Me at front of house of 'The Prom'@alinaberger_I'm a part-time audio engineer with over ten years of experience in musical theater and concerts, often for complex shows with 100+ inputs. My day job is as a software developer and consultant.

Trained on or experienced with

  • QLab
  • Logic Pro
  • Yamaha Rivage
  • d&b T-/Y-/V-Series
  • Dante Level 3

Musical theater

I've mixed 58 shows for the nonprofit Musical Inc. e.V. in Mainz, which I joined in 2019 as the audio lead. Productions usually consist of a cast of around 40, all individually mic'd, and a pit orchestra of roughly 15, including Brass, Reeds, and Strings. My duties include technical planning, preprogramming, and sound design. Beginning with my second production, I took over as the tech lead and am, as of 2023, leading the whole nonprofit. With 100+ channels and almost as many cues, the productions are technically challenging and push my skills every year.

Moritz Mahringer, as lead of the tech team, proves his precision. The sound is optimal, and with a bold use of volume, neither soloists, orchestra, nor the ensemble is drowned out.

In 2019, we started on a maxed-out Soundcraft Vi400 console with 96 inputs and 32 busses. Back then, we used a combination of shotgun choir mics and headsets. In 2022, we switched to a Yamaha Rivage PM7, for which I did in-person training. Rivage has been my favorite platform thus far and has only increased in capability with recent updates such as scene-based fader-layer assignments and Genius.LAB macros. We're running 42 channels of Axient Digital over Dante directly into the console, plus up to 64 channels of analog audio from the pit orchestra, backstage choir, and other sources. We use Waves SoundGrid for virtual soundcheck, as it allows for up to 128 channels of connectivity without a PCIe or other hardware interface—clicks and playback run on a shared QLab session with surround output. Our band uses Behringer P16 in-ear monitoring mixers. We use a flown d&b Y-Series array with array processing and XSL-Subs.

'Stay, I Pray You' from 'Anastasia' in 2024

Anastasia

Musical Inc. e.V. in 2024

Picture by @alinaberger_

'This is America' from 'Made in Dagenham' in 2022

Made in Dagenham

Musical Inc. e.V. in 2022

Picture by @alinaberger_

I've also been booked as an operator or to do all audio planning and preparation for one-off shows and other productions. I've always done sound design and SFX production for shows and increasingly do sys-tech duties. I prefer to mix by hand, relying entirely on DCA automation and my script, but I have recently started incorporating QLab-based timecode automation for shows with little rehearsal time.

Production 'Das Erbe der Dämmerung' by StageFactory e.V. in 2023

Das Erbe der Dämmerung

StageFactory e.V. in 2023

Musical Gala by KulturScheune Herborn e.V.

KuSch Company musical gala

KulturScheune Herborn e.V. in 2022

Because of my day job, I can't do as many shows as I'd like as an operator. However, I'm still interested in doing short runs, working as a cover, or for preprogramming jobs. I'd also love to expand my experience as a sound designer. If you're interested, please reach out.

Concerts

Since graduating high school, where I focused exclusively on theater audio, I have mixed a variety of bands, primarily at fairs, parties, and small venues. These gigs were often improvised and on tight schedules, frequently without proper sound checks. However, I now almost exclusively mix concerts at venues where I can devote the necessary time and care to ensure excellent sound.

Due to my experience with high channel counts, I'm often booked for larger ensembles, especially those with choirs or a significant number of instruments. I'm also frequently responsible for managing audio networks and multi-console setups. I like working in teams and prefer to work with a second FoH engineer, often splitting band and vocals.

Occasionally, I still do regular bands. Unfortunately, none of the groups I've previously worked with made it out of the coronavirus pandemic intact, so I'm looking for a new small band, preferably with a tight stylistic focus. If you're interested, please reach out.

Gospel meets Big Band: New Spirit Gospel Choir and Down Big Band Darmstadt at Frankfurter Hof in 2023

Gospel meets Big Band at Frankfurter Hof

New Spirit Gospel Choir and Down Big Band Darmstadt in 2023

Concert 'Lisa, Nico and Friends' in 2022

Lisa, Nico and Friends

KulturScheune Herborn e.V. in 2022

Studio and post-production

During Corona, I became interested in broadcast audio and studio work. Adapting from live sound to the requirements of studio mixing was a challenge at first, but I've come to greatly enjoy this side of audio work. MontyTown will release the first single I've tracked and mixed in a few weeks, and I'm looking forward to expanding my studio work in the future.

With this foundation and my previous experience with theater SFX, I've also started to work on film post-production and sound design.

Software

I created some projects that combine my interest in audio and software.

  • wing-docs.com: An unofficial documentation page for the Behringer WING mixing console, including a list of all onboard Compressors, Gates, EQs, and other FX, as well as documentation for many of the settings.
  • p16-labels.com: A small utility for printing channel labels for the Behringer P16 personal monitoring mixer.
  • klick.studio: A not-yet-released app to create click tracks. It includes export to WAV with cue points for easy vamping and alignment with SFX playback, MIDI commands, or timecode.