The Media Man’s Guidebook 2

                                     What It Really Takes to Run Clean Audio at a Live Event

The Media Man’s Guidebook by Lorenzo Burnside

Welcome back to The Media Man’s Guidebook. In this post, we’re stepping into my main world live sound. Not studio mixing, not beat-making, but real-time sound engineering at events where you only get one shot to get it right.

If you’ve ever been to a concert, church service, or even a school event and thought, “Wow, that sounded great,” there was probably a sound engineer behind the scenes making sure every mic, speaker, and instrument was working together smoothly. That’s what I do and trust me, it’s more than just turning up the volume.

One of the first things I always explain to beginners is the importance of learning a digital mixer. The one I use most often is the Behringer X32 a solid, reliable board that gives you control over every mic and instrument in the room. On that board, each input for example like a singer’s mic or a keyboard; gets its own channel. I adjust everything in real time, from the EQ to the compression to the level of reverb, depending on what the event calls for.

Before anything else though, it starts with the gain structure. If your gain is too low, your mic sounds weak. If it’s too high, you get that high-pitched feedback that makes the whole room flinch. I set the gain on every channel first, before I even touch the faders. That’s the foundation of clean audio.

Another key part of live sound is mixing for the space. Every room sounds different. A gym has echo. A cafeteria sounds flat. A church might have a natural reverb. That’s why during soundcheck, I don’t just stay behind the board. I walk the room and listen. What sounds good to me at the mixer might sound totally different in the back row.

If you’re new to this and ever get a chance to help with live sound, remember this tip: mute the channels you’re not using. That alone can save you from major feedback issues. Open mics can pick up noise you don’t even hear until it’s too late.

Mixing live audio is really about balance making sure the vocals aren’t buried by the band, making sure the instruments aren’t clashing, and making it all sound natural to the crowd. It’s not about how loud you can go. It’s about how clear and comfortable it feels to the audience.

According to Behringer’s official guide for the X32, “Proper gain staging is crucial to ensure clean signal flow and avoid unwanted noise or distortion.” That’s true at any event, big or small. 

In a world where most people only notice sound when something goes wrong, the best compliment a live engineer can get is silence not feedback silence, but no complaints. That’s how you know you nailed it.

Classmate’s thanks for reading The Media Man’s Guidebook. I’ll see you in the next post where we step behind the camera and talk visuals.