Tuesday, January 29, 2019
iOS and Android Apps Every Live Sound Engineer Should Have
www.livedesignonline.com/gear: It’s hard to imagine that sunny summer days are just a few months away, but touring season will be here before you know it. Now’s a great time to re-up the gaffer tape, Sharpies, and other must-haves in your gig bag—and while you’re at it, load your phone or iPad with free and low-cost audio tools that can help you do your job better.
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2 comments:
I think the ability to have audio tools on your phone or iPad like the ones in this article could be really useful. I know that back when I was doing more sound work in High School I would have really benefited from some of the ones shown. Like HearEQ, which is an app that lets you practice listening and your EQ skills, could have made me a lot better at my job as A1 for the musicals and performances. I also think everyone could use the ‘Dictionary of Theatre Terms’ app. I know that a lot of times people from different areas of focus don’t know some of the terms from the other areas, and it could be helpful for those times when we don’t understand the lingo that is used. Some of the other ones that they present in the article seem like they could be really fun to experiment with and test out. I bet I’d be able to find more uses for them if I ever get into real live mixing for bands or concerts.
I’m not sure about this. It is certainly helpful to have limited metering capability (SPL seems fine, and useful at times when you might not have your laptop or other equipment) on your phone, and ear training apps are a fine idea, but I don’t think I trust my phones mic or speakers enough to rely on them for spectrographs or other more advanced analysis. If I’m tuning a sound system, I want more precision and versatility than I can get from a cheap phone microphone, and if I’m not tuning a sound system… why do I actually need metering capability beyond SPL? Besides, it’s nice to have the spectrograph overlaid with the equalizer, which is pretty standard at this point, and unachievable if you’re using your phone as your spectrograph. The few apps that look like they have put serious thought into mobile based analysis are in the range of $20— not really expensive in the scheme of things, but pricey for an app— , and still only provide tools that I can get on a laptop (where I can actually interface with most sound systems and I can have more control) for free. I don’t know. Many of the apps are well rated, so maybe I’m missing something. It just doesn’t seem practical.
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