Sound engineering: a life blood of live events

Imagine, listening to your favourite song during a live event and the song sounding like a broken record from a horror movie. You pay a lot of money for a music show only to be treated to sound distortion. Irritating, right?

Poor sound output can disrupt an otherwise good event, including music shows. It can also ruin the reputation of the whole event and people behind its organisation.

There are numerous cases where fans had reportedly resorted to violence such as insulting the event organisers or artists for giving them a raw deal. Indeed, some musicians, bands and event organisers have thrown their reputation to the dogs for scoring poorly on sound engineering.

While some have damaged their reputation for using substandard equipment, others have suffered badly due to lack of skills in sound engineering despite having or using good equipment.

Imagine, a lead guitar sounding like a bass guitar or drums sounding like bomb blasts or artillery guns during the First World War?

Haselo Nyuzi is a fanatic of live music events at Zalewa Trading Centre in Neno District. He travels to Blantyre or Mwanza to watch a live music show during weekends. He believes that quality sound is what drives him crazy during live concerts.

“When we talk of a live show, we mean enjoying every moment and experiencing the wonder of voice, guitars, pianos and drums. These things should come out clearly and captivatingly to quench one’s entertainment thirst.

“No matter how good a song can be, it can spoil your day when its sound is not coming out clearly. There is no shortcut to this. It is quality sound all the way,” he says.

Recently, one of the country’s  veteran sound engineers John Nthakomwa of Mibawa media company announced a surprise retirement.The retirement coincided with his set suffering poor sound quality which marred Nigeria’s hip-hop sensation Fireboy’s performance on October 30 in Blantyre.

Nthakomwa, who started teaching himself sound engineering around 2012, made the announcement on October 31.

He said: “Today, I officially retire as a sound engineer for Mibawa. Time to have the young generation take over.

“Yesterday during a major event as a sound engineer, I made a number of errors that I can only attribute to being exhausted, not acceptable at all by my standards, either stress or age is catching up, whichever, it is time.”

According to Nkhakomwa, the job as a sound engineer sounds easy, but it is tasking.

“You are the first one on site and the last to leave the site and mostly on your feet for a straight 18 plus hours for a major event. I saw this coming, but did not want to accept.

“I have enjoyed this art and appreciated it from the time I created the first Mibawa Band. Time to find a new hobby,” he added.

He also said  that he was looking forward to training the youth to take things further than he has been delivering live music events.

Nthakomwa highlights the significance of professional sound engineering. He described it as “blood” for live events, including music performances.

“Proper sound engineering during live events is like blood in our bodies. Without blood our bodies can’t function. The same applies to poor sound engineering which can mess up good events,” he said.

Nthakomwa explained that sound engineering determines the quality of an event be it a music show or a corporate event.

In simple terms, he described sound engineering as creating synergy between humans and equipment and between equipment and other equipment so that they produce quality sound that satisfies the listener.

As an arts journalist, who has covered many live concerts, my experience has shown that having good equipment is one thing and engineering sound is a different ballgame altogether.

According to Nthakomwa, technical know-how, quality sound equipment such as speakers, cables and sound consoles were essential elements for sound engineering.

He urged that event organisers and artists must invest in sound engineering and scout for talent to deliver quality.

Jabey Nkhwazi, a sound engineer based in Lilongwe, said it is imperative for event managers and artists to care about sound because that is the product they are selling when it comes to live events.

“An event can be well decorated and well lit, but if there is no sound, your event will not take place. It is the top priority for a musical event. So, I believe that you need to get quality sound for your events as that will build both the artists brand as well as the event organisers,” he said.

According to Nkhwazi, it takes a great mix of investment in the right equipment and the right technical expertise to manage sound.

“Great equipment can sound bad if you don’t have the right people managing it. At the same time, bad equipment cannot be made to sound right regardless of technical ability. Another factor to look out for is room acoustics. Certain venues have way too much room reverberation and so it makes it harder for quality sound delivery,” he said.

Veteran music producer and pianist Gresham Mokwena added his voice to the power of good sound engineering for live shows.

“People ought to enjoy live music shows. And only events that have good sound output excite them. After all, who wants to hear distortion or stick around boring things?” he wondered.

Asked what good sound engineering looks like for a live show, Mokwena had this to say: “It’s simple, but not easy. It requires great understanding of music and technical skills to handle sound equipment. People need to know specifications and demands of each piece of music equipment in use to produce desired sound.”