Keepin’ it real in the hip-hop world can present challenges that a sound tech in an opera house just wouldn’t encounter. Just ask sound man TW (Tonderick Watkins) whose talents have been called upon by everyone from Wyclef Jean and Busta Rhymes to Destiny’s Child and Peabo Bryson. Recently back from England, he took a little time out to look back at his sixteen-year career and offer some sage advice.
I’m in between gigs for two acts – one is Chaka Kahn and the other is Big Boi of Outkast.
Did you start out in sound? How did your career happen?
I played drums with a band in high school. When I returned from Alabama after a year away at college to attend a local school, I hooked up with the band again. By that time, they had another drummer so I offered to be their soundman just to be able to hang out with them.
How much did you know about audio back then?
I knew nothing about electronics in the beginning. I didn’t know that much about music either, since I only played drums a little. But that was my first paying gig as a sound tech. Later on, I went to Germany on a month-long tour with the S.O.S Band, handling monitors.
What’s the most important thing you learned, from then until now?
You’ve got to keep on learning. The gear will always change and there is no one right way to do anything.
Obviously, you’ve found yourself in the presence of some of the most exalted hip-hop and R&B artists on the scene today. Take us back, though, to one of your worst gigs. Got a story for us?
My worst gig was for a group that was only together for one album. The band was a cross between hip-hop. R&B and a ParliamentFunkadelic-type group, and had one of the biggest producers in the industry. We did a showcase for the label at a 1000-seat theater in Atlanta for L.A. Reid and Babyface of LaFace Records. Grace Jones was there to check the band out, too.
The system wasn’t capable of handling the sound the group wanted. It lacked any kind of processing – there was one verb but no gates and no comps. The place was packed. The band was turned up to 10, the singers were cuffing the mics like a doctor checking a patient’s tonsils, the monitors were too loud – no matter what I did, it felt like it didn’t make a difference. The behavior onstage was even worse – one guy was chugging a 40-ounce beer, another guy was completely naked on a dare… just all kinds of wild behavior that had me and the audience in awe. I thought I was gonna be fired, but after the show, the production manager said that I was great and Grace Jones thought the band was fantastic. The only change they were going to make was in getting a new sound system.
What about a high point?
That goes back to high school when we were the house band at a club. On this particular night, we opened for a headliner with a Number One hit. These guys were only using 20 channels of a brand new Yamaha PM3000 mixer. We asked to use it for our set, but they refused. So we pulled out our old Biamp mixer and stole the show. When the headliners came out, the crowd booed and wanted us to come back onstage. The audience thought we sounded ”just like the record” on the cover tunes we were doing. The headliner didn’t even sound like their own stuff. That’s the one for me.
| 1. | Get a good sound system with plenty of headroom and lots of bottom. |
| 2. | Find a console that you like. |
| 3. | Make sure you have good outboard gear, like compressors, gates and effects. |
| 4. | Shure microphones. |
| 5. | Work with a good band. I always say “A good sound engineer is only as good as the system and the band.” |
First of all, get all the information you can on the gear that you’ll be using.
Second, start from the bottom and pay attention.
Third, work with a local band that plays clubs on weekends. A club is one of the best places to state because you learn to solve problems like – where to put the P.A. or how to deal with volume levels. Three long sets give you enough time to experiment, something you don’t get in big live shows.
Fourth, learn how to do monitors. You will learn frequencies fast.
Where are you headed next?
Right now, I’m with a production team that’s doing a lot of good stuff. I’m hoping it will lead me to more studio work.
Well, thanks for sharing. We’ll stay in touch with Artist Relations to monitor your performance.
No problem.
Shure Notes readers can contact TW via e-mail at myriadentgrp@bellsouth.net. To check out TW’s tracks, visit www.soundclick.com/thecouncil.
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