BUMS Sound Equipment workshop

BUMS needs more members to be able to run the sound at jams and performances. The ultimate aim of this workshop is to expand the crew of people who are comfortable flying solo at a jam, including setting everything up, running the sound, and then packing everything up at the end.

This workshop is open to all BUMS members and is free.  It will be presented by BUMS members, Blair Marks with assistance from Adrian Board.

Blair has been a sound technician for almost all his career, finishing up as a Head technician at QPAC for 33 years. He did sound for bands such as Moving Pictures and The Angels.  Blair has been playing the ukulele for about 18 yrs.  He admits to owning about 15 ukes and loves vintage ones. He was awarded Lifetime Membership in 2016 due to his hard work for and tireless contribution to BUMS.

We understand that managing the sound at an event can be a scary prospect for people who haven’t done this sort of thing before. This workshop is your first step to becoming competent at running the sound. After the workshop, you will be supported until you feel comfortable flying on your own. 

To be accepted into the workshop, you must be willing to be rostered to attend the Coorparoo jam and being mentored until you are comfortable running the sound at BUMS jams and performances from set up to pack up.  BUMS now has the same mixer at both Coorparoo and Northside and so this workshop is applicable to both jams.

We acknowledge the previous call for expressions of interest in this workshop encouraged people who also had a passing interest in sound mixing.  Due to the high numbers of people expressing interest, it became apparent that participants would only have a small amount of time being hands-on in the workshop.

We need to keep the numbers low in order to maximise the hands-on element of the session.  Hence, those who are willing to put their learning to use in jams and performances will get priority.  If there is no/little interest from people wanting to run the sound at jams and performances, will we revisit the concept of the workshop as a whole.  

What will you learn?

You will learn the following:

• Basic operation of BUMS sound equipment,
• Tuning the system
• How to plug in instruments
• The difference between amplifying a microphone and a ukulele
• Use of equalisation and effects.
• How to balance the sound, so all performers can be heard equally
• Avoiding the dreaded ‘pop’

 What you need to bring:

• A modern phone or tablet device (a bigger device such as an ipad or Surface is much easier to read than a mobile phone)
• A sense of adventure and a willingness to explore

Some internet links will be suggested for you to review when you get home.