Alexander Perez - Orlando, Florida

Alexander Perez
Orlando, Florida Recording Connection Student

There’s nothing like going to a concert and seeing your favorite band perform live. The adrenaline rush is just amazing. It’s miles away from listening to their songs on the iPod, their tunes blasting away through our headphones. We feel more than just the music, we can actually hear their passion for their craft as they sing live.

Of course, without the aid of a recording booth, pausing and going back to the beginning should you make a mistake, a live show is a “what you see is what you get” experience. If the artist makes a mistake, everyone in the venue is a witness to it. And though that makes it even more special to the audience, too much of these mistakes, sounding too raw, might actually turn your audience away from you. They’re going to think that the CDs and the mp3s they listened to endlessly is nothing but a bunch of technological hocus pocus.

As a live sound engineer, it’s their job to make sure this does not happen. There should be the perfect balance of the rawness of a live performance yet the polish of a well-prepared event designed to entertain and impress. I’m learning so much from this internship now. I’m learning to keep on our toes, keeping watch to the tiniest detail even while being surrounded by loud music. To be able to think under all these pressure takes a lot of skill. And learning this skill gives me that recording connection to reach out to the audiences during a live concert, even when I’m still behind the mission control station.