What is a live sound engineer and what do they do? Our ultimate guide

Live sound engineers help to keep the show on the road. Learn exactly what a live sound engineer is and what they do in this ultimate guide.

Live music experiences can be life-changing, epoch-shaping and era-defining. Just one Sex Pistols gig in Manchester attended by only 40 people influenced British music for decades, and Woodstock in 1969 remains one of the most iconic cultural moments in world history.

Live music can be viscerally powerful, inspiring and communal, and if you’re reading this, you will almost certainly be utterly obsessed with it already. However, the power of live music events is not only down to the performers on the stage. At every gig that has helped to shape popular music and cultural trends, you will find a live sound engineer, or engineers, who brought the experience to life.

At dBs Institute, our mission is to help students turn their passion for music and sound into professions they can pursue for a lifetime. We do this through our specialised music production courses and sound & audio degrees. For those who are fascinated by the science of sound, love to experience life with the volume cranked up and want to escape a career behind a computer screen, our BSc (Hons) Live Sound degree is made for you.

Studying Live Sound at dBs Institute will give you the skills to go behind the scenes of unforgettable musical moments and become a professional live sound technician. If you’re not quite sure what that is yet, we’ve created this ultimate guide to lift the curtain on what a live sound engineer is, what they do on a day-to-day basis and what a career in live sound engineering is actually like.

Learn more about BSc (Hons) Live Sound at dBs Institute.

Contents

1. Our BSc (Hons) Live Sound degree
2. What a live sound engineer is
3. Live sound engineer jobs
4. What equipment is used in live sound engineering?
5. What exactly do live sound engineers do?
6. How much do live sound engineers make?
7. The qualifications live sound engineers need
8. What a career as a live sound engineer is like
9. How to study to become a live sound engineer

1. dBs Institute’s BSc (Hons) Live Sound degree

Before we get started with our guide on what a live sound engineer is and what they do, we wanted to spotlight one of the most practical, popular and industry-connected degree programmes at dBs Institute - BSc (Hons) Live Sound.

This cutting-edge, technical course is designed to prepare you for a career as a live sound engineer through theoretical study and practical learning. Taught at our Bristol and Manchester campuses, we use real-life venue spaces - like Manchester’s New Century - to get students working in the environment that professional live sound technicians work in every day.

Throughout your live sound degree, you will get hands-on experience with industry-standard mixing desks, learn the theory behind sound and acoustics, how to design and build a sound system and have ample opportunity to gain work experience at gigs and festivals.

Learn more about BSc (Hons) Live Sound at dBs Institute.

2. What is a live sound engineer?

The term ‘live sound engineer’ doesn’t describe one homogeneous job role, but a spectrum of jobs within the live sound engineering field. In broad terms, a live sound engineer works within a venue, theatre or festival setting to ensure that the sound produced by a band, DJ or theatre production is calibrated to have the maximum impact and quality for the audience.

As a live sound engineer, it’s your job to ensure:

• Audiences experience the event in the intended way through live mixing, sound checks and volume control.
• Performers can hear themselves playing accurately through their monitors.
• The in-house or externally sourced sound system is calibrated to the space through knowledge of acoustics and psychoacoustics.
• Cables are managed properly to ensure safety and an efficient stage patch.
• Gear is loaded, packed down and stored before and after a performance.

Live sound engineers in the music industry have varied roles and can work in several environments. For example:

• As in-house engineers for a specific venue.
• Touring engineers travelling with a specific band or bands.
• Festival engineers working at festivals across the globe.

In the following sections, we will explore the different roles that fall under live sound engineering, the daily responsibilities of live sound engineers, and the equipment used in live sound engineering.

Watch our Career Spotlight video on the role of a live sound engineer to learn more.

3. What jobs can you get as a live sound engineer?

Some of the main roles within the live sound engineering sector of the music industry include:

• Front of house engineer (FOH) - Front of house engineers are responsible for mixing sound for the audience at a gig. You’ll notice them in the middle of the crowd operating the mixing desk.
• Monitor engineer - Monitor engineers ensure that performers can hear themselves playing through the monitors at the front of the stage.
• Stage patch - People working stage patch are responsible for organising the microphones capturing each sound source from the stage. They will communicate which mic is picking up the drums, which mic is on vocals, etc.
• Systems technician - Systems technicians are responsible for installing sound systems for live production, including design, power, troubleshooting, loading and packing down of the system.

Depending on the particular interest or specialism of someone wanting to get into live sound engineering, they may naturally gravitate towards one of the above disciplines. If a live sound engineer is particularly gifted in sound system design, electronics and the technical side of music technology, they may be best suited to systems tech. For engineers who love mixing and the creative side of sound, they are more likely to become front of house engineers.

“As system tech, you are the buffer between the creative and artistic desires of the front of house engineer and the actual physics of how sound works,” says Chris Drew a Systems Tech Engineer, “So a lot of my time would be spent trying to understand what the artist wants, what the front of house engineer wants, and then actually trying to make the best compromise, the best choice with what we're limited to with audio.”

Find out how our Live Sound students got on during their work experience at Balter Festival here!

At the beginning of your career, you’ll likely start in a junior position shadowing an in-house engineer or as part of the touring or festival team. At this early stage, most of your time will be used observing a senior engineer and completing some of the more basic tasks like cable management, set up and pack down and getting to grips with the equipment used in the profession.

‍“Don't think anything's beneath you,” says Sound Engineer Tom Kirton, “ I've done my fair share of coiling up 50-metre XLR cables and things before you get to do the really cool stuff… People look fondly on people who will muck in and get involved.”

Without a degree, this process of gaining the necessary experience can take years and often requires you to follow work opportunities where they are through networking and good fortune before being able to land a full-time position. However, by studying BSc (Hons) Live Sound at dBs Institute, you’ll be able to shadow professional live sound engineers and learn the ropes while you study, significantly accelerating the process of finding a full-time live sound engineering job.

4. What equipment is used in live sound engineering?

Knowing your gear is a vital part of being a successful live sound engineer. You’ll need to understand a wide range of equipment, how it works, what it does and how to manipulate it to achieve a specific and desired effect.

The best live sound engineers love technology, want to know how things work and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. Some of the technologies you’ll need to master to become a pro live sound engineer include:

Live mixing desks

Live mixing desks are the primary tool for all front of house engineers. These pieces of kit allow engineers to mix several channels of audio to balance the sound the audience hears.

Stage and in-ear monitors

Performers need to hear what they are doing to play a great show, so stage or in-ear monitors are essential for all live music events. Regardless of the monitor type, a live sound engineer is responsible for mixing these to the artists’ preference so they can hear themselves and other performers accurately.

Mics

Microphones allow live sound engineers to capture sound from different sources on stage and channel them into the live mixing desk. Typically, you’ll have a mic for each sound source and the aim for any good engineer is to have that sound coming through the channel with as little interference from other sources as possible.

Scaffolding

As well as technical equipment, engineers working in venues and at festivals also have to navigate structural equipment like scaffolding to get speakers in the optimum position for the sound to travel across the entire audience.

Line arrays

Line arrays are vertically stacked speaker cabinets designed to cover a large area and project sound across arena-sized audiences.

Sound level meters

Unfortunately, you can’t always crank up volumes as loud as you want. Especially in urban-area music festivals, it’s a legal obligation not to exceed certain sound levels. Sound pressure level (SPL) is measured by sound level meters to ensure that events do not exceed pre-defined thresholds.

5. What exactly do live sound engineers do?

As discussed in the ‘What is a live sound engineer’ section, it’s a live sound engineer’s role to make sure that live music performances are optimised to have the most impact on audiences and performers. But, what do they actually do on a daily basis?

Here, we look at some of the main functions live sound engineers perform and the technical process involved in being a live sound engineer. Our friend, and pro live sound engineer Shan Hira, joined us recently to help illuminate some of the common issues live sound engineers run into during their daily roles.

Front of house (FOH) engineering 

When most people think about ‘sound guys’, front of house engineers are what they probably imagine. These engineers are positioned in the crowd behind a mixing desk and mix the band, DJ or performers live, using their creativity and technical skills to enhance the performance for the audience. So, how do they do that?

House engineers working in venues start their day by setting up the stage before the band or DJ's arrival. This involves starting the PA system to warm it up, getting the required microphones in place and managing the cables. Preparing the stage before the band arrives will make the work much easier later.

Once the artist arrives, sound checking the monitors, house speakers and mix can begin. This process involves testing each channel 'in ear' or through the monitors, through the house speakers and ensuring the mix sounds balanced. Typically, a live sound engineer will ask each band member to play a section of a tune in isolation and then they may run through one track in full together so the live sound technician can ensure the mix is clean and balanced.

If there are issues, like 'mic bleed' - where multiple sources of audio are 'bleeding' through a mic - the engineer may have to move mics and speaker cabinets to better isolate the sound. Soundcheck is a vital part of ensuring that any issues can be ironed out before punters arrive.

Once the sound check is complete the team wait for the doors to open. During the performance, it’s the FOH engineer’s role to ensure that the sound is balanced, that they react to performers’ requests to raise or lower the volume on certain channels or monitors and that they control volume to be within a certain SPL threshold. When the show ends, the FOH engineer must pack the gear back down before heading home.

The vast majority of this role is the same if a FOH engineer works at one specific venue, tours with a specific artist or works at a festival. However, if a live sound engineer tours with an artist, they will need to liaise with the in-house engineer at each venue, ensure that the artists’ tech rider has been met properly and do a lot more loading in and packing down of gear. At a festival, the process is much longer and before any FOH engineering can take place, sound systems will need to be designed for the space available. More on that next!

Sound system design

Sound system design is an essential role of live sound engineers - especially in a festival context. At outdoor festivals, in locations which are only used for live events a few times a year, systems need to be made bespoke to ensure that the sound quality is of high quality while staying within sound pressure level (SPL) thresholds; particularly if the festival is located near to residential areas.

Once a sound system, including line arrays, monitors and other sound systems has been installed on-site, a process of ‘noise propagation’ takes place. This is a process of analysing how sound from the system travels through the air, measuring the sound and ensuring that the audio is loud enough in the crowd but controlled near residential areas.

“Very often at festivals, you’ll have a noise limit,” says live sound engineer Shan Hira, “And usually the reason for having a noise limit is because of the off-site noise… You might be near residential properties… Typically, you’ll measure off-site at various places, which will equate to someone standing next to you with a meter saying, ‘You’ve got 15 minutes and you’ve got to be under 100 dBA for those 15 minutes.’”

Having a deep understanding of acoustics and psychoacoustics, which you will learn during your BSc (Hons) Live Sound degree at dBs Institute, can help with the process of noise propagation, sound system design and venue design.

Stage set up and break down 

Stage set-up and breakdown are basic tasks that live sound engineers perform on a daily basis. This work is what junior engineers often start with before getting involved with live mixing. 

This process involves unloading all of the sound gear from the touring van or the venue’s gear cupboard, setting up the necessary microphones and ensuring that cables are managed and ready for the FOH engineer.

Artist liaison

Especially for touring engineers, there’s an element of artist liaison involved for live sound engineers. Engineers have to intimately understand artists’ needs, the characteristics of their sound and whether they need to make any adjustments to the engineering process depending on their performance style.

Depending on how a singer handles their microphone, a live sound engineer may have to make adjustments to how they work, so understanding the nuances of the artist you’re working with is vital.

“If you’re working with an artist who has got 10 guitar amps all turned up to 11, not only does it present a problem and interfere with the PA to get the clarity of the sound, but also it’s going down the other mics,” says live sound engineer Shan Hira, “If he’s got [the guitars] really loud but is a quiet singer, you’ve got to turn the gain up on his channel to get the vocal at a good level. But if you do that, you’re also opening up the channel to pick up all of the guitar stuff. It’s got to be controlled and it’s worth having a conversation with the band.”

“One way to deal with it is to get a tighter mic, like a hypercardioid microphone, but it depends on how they sing. I’ve worked for Liam [Gallagher] and Liam is a joy because that microphone never moves. It’s always there.”

Depending on your relationship with the artist you’re working with and how much effort you’ve put into understanding the talent, you can make strategic decisions on how you set up the front of house, what mics you use and how you approach stage set-up.

Tech Troubleshooting

A big part of being a live sound engineer is simply being able to troubleshoot technical issues. It's likely you'll be the person on the stage with the most technical know-how, so you will probably be called upon more than anyone to fix broken speakers, microphones and other gear that you find on stage.

As such, having an understanding of electronics and how to fix electrical equipment is always a bonus and something you will learn during your BSc (Hons) Live sound degree at dBs Institute.

6. How much do live sound engineers make?

What live sound engineers make largely depends on:

• Their experience or seniority
• The environment they work in. I.e. as a house engineer at a club, as a touring engineer or on the festival circuit
• The client they are working for (if they’re a touring engineer)
• Whether they are working on a commercial project, like a business conference, rather than in the music industry.

Live sound technicians who work on large-scale commercial projects, like international business conferences or state-run events, will earn much more money for their efforts than those working in local venues or at small festivals. 

Similarly, engineers who are working exclusively for ‘big’ acts, like our friend Shan Hira who joined our students in Manchester for a Learn From The Pros guest lecture recently, will typically earn more than those at the beginning of their careers who are engineering for local bands and their friends.

Here are some broad salary guidelines for live sound engineers operating at different levels of experience. For salaried engineers, they may be able to expect:

• Starting salary: £20,000
• Top-end salary: £40,000

In reality, many live sound engineers work on a freelance basis for their entire careers. Some may start in a freelance capacity and move to an in-house position or vice versa and some will always work on a freelance basis and find work on a tour-by-tour, festival-by-festival or project-by-project basis. 

In these circumstances, the pay you can expect depends on where you are in the world, the size of the venue you’re working in or the size of the festival you’re working at. In the United Kingdom, freelance engineers can expect to charge a day rate of around:

• £100 to £300 for small-medium sized venues
• £300+ for larger venues
• £500+ for commercial projects

7. What qualifications do live sound engineers need?

Traditionally, live sound engineers would forge their careers through their organic connection with a band, by shadowing an in-house engineer and working their way up or by being involved in the free party scene and transitioning to engineering. Historically, qualifications were not as important as real-world experience. However, that trend is changing as educational routes become more popular.

Today there are specialist degree programmes, like the BSc (Hons) Live Sound degree at dBs Institute, that can help you accelerate your career and develop the skills you need by learning from industry experts and gaining work experience while you study.

“Having young blood in the live sound industry is really important,” says dBs’ National Lead for Live Sound Kyle Marriott, “There’s a generational gap in skilled staff. It’s very difficult to find people who know how to do the paperwork, deliver a show on their own, manage a project and all of these useful things. There are plenty of people who can mix the band, plenty of people who are great at moving boxes and building a system… [Education] gives you a massive leg up. It saves you those 10 years that I spent doing it in the field. That’s still useful and valid and loads of fun, but you can just accelerate that process.”

Formal qualifications are not required to become a professional live sound engineer. However, having one at a renowned specialist higher education institute like dBs will show that you have bypassed the years of ground-level industry experience and have the skills necessary to get started right away.

8. Is live sound engineering a good career?

Yes! Being a professional live sound engineer can be a hugely exciting and rewarding career where every day is different and you get to meet your heroes up close and personally. 

Being a live sound engineer allows you to work at your favourite festivals every year, travel the world with bands and DJs and work in one of the most exciting parts of the music industry. Hours can be long and it is a tough industry to get into with lots of competition, but cracking it will give you a lifelong career packed full of unforgettable experiences.

“It's the combining of these two worlds that I operate in,” says front of house engineer Fiona Riches, “One is the complete fascination with the theory and processing of audio that blows my mind - I completely love it. Then there’s this creative background that I come from where I completely love music; I love being creative; I love being in the moment of a live show. So front of house mixing enables me to combine those two things. I just love it. It's excellent.”

“There's a feeling that you get when the house lights go down,” says Systems engineer Chris Drew, “And it's just you with the front of house engineer in this little cage in the middle of a huge crowd and everybody is incredibly excited. And the first song happens, and it’s loud and it sounds good. And for the crowd, it's what they've been waiting for for months. You do the long hours and go the extra mile because if you make somebody’s year, you know about it because all the fans are going to go wild. I think that's the best bit.”

9. Can I study live sound engineering at dBs?

Absolutely! As mentioned previously, dBs Institute delivers an industry-standard BSc (Hons) Live Sound degree programme which will give you all of the skills, experience and knowledge you need for a successful career as a live sound engineer.

We are one of the leading training centres for live sound engineers in the country and our course is taught by industry experts with decades of experience working in the field.

“When you go to a higher education facility, you’re coming for two things,” says dBs’ National Lead for Live Sound Kyle Marriott, “You’re coming for the facilities, which includes the knowledge of the staff available to you, and that’s on you to make the most of. The number one thing is the industry contacts and networking opportunities… Coming to somewhere like dBs Institute, you’re getting access to our black book. We know people at the primary mixing desk manufacturers who we may have done gigs together when we were 20-odd and are now lead technical support people or sales managers or work in R&D. These opportunities are what you’re coming here for.”

One of the unique things about studying for your live sound degree at dBs Institute is the environment you will work in and the pre-existing industry connections we have. Every year our students work at festivals across the UK during the summer season. We’ve had students working at Glastonbury, Reading Festival, Balter, Shambala, Boomtown and every other major festival in the UK.

As well as that, at our Bristol campus, we have a purpose-built venue where our students can learn the skills they need in an environment that reflects the industry and at our Manchester campus, students learn in one of the highest-spec venues in the city - New Century. 

Take the tour around our Bristol campus where you can learn more about our dedicated Live Sound space Location House!

Take the tour around our Manchester campus where you can learn more about our students' access to New Century!

Students at both campuses get the opportunity to shadow professional engineers working in the city and we’ve built in as much practical work into the course content as possible to ensure every student can get hands-on and get the best chance of moving onto a professional career once they graduate.

Want to accelerate your live sound career and gain work experience while you study? Learn more about BSc (Hons) Live Sound.