Submitted by Orcas Center

Jake Perrine will present a Live Sound Basics workshop over three Saturday mornings at Orcas Center Dec. 8, 15 and 22 from 10 a.m.–1 p.m. The workshop is open to the public and designed for audio hobbyists who want to improve their understanding of how audio works, and how to work with it. Tuition is a suggested donation $30-100 donation to Orcas Center and an interest in volunteering at Orcas Center in the future. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. No signup required, just come to the first class.

Curriculum:

Week 1: Theory

What is sound?

How is it measured?

Decibels and Hertz. Frequency and amplitude. Cables and connectors. Microphones – types and uses. Levels and level setting. Equalizers – types and uses. Basic audio mixers and how to use them. Analog versus digital audio.

Week 2: Skills

Sound reinforcement concepts. Sound system layout and speaker placement. Power on/off series. Monitoring. Mics and mic placement for various instruments. Direct boxes. Gain stages. Snakes. Mixing boards – from small to large. Inserts. Subgroups. Talkback. What is feedback, and how do you minimize it? EQ, compression, limiting, gates, reverb, delay. Running a sound check for one or more bands. And much more.

Week 3: Application

Apply all that you have learned on an actual show. Set up for Stormy Hildreth’s band which loads in, soundchecks and performs at 7:30 p.m. Special guest audio master Kevin Colomby is on the board.

Perrine is the technical director of the Orcas Center and a 30-plus-year audio professional. He taught audio production at the Art Institute of Seattle for over a decade, at WarpAcademy.com (an online school he co-founded), and is the author of three published books on audio.

Bring a snack, water and paper and pencil if you want to take notes.

Questions? Email jake@orcascenter.org.

Tell your friends!