Signal To Noise Podcast

In Episode 335, Sean and Andy are joined by Steph Farina, a Chicago-based musical theater sound designer, mixer, and educator who heads the sound design program at DePaul University. The conversation covers Steph’s journey from intern at the Goodman Theatre to in-demand regional designer, the art of transitioning from mixer to designer, and her collaborative approach to communicating with mixers without overprescribing. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.
The trio dives deep into theater sound system tuning, exploring tricks for naturally sourcing vocals from the performer, delay setting techniques using reference loudspeakers and click tracks, and how even fairly basic auditorium systems can be dramatically improved with some delay work. Along the way, they compare notes between theater and corporate audio worlds, share hard-won lessons about crew collaboration, and tease future episodes on troubleshooting and more theater nerdery.
Episode Links:
Steph Farina, Faculty At DePaul University
Steph’s TSDCA Meyer Galaxy & System Tuning Workshop With Costa Daros
Andy’s TSDCA Workshop On Yamaha DM7 For Theatre
Episode 335 Transcript
Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!
Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”
The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.
Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:
1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to signal2noise@prosoundweb.com with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”
2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there

In Episode 335, Andy welcomes Russ Long, a Nashville-based recording and live sound engineer with a wide-ranging career working with artists including Sixpence None the Richer, Dolly Parton, Wilco, Amy Grant, Miley Cyrus, and more, as well as Grammy and CMA Awards broadcasts, films, and much more. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.
Russ is also currently part of the field marketing and R&D team for Yamaha Pro Audio and can regularly be found showing folks the “ins and outs” of the company’s large-format consoles at the Rock Nashville facility. He talks about his journey from being a “big drummer in a small pond” to recording and front of house engineer to working a steady day job with a manufacturer, and everything in between, including engineering two of the hottest singles of the late 90s, and more.
Episode Links:
“There She Goes” by Sixpence None the Richer
“Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer
Rock Nashville
Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!
Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”
The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.
Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:
1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to signal2noise@prosoundweb.com with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”
2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there

By popular demand, in Episode 333 we’re bringing back a cleaned up and remastered version of a past episode, originally released as Episode 323, where Sean and Andy huddled up with Joe Allan Muharsky for a wide-ranging conversation about the state of AI in the audio field–where it is and where it’s going, what it’s good at and what it’s not, and more. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.
Joe is a software engineer, AI practitioner, and generalist with 30 years of technical experience spanning Microsoft, Google, and a suite of small-to-medium sized companies building line-of-business applications. He’s also the creator of the TODD Framework — a proprietary meta-framework for AI-assisted development built on the philosophy “agents in a system that they can evolve to accomplish their goals” — and has contributed to academic content for a textbook on AI adoption in the events industry.
Alongside his technical work, Joe serves on the board of directors of the Washington Festivals & Events Association (WFEA) and is a part owner and partner at Teamatorium, where he helped scale a six-person team to more than 20. Music runs through everything he does: from audio engineering at venues and festivals to producing Band Together, a site at bandtogether.com for hyper-inclusive collaborative music.
Episode Links:
Joe Allan Muharsky On LinkedIn
iCitadel
Band Together
Joe Allen Muharsky Website
Episode 333 Transcript
Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!
Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”
The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.
Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:
1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to signal2noise@prosoundweb.com with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”
2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there.

In Episode 332, it’s time for a further dive into the freelance life and how to make yourself as valuable as possible in the live audio industry. Sean and Andy talk about some of the big mistakes folks at any point in their career when “batting out of their league,” how to balance that with growing your skills and abilities, and more. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.
Episode Links:
Episode 332 Transcript
Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!
Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”
The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.
Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:
1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to signal2noise@prosoundweb.com with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”
2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there.

Inspired by a couple trips Andy took recently that included visits with some past guests, and the folks over at Twenty Thousand Hertz doing a similar video episode, Episode 331 revisits a unique conversation from a few years back that a lot of newer listeners may have missed, based on recent discussions on the Signal to Noise Discord server. This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.
So, after a quick catchup with Sean and Andy, here’s a newly re-mastered listen to Andy’s chat with four members of the Carolina Crown drum corps audio team — Jonathan Yoo, Rosa Westfall, Tyler Hanson, and Cole O’Malley. Get ready for a look at the ins and outs of a true “battleground” audio situation, with 90 seconds or less to set up line arrays, wired mics, and dozens of channels of wireless in some of the largest stadiums in the world. (Originally featured as Episode 237.)
Episode Links:
Carolina Crown Drum Corps
Carolina Crown 2026 Show
Dallas Taylor (Twenty Thousand Hertz) Visits The Bluecoats, Part 1 & Part 2
Cole’s Favorite Show (2012)
Andy’s High School Band (1998)
Episode 331 Transcript
Connect with the community on the Signal To Noise Facebook Group and Discord Server. Both are spaces for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments!
Also please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. “We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle.”
The Signal To Noise Podcast on ProSoundWeb is co-hosted by pro audio veterans Andy Leviss and Sean Walker.
Want to be a part of the show? If you have a quick tip to share, or a question for the hosts, past or future guests, or listeners at home, we’d love to include it in a future episode. You can send it to us one of two ways:
1) If you want to send it in as text and have us read it, or record your own short audio file, send it to signal2noise@prosoundweb.com with the subject “Tips” or “Questions”
2) If you want a quick easy way to do a short (90s or less) audio recording, go to https://www.speakpipe.com/S2N and leave us a voicemail there.