Run a live show
A real show in a real room with a real audience, and somebody experienced standing behind you rather than in front of you. This is the part that cannot be simulated.
What you actually do
Eight things, in order, on a real night.
- You advance the show, including the questions you would rather not ask.
- You set the stage from your own input list and stage plot.
- You line-check every channel against your written list before anyone plays.
- You soundcheck, including ringing out at least one monitor.
- You mix the show, front of house and monitors, start to finish.
- You handle at least one thing going wrong, because something will.
- You strike and pack so that the next show could start clean.
- You sit down afterwards and say what you would do differently.
Why somebody stands behind you
A mistake you made and fixed is worth more than one you were never allowed to make.
An experienced engineer stands behind you, not in front of you. They will let you make a recoverable mistake rather than prevent it, because a mistake you made and fixed is worth more than one you were never allowed to make. A student who has only mixed in a classroom is not yet a sound engineer.
Where it happens
A real room, with a real audience.
The capstone cannot be simulated, so it happens where there is a show. That also sets the honest constraint on the whole tier: real equipment is only available in a real room, on the nights that room is open.
Tier 1 is built around that. Of its 47 lessons, 33 need no equipment at all — they run on paper or on the practice desk, which works on a phone. The 14 that need the room are grouped so they can be worked in the room on the nights it is available, instead of being set as homework nobody can do.