Yesterday’s ‘run FOH’ corporate at the Marriott turned into a rescue: 12 lavs intermodding, HF hash in the mains, and a -40 dB buzz on the lectern; I re-freq’d in WWB with Axient, reset gain structure, notched 315 Hz, and the room went from mush to clean in 45 minutes. How do you bill when half the gig is troubleshooting and quality recovery — flat day rate, an emergency/triage fee, or line items for RF coordination and system tuning?
I bill a standard day plus a “rescue” line item (2-hour minimum at 1.5x) when I’m re-freqing, chasing buzz, and resetting gain mid-show; it’s in my agreement so clients know it’s not the same as pushing faders. For repeat clients I cap it or roll it into a half-day if they share a real tech pack ahead of time. The RF fire extinguisher isn’t free.
Quick example: I add a “triage” clause that kicks in after 30 minutes of RF/buzz recovery once doors are open at 1.75x with a 1‑hour minimum — think plumber after the pipe bursts. I text the PM “switching to triage rate to restore show” for a time-stamped change order, then add a two-line postmortem on the invoice. Caveat: if it’s my rig or a long-term client, I cap triage at 2 hours or roll some into the next booking as goodwill.
If it hits 45 minutes like yours, ‘triage’ at 2x; text approval first.
Once I’m re-freq’ing in WWB/Axient mid-show and chasing a -40 dB lectern buzz, I flip from day to an incident rate at 1.6x billed per 15 minutes after a 20-minute grace. If the root cause is venue power or their mics, I flag it on the invoice and try to pass that portion to the hotel via the client’s PO; otherwise I cap the rescue at one hour even if it took “45 minutes.” @taylor_andrews92’s text approval is smart — mine’s a canned SMS I send the moment I notch that first 315 Hz.
Building on @nicolesmith4: I pre-contract a “rescue mode” rate that only kicks after soundcheck is signed off — meter runs like a tow truck, capped at 2 hours, and I send a mini postmortem (WWB plots + signal-path notes) so accounting knows what they bought. If the house caused it, I note it and often credit a slice on the next booking; do you cap yours?