Uskudar American Academy 2022 Talent Show - Front of House Mix

PROJECT DETAILS

Date: December 2022

Location: İstanbul, Türkiye

I was responsible for setting up sound equipment including microphones and monitor speakers for a concert consisting of multiple large bands, a choir, solo artists and non-musician performers.

Due to the nature of the venue (the school auditorium), some microphones and the subwoofer had to be reconnected to the desk, which I also did. This was relatively easy as I had helped with the setup of the auditorium when the sound system was renovated in 2018.

Below is my post on LinkedIn about the event:

I wanted to end the year by posting about the last live sound gig I mixed this year, because it holds a special place.

The first time I ever touched a mixing desk (to actually use it, not to play with it) was at Üsküdar Amerikan Lisesi / Üsküdar American Academy for a sailing convention in 2017. Nothing to do with music, but that was my way in. Not long after that the auditorium got renovated and I had a chance to help out with installing the microphones and speakers. For the first major event with the new systems, I was alone in the sound booth. We survived.

Then I slowly became one of the “auditorium guys”, helping out with all kinds of events because I could and because I was good at it. Together with Derviş Can Bozyap we took the annual “talent show”s to a whole new level by improving the sound mix every year, pushing the tools we had to the absolute maximum. I looked forward to these every year because I absolutely loved turning the chaos of rehearsals to more of an organised chaos.

My friends know I always said I would come back at least once to mix these shows after I graduated and finally, last week, I did.

Over two days, together with the amazing music department, we put together one of the best stage setups the school has ever seen. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun, and the result was an amazing atmosphere and an amazing concert.

I’m so happy that we managed to do this in such a short notice, and I hope we gave the musicians and the audience a memorable experience.

All I have from the two days are these three pictures and a video. These don’t even come close to fully capturing everything we did, but I know what we did and I’m proud of it.

I’m looking forward to more of these in even bigger settings in 2023.