Live Performance

Hopefully any major difficulties have been dealt with during the sound-check, although minor adjustments are often necessary.

The engineer's will usually use the beginning of the performance to check channels and levels, and will try to introduce any changes that may be needed as inconspicuously as possible. Many minor oversights are possible (a channel may have been muted accidentally, or a performer may have forgotten to switch something on or plug something in). In large scale multi-performer productions the possibilities are multiplied: wires and microphones can get mixed, and finding what has caused a problem is not always straightforward.

Usually, however, there isn't a problem (or, if there is, the crew will get it fixed quickly and unobtrusively, if they are left to it: generally an engineer will find out why he can't hear the keyboard much more quickly if he isn't interrupted by someone telling him they can't hear the keyboard. If he looks busy, leave him alone!).

If the performers need adjustments to their monitor settings, they should tell the monitor or main engineer during a break in the performance, rather than rely on gestures (which can be easily overlooked or misinterpreted).