Sound Mind | Artist-Specific Sound Engineering

After a year of freelancing and engineering at various gigs around town I have began to realize that there is a huge wealth of music and performance talent in Kenya; Nairobi specifically, in fact, much more than you might think. I also realize that people are now generally more willing to pay more for this type of entertainment.

But as I have stated before, we are still miles behind as compared to the international music scene when it comes to technical skill on lights and sound and basically all the small components that actually make a show a SHOW! And this is not because we do not have the equipment or the means to get the right equipment and facilities, but the skill behind putting these things together is lacking.
The other thing I notice is that yes, we do have a few popular artists who have won awards here and there and get loads of gigs and air-play etc., however I do believe we do not yet have bonafide Kenyan Superstars. Taking nothing away from the few who have worked hard to become heroes, role models and trend setters in Kenya, I still believe that in the next 10 to 20 years (or even sooner) there will be still space for young artists to go far beyond what we have ever seen in the Kenyan music and entertainment industry!
Yes, there are a few things that will go into making or creating such artists including training and development of talent, cut-throat business & marketing strategies, new business models and PR for music and entertainment that will give us an edge and make Kenyans competitive on an international stage. All these things will play a part.

But if I may so humbly suggest that one of the biggest parts of this (if not the biggest) will be performance and presentation!
You all remember that one Coldplay, Jay-Z or Beyoncé gig you watched and thought, “OMG this is it!” and many artists including the late great MJ had that one album, gig, music video that propelled them to the stratosphere of superstardom!
I believe there a quite a few Kenyan artists or musicians even DJ’s that are capable of creating these kinds of spectacles, if I may call them, in their live performances!
The technical side of achieving this is really important and more attention to detail on the audio visual side needs to be observed. To create the ultimate Kenyan Superstar; sound and visual display need to be taken more seriously than they have been in the past.

This is one of the reasons I have created Sound Mind. As well as working on music production, mixing and film scoring I am also taking the next step with live sound and looking for artists who understand this and how important their live sound is for them.
Artist specific sound and engineering will take the industry to the next level!
And it would be my pleasure to be a part of creating bonafide Kenyan Superstars. I intend to achieve this through the skill and knowledge I have gained over the past few years working for and with some of the best in the industry.

It is time to do what it takes to get us to the next level!

LongHorn ([(-_-)])

Live Sound – The Kenyan Tale Part One: The Problem?

As many of you might know, other than my passion for studios, recoding gibberish and rock and roll; live sound is one of my main things.
this is also known as being the ‘sound man’, ‘sound engineer’, ‘manning the desk’ or in this part of the world, the ‘technician’ and sometimes mistaken for the ‘dj’; feel free to add to my list!

Live sound engineering is like being an audio traffic cop. Typically, a musical group will direct a variety of sounds at the audience, usually through amplifiers. These different sounds must be managed correctly to make sure the audience receives what the group is sending. Managing these sounds is concert sound engineering. (http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/live-sound-engineering1.htm)

I HAVE HAD IT! And I am totally disgusted by the sound quality we here in Kenya are giving audiences, weather in live concerts or live music on TV to small unplugged gigs! It is ridiculous! And I say this because ignorance is no longer an excuse!
Put it this way, we are all human beings, and the matter between our ears is exactly the same! We have the talent in Kenya as far as artists and performers go! World class talent I tell you! We have aces to quality equipment, audio and lighting gear! But most importantly we have access to INFORMATION.

I will support this by saying that we see the quality brought by international artist at many gigs in Kenya. But why is it that the half dozen local opening acts (that are brilliant as artists in their own right) offer a poor so that, yes, as cliché as it ‘sounds’, BLAME IT ON THE POOR SOUND! Why does this happen time and time again. How can something as important as sound have such low priority? Even from the basic organizational level? For a music concert especially? Ai?
do we never notice the 10-15 minutes the main international act takes before coming on stage and the ‘punky’ looking guy that goes on stage moves things around, presses a few buttons on the board, and alas! Then we all ask ourselves why they sounded so different from the local acts?

- never let your reputation overshadow your performance -

This is something my father told me and I feel it applies to many things including this. We must realize that sound engineering is an essential part of the performance because an artist is their sound. Their sound is their sound man!

Make your sound a priority.
LongHorn ([(-_-)])