Audio 101
“I see Six Drunken Scottish dudes, who smell because they haven’t taken a bath in a week. All of a sudden, I’m their best friend.”
Sound like a line from a Tarantino movie or perhaps an excerpt from one of Hunter S. Thompson’s psychotropic-induced novels?
Neither.
It’s but one experience taken from the pages of Mike Fortunato’s 20-years as a Music A2.
We sat down with Mike and discussed his career in the music can zoloft get you high industry as an Audio Assist to the Audio Engineer, more commonly known in the industry as A2. He shared his knowledge, experiences, some memorable, some not so memorable and even a few unmentionable.
Mike Fortunato
So what exactly is an A2?
“Well, an A2 in general is the A1’s (broadcast audio engineer’s) assistant. And a music A2, would be the broadcast music mixer’s assistant” Mike explains.
The music A1 mixes the vocals, instruments and any other elements associated with a music performance, very much like a recording engineer mixes an album.
A broadcast A1’s responsibility is to mix all the elements associated with the show, including the band’s mixed music track coming from the music A1.
“I don’t know how I did the music thing, it kind of just happened… “
His humble and easy-going approach is but one ingredient in the formula that has led to his career’s longevity, and to the demand that keeps him constantly working.
His very first broadcast industry gig was as an A2 as part of an Electronic Field Production team, aka EFP, covering local sports teams. He picked up more freelance work with various New York City media outlets, made some phone calls, found connections and then recommendations got his name out there.
And then along came MTV and its popular daily music show TRL, Total Request Live. Mike’s duties were, to mic-up the show hosts as well as the daily, steady stream of who’s-who in the music and entertainment world. TRL kept him busy with steady “permalance” work. It’s an abbreviation for “permanent freelancer”, an unofficially delegated, oxymoronic title that would only make sense to those working in this crazy industry. Mike fit right in. His work ethic and attention to detail opened doors where none existed before. He was given the opportunity to be a music A2.
“I guess since I could play the guitar, I figured out how to mic up a band, and I just got better at it.”
On the job training, baptism by fire, or call it by whatever you’d like, his skills and laid-back style led him to assisting in the set up of the music Lexapro performances. It smelled of opportunity. He followed his senses, and by osmosis, learned the trade, his skill-set grew. Perseverance and hard work rarely go unnoticed and neither did his reputation.
“Hey, use that Mike guy, he knows his thing. It’s all about who you know” Mike quotes the masses as he offers his own pearl of wisdom.
Bigger names, major concerts, different types of music, word got around.
One day he is micing the Italian Tenor, Andrea Bocelli in Central Park, next day he’s at the generic viagra Live Earth Concert making sure performances from names like Alicia Keys, Bon Jovi, Dave Mathews, The Police, all go off without a hitch.
“Twenty bands. Two-day concert. I was quarterbacking that whole thing. Crazy. (It was like a) Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert“.
Whether it’s a 100’ x 100’ concert stage, or a 10’ x 10’ TV studio band area, Mike’s comfort level and experience kept him busy. His talent, experience and connections in the live and the TV world landed him steady work on Saturday Night Live.
SNL first aired in 1975, and is still one of NBC’s most successful and longest running programs. A show of this caliber has very little room for error. Technical and production aspects have to be flawless. The high benchmark for perfection was the reason for the recent multi-million dollar upgrade. A Studer Vista 8 and Lavo music mixing consoles were important parts of the studio’s recent makeover.
This high demand for perfection is what makes the relationship between the music A1 and A2 so crucial. Communication and being in synch has to exist. Knowing their roles and executing them are vital.
“I get the input list, band, stage plot, the mic list, and I’m given instructions by the Audio engineer to use specific mics, on specific instruments.”
Micing a band is not as simple as he makes it sound. Each individual instrument and vocals have their own mics, and there are various mics to chose from. The drums will actually have several dedicated mics. The snare drum, kick, cymbals, and cowbells will all have their own.
Choosing which mic for which instrument can be both, a specific science and a music mixer and performer’s personal preference. Regardless of the types of mics, the principals are the same.
The hard-wired and wireless mics, the 18 channels of Pro-Tools, which is quickly becoming part of most band’s equipment repertoire, and any other sound sources that output a signal get plugged into individual inputs on a stage box. The number of inputs can vary based on need.
“The Barbara Streisand show, I think was 127 channels. Andrea Bocelli in Central Park, I think it was 160 something channels! Huge f#cking orchestra.”
From the stage box the signal hits a splitter where 3 mirror images of the inputted signals are created. One leg of the split goes to the monitor mixer, one to the house mixer and the other to the music A1.
“The mixer guy sends whatever the band is hearing on stage, the audience hears the house mix, the music A1 mixes the music, and sends it to the show’s (broadcast) A1 who sends it to air”.
Audio Control Console @ SNL
SNL rehearses the comedy sketches all week, and dedicates two days for the music performances. During those two days a lot happens, and can happen. On paper it may all seem very straightforward, but sometimes the tech setup has to take a back seat to conflict resolution.
“The band will come in and they’ll tell me “ here’s our inputs, we don’t use your mics we have our own”, then I’ll go to the show music director, and he’ll say “no, those mics suck,” and then I go back and fight with them and say, “oh no he wants to use these, blah, blah, blah, so that’s an hour right there!”
Mike walks that fine-line between technical necessities and careful handling of the bands and their crews. So what is the secret of starting a working relationship on the right foot?
“Make nice with all the roadies.”
If any issues arise before or during the sound check, the band and the crew need to have full confidence in the A2’s ability. They need to know that if any issues arise, they’ll find the problem, and fix it.
Even if setup, and sound check go well, Murphy’s Law still applies, because what can go wrong, will go wrong.
“They decided, for some reason, that they needed two bands on one night. Foo Fighters and Bon Jovi ,on the same show, which is a recipe for disaster. Foo Fighters come out, they play, then Bon Jovi comes out and they try to save his settings on the monitor mix, it all went away. So on a live show, he (Bon Jovi) had no monitors, he played on live TV with no monitors. Big Problem.”
Mike explains that regardless of the fact that there may be problems during the setup, problems are quickly, cooperatively addressed or that one of the mics craps out , but is replaced seconds before air, or that one of the “Six drunken Scottish dudes” hightailed back to his hotel room to take a bubble bath, and someone picked up the slack, hence cooperation and communication are vital in these situations. There’s great satisfaction knowing that your efforts and actions were part of yet another successful episode in a piece of TV Americana history.
One hour and thirty minutes after hearing “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”, what is it that gives Mike Fortunato the greatest satisfaction?
“When everyone hugs at cvs pharmacy online application the end. When they say this is the best TV experience I’ve ever had… I just heard that. When the bands and roadies and me can all hug after a show… that’s it., there’s nothing better”.
And that’s what it’s like to be Oh So Fortunato…
