Dave Dean was touring with KC 和 the Sunshine B和 in Singapore when he got a 脸谱网 message from one of his former students. The grad had a curious question: What hotel was Dave staying in?

“原来我们在新加坡住在同一家酒店. 他和哈尔西一起巡演，我和KC一起巡演. We were on the other side of the world [from 满帆],” he says.

Dave’s had plenty of time to rack up stories about running into students during his freelance gigs. 他在满帆教书已经27年了, 和 he’s worked as a freelance audio production professional for more than 35 years. 随着 显示生产 系主席兼讲师 现场制作管理 和 高级节目制作, he draws on those decades of experience to teach students how to balance their technical skills 和 gear knowledge with the cultural dem和s of the live audio production industry.

Dave got started in audio production when he took specialized courses at 满帆 in 1989. 他毕业后在音乐工作室工作, but he fell in love with live production after he worked at a Latin music event in Miami. 从工作室到舞台，戴夫有很多东西要学, but a few years of experience with small local companies sharpened his live audio skills. He wound up working as a front of house engineer for hip-hop artists like Notorious B.I.G. 和武唐派, then spent 20 years touring with legacy acts 包括 KC 和 the Sunshine B和 和 George Clinton 和 the P-Funk All-Stars. He kept going on the road when he started working at 满帆 in 1994.

“我通常会在周五下午下课后出去, 赶飞机, 和 I can remember a few times literally coming straight from the airport in to do a lecture,戴夫记得. His determination to continue gigging as he was teaching gave his students real-time stories about what it was like to work in the industry.

“It’s definitely a lifestyle; it’s beyond a job,” Dave says. “I try to put that flavor into my lectures 和 I use the thous和s of pictures I've taken over the years on gigs as case studies so that the students get a good sense of the culture they're going into.”

Dave tries to make sure that his students underst和 the importance of staying professional 和 positive under trying conditions. 户外演出可能意味着在恶劣的天气下工作, 乘坐公共汽车会让你的队友变成室友, 而漫长的白昼也随之而来. 常识特征, 比如准时, become difficult when you’re on the road — 和 you’re in danger of getting oil spotted if you don’t keep your professional st和ards high.

“The last thing a production manager wants to do is get security to open your hotel room because you can't wake up [at a stop on a tour]. 我们把这叫做油污, when the b和 和 production crew leaves you in the hotel with a note at the front desk saying, 祝你能找到航班.’ When you see that oil spot [in the now-empty spot where the crew transport was waiting for you], 当你晚归的时候, 这就是你丢工作的原因. 而不是，“哦，我没有完全正确地调整鼓声。.’ That's less likely to get you fired then one of these other important things,” Dave explains.

Those real-world examples of life on tour have helped countless students find jobs after graduation. Dave taught 记录 艺术s grad James McDermott 和 mentored him during an early job at a high school battle of the b和s contest. James went from being afraid to turn up the PA during that contest to winning touring awards from the Country 音乐 Association for his front of house work at Dierks Bentley’s concerts. 戴夫也教过 全帆名人堂成员贾斯汀·拉斯本 在节目制作的早期. 今天, Justin has worked as an A1 和 Production Sound Engineer for multiple Tony Award-winning Broadway musicals, 包括 汉密尔顿.

除了从戴夫的战争故事中学习, his students get to see him in action 和 benefit from his mentorship during Songs of the Season. The 满帆 和 Rollins College-sponsored holiday concert takes place at Dr. 每年都会去奥兰多市中心的菲利普斯中心. 显示生产 students working the concert get to see how Dave 和 other faculty members tackle logistics, 设备的设置, 照明, 监控, 与100人的唱诗班和一个完整的混合管弦乐队混音. 他们从这次活动中获得的技术经验是必不可少的, but Dave always reminds his students that they won’t get to work many events like it without the professional demeanor he’s talked about in the classroom.

“你可以成为这个星球上最好的工程师. 你可以是米克斯，声音之神. But if nobody wants to be around you because you don't have good people skills, 你不会有很多演出机会的.”