Sound Check Guidelines for DJs

MSP Waves Soundcheck Check List and Guidelines

1) Prepare your Guests

No one likes their show to go sour in the last minute. If you are planning to have guests on, please make sure the guests are familiar with Discord and have downloaded the Discord desktop or mobile application. Audio tends to be of lower quality and often does not recognize audio devices when using a web browser to utilize Discord voice functions.

Preparation Time

Do an initial voice call with your guests ahead of time, preferably days, not hours before the show. Audio can be tested in any voice channel or via DM/phone call. Once you are in voice with your guest/cohost:

• Make sure you are hearing them clearly
• They can hear you clearly
• Make sure your guests know how to mute and unmute themselves
• Have them practice disconnect/reconnecting from the voice channel. This can be very useful if there are any network issues during the show.

If you have any problems, see this guide or search https://support.discordapp.com for various solutions.

Late Guests

We here at Ops realize that it may be difficult logistically to get all guest to participate in the soundcheck before the show starts. If there is a guest arriving after the start of the show, you may want to secure a volunteer (MSP Waves Staff, other DJ's, or friends in the audience) to soundcheck them in any Discord voice channel before they join the Live On Air channel with the host. This will not ensure audio levels, only quality. You must pay attention to the OBS mixer upon your guest joining the show to ensure they are level with the rest of your audio.

2) Host and Ops Team

The Ops team is a volunteer effort. Let's show the folks who dedicate their time to keep MSP Waves operational respect. During soundcheck, all participants are expected to focus on the task at hand and never cease communication until the soundcheck/handover procedure has been completed.

3) Soundcheck Procedure

How do you know if you're ready for soundcheck?

Soundcheck Checklist

• OBS is open and streaming
• You are in a voice channel or VOIP application with your guests/co-hosts
• You have your media/music/intro ready to play
• Your guests/co-hosts have understood their instructions for the show
• You have checked the mixer on OBS and have visually leveled all your sound sources
• If you are not sure about your levels, you can test record small segments (30-60 secs) and see how it will sound to the audience

Stay Level

Sound checks will ensure levels and quality across all sound sources for the listeners and the recording.

Once you have completed the checklist above, tag @Show Handover Duty in #show-handover on the Ops server to start the soundcheck:

• First, wait for Operations staff to respond to your mention and confirm they have opened your audio stream.
• The mic will be the first to be checked. This will establish a base to compare to other sources. Mic Volume will be adjusted via Mic/Aux Input on OBS mixer.
• After the mic is checked, we will ask you to play media so we can compare against the mic. Note: Please skip any quiet intros and seek to the loud part of the song/media. This step may also include pausing media, testing mic again, and resuming media if the levels are too far off. The volume will be adjusted via Desktop Audio on OBS mixer.
• After OBS mixer adjustments are made, Ops will need guests and co-hosts to talk and will ask you to adjust audio settings according to feedback. At this point, the baseline volume on OBS has been set, so these volume adjustments will be done by right-clicking the guest in the voice channel and adjusting their individual Discord volume.
• After soundcheck is completed, your show go live at exactly 5 secs to scheduled show start. Please pay attention to the clock at http://time.is/UTC and assume the audience can hear you when you start. Please don't start the show by asking the audience if they can hear. 99% of the time they will be able to, and they will definitely tell you if they can't hear.

To sum it up:

Prepare self, co-hosts, and guest ahead of time! Dedicate time to the soundcheck procedure before tagging @Show Handover Duty! Please show respect to the @Show Handover team by being attentive and responsive during the sound check. Pay close attention to the clock! Enjoy your show.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

@Globocop @ r0nd0n on behalf of Your MSP Waves Operations Team

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