Full Sail Stories

Drew Becker has always been a multi-tasker. He graduated with not one, but two degrees from Full Sail University, first with a Recording Arts associate degree, and later with a bachelor's in Entertainment Business. Now, the Denver-based grad not only runs Becker Sound Services – a full-service audio, video, and lighting rental company specializing in live events – and tours with the bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters, but he also promotes his own invention, the LILY P4D, a device designed to solve an issue he and other live sound engineers have often struggled with.

As a live sound engineer, Drew had always dealt with the problem of unwanted noise entering microphones on stage. When touring was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, Drew found himself tinkering to pass the time. After hours of testing and refining, he created the LILY P4D — a microphone ducking tool designed to seamlessly adjust sound levels in real time, allowing live sound engineers and artists to automatically reduce the volume of open mics without losing sound quality.

The name LILY P4D is inspired by the idea of a lily pad being a safe place in a pond, which is similar to a musician feeling safe in front of their mic knowing that their sound is at its best quality. Drew’s invention has been used by artists like Carlos Santana, Sturgill Simpson, Buddy Guy, Billy Strings, and Molly Tuttle. He also recently added Breaking Benjamin and Sleep Token to his list of artists using the device.

Drew’s path to entrepreneurship began when he went to college. He tried attending a state university for his freshman year, but the traditional college model wasn’t working for him. He found out about Full Sail from an issue of Rolling Stone magazine, took a tour of the campus, moved to Florida, and started classes within a month. That’s where everything started to click for Drew.

“I learned about concepts and theories from instructors in the classroom, studied that material in textbooks, and spent the time in labs applying those ideas,” Drew shares. “That [style of education] helped connect the dots for me and my retention of the material went way up. I went from being an average student to being a top student.”

After graduation, Drew moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he met The Infamous Stringdusters. He started out doing social media marketing for the band, then became their on-tour front-of-house mixing engineer. For the last year and a half, Drew has also worked as their production manager, communicating with venues, navigating the logistics of live events, prepping lighting and audio, and executing incredible show experiences every night of the tour.

Although Drew has also worked with other artists, including Dumpstaphunk, Nickel Creek, Sarah Jarosz, and Sierra Hull, as well as mixed sound for a few events featuring Presidents Obama and Biden, he has stuck with The Infamous Stringdusters the longest. “I’ve toured with [The Infamous Stringdusters] for almost half of my life,” says Drew, “and the team grew from me as the only crew member to now five or six crew members every tour. These folks are all dear family to me... That's the coolest part about [working with them].”

As Drew looks forward to a bright future, he remembers the important stepping stones that led him here.

“The biggest thing I learned at Full Sail is you can't stop learning,” Drew reflects. “You have to keep expanding your education, whether that's in school, after school, or every single day at work.”