Roland Hemming approaches 30 years of
industry experience having managed two of
Europe’s largest audio projects and helping the
industry with the latest technology and ideas.second fi x
fVIEWPOINT
52 APRIL 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
Transitioning to install from live events
Roland Hemming discusses the business of installations...“Live event systems each bring in their own ecosystem of connected
equipment, whereas install is increasingly about integrating different
systems together.. .”
C
I’m writing this as we are in the middle of the COVID-19
pandemic, where we are all in lockdown and the live
entertainment industry has been, temporarily I hope,
devastated.
The vast majority of physical installation schemes have
stopped too, but those projects are currently being affected
quite differently to live events. The long-term nature of projects
means there is still a lot of work being done - we can still design,
plan and discuss. In fact, the on-site part of a project is often
quite short in comparison to all the planning and engineering
done in advance.
With the current changes to the world, a number of live
engineers have reached out to me to see if this is the time to
move away from live events and into the world of installations.
In order to do that, what would they need to know in order to
make that transition?
Let me explain how it happened to me. In the 1990s, I was
a live sound engineer and my move to install was accidental
and took a number of years. I was offered some work fitting out
cruise ships. The learning curve was very steep; I knew how
to design systems but not how permanent installs were put
together. The legendary Richard Vickers helped me out and
explained things like using steel racks and not flightcases, and
the different standards of cable we had to use. Over a period
of about five years, I moved over entirely from live events to
installation projects.SAME, BUT DIFFERENT
Before learning the differences between these sister activities,
it’s worth looking at what is the same. You’ll still work with
people of differing abilities, from the highly-skilled to those who
have no idea what you do. Project teams are also made up of
employees and freelancers. Just like in the live sector, you may
find yourself working in a particular niche, as many work in
two or three types of project - conference rooms, performance
areas, museums, etc. My experience of people who have done
events is that they have a proactive ‘can-do’ attitude, which is
extremely helpful. In addition, live sound people are really good
at commissioning audio systems, because they have tuned and
set up systems countless more times than people who have
worked only on installs. They’ll make an install sound better and
more quickly.
Moving into installation work can also be, well, strange. To
me, the biggest difference was cultural. Whilst installs need
to stick to deadlines, those dates do sometimes shift and the
whole process is much more process-driven. This is especially
true on new construction projects working with builders. There
is a procedure to follow; designs have
to reach different stages before being
costed and approved. There are value-
engineering phases. Documentation
is normally more onerous than for
live events. You have to submit far
more detail about the systems you are
installing and calculate power, heat,sizes and other data unrelated to the performance of the actual
system.
A key difference with installations is software. A huge
number of installs involve some degree of custom programming- signal processing, control systems, networking, and
connections to IT networks. Live event systems each bring in
their own ecosystem of connected equipment, whereas install
is increasingly about integrating different systems together.
Connectors are different; we are rarely allowed to solder on-
site, so there are few XLRs and much more terminal block
connections. Of course, every system should be labelled, but
installs tend to do this far more comprehensively - so get used
to being more pedantic if you want to enter this sector.
LEARN AND ADJUST
Whilst you have to work hard, the hours themselves are kinder
than live events. There is still sometimes the last-minute
scramble to get a project completed on-site, but overall the
hours are much more like office hours with little weekend
working. Even on site, you’ll normally work shorter days than on
a show, and sometimes may not even be able to access a site at
weekends.
There are a number of different personalities you’ll meet on
projects. In addition to the project manager, you’ll interface
with mechanical and electrical consultants, electricians and
architects. You’ll need to get certifications to work on building
sites, which is easy to do but just another one of the many
chores that installs asks you to do, rather than doing your
real job.
In terms of transition of skills, it depends on what you want
to do, but learning about CAD is helpful. On the technology
side, it’s useful to understand computer networks, digital
audio networking and DSP programming. There are a number
of system control systems out there that you can learn to
programme but at the very least need to have an understanding
of. You may also want to learn about acoustic modelling and
there are electro-acoustic design tools from the simple to ones
that take months to master. If you do audio, then learning about
video is also helpful as many projects expect you to do both.
If you are interested in making the switch, reach out to a
company that designs or carries out installations and see if they
are happy to chat. The installation industry is lacking skills in
some areas, so it might prove worthwhile chasing a few people.
Whether it’s an event or an installation, projects are still
mostly put together by large, diverse teams. The real difference
with install is there is less of a sense of everyone being in this
together. The electricians won’t care if it sounds good, whereas
on an event most departments are
aware of the quality of the overall
show. The major difference is the lack
of excitement of the curtain going up.
Installation work is just as challenging
and complex, with every system being
different, but you’ll never have a tingle
on the back of your neck. I