Success Beyond The Score

One of the most essential strengths a gigging musician must have is adaptability. Every gig comes with a new set of conditions: from the dimensions and design of the stage, to the size and position of the audience, to the PA system and the staff in charge of it.

Let's make an example out of the latter: for a certain gig some time ago, Millicent asked about the technical set up—as she always does—but a little later than usual. She got a reply through WhatsApp many hours later, and had to continue the conversation the next day. It became evident that the person answering to her wasn't tech-savvy, but rather followed instructions by the tech people at their organisation, which made the process slow. Thinking that this could cause problems down the line, Millicent decided to take her own PA system equipment to the venue, just in case.

When the day of the gig came, the sax mic didn't work, and there was no one among the staff who knew what to do. On top of that, Millicent had sent her bac...

Here is the transcription of episode 3 of season 3 of the podcast "Success Beyond The Score". Happy reading!

- Watch the video of the episode here: YouTube

- Listen to the audio of the episode here: Kajabi

PODCAST INTRO:

It's kind of a strange title, really: "killed by sound". But in my experience going through music and watching other people, the sound system, the PA (public address) system, microphone, stuff like that, really gets in the way of our playing. And let's face it, you put in a lot of time practising. You learn the notes, you learn the chords, you learn the rhythm, you learn what you're gonna say, all that kind of thing. And then, it's just time to go and deliver. And when it's time to deliver, what lets you down is a PA system. 

EARLY EXPERIENCES:

Well, my experience —oh gosh, going back a few years— I sort of started playing, um, certainly for my sax, I was in my late teens, early twenties when I started. And that's sort of back in the eighties. And what I did ...