Matthew Russell

Production Sound Engineer

London, England, United Kingdom

About

I am a sound technician with 15 years professional experience in the theatre industry. I have completed UK and international tours, worked as a lead production sound engineer (PSE) in the west end and mixed productions in the country's leading producing venues. I have experience of managing small departments and I am confident working alone or as part of a team. In 2018/19 I studied a MSc in Audio Engineering at the University of Derby which I graduated from with a distinction in October 2019. The course involved study of Audio Electronics, Audio DSP programming (including MATLAB and C++), Audio Innovation, Advanced Surround Systems and Live Sound System Optimisation alongside the associated advanced mathematics. Key Skills and Experience: – West-End lead PSE system install experience. – West-End and No. 1 Touring experience (as Sound No. 1). – Knowledge of Meyer, D&B, Funktion One and EM Acoustic rigs (including surround / delayed fill setups), Yamaha DME system controller, using digital mixers (Yamaha DM1000 / 01V / LS9 / M7CL / CL / QL PM5D / CADAC CDC-6 and DigiCo SD9T / SD10T) and experience of mixing large live mic setups with live music. – Knowledge of Shure and Sennheiser radio microphones and IEMs. – Computer literate with experience programming in C++ / MATLAB, working with networked computers and peripherals including DANTE networking, and using VPN and KVMs to remotely control machines. Excellent knowledge of both PC and Mac OS, DAWs such as Logic and Reaper and CAD packages such as AutoCAD, Sketchup and Fusion 360. Experience using acoustic analysis tools such as AFMGs EASE and Audiomatica CLIO alongside manufacturer specific acoustic design tools such as d&b's ArrayCalc. – Good understanding of musical theory and ability to play instruments / read sheet music. – Clean UK Driving License

Experience

  • Director at Augment The Event Ltd
    Aug 2020 - Present · 6 yrs

    Since the pandemic began spending time developing products I felt would be useful that I've always wanted but I've not found in existence. The main purpose to enhance and optimise the accuracy and speed of sound system setup. Products can be found at www.augmenttheevent.com. The company was established in August 2020.

  • Wessex Grove ()
    • Production Sound Engineer
      Oct 2025 - Nov 2025 · 2 mos

      Production Sound Engineer of the production "All My Sons" at the Wyndham's Theatre. Install lead by Dylan Saberton and I took over as lead during the tech / preview period. Installing a d&b Y and E series point source rig - A difference to a conventional install is all computers were remoted to substage with XDIPs FOH which required a more complex console GPO set up to control KVM / Audio switching. The system also operated at 96kHz. Clearcom Arcadia / Helixnet comms and Interspace QLX were used.

    • Lead Production Sound Engineer
      Sep 2025 - Nov 2025 · 3 mos

      Lead PSE for design and install of a full d&b audiotechnik sound system, including surrounds, along with all comms (clearcom analogue + arcadia / freespeak wireless), cue lights (interspace) and video equipment for the production Clarkston playing at the Trafalgar Theatre, West End. Challenging substage access lead to a modular build in 16U racks with onstage seating banks and zero wing masking requiring precise positioning and neat cable runs.

  • Production Sound Engineer at Royal Shakespeare Company
    Aug 2025 - Aug 2025 · 1 mo

    Prep PSE for Matilda UK Tour. Build of touring FOH mix position (SD7Q / Qlab redundant system / Fourier redundant system / MADI recorder / Sepia Host). Configuration of show comms (Clearcom Arcadia / IP FSII transceivers and Helixnet outstations) and video (Blackmagic Videohub / Dmon Quad)

  • Lead Production Sound Engineer at Historalia Productions
    Jul 2025 - Aug 2025 · 2 mos

    I am Lead PSE for “Anne Boleyn. - The Musical” at Hever Castle. The show has minimal PA with most content on silent disco headphones with LF enhanced with B22s under the seating bank. As content is in headphones all 11 professional performers and (over) 80 community performers all had IEMs. We used Sennheiser’s new Spectera system for principle cast mics / IEMs and community cast mics. The size of the stage (50m wide) and playing in areas outside of the immediate playing space was a particularly challenge for coverage. Comms was key on this production with a large Freespeak II network deployed to get over 200m diameter comms coverage with program audio down the show call ring and Motorola integration to ensure all backstage teams knew where in the piece they were. The production is expertly mixed by Charlie Simpson on a DM7. A Fourier Transform engine is used to binaurally encode content by using the DM7 in broadcast (as well as theatre) mode to output 5.1 sends to the Supperware Binaural plugin.

  • Production Sound Engineer at Immersive Everywhere
    Apr 2025 - Aug 2025 · 5 mos

    I am PSE for the “Traitors live experience” which is being constructed in Covent Garden.