Oftentimes, sound engineers get a bad rap for being grumpy, irritable curmudgeons. But like most other things in life, don’t let a few members within a group determine how you define the whole. Most audio engineers are decent people who want your show to sound great, just like you do. If you don’t wanna piss them off, though, try following these rules:

Special Note: While recent studies suggest that 95% of the country’s audio engineers are men, there are some prominent females in the audio industry. So in consideration my last post (“Can Girls Be Engineers, Too?”), I have made a special effort to use both pronouns when referring to audio engineers.

Show Up Late – Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi used to tell his players “If you ain’t 15 minutes early, you’re late.” The same applies here. Yes, emergencies will happen, but do your best to be punctual. If soundcheck is at 6:00, be there at least five minutes early. Soundcheck is often the first interaction you will have with in-house sound guys/gals, so you don’t want to start off on the wrong foot. Leave early or set alarms if you need to, but don’t be late.

Move Things Without Asking – So you’re 5 minutes early for soundcheck, the stage is ready for you, except you like your wedge monitor on the other side of you as you perform. The sound guy/gal looks busy doing something else (or (s)he’s MIA). Do you move the wedge? No, no, no! Assume the sound guy/gal put everything on stage where (s)he did for a reason, and ask him/her (politely) before moving gear. Usually, (s)he will be cool with it. Pro Tip: If you have specific requests regarding stage layout issues, send a detailed stage plot in advance! This will make everyone’s life easier.

“Hey, Mr. Sound Guy…” – When you show up to play a show, its always in your best interest to introduce yourself to the engineer. Be personable and polite. Remember his/her name. It doesn’t matter if the guy/girl looks fresh out of high school, or (s)he looks old enough to be your mom or dad. (S)he is responsible for making you sound as good as possible, and remembering and using his/her name shows that you care. Take care of your sound engineer, and (s)he will take care of you.

Complaints During Set – This one is debatable. During your set, you might need to have your monitor mix adjusted. It happens all the time. Some engineers will throw a fit if you ask for adjustments through the microphone during your set because it makes them seem incompetent. ALL engineers will throw fits if you step away from the mic, and attempt to communicate with the sound guy to no avail through the use of incomprehensible spoken cues and/or non-conventional hand signals. Personally, I suggest quickly and politely asking for adjustments through the microphone between songs in your set, using the sound guy’s name (if you were wise enough to remember it!).

Ask The Audience How It Sounds – Have you ever been driving a car with a passenger (or passengers) who LOVE to tell you how you should be driving? It sucks. Asking the audience how it sounds is inviting them to openly critique the sound engineer’s work, and it’s not a great way to make him/her happy.

Let your S.O. Hang Out at FOH – see “Ask The Audience How It Sounds”

Crank Your Amp Volume – While sound engineers love good amp tone as much as anyone (arguably), it’s important to realize and remember that other instruments need to be heard too. Nothing will compromise a good audio mix like a tube amp that the guitarist turned up to 11. Instead, use the lowest volume that you can get the correct tone at, and let the sound guy/gal determine how much of your instrument should be in the house mix.

While Sound Engineers might not want to hear your feedback, I do! Let me know what you think in the Comments section below!