Live-sound engineers get called a lot of things —some printable, and some not. But when a young slacker walked up to Claudia Engelhart during a soundcheck and said, “You must be the soundman chick, ” she took it as a mark of distinction.

We first met Claudia while she was on tour with jazz guitar giant, Bill Frisell. The superb FOH sound she delivered in an obviously challenging room bowled us over, and after the show we went over to compliment her on a job well done.  

As we talked, her strong audio savvy became more and more apparent, and we got up the nerve to ask if she’d be willing to share her knowledge right here on our website. Despite her busy schedule, she gladly agreed, and we got to work capturing her insights.

We ended up with a couple of hours of video with Claudia getting down to the nitty gritty of all things audio. There are segments on miking instruments and amps, EQing and tuning a room, using processing, managing the complexities of soundchecks (and what to do if there’s no time for one), live recording, working with producers and much more.

But these aren’t dry instructional videos. In her easy-going style, Claudia lays it all on the table as if she was talking with you over a beer. We’re excited to have Claudia with us and hope you’ll take advantage of the rare opportunity to learn from a true master of her craft.

Claudia Engelhart has been a professional live-sound engineer for the past 24 years. Besides working with Bill Frisell for the last 18 years, Claudia has toured extensively with such renowned artists as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, Dave Holland, Grover Washington Jr., David Sylvian, John Scofield, Medeski Martin & Wood, John Zorn, The Kronos Quartet, Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, Fred Frith, Eddie Palmieri, Willie Colon, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim and many others.

We'll be presenting these conversations
by posting videos every few weeks. Keep checking this page for new releases.