This week, the hosts turn over the feed to feature a new episode from our sister podcast, Live Sound Bootcamp, to welcome them back after a very long hiatus! In this episode, Ryan John and guest host Aram Piligian answer a question about how best to go about capturing and mixing orchestral instruments in classical environments, and also in the context of adding strings to pop and rock acts. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.

There’s some incredible advice and experience to be found in this episode, and we don’t want any of our listeners to miss it, whether you’re an old listener who may have missed their new episode, or a newer Signal to Noise listener who’s hearing of Live Sound Bootcamp for the first time!

Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:

1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to [email protected] with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”

2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there.

Dave Hatmaker joins Sean and Andy in Episode 307 for a wide-ranging conversation about working in theme parks, helping test and develop new audio products, and some hard-hitting practical tips and tricks for mixing corporate events.

Dave has mixed astronauts to vice presidents, and almost everything in between. He’s also been a sound designer for the Walt Disney Company, helping to create many memorable in-park entertainment shows, spectaculars and guest experiences, including Beauty and the Beast (before going to Broadway), Spirit of Pocahontas, and Hunchback of Notre Dame: Festival of Fools.

In addition, he’s worked with various international audio companies as a research and development team member (most recently Yamaha) creating new technologies, and he was awarded an international patent in 2021 for a new creative new use of audio technology. And, he’s been a featured panelist and moderator at international audio and music industry trade shows, including NAMM, AES, MusikMesse, ProLight & Sound, InfoComm, SCSBOA, and Jazz Educators, in addition to being a guest on several podcasts for MxU and AVIXA.

Dave holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach, with an emphasis in percussion performance. He has created and delivered audio seminars to high school and college bands, music educators and sound technicians.

His goal in the audio business? ”Every day he wants to make life a bit better for musicians by having better, easier, smarter, better sounding products! And to make them FUN to use!!

Episode Links:
Dave Hatmaker.com
Dave Hatmaker On LinkedIn
Episode 307 Transcript

Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:

1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to [email protected] with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”

2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there.

In Episode 306: it’s time for something a bit different, as Andy introduces Sean and the listeners to another of his favorite sound-related podcasts, Twenty Thousand Hertz, produced by the sound design team at Defacto Sound. Twenty Thousand Hertz is focused on all things related to sound, from the sound design and scores of TV shows like Bluey to the sound design of all the alerts and notifications on an iPhone to dives into Broadway and arena touring, and so much more. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.

In this episode they’ve kindly allowed us to share with our listeners an inside look at how sound helps tell the story of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, along with Tony-winning sound designer Nevin Steinberg, Hamilton Broadway A2 Anna-Lee Craig, Grammy-winning Hamilton percussionist Benny Reiner, and noted Broadway sound designer Abe Jacob.

If you enjoy this guest episode, be sure to subscribe to Twenty Thousand Hertz in your podcast player of choice and visit them at http://20k.org — you can also send them a note at [email protected] and let them know you’re a new fan, and that you heard about them on Signal to Noise, or to suggest new episode ideas or send them any other feedback!

Episode Links:
Twenty Thousand Hertz
Defacto Sound
Twenty Thousand Hertz: Mixing Madison Square Garden for Vulfpeck’s Biggest Show
Signal to Noise Episode 89: Jake Hartsfield, Touring Engineer (Vulfpeck, Ben Rector)
Episode 306 Trancript

Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:

1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to [email protected] with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”

2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there.

In Episode 305, Andy and Sean present an end of summer wrap-up, touching on a wide variety of subjects as concert season for a lot of small to mid-size sound companies wind down and corporate season picks up! Andy shares some big news on his new “day gig,” having left the freelance life to work full time doing tech support for a major manufacturer, and he also talks about visiting with Tal from Dark Matter and hearing their DMA-8 in-ear monitors for the first time. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.

Meanwhile, Sean delivers more great advice on how to make yourself indispensable to local sound companies when trying to get work as a freelancer, including what the hardest role for most sound companies to fill is versus the hardest role to get hired as. Finally, the boys do a quick rundown of some of the latest new and exciting product news from Wisycom, OnStage, Sound Devices, Shure, RTS, and Meyer!

Episode Links:
Movo MIC’D Lav/IEM Mic Weight
Wisycom RF-over-Fiber Box & MTP61 XL Transmitter
On-Stage MS7300 Mic Stand With Flat Base
Sound Devices 8-Series Mixer/Recorders & Astral Wireless
Shure DCA901 Planar Array Microphone
RTS NOMAD Wireless Intercom System
Meyer Sound GEN-1 Technology For Networked Loudspeaker
Episode 305 Transcript

Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:

1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to [email protected] with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”

2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there.

Daniel and Andreas Sennheiser, the third-generation CEOs of Sennheiser Electronics, join the show in Episode 304 to celebrate and look back on Sennheiser’s 80th anniversary.

In a wide-ranging conversation, they talk about the history of Sennheiser, and how it’s remained a family-run company through all of its 80-year history, the hits (and even a couple misses!) of those first eight decades, and what to look forward to in the next few years.

They share how the company got started, discuss their work on the cutting edge of wireless technology with the new Spectera wireless system, the updating of a much-loved classic microphone with the release of the new MD 421 KOMPAKT, immersive audio, and much more!

Episode Links:
Sennheiser
Spectera Wireless
Episode 304 Transcript

Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:

1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to [email protected] with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”

2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there.

In Episode 303, Sean and Andy are joined by Robert Kuijpers, coming to us straight from the Netherlands to share stories and tips from his extensive experience in the “guerrilla audio” world of fast-moving music festivals.

Robert has been immersed in the live music industry since age 10, starting playing guitar and working in a guitar local shop where he developed a passion for electronics and signal flow. Over the years, he played in various bands while honing his technical skills to make himself sound better, which led naturally into live sound work.

A chance encounter with the band Flairck inspired a career shift into professional audio, eventually leading to a co-ownership role at MPS Audio, supporting international music theater tours. Since COVID and Brexit, Robert has been freelancing, specializing in troubleshooting, FOH/MON mixing, and complex corporate productions.

Episode Links:
Robert Kuijpers On Instagram
Motherclass #2: Audio Monitoring – Engineer Insights With Paddi Krause
Sprudge’s Map to Good Amsterdam Coffee
Episode 303 Transcript

Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:

1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to [email protected] with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”

2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there.

In Episode 302, Andy and Sean welcome back Sam Kusnetz from Figure 53 to discuss new features in QLab 5.5 software for designing and playing back sound, video, light, and show control cues, particularly the introduction of object-based audio. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.

The conversation covers the evolution of audio mixing in live events, the importance of user feedback, and the philosophy behind Figure 53’s approach to software updates. They also talk about the upcoming QCLass workshop in Baltimore this September that will provide an opportunity for users to enhance their skills with QLab.

Episode Links:
QLab
QLab Videos
QLab Cookbook
QLab Subreddit
STN Episode 249 With Sam Kusnetz
Audio Nerd Book Club
ANBC Virtual Soundcheck 2025
Warren G and Kenny G — Regulate — Live on Jimmy Kimmel
Episode 302 Transcript

Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:

1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to [email protected] with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”

2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there.

Gabe Correa, audio and network project manager at Clair Global, joins the show in Episode 301 to talk about special events on a gigantic scale. Gabe is a Brazilian-born audio and fiber project manager who’s led major live and broadcast productions in 30-plus countries across six continents, such as handling technical operations for the FIFA Club World Cup, Formula 1 and Formula-E, YouTube Brandcast, Capitol Concerts in D.C., Fortnite Times Square, and international tours with Andrea Bocelli. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.

Gabe’s resume also includes three Olympic Games, immersive audio at Expo 2020 Dubai, and building citywide fiber and emergency systems for the Las Vegas, Rome & Brazil Grand Prix. He got his start mixing orchestras and pop tours in Brazil, and now bridges cutting-edge tech and large-scale productions around the world. In 2025, he completed the MIT Applied Generative AI program and is now exploring ways to integrate AI into event workflows and system design

Episode Links:
Clair Global
Gabe Correa On Instagram
Episode 301 Transcript

Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:

1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to [email protected] with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”

2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there

In Episode 300, the hosts take listeners on a trip over to the Signal to Noise Discord Server and dig into a grab bag of tips and tricks from the “Info and Wisdom Nuggets” thread. It’s a lighting round of great advice for anybody in the live audio field, from mixing to troubleshooting to career advice — there’s something useful for everybody! This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.

There’s way more in the thread than could possibly fit in one episode, so if you’re not already on the server, come join us, and then check out the entire discussion here.

Episode Links:
Discorder Server: Info & Wisdom Nuggets to Pass On
STN Episode 280: Tips & Tricks For A Speedy Mix
STN Episode 236: Pat Brown Of SynAudCon & Pro Sound Testing
Sennheiser MD 421 KOMPAKT
Episode 300 Transcript

Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:

1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to [email protected] with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”

2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there

In Episode 299, the hosts are joined by Jim Reed, RCF USA’s Manager of Installed Sound and System Design, for a wide-ranging conversation that includes pivoting from a career as a musician and front-of-house engineer to a job on the manufacturer side in live venue installations, as well as sharing advice for production folks who get asked to help consult on installations, and those who might be looking to make a shift away from freelance/touring work as life and priorities change. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.

Jim also shares stories about RCF’s work on the massive PA overhaul for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including designing a custom loudspeaker to meet the unique needs of the project, and then turning that loudspeaker into a widely available commercial product.

From the start of his time with RCF in sales and products support, Reed has drawn upon a history in the audio industry that includes work as an A1 audio technician, front of house engineer, and installation project manager for several A/V companies. With a primary focus on the installation and larger production company markets, he developed a range of training and instructional materials, including videos and in-person training seminars, covering topics from basic audio theory to system design. His work also extends to on-site product demonstrations and sales training seminars for some of the largest A/V retailers in the U.S.

Over several years with RCF, Reed has designed and managed more than 1,500 sound systems for a range of applications, from community theaters to Broadway productions, chapels to cathedrals, and community sporting facilities to professional stadiums and arenas.

Episode Links:
RCF USA Case Studies
RCF USA Product Catalog
“Why Churches Buy Three Sound Systems, and How You Can Buy Only One,” by Jim Brown
Episode 299 Transcript

Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:

1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to [email protected] with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”

2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there