Checking the venue before soundcheck. The Waldbühne Berlin holds around 20.000 people. On the left and right of the stage are the main PA systems. Next to the tent on the left is one of several so-called delay lines. The tent in the middle houses the mixing console and serves as my workspace during the concert. It is located in the middle of the audience and is called front of house, or FOH for short.
I am a front-of-house concert sound engineer (FOH engineer). From there, I create the live audio experience for the audience in real time: live sound.
I´m supported by many people who work on stage. In the invisible part. Most of them also know the techniques how to be invisible, even when they have to fix things among the musicians during the concert. There are audiotechnicians who place the microphones, take care for proper cabeling that I receive a clean signal. During the show they take care that everything is in place and they keep track of every single line. If a problem occurs they solve it in seconds. They also support the monitor engineer, who makes the mix for the musicians on stage, so that I can concentrate fully on the audience experience.
At FOH, I am also supported by a system engineer. This person takes care of the entire PA system and the delay lines. During setup, they plan the optimal speaker placement and tune the system precisely to my requirements. During the concert, the system engineer continuously makes adjustments, because weather, temperature, the audience, and other factors constantly change the sound.