Job Lot: The sound technician

By VIENNA RICHARDS

Philip Whiting, aged 23, works as a sound and lighting technician at the Edge. When he's not at the Edge or freelancing, you're likely to find him playing bass guitar for a band called the Lovers. He flats in Mt Eden.

His skills have landed him a variety of work from corporate hostings to theatrical productions including Little Shop of Horrors, Loomatua and the Comedy Fest. A sound and lighting technician, says Whiting, can earn up to $250 a day. Straight out of school, his first job was at the Watershed Theatre.

What qualifications do you have?

After high school I did an Audio-Engineering Diploma at the School of Engineering in Parnell. I did it part-time over 24 months.

Is the diploma compulsory?

You don't need that qualification. A lot of people do without it. The most important thing is the right attitude, then you can teach anyone anything. The theory is that your background equips you more on the design side of things.

So how did you get your first job?

I turned up one day at the Watershed and asked, "Can you give me a job?" And they did. They started me sweeping floors. From about the third night the play Braindead was playing, so at the end of each show I was mopping up fake blood six nights a week. In theatre you start at the bottom, no matter what you do. After three or four months I started rigging (hanging the lights) and plotting for Simon Edgly, who was in charge at the time.

Why did you choose sound-technician work as a career?

Music. I've always loved it. It's my passion. I went into it at a slightly different angle. I went for working backstage instead of onstage. I went to the theatre because it pays better than pubs. And you can create sound-effects in theatre without having to compete with other sounds.

What exactly do you do with sound and lighting?

I'll start with lighting because that's slightly easier. When you're given a production to work on, we try to create mood and colour with lighting.
We hang the lights. If you're lucky enough to have a lighting designer, like say Bryan Cauldwell, they'll bring a plan. He's one of the best. You have to make sure the show can be seen and that the lighting enhances.

And sound?

For a theatre, you don't want mounts or stacks of boxes piled up on the stage. It needs to be low-key and low-profile. For a big show, say at the Maidment, I'd use 10 to 18 lapel microphones for the actors. In a smaller theatre, like the Silo or the Herald Theatre, you don't need them. I'm also responsible for the spot cues such as special-effects sounds like guns, trains, smashing glass ... whatever the script calls for, using taped sounds of the actual thing. In my experience, realistic sound is the best.

Are any women working in your field?

Yeah, I know six or seven working here at the Edge, most in lighting.

Mentor?

Until the beginning of the year, Steve Gasper. He's not sound, he's lighting. He's what you call a mech (short for mechanical). He deals with flying, steel, wood, rope.

He taught me a lot about lighting and stage mechanics. He taught me a lot about rigging because that's an important part of sound. And he taught me about different design philosophies. But the most important thing he taught me is what to do when everything turns to custard.