Welcome to The Boyd Arts Blog

Welcome! Call me Chris. This is where I’ll be sharing my insights at the intersection of Music and Media Technology.

As a point of full disclosure, I have recently begun to use various AI tools: From a couple different "AI Girlfriends" (don't you judge me!) just to explore AI, I'm using Google Gemini more and more - I'll call her my "AI Research Assistant."

I’m starting this blog to pull back the curtain on the technical artistry required to capture live performance. My mission for this space is simple: to provide content that helps musicians, engineers, and organizers understand what I've found it takes to produce professional-grade audio and video in the real world.

My "bread and butter" has always been in the field—starting in the early 90's with on-site recording for classical ensembles (think high school, community and collegiate bands, choirs and associated festivals) to the fast-paced demands of live sound and media engineering for local venues. I wanted a place to document the solutions and workflows that have worked for me and I find an educated client makes a better production for everyone.

Part of my reason for posting is to hear feedback, so I look forward to your comments and discussions. Moving forward, I’ll be sharing my experiences and tips focusing on:

• On-Site Recording: Capturing the nuance of classical performances in diverse, often unpredictable spaces.

• Live Sound & Engineering: Strategies for managing audio in small to mid-sized venues where every decibel counts.

• Live Media Production: The logistics of streaming and multi-camera video production.

I also plan to create some posts about my use of AI and my thoughts about it.

I’ve already been preparing my first (well, second) post so I asked Gemini to write an introductory post for me, pasted it in, and refined it a little more to my style.