Full Sail University

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Martin “Tike” Santos

Live Sound Engineer

Live sound engineer Martin “Tike” Santos is a 30-year veteran of the touring industry, having spent countless days on the road helping to build and maintain the concert rigs and audio setups for some of music's biggest artists, including Paul McCartney, The Police, and Tim McGraw.

"My mother used to joke that the best gift I could get was a bunch of boxes and some masking tape because my goal was always to construct things," says Martin. "Later on it was Lincoln Logs, and then being fascinated with [the process of] hanging things. Interestingly enough those influences early on had a lot to do with where I ended up professionally."

A graduate of Full Sail's Recording Arts program, Martin established a professional partnership with touring giant Clair Brothers Audio and has worked as a front of house engineer, monitor engineer, and monitor technician on the road. They're positions that require both technical expertise and physical skill, which for Martin has always kept things interesting.

"I'm forced to learn new things and work in new situations," he says.

Martin's other favorite part of the job: seeing his hard work pay off every night. "The great thing about doing an event is to be able to put all that effort in and then have an audience that's been anticipating this event for days or weeks or even months come in and have an enjoyable experience," he says. "To hear people cheer and scream, and sing 'Hey Jude,' and to know you made a contribution to that … it still sends chills up your back."

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Credits:
Peter Frampton, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, The Police, Garth Brooks

Graduation Year:
1992

I think those who are successful professionally are people who keep absorbing things and wanting to grow.”
—Martin “Tike” Santos
Music Recording Explore
Music is a universal language.
2nd Annual Hall of Fame Inductees