafted instrumental sections. And the sound quality was amazing, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Tractor Tavern sound so good.

The new record that they put out is amazing as well. Katie’s records have always sounded great and from what I’ve hears she has done much of the production herself. It sounds like for this newest record, The Waking Sleep, she had a fair amount of time to write and record the songs in a studio with input and help from her band. The previous records sounded like she created the songs mostly herself then found a band to play them live. These new songs are unmistakably Katie Herzig yet they are sounding more developed then ever with an extra bit of sparkle on top. 

You should all check her music out at http://www.katieherzig.com/index.html

Neptune Theater!!!

This is where all the really fun shows are at. In its 90th year of operation, the historic Neptune Theatre (circa 1921) has been transformed from a single screen cinema, to Seattle’s newest live performance multi-use arts venue.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple shows I've done sound there.

 The view from the monitor desk

 FOH at the script

More Corporate Work

The Body Building compitition

 Just another day in the office

 This was during the load out of Microsoft Company Meeting at Safeco

 This is what my desk looks like for Microsoft Research 20 Year Anniversary. I had to call someone to send them a feed of the presentation so they could transcribe it.

 Wireless receivers and the intercom system.

 HD video system and Power Point playback

 Lots of amps

Microsoft Research 20 Year Anniversary

The corporate monster

I just finished day 2 of 5 days of cooperate work in a row. Saturday was my second gig with Heard Audio. I was at The Clover Park Technical College playing back top 40s music for a body building competition.  This is not a normal gig for me to say the least.  I had to bribe my roommate to make me a mix CD because I hardly own any top 40s music. I also threw in some of my local favorites such as Fences and Kithkin to try and keep myself sane. I wonder what the fitness crowd  thought of these bands?


Sunday Through Wednesday I will be working with Staging Techniques.  They do big fancy events with big fancy gear. I wish I had a picture of the show we set up on Sunday. We hung a JBL Vertec line array system at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, 8 boxes per side. I finally got to use the Crown I-Tec amp racks that I wired up about 3 years ago when I worked in the repair shop. Monday through Wednesday I was at Microsoft at the Executive Training Center. I am happy to be working as the A2, I have a major role in setting up and running the audio systems but I also have many more experienced technicians to work with and learn from.

I don't see myself working in corporate audio all the time, but it is great way to make money so you can spend the rest of your time making music.

Hemp Fest 8/20/2011

This was a fun one. This is my view of the Super Sonic Soul Pimps who played just before Manooghi Hi. Manooghi Hi is one of the great bands that I do sound for on a regular basis and tour with. You can find more about them online at http://manooghihi.com/.

New Blog!!!!

Hi this is Nelson Clay Barnard. I am a professional audio engineer. I have lived in Seattle for 5 years. Over the last 5 years I have done some pretty fun gigs. I feel very fortunate to make a living doing what I love. Sometimes I wish I had a better record of what I did. At least a couple pictures and a few quick words on what I was doing.

So I'm starting a blog. First I will go back and post some old pictures that I have, then I will continue to post new ones as my career progresses. Who knows what will happen, I may even post some tutorials. One of the favorite things I've been able to do is teach.

Let me know if you want to see any specific pictures from events you know I did or if there is anything you would like to know. I would take tutorial requests.


Thanks

xNelson