Live Sound Engineering Class at The Coop!
Join local sound engineers, musicians, enthusiasts, and professionals at The Coop on Vashon Island for a FREE crash course on Live Sound Engineering. Whether you are interested in running a PA for yourself or your own band, or putting on multi-act shows at a venue, this course will dive into what it takes to set up and run a live music event from the engineer’s perspective. The class will cover common hardware, stage setup, signal processing (EQ, gain, fx, etc), live mixing, working with artists, and will present participants with a chance to work on a live show at the Coop to apply what they have learned.
This course is open to all skill levels and ages, from complete beginner to intermediate (fair warning, if you are a working engineer, this will be a remedial course). Participants under 18 will need a parent or guardian’s approval. The class is held in a very laid-back and supportive environment, and will be facilitated by experienced sound engineers who will work with you to explain concepts, answer questions, and provide guidance toward engineering your own live sound event.
There is no enrollment fee or charge of any kind for this course.
Space is limited! Please fill out the interest form to secure your spot.
Live Sound Engineering Course - Interest Form
Course Interest Form - Winter 2026
COURSE DATES
All courses will be held at the Coop, from 12 - 2:30 PM.
Sat. Jan 31 - Intro to Audio Engineering
Sat. Feb 7 - Basics of Live Sound
Sat. Feb 14 - Live Sound Application & Show Setup
Sat. Feb 21 - Supplemental Additional Topics (TBD)
Topics include: (subject to change)
Intro to audio engineering
Volume, clarity, and mix
Sound reinforcement
Skills of an audio engineer
Hardware basics
Microphones
Digital and Analog Mixers
Cable types and uses
Speakers - Mains and monitors
DIs, snakes, other peripherals
Mixers
Channel strip components
Routing
Bus/Aux channels, VCAs
Basics of sound
Waves
Acoustics
EQ explained
Mixing for space and clarity
Processing
Gain staging
EQ mixing
Compression & gate filters
FX busses
Live mixing
Sound check
Monitor balance / stage sound
Live mixing and playing the band
Listening for frequencies
Artist communication
And much more - We hope to see you at The Coop!
This course is presented by Coop on the Loose, with support from 4Culture.