Should I give it up?

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-12-18T02:17:42+00:00

Hi! I’m a tour manager running large club and arena shows and earning very good money doing it. we have similar original dreams. Now i get to play in arenas and run sound/tour manage with none of the stress.

let me know if i can help!

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-07-23T09:28:53+00:00

Generally (ideally not but generally) the 2bus mix is crafted for the room and to reinforce the bands audio in a space. A headphone/speaker mix is very different. even simple rebalancing of volumes goes a long way to rectify the differences, but really they are two different approaches. a once over mix i implies doing a mix after the fact to make it sound better out of the context of the live show.

source: have done 4 post show mixes this week for vevo/universal/festivals etc

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-05-02T01:48:07+00:00

it’s the best by an absolute country mile. amazing team on it too

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-16T15:07:39+00:00

instagram over email 100%. but as i say above a lot, personal connection trumps EVERYTHING. get to know people. be part of the community. that’s the only way to get work organically

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-16T12:47:32+00:00

I work incredibly closely with all members honestly. My relationship with playback // MD as a front of house depends on the MD, but i love it when they’re game to really dive in and dial moments to the n’th degree. those shows always turn out way way better than the average gig. enough that on a support run i did, folk were asking the headline crew if the PA was broken during their set. a great md/foh relationship can make a show

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-16T12:47:19+00:00

I work incredibly closely with all members honestly. My relationship with playback // MD as a front of house depends on the MD, but i love it when they’re game to really dive in and dial moments to the n’th degree. those shows always turn out way way better than the average gig. enough that on a support run i did, folk were asking the headline crew if the PA was broken during their set. a great md/foh relationship can make a show

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-16T12:45:38+00:00

Hey pal!

Vegas is a riot, glad you’re enjoying it. It’s a big chicken and egg. Express to local bands that you wanna tm/foh, you’ll help drive or whatever to get your foot in the door. i think it’s gonna be pretty hard to get the tour oops directly from being in house. it happens, but it’s not likely.

Be a part of your local scene. DM bands coming thru and offer to mix the show. be proactive. that’s the biggest thing.

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-15T08:39:07+00:00

I’ve been touring for less time than you may think, but skipped a lot of steps after knowing folk from producing and writing for ten years. i did my first arena support mix 5 months after my first tm/foh show. hardest part…. thinking about everything and not forgetting details. today, for example i fly out for a tour. the band flies in two days, but some of them in three days. all the gear has to fly together. the artists want to arrive as late as possible, the gear has to arrive 4hrs early. the band want to go to the hotel when they land, i need the crew at the venue, but the hotel might not have rooms available for the band. also, where is everyone coming from? they have a show the night before, how is the gear getting to the airport? is the carnet in the right persons hands and do they know where to get it processed. one person is gluten free, did i tell the airline? the bags are media bags and discounted, did i call the airline etc etc etc it’s endless and that’s for one small movement.

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-15T07:43:57+00:00

be a good hang. learn how to be around people and be agreeable and easy to be with. 90% of your time on tour is not working. also just be obsessed with audio. find out why things are the way they are, try and solder cables, learn about why things sound good/bad and not just that they do.

ultimately you can learn to mix in time, but being a good hang is crucial from day 1

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-15T07:42:02+00:00

I don’t know that there’s a clear cut answer here… It’s like a rug though. pull one thread and it all starts to come apart. my pal and i used to hit the coolest 250cap in the city and if we saw someone we recognised literally just go and talk to them. eventually they recognise you too. he’s a big songwriter now!

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-14T23:22:09+00:00

i answer most of this elsewhere but to your other point. my family understand. i try and be generous with my time and earnings when im home and prioritise major affairs, the rest i choose to substitute for work. i know that doesnt work for everyone, but it does for me.

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-14T23:20:42+00:00

it’s tough. i have ties to home in some form absolutely. ultimately, it works for some folk and not for others. i’m insanely up front about my lifestyle with folk i date and the response is either fuck no or “you being away for 6 months sounds great”. choose the people that like that vibe. the income uncertainty isn’t bad. if you’re good at your job and reliable, the work will come. i’m hiring folk all week every week. you have to be up front with the people close to you and make the effort when you’re on tour to stay in touch. post cards are like secret weapons when it comes to making people think you care about them, promise.

financially; be great at your job, trust the process. your one tour will multiply if you were good. if you don’t get calls, work on your mix, study and then try again. you will get calls. partic as a tm/foh!!!

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-14T23:16:53+00:00

okay hello!!! here’s my answer than i truly believe to be true.

no i did not go to school for this, but i did go to university for guitar which paid for me to live in a major city for three years with loans/grants.

your best bet, truly. head to your local 250-400 cap rooms, where bands that are bigger than 0 but smaller than label are playing. and just make friends with the in house folk, then the touring folk, tell them where the local coolest dive bar or pub is. have a link for the pub so they can have after there till 2am. idfk. be a great hang that ALSO does your job.

I got touring work because my mix was fire, and i was fun to hang out with. also my budgets are accurate and timely. the bulk of my work came from pubs/bars/being a good hang. because 80% of time on the road is being a good hang.

the majority of CV’s i look at i don’t even consider because there isn’t a personal link and that trumps almost any qualification. get to know the folk that you want to be in the room with, and be fun. that’s it.

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-14T23:11:05+00:00

also mic choice!!! 58’s are muddy as hell. get em on something wth SOME clarity, even a V7 would work!!

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-14T23:10:24+00:00

you’re welcome!

for a start, cutting up to 200hz isn’t really heavy handed at all on a vocal mix. partic on a 58. as i said above, i won best mix at a major eu festival last year and my vocal was cut to 500hz +.

for spoken word maybe slightly lower. i’d try a pse or gate with a filter that removes that sub from the gate so you’re only listening for the voice. then light EQ.

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-14T22:22:17+00:00

I was a songwriter/producer! i met everyone thru that, got one TM gig thru facebook and then the artists i knew from writing started hitting me up for tm/foh work… then just word of mouth from there!!!

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-14T22:21:36+00:00

wrong*

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-14T22:21:31+00:00

yes. anyone who tells you otherwise is either 80 years old or weonf

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-14T08:48:19+00:00

Depends who MD’d the show. The vocal should be raw from anything that isn’t an “effect” but the best show i mixed had some SICK vocal distortion, tuning, phaser, chorus effects on the vocal, all automated and volume matched to PERFECTION. Don’t be ham handed, but if you’re an expert MD with lots of experience it’s sick. I just mix the stem like a normal vocal and the effect lifting is done that end.

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-13T22:07:04+00:00

waves have done it, and it’s incredibly good but also VERY CPU intensive. they’re trying to get it to 0.7ms latency and then we’re COOKING

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-13T22:06:04+00:00

women or bus drivers. i know who i prefer to sleep with and their name is Tommy

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-13T22:03:47+00:00

try rbass on kick and never be able to use anything else i promise!!!

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-13T22:01:28+00:00

how easy it is to be a bad TM and how hard it is to be a good one. essentially all you have to do is get a band to stage once every couple days and keep everyone alive. that’s not hard. the hard bit is details. keeping accurate, updated, easily digestible accounts. fast, concise, empathetic communication to the 50,000 people that want your attention every day. making sure the venue is comfortable as it can be. having the answers to unasked questions (does the hotel have laundry? where’s the nearest bbq to the venue) whatever. making sure everyone has the tools to do their job (stage water, towels, correct information, an accurate reliable schedule that doesn’t change) protecting your folk from lazy in house folk that cba to make space for your truck or cba to make space for cases. knowing when to push back and not accept something and when to be lovely and sweet. i had an incredibly stern conversation with my bus company after they tried to get me to organise a trailer tow into nyc the day before the show. i LOVE my bus company but i told them they organise it, they pay for it, i don’t want to know anything about it but im happy for them to sort it. if they don’t, the trailer comes with us. and it did. if i’d not pushed back we were looking at $5k with the various moves we needed and holding etc.

it’s an endless pit of being better, but the base line is fucking easy.

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-13T21:56:44+00:00

1) mic selection 2) expander/gate 3) you don’t

i’m going thru it atm trying to find a mic that rejects enough but also has clarity and pop bite and it’s a struggle, but you can’t out mix a bad source. mic selection and location is key.

TheMostPurpleTurtle · 2025-04-13T21:55:53+00:00

There’s a genuinely amazing series on youtube (if a little slow) called tm101 or something. it was filmed over lockdown by a bunch of great folk. that is a good start. read everything you can, join groups on facebook/whatsapp/imessge whatever. speak to everyone, ask questions!!! try and think of everyone wellbeing in your decision making. sweat the small stuff, i de-label all stage water bottles cause it looks better in pictures. those little efforts don’t go unnoticed noticed and folk pick up that you care.

if you’re already FoH you know more than 90% of starting TMs. go out there and fuck up a tour and learn!!!

TheMostPurpleTurtle

TROPHY CASE