SOME RWANDAN CONCERTS have been marred with poor sound for the last years. From last year’s Adekunle’s experience to the recent Drip City Concert that was held this month, the issue of bad sound keeps appearing, killing the vibe of the revelers. Platini P, a renowned musician in Rwanda who headlined big shows like AFRIMA, believes that the issue of sound in Rwanda can be solved. P told The New Times that the industry lacks sound engineers who could tackle this issue, “it starts from the making of songs in the studio and proceeds to the stage setting. Mixing is also another problem.” “When the song comes out in the studio with sound issues, it is rare that it could sound good on the stage unless it’s played live,” he added. The former Dream Team Member also noted that apart from Bob pro, there are no other producers who can mix a track. Another problem, Platini stated, is that event organisers tend to not value sound while organising events, and give more time to artists who are going to headline the show. “Event organisers should also make the sound a priority,” he said, “good musicians without a good sound can’t make a nice performance”. For Bruce Intore, a renowned event organiser, the investment in sound systems is not the problem, but enough time for a sound check is. The founder of Intore Ent, a local entertainment firm that brought stars like Omah Lay, Rema, and Koffi Olomide to Rwanda, also noted that there are few sound engineers who also need additional skills in sound. “The few ones we have can be trained and solve the issue. More facilities that teach such courses like sound are also needed in the country,” he added. Alyn Sano, a Rwandan female artiste, said that the majority of sound engineers in the country do it as a talent, not something they studied in class. “We need experienced and skilled sound engineers who know what they are doing” Sano urged. According to her, the investment in this sector is still low, which is why different sound companies use poor-quality materials. Talking to The New Times, Martin Sekimondo, owner of Martin Sound Events, said that the issue of sounds sometimes comes from the performers, not engineers. “Some of our artistes don’t do enough sound check and practice,” he said adding that “preparations of the stage also matters in sound” Sekimondo who has worked with big artistes like Lucky Dube and Brenda Fassie added that equipment is not a problem but how to use that equipment is still challenging for many engineers. He said that many engineers in Rwanda never studied sound but learned it from practice, something that he thinks contributes to the poor sound in Rwanda. “Sound is like math, you study it in class. If you lack some skills, you cannot make a perfect sound for an event” he added. Fabrice Nzeyimana, a sound engineer at Christian Life Assembly (CLA) pointed out that one of the major issues in the domain of sound here in Rwanda is the lack of venues that are fully equipped with sound where people can practice their craft on a daily basis. “Apart from churches it’s rare to find a venue that has sound and a sound engineer,” he said He also highlighted that the lack of schools, lack of enough sound-check, and more organisational and financial problems as challenges. Nzeyimana said that not always the issue of sound people have to blame it all on the sound engineer. “Sometimes it’s the music being played which is not organized, sometimes it’s the singers who are not ready, sometimes they were not given enough time for sound checking because the artiste wants to practice instead of sound checking among others,” he said However, he added that there are other things that have to be done in this sector. There has been tremendous progress in the last seven years as more sound companies have been created and more gear purchased making it possible to cater to most sound needs locally.
