Ever wonder what it’s like to mix sound at Madison Square Garden for the first time without as much as a line check, let alone a proper sound check? In Episode 273, front of house engineer Ben Ivey shares his thrilling experience doing just that for country artist Warren Zeiders. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.

Ben also talks about his journey from learning church sound alongside his sound engineer dad to balancing life on and off the road, mixing sound for top acts that include Zeiders, TI, and Killer Mike, why empathy and talent both play crucial roles in engineering, and more. In addition to his work at FOH, he’s a production manager and consultant who’s worked with a variety of artists, including country, pop, rock, hip-hop, and gospel music. He’s toured arenas, stadiums, theaters, clubs, ballrooms, TV shows, and tons of festivals over the years.

Other clients include Megan Moroney, Lily Rose, Priscilla Block, Elle King, Trace Atkins, Eli Young Band, T-Pain, Lil Baby, Maverick City Music, LANY, Jason Upton, and Simply Irresistible. Most recently, he just got off the road with the Beautifully Broken tour with Jelly Roll, where he had the opportunity to mix in venues including Madison Square Garden, the Staples Center, and TD Garden for country artist Warren Zeiders.

Episode Links:
Ben Ivey Website, on Instagram, and on LinkedIn
Warren Zeiders on Jimmy Kimmel Live
STN Episode 245: Kenny Barnwell on Maintaining Healthy Relationships When Working Away From Home
Episode 273 Transcript

Be sure to check out the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:

1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to signal2noise@prosoundweb.com with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”

2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there

Let’s get down to shackles and eyebolts in Episode 272, as riggers Siobhan Colleen and Katrina Puleo join the show to demystify rigging. Whether it’s a ballroom or an arena, Siobhan and Katrina share their vast experience of what to look out for and how to make life easier and safer for you, your rigging team, and the rest of the production. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.

Siobhan Colleen is an entertainment and live events professional with a background in rigging, fall protection, rescue, and safety. She is formerly the national assistant director of safety and training for Rhino Staging. Currently, she is taking a sabbatical to finish earning her degrees in management information systems and cybersecurity. She also volunteers for ESTA and the Event Safety Alliance. Fun fact: Siobhan created an intro to ground rigging video series for Area Four Industries which can be viewed here.

Katrina Puleo is an entertainment production rigger who began her training in the Orlando, FL area, was based in Las Vegas since the end of 2012, and most recently relocated to Lititz, PA. A graduate of the University of Central Florida’s schools of Theatre & Film (with dual degrees), she is ETCP Arena Rigging Certified, CM Pro Tech/Road Tech Certified, Sprat Rope Access Certified & holds a current OSHA 30. She has been working in the industry professionally for the last 18 years and most recently has held head/lead rigging positions for festivals, one-offs and corporate shows. Over the years she has worked as a rigging technician/lead rigging technician for Universal Studios Florida, as an on-call house figger for the Orange County Convention Center (in Orlando, FL), as well as on two Cirque Du Soleil resident shows, Zarkanna and MJ One for 6-plus years. She also continues to work as both a head rigger/assistant head rigger in multiple areas to continue to develop more diversified skills that shw hopes to eventually transition them fully into Rigging Design & Project Management.

Katrina loves cooking, hiking, her cats, comic books, movies and snowboarding during the season. Currently she is excited to be able to give back and participate in rigging educational programs that have asked her to help instruct as well as continuing to work on her book project. She feels strongly that a solid foundation in any specialty is very important and she enjoys passing along skills to those interested and eager to become both riggers and/or more well rounded theatrical/film/festival technicians.

Episode Links:
Siobhan Colleen Area Four Industries Video Series
Entertainment Rigging By Harry Donovan
Episode 272 Transcript

Be sure to check out the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests,

In Episode 271, Sean sits down with Nikki Sanz, founder and CEO of Giggs, a platform designed to revolutionize how professionals in the live event industry hire, find work, and connect — essentially a LinkedIn for our word-of-mouth, niche market. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.

After working with a diverse range of clients including Live Nation, the Ryman Auditorium, CMA Fest, and touring with Eric Church, Nikki pivoted from the “gigxiety” and challenges of both finding gigs for herself and staffing other positions to taking the leap to do something proactive about it, and Giggs was the result. Since launching in April 2024, it has welcomed more that 16,000 users and 650 companies, helping them find each other across all facets of the live event industry, from concert touring to corporate.

Episode Links:
Giggs
Giggs Podcast
Giggs Blog
Giggs On Instagram
Giggs On Facebook
Episode 271 Transcript

Be sure to check out the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!

Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”

The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.

Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:

1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to signal2noise@prosoundweb.com with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”
2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there