Article

Friday, March 30, 2012

Live And Studio Engineer Paul Mitchell Chooses Audix

Paul Mitchell has made a career of engineering live and studio performances for jazz artists; most notably with keyboardist Joe Sample, Jazz Crusaders and Jonathan Brooke.

Recently he produced “Hipping the Hop” with Joe Sample - piano, Steve Gadd - drums and Nicklas Sample - bass, which is a perfect case study of how to record and mix live, at the same time.

“I put the focus on the basics and start with a good set of tools,” says Mitchell.  “For me this is a collection of Audix microphones when I’m out on the road.”

“Then, I’m fortunate enough to work with a group of great musicians and well-tuned instruments; especially drums. Finally, I apply very simple miking techniques and the philosophy that a lot less is more.”

For example, Mitchell covers most drum kits with only four mics.

“The basis of my technique is to place a single (mono) Audix SCX1C with a cardioid capsule in front of the drummer’s face;  about 2 feet above the snare, pointing straight down,” he explains. “With this placement, we hear what the drummer hears. I can tip the mic a bit towards the hi-hat to pick up more of that, but in general, it captures the sound of the kit.”

This seems counter-intuitive to the common practice of close-miking everything, but Mitchell responds, “When’s the last time you put your ear two inches from the snare head, where most guys place a mic?”

With the drummer’s point of view established, Mitchell moves on, “I place one Audix SCX1C with a cardioid capsule pointing across the kit from above-left; basically over the high tom. I call it drum high. I then place another Audix SCX1C with a cardioid capsule lower on the right side, pointing across the kit to pick up floor toms and the ride cymbal. That’s drum low.” 

Hard-panning drum high and drum low right & left for the house mix creates a realistic stereo image. A final Audix D6 is placed in front of the kick drum. “With this configuration, I can balance the mics to give a stereo front-of-house feed, enough separation for individual recording tracks and a monitor mix.” 

Mitchell then mikes Joe Sample’s 7’ grand piano with a pair of Audix SCX25A’s. “Whenever I go to a new studio, I always ask the in-house guy to put up his best pair of piano mics,” says Mitchell, Then I put up the Audix SCX25A’s. They always out-perform. They’re my go-to piano miking solution.”   

A DI for upright bass and a pair of Audix SCX1’s for audience and room ambience complete the live miking set-up; only eight mics and a DI to multi-track record and mix a live performance for 5,000 people.

The proof is in the performance. One really can’t tell that “Hipping the Hop” is anything but a tightly-controlled studio recording until hearing the applause from a very large audience. Oh and Mitchell was mixing front-of-house at the same time!

This minimalist approach serves Mitchell well as he travels around the world. “With a selection of Audix mics, a good multi-channel A/D - D/A interface and a Mac Book Pro, I can do my job. Mics go directly into the A/D and split-out to the FOH console. I don’t E.Q. for recording - saving any adjustments and reverse panning of the drum mics for mixdown and mastering. And because I’ve selected good mics, any E.Q. for the house mix is largely done by tuning the house system’s 31-band equalizers. I know that I have good sound coming in, so any adjustments are for the speakers and the room, not the mics.”

With a choice of any microphones to use and a sizable collection of his own classics, Mitchell selects Audix microphones to go on the road with him. ” I choose them because they’re rugged and give me a sound that is often as good as the ‘white-glove’ mics I have at home in my studio. In fact, I like some of the Audix mics better!”

Audix

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Understanding Specification Sheets: What Do The Charts & Graphs Really Mean?

The main purpose of specifications is to allow us to make sure that we have the right tool for the job. But what does this information really mean?

For the majority of humans, there is nothing simpler than listening to sound. You simply, well, listen.

When it becomes necessary to describe the listening experience analytically, however, a host of complex equations and diagrams are required to describe even the simplest of sonic events.

The benefit of mathematical analysis is that it can yield insights that are not apparent through intuition alone.

Acoustic signals are easily measured, and the audio components that produce them have characteristics that can be measured.

We do not expect specifications to tell us how a product sounds. This is what listening is for.

The main purpose of specifications is to allow us to make sure that we have the right tool for the job, and this information is most often presented in the form of charts and graphs.

But what does this information really mean?

Variables
The heart of understanding the specification sheets that describe audio products is the understanding of dependent and independent variables.

The concept is one that most people use every day, though often without realization.

An independent variable is one that describes a series that has a fixed value.

For example, the time of day in the city that you live in is an independent variable. Regardless of what happens tomorrow, time will progress like it did today.

What will change are your moment-to-moment activities. These events represent a dependent variable. They depend on time.

If you look at a page in your day planner, you are looking at a plot of activities vs. time.

Time is the independent variable. It is the same on every page of the planner.

The scheduled events are the dependent variables, because where you go and what you do depends on what time it is. Most graphs show the relationship between dependent and independent variables.

Now let’s look at a variation on the theme. Let time be the independent variable (it usually is) and let the loudness of the sound system during a show be the dependent variable.

The plot might look something like Figure 1.

The horizontal axis represents time (the independent variable) and the vertical axis represents loudness (the dependent variable).

We will call the horizontal axis the x-axis and the vertical axis the y-axis, although any two letters would do.

The values on each axis are usually discrete, meaning that they are individual samples, points, or measured values called data points.

The fact that most graphs look like squiggly lines just means that after many data points were taken, they were joined with a line to make it easier to read.

Such two-dimensional plots are found on virtually every good specification sheet in existence. They simply answer the question “What is the value of y when the value of x is this?” Some examples of two-dimensional plots found in audio engineering include:

Y-Axis————————————————X-Axis
Amplitude—————————————- Frequency
Impedance————————————- Frequency
Directivity—————————————- Frequency
Phase———————————————- Frequency
Amplitude—————————————Time
Level————————————————Time

Each plot shows the value of y for a given value of x. Pretty cool. In math-speak, in each case it can be said that y is a function of x. (We sound smarter when we say it like this.)

From this example, it can be seen that frequency is a very common independent variable in the world of audio and acoustics. The y parameters are said to be frequency-dependent.

In audio and acoustics, almost all parameters that we care to know anything about are frequency-dependent. This means that the answer to virtually any question regarding any of the y parameters is “it depends.” Y depends on x.

An example of a frequency-dependent parameter is the setting of a graphic equalizer. In fact, it’s a really good example because it is basically an xy plot of the type that we have been describing.

The x variable is frequency, and the y variable is relative level. The y value depends on the x value.

When you look at the front panel of a graphic equalizer, you are looking at an xy graph, which is why it’s called a graphic equalizer.

What Time Is It?
Another common independent variable is time. Many parameters in audio and acoustics are time-dependent. Examples include loudness, temperature and background noise, just to name a few.

Note that Figure 1 just gives us values. It’s still up to us to know what they mean and how to apply them.

Graphs are valuable because they give us some visual feedback regarding trends in the data. For instance, a glance at Figure 3 (later in this article) shows that the loudspeaker’s on-axis directivity is increasing as a function of frequency.

This means that everyone in the room might hear the low-frequency events, like a bass guitar, but only those in front of the loudspeaker will hear the high-frequency events, like the crash of a cymbal.

It’s clear why we would want the directivity of a sound reinforcement loudspeaker to be “frequency-independent.” The directivity of such a device would be a straight horizontal line.

It’s also important to consider the resolution of the graphed data. The closer together we place the points on the x-axis, the less likely it will be that we missed a significant data point when we measured.

For example, we could take the page of a day planner and break the time axis down into hours, minutes, seconds, or even fractions of a second.

Obviously, there is a point of diminishing return on resolution. It must always be appropriate for the data being plotted.

If you were plotting the arrival time of the tweeter in the main array to the back of the balcony, then one millisecond resolution would be meaningful.

But that same resolution would be extreme overkill for plotting your daily schedule.

What time resolution do I need? Again, it depends!

Following are some examples of common plots found on data sheets, with plain English descriptions of what each one means.

After digesting each, download some data sheets from various manufacturers and attempt to interpret them.

Use them to form an understanding of the product, what it does, and how it might compare to a similar product.

Remember that to fully describe the performance of a product, and infinite number of graphs would be required.

Most “one-number” ratings in audio and acoustics have little meaning.

They usually over-simplify something that is much too complex to specify with a single number.

Unfortunately, many people base their gear-buying decisions on this meaningless data, and then wonder why the gear does not live up to their expectations.

A graph is much better, but even graphs can’t tell the whole story.

We live in an amazingly complex world!

What’s The Frequency?

In Figure 2, the independent variable is frequency. The dependent variable is level. The frequency response plot answers the question “What is the relative on-axis level change of the device-under-test regarding frequency?”

For a device that produces the same level at every frequency, the plot would be a straight, horizontal line.

A real-world loudspeaker response is also shown. Some would consider a flat line response to be the best possible loudspeaker; however, a spectrum plot alone does not tell the whole story.

Now, let’s return to Figure 3.

Again, the independent variable is frequency, while the dependent variable is the on-axis directivity.

The directivity plot answers the question “What is the ratio between the sound intensity on-axis to the total radiated sound intensity as a function of frequency?”

Q = 1 means that the device is omni-directional, where Q = 10 means that the intensity on-axis is 10 times the average radiated intensity.

Q = 100 means that the axial intensity is 100 times the average intensity.

Another way of describing the same thing is to use the directivity index, which is the Q rating converted into decibels with the formula DI = 10logQ.

It yields the same information in decibels, giving the loudness advantage produced by controlling the sound radiation.

DI and Q are often found on the same plot.

Turning our attention to Figure 4, once again the independent variable is frequency.

The dependent variable is impedance.

The impedance plot shows the opposition produced by the loudspeaker to current flowing from the amplifier as a function of frequency.

A large peak on the curve means that less current is drawn at the frequency of the peak. This can happen at frequencies where the loudspeaker system is resonant, i.e. vibrates naturally.

Other frequencies require much more current to produce the same sound pressure level. Low spots on the curve represent frequencies where maximum current is drawn from the amplifier, i.e. where the amplifier is under a greater load.

The low values should be used when determining the required gauge of loudspeaker wire that should be used, or how many loudspeakers can be run in parallel.

Impedance is also required to calculate how much amplifier power is delivered to the loudspeaker, which in turn allows the loudspeaker’s power handling limits to be assessed. This is a good example of where a single number impedance rating (often called the nominal impedance) serves as little more than a guideline.

The impedance plot paints a much better picture of impedance and the other ratings that come from it.

Always remember to use specification sheets for what they’re intended – determining the suitability of a product for an application.

They are not a substitution for listening and measurement when evaluating products and should not be the final word in the buying decision.

A famous physicist once said, “The data on a spec sheet may be the best data they ever took or the only data they ever took!”

Pat Brown teaches the Syn-Aud-Con seminars and workshops. Synergetic Audio Concepts (Syn-Aud-Con) has been a leader in audio education since 1973. With nearly 15,000 “graduates” worldwide, Syn-Aud-Con is dedicated to teaching the basics of audio and acoustics. For more information visit their website.

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Full Compass Promotes Laurie Andres To Senior Marketing Coordinator

Full Compass Systems recently promoted Laurie Andres from Marketing & Public Relations Specialist to Senior Marketing Coordinator. 

Andres will continue to coordinate day-to-day operations of the Full Compass marketing department, oversee production schedules and contribute to the planning and development of numerous marketing programs.

Full Compass Marketing Manager Michael Turner states, “Through four years, Laurie has provided noteworthy performance and leadership, helping to significantly advance the progress of FCS marketing. This promotion is a richly deserved recognition of her important contributions.”

Andres started her career in information technology, holding various positions in which she managed over 20 people and supported over 600 employees in five branches nationwide. 

She then took a major turn by completing her degree in graphic design and multimedia.  Andres applied her new skills in various marketing positions, learning all facets of production and planning before starting at Full Compass as Marketing & PR Specialist. 

“I am very proud of our team and what we have accomplished in the past four years,” Andres says. “In this new role, I will work to continue our forward momentum and help increase the scope and effectiveness of the marketing effort at Full Compass.”

Full Compass Systems

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Powersoft Presents Distributor Of The Year Awards At Annual “World Meeting”

For the fourth consecutive year, Powersoft has hosted a “World Meeting” one day before the show Prolight + Sound show. This year’s meeting consisted of 50 distributors coming from all corners of the earth to discuss Powersoft business strategies, and innovations. 

Pointing to a spiral logo on a big screen, Carlo Lastrucci, Powersoft president explains,“It is the symbol of our meeting. The spiral means a solid starting point, a costant growth and openness towards the future: that’s what we want to spread to our business partners.”

At the end of the meeting Lastrucci presented awards to those that achieved the best performance during 2011.

The Distributor of the Year awards were given to ProShows, Brazil (Americas), TM Audio, the Netherlands (EMEA) and Sanecore, China (Asia/Pacific).

Midgraphics, South Korea was given the Outstanding Achievement award.

“I would like to thank all Powersoft partners for the excellent results achieved in 2011,” said Luca Giorgi, Pro Audio BU Manager of Powersoft. “We believe it is the result of building a strong and collaborative team that we have created together. It will be a pleasure meeting with all of you again next year with even more outstanding results.”

Powersoft

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Tour De Absurd: Unbound By The Fundamental Rules Of Reality

Everybody's dealt with horrible vendors from time to time, and Sully's got some tales from the road to which we all can relate.

I was just bitten by a dog.

Truthfully, not 20 minutes ago when I went to pick up a piece of gear at somebody’s house.

When I pulled into the driveway, an unholy spawn of a late night dalliance between Benji and the Geico gecko waddled over to me, growled, then bit me on the f***ing ankle.

I screamed like a five year old, which somehow triggered the garage door to open and spew a teenage girl carrying the gear I was there for.

“This yours?” she piped. “Your dog just bit me on the f***ing ankle,” I squeaked. “”Really? Sorry…” She froze with a look on her face that indicated she was now invisible and I should leave wondering where’d that girl go?

Needing more satisfaction I called the owner of the house.

“Hello?”

“Your dog just bit me on the f***ing ankle.”

“That dog’s 13 years old, he’s never bitten anyone.”

“Oh. Cool. Never mind then.”

“You sure?”

“Hang on a tic, let me make sure my portable morphine drip isn’t on high. Nope, machine’s good… the f***er definitely bit me”

The vicious dog attack left me sulking about the hound’s total lack of fear and respect for me. Then I got mad at myself for sulking about not being feared by an arthritic Chihuahua. Skillfully, I managed to cram in a 30-minute session of bi-polar self-loathing and admonishment in the time it took to drive from the scene of the assault to our bus.

It suddenly occurred to me, as I stared down at the dog sticking out of my jeans, that this was a fitting coda to the four-week tour de absurd that I and the rest of my crew had just endured. During the preceding month, 90 percent of the production vendors we had met had attempted to convince us they alone were not bound by the fundamental rules of reality.

To prove this point, they had taken our advance phone calls, listened carefully to our requests, sagely reassured us all would be well… then rolled us over and tried to bite us on the neck when we showed up. Same deal as the dog. They looked us up and down and figured they could take us.

Act 1
Me: “Hey, how wide is this box?”

PA prestidigitator: “205 degrees for the long throw, 365 degrees for the downfill.”

Me: (Knowing it’s general admission) “OK.”

 
Act 2
The setting: a large field with bands of disgruntled raisins milling arrogantly about.

A2: “We’re ready, my lord. We are prepared for you to communicate with the magic box and give us the array angles for the sound system.”

Steak sauce: “I have spoken with the machine. It gives no advice today. You must have done something to anger it. Go now, butcher the factory program and burn the fatted DSP as an offering. Leave me.”

A2: “My liege, the troubadours will be upon us soon… Can you offer no wisdom for us to assuage their FOH knight?”

Steak Sauce: “Tell him…tell him… the sound will emerge crooked if you angle the speakers. Tell him flat… Yes, flat is best. Threaten to rub petroleum jelly on him and burn him as a witch if he questions you.”

A2: “You are indeed the wisest in the land.”

 
Act 3
Production manager motioning to four speakers hanging from swing chain flown with the aid of two winches off the front of a quad runner.

PM: “What da hell is that?”

Local vendor: “EV X-Array.”

PM: “No it’s not.”

Local vendor: “Yes it is.”

PM: “No it’s not.”

Local vendor: “Yes it is.”

PM: “No it’s not.”

Local vendor: “O.K., no it’s not. I bought an X-Array box and copied it.”

PM: “You mean EV X-Line. You copied X-Line.”

Local vendor: “Yeah, the big EV box. X-Array-Line.”

PM: “O.K., just so we’re clear…you pirated something from EV and call it X-Array.”

Local vendor: “Yeah. Sounds great too. Wanna see our V-Disc wedges?”

Act 4
The three principal characters enter upstage center and proceed downstage in slow motion, their movements reminiscent of Apollo astronauts bravely approaching an ill-fated capsule.

Bonded by an invisible energy, their gaze begins tracking the seventy-five degree seating angle until at last their eyes settle upon the top seat, 600 feet aloft. One holds a laser range finder and whistles quietly at the data it yields.

Their attention is suddenly diverted to the single horizontal row of two EAW KF750s stacked neatly on the stage deck. A small man rapidly approaches the group.

He is equipped with a large black belt dubiously supporting a brick-like walkie-talkie with a solid three-foot antenna fully extended.

The effect is not unlike a remotely controlled Hobbit. A roll of gray tape used to seal air conditioning vents dangles from his meaty wrist, and he is thrusting an irate digit at the tiny speaker array.

Small Man With Big Belt: “I don’t want to hear it! Them speakers cover front row to top row perfect. They’re 70 degrees up and down so we don’t even need to tilt them. Sounds exactly up there like it do down here. I don’t want any of your smart-alecky talk about math. We done it this way for 10 years and it sounds great. Now, welcome and go away, I mix the opener tonight and I gotta make sure they’re happy”.

 
Act 5
A man stands beaten, his feet loosely clutching the prefabricated stage. His attention is captivated by the scene unfolding before his weary blue intelligent eyes…Men of ill-advised employment are hoisting a large-format console by attaching a 1/4-ton drape motor to its top-riveted session handles.

They stand under it, marveling at the graceful way it swings in the cool breeze. Our hero calculates that when the first handle lets go, the desk will swing low, hijack a stagehand at it’s nadir and force him to ride it bareback halfway to the rafters.

As the console reaches it’s apex and the second handle shears away, the desk will immediately divest itself of it’s passenger and enter a vertical spin, 25 feet off the ground, shortly proving wrong the load-out adage, “gravity is your friend”.

Quickly, without remorse, the sad man dispatches an intern to the balcony with a bin of economy popcorn and two video cameras. Word must reach the outside world of the transgressions that have transpired here…

 
Act 6
Me: “What version of the prediction software are you using?”

Them: “Ashly crossovers. They’re out front.”

I own a cat that hides behind the drapes when in trouble. It sits perfectly still, avoiding all eye contact, staring straight ahead looking like a paisley tumor respirating below the front window.

She is so convinced of her sudden undetectability that I have no choice but to accept the fact that the curtains have spontaneously evolved a tail and I should look elsewhere for her.

I marvel at her ability to gaze directly into the face of truth and maintain plausible deniability. Like the vicious miniature wolfhound noted earlier, the cat has eyed me up and come to the conclusion that she’s got my number.

I’d start dutifully working on a complex about my lack of respectability within the various animal phyla, but I know from experience, it’s not just me.

Many of the band guys I run into step off of the bus in the morning with dingoes latched to their ankles. They all have stories that somehow involve PA and lighting vendors avoiding eye contact and hiding behind backdrops with only their five D-MAG lights sticking out.

Sometimes I’ll look into their eyes, pat their dogs and smile with them, offering these words of solace: “get your sun block out boys, we’re goin’ to Hell.”

 
Finale
Me: “Two horns are popping red and two are green. Which is correct?”

System provider: “Which is better?”

 
Sully is a veteran live sound engineer and really has no clever off-hand remarks for this space at this time.

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Advanced Small Console Techniques: Maximizing The Available Feature Set

What about those times when, for whatever reason, a big console is not available? That's the time for ingenuity and some special techniques

Everyone loves a big console.

Even when they’re small in size, like modern digital consoles, we favor consoles that have everything we need to solve any problem that may come up.

But what about those times when, for whatever reason, a big console is not available?

That’s the time for ingenuity and some special techniques that maximize the usefulness of the available feature set. Some people call these “workarounds,” but the term I like is “tricks.”

You know, like a magician. Here are some of my favorite tricks.

The XLR “Y” Cable
The one-female-to-two-male XLR “Y” cable is a powerful problem solver that should be in every audio person’s bag of tricks. It’s most common use is splitting an input to two channels of a mixer, using one channel monitors, the other for mains. This allows the EQ and processing used on one to not appear in the other.

It can be especially important if you need maximum gain before feedback in the monitors for a vocalist, or the input channel EQ helps with an acoustic guitar that’s giving you feedback issues. This trick can also be used for “wet/dry” channels, or if you need some sort of crazy EQ or effect for one part of a song and then quickly need to change back to normal.

Channel Insert As FX Loop
When a console is lacking a function, sometimes it can be found in a piece of outboard gear. For example, most effects units have a built-in mixing feature. When the aux sends are all used up, but you still want one more special effect on one more input, it’s a simple thing to insert the device into the input channel, and use the effect’s wet/dry mix control to vary the amount of effect.

No, it’s not ideal, but under battle conditions, you do what you must.

Direct Out As FX Send
The input channel’s direct output is not just for multi-tracking any more! An input channel’s direct output is another way to get signal to an effect that is only needed on one channel. This trick works well for things like a chorus on an acoustic guitar, or a reverb on the lead vocalist.

It’s best if the direct out is post-fader. A pre-fader can also be used as a direct out too, but you’ll have to keep a watchful eye (ear) on relative levels.

Audio Group As FX Send
So, you’re using four auxes for monitors and two for vocal effects - how are you going to get reverb on the drums?

Sure, the same ‘verb could be used for everything, but where’s the fun in that?

One trick is to assign the drums you’d like to have reverb on (I often leave out the kick drum) to a sub-group, and use the sub-group output as an effects send.

If you have a 2-in/2-out effects box, assign the drums to two sub-groups and you have stereo drums with stereo effects. Use the group’s insert loop and the mixing feature of the effects box, and you have it without the need for an effects send or return.

Pretty cool, huh? This trick can also be applied to vocals, horn sections, or any group of inputs.

Uncommon Insert Hardware
Everyone is familiar with dynamics processors and equalizers inserted into input channels. However, these are not the only useful tools you can insert into an input channel.

For example, many smaller mixers do not include a variable high-pass filter (HPF). The advent of digital loudspeaker processors finds a great many analog crossovers sitting around gathering dust. Just connect an insert send to the input of an analog crossover, then take the output from the crossover’s “high” output, and there you have it, a variable HPF.

Many common analog crossovers have a frequency range both above and below the frequency of a console’s switched HPF, which is usually 80 Hz to 100 Hz. If you don’t have an analog crossover laying around, the glut of these kinds of units on the used market makes them very affordable.

That 4-channel, 2-way crossover pulled from the old monitor system can now be four channels of variable HPF, all in a single rack space.

Sub-Mixers
Any conversation about small mixers should include sub-mixers.

Sub-mixers get a bad rap, but they are an excellent solution to many small mixer problems, the most common being not enough input channels.

The logical use for sub-mixers is on things that can be grouped together - things like drum kits, horn sections, or backing vocals.

With a stereo sub-mixer, you can pan some inputs left, some others right, effectively giving you two sub-mixers. Sending the sub-mixers outputs to input channels on the main mixer transforms those input channels into additional sub-groups.

If your main mixer has sub-groups, you can also patch in your sub mixer there, and save the inputs on the main mixer for other things.

Insert To Bypass Mic Preamp
It’s becoming increasingly popular for artists or their engineers to carry around an esoteric front-end device. These devices almost always contain a microphone preamp as well as some combination of EQ and dynamics processing.

More often than not, the line inputs of an inexpensive mixer is the mic input padded down to line level. This means the fancy preamp is being hooked up to the console preamp, which is one preamp too many.

A specially constructed tip-ring-sleeve cable can bypass the mixer preamp completely by using the channel insert jack. The preamp end of the cable is wired tip/sleeve, the mixer end of the cable is wired ring/sleeve.

Please note that a cable constructed this way is for use with the most common unbalanced inserts that are tip send/ring return. For a mixer that’s configured ring send/tip return, both ends of the cable should have a tip/ring/sleeve connector wired tip/sleeve.

These cables, and any other cable wired in a non-standard fashion, should be very well labeled!

Many Happy Returns
Console returns are very often left unused. Most of us prefer the stereo input channels and/or the mic input channels, and for good reason. They have EQ and full routing capability, so what’s not to like?

Once again, for things like drum kit reverb where you are going for a “room vibe” type of effect that will be set and mostly left alone, the often overlooked console return works just fine. These are good places to plug in sub-mixers too.

Go Forth And Mix
These tricks are ways to squeeze big console performance out of a small console (or two). Again, some of them are not preferred practice, but they allow you to say “sure, no problem” instead of “I can’t do that.”

Now go forth and mix - big console or small.

Dave Dermont is a long-time working live sound mixer and a moderator of the ProSoundWeb Live Audio Board (LAB).

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Howard University’s Cramton Auditorium Upgrades With L-Acoustics KUDO

For more than 50 years, Cramton Auditorium on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. has welcomed world leaders, key political figures and countless entertainers to its stage.

As part of an extensive renovation project celebrating its gold anniversary, the university recently updated the 1,500-seat venue’s audio facilities with the addition of L-Acoustics KUDO line arrays.

RCI Systems of nearby Beltsville, MD provided the sale and installation of the new setup, which now features left and right arrays of eight KUDO per side paired with adjacent low-frequency arrays of four SB28. The university also purchased six coaxial 8XTi enclosures for use as front-fills across the stage lip as needed. All systems are powered by a total of 11 LA8 amplified controllers.

With the sound system retrofit representing only a part of the Cramton’s overall renovation, RCI’s Bob Capotosto and Gene Ingham appreciated the versatility that KUDO provided.

“We were initially unable to fly arrays in the room because they needed to put steel above the ceiling for our rigging points,” Capotosto notes. “However, the challenge was that the venue had not gone dark during the construction phase, so we set up the KUDOs onstage in a horizontal configuration to get them through some shows. Even in that temporary orientation, the system sounded great. In fact, the university was so impressed with it that they almost didn’t want us to fly the arrays at all. That tells you how versatile KUDO is.”

Once the final system was in and commissioned, the university was even more thrilled with it. “The clarity of this system is unbelievable,” says Cody Cox, strategic operations manager for Cramton Auditorium. “While L-Acoustics’ technician was here to do the system calibration, I walked through every seating area and could discern literally no difference in sound. Audio-wise there’s not a bad seat in the house. And the lows are phenomenal as well. You can really feel them throughout the building.”

“Chrisette Michele was the first artist to officially use our new system in mid-January and everyone noticed the difference right away,” he continues. “We’ve already had so many positive comments from audiences as well as from performers who have previously played here. I’ve booked a number of upcoming shows based on the simple fact that someone either personally heard our new system or heard praise about it through word of mouth, which is fantastic. With our previous system, we had gradually become less attractive to many artists coming through town because they would need to bring in their own production or rent a system. But with L-Acoustics in the house, Cramton Auditorium is definitely a top-notch, rider-friendly tour stop once again.”

L-Acoustics

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Meyer Sound MILO Weathers Sandstorm to Elevate Dubai Jazz Festival 2012

The 10th Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival, held in late February, moved to a spacious new site this year at Dubai Festival City, with a Meyer Sound MILO-based line array loudspeaker system covered the site with exemplary sound—even after being pummeled by a ferocious sandstorm. Total attendance topped 46,000 for the nine evenings of performances.

“On the second day of the festival we had one of the worst sandstorms in recent years,” recalls Karl Da Costa, technical manager of Dubai-based Artes Middle East LLC, which has equipped the festival with Meyer Sound systems for the past five years. “A couple of video screens came down, and dust was getting into everything. Yet we managed to get through the afternoon sound check. Fortunately, the winds died down by evening, and all the loudspeakers performed flawlessly for the show.”

The main stage hosted four nights of international genre-blending headliners, including Jason Mraz, James Morrison, Spyro Gyra, James Blunt, Acoustic Alchemy, and Jools Holland with his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.

The left and right arrays for the main stage each comprised 13 MILO loudspeakers. Flown above the MILO loudspeakers were two M3D line array loudspeakers aimed squarely at the VIP balconies, which were set 70 meters back from the stage. Sixteen 700-HP subwoofers bolstered the low end, six CQ-2 loudspeakers supplied front fill, and a Galileo loudspeaker management system with two Galileo 616 processors handled system drive.

“I was extremely satisfied with the sound quality,” says Anthony Younes, CEO of Chillout Productions, founders and organizers of the Dubai Jazz Festival. “We received positive feedback on the quality of sound throughout the festival from our corporate partners, as well as from those in the crowd.”

Audio for the smaller Jazz Garden Sub Stage was supplied by 12 Meyer Sound M3D line array loudspeakers, six M3D-Sub subwoofers, four M’elodie line array loudspeakers as outfills, four UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers as front fills, and a Galileo loudspeaker management system with one Galileo 616 processor.

Artes also supplied full FOH and monitoring packages for the festival. The principal console at the main stage was a Yamaha PM5D-RH and a Midas Heritage 3000 for Jonathan Butler; the principal monitor console was another PM5D-RH, with an Avid VENUE D-Show for James Morrison.

The sub stage deployed a Midas PRO2C console at FOH and a Yamaha LS9 console at monitors. Shure supplied wireless microphones, with wireless in-ear monitors from Shure and Sennheiser. Eight MJF-212A stage monitors from Most High Productions provided foldback for the main stage, augmenting a system that included six UM-1P stage monitors from Artes.

Meyer Sound

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Church Sound: Acoustics… It’s All About Signal-To-Noise

Sometimes things aren't just about your system and mix

This past weekend I was at a Regency Ball with my family for an afternoon of exquisite ballroom dancing (think Jane Austen, 1812). The ballroom is located in South Bend, IN, in a restored old building called the Palais Royale. With its tall ornate ceiling and beautiful wooden floor, it’s one stunning place! 

At the ball, there was live music (piano, harp, and flute) and a “caller” who walked us through the dances. He used a handheld wireless microphone feeding a system with a number of ceiling loudspeakers placed throughout the space. 

The loudspeakers seemed to be placed well enough to deliver adequate coverage, and their overall sound quality was fine. However, the majority of the time I found it difficult to understand what the caller was saying. Why did this happen?

1) The room was reverberant; the hard smooth surfaces of the floor, walls and ceiling acted as great reflectors of sound.

2) There was a lot of additional noise created by the participants.

3) I hate to admit it but my hearing isn’t what it used to be. (Ah, you can’t beat getting old!)

While I was struggling to understand what the caller was saying, my brain was pondering the real problem. I recalled something my good friend Vance Breshears (principal consultant at Acoustic Dimensions) said a little over a year ago: “acoustics can be simply defined as signal-to-noise ratio.”
 
In the ballroom, I could hear the caller (the signal), but at times the people and reflections (the noise) were interfering with the signal. What could I do to reverse this ratio?

First, and I might add, simply, I began joining sets of dancers that were close to the caller. I figured if I was able to get close enough to hear the acoustic sound of his voice, the signal would be stronger than noise. 

Second, I worked to get myself positioned with “more mature” dancers, figuring they were probably having the same problem and would thus listen more intently and be quieter while the caller was talking.

My plan greatly helped, although being able to hear better did not mean I danced any better… :>)

I’m telling this story to get to this point: in your space, what is the noise? Is it the door at the back of the sanctuary that creaks, becoming horribly noticeable during the middle of the service? Is it the HVAC system that sounds like a wind tunnel when it fires up? Is it something simple, like the ushers forgetting to shut the doors to the lobby/narthex, allowing chatter and other unwanted sounds (footsteps, traffic noise outside the building, and so on) to drift in?

This Sunday, take a listen to the noise that interrupts the message (signal) and see what you can do to eliminate or at least minimize it. Sometimes things aren’t just about your system and mix.

Gary Zandstra is a professional AV systems integrator with Parkway Electric and has been involved with sound at his church for more than 25 years.

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Thursday, March 29, 2012

ACIR Professional To Host Yamaha CL Demo At Trump Taj Mahal In April

ACIR Professional will host a demo of the new Yamaha CL Digital Console Series on Thursday, April 5 from Noon to 4 pm at the Trump Taj Mahal (Atlantic City), Xanadu Theatre.

Yamaha systems application engineer Kevin Kimmel and regional district manager Bob Quinones will be on hand to demo the new CL console and will also present the new Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5045 Primary Source Enhancer and Dugan-MY16 card.

All audio professionals are welcome. RSVP to Lisa Young via e-mail (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) by April 2, 2012.

Yamaha CL Series Digital Console Series: The Yamaha CL Series is a Dante network-based console featuring remote I/O for a faster, more responsive Yamaha system solution. All three CL models in the Centralogic series, only differentiated by frame size and input capability, feature 24 mix buses, 8 matrix buses, plus stereo and mono outputs, and 16 DCAs.

The footprint of all three CL consoles is small, yet powerful and has been developed specifically for sound reinforcement applications such as performing arts venues, theaters, houses of worship, touring, and remote broadcast. The high output bus count will be a great benefit to live broadcast and monitor applications.

Read more about the new CL Series here.

Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5045: The new Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5045 Primary Source Enhancer has been developed for, and is distributed exclusively by, Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. Primarily used in live sound applications, the RND 5045 is a 2-channel analog, 1RU device that not only enables up to 16 dB of additional gain before feedback when conditions allow, but because it is a dynamics-only processor, the integrity of the original signal is preserved.

The device reduces background sounds and enhances the main audio source, providing clarity and warmth to podium, lavaliere, and headset mics, as well as in extreme situations, such as referee mics.

Dugan-MY16 Card: The Dugan-MY16 card is designed for current model Yamaha digital mixers and processors including Yamaha 01V96, DM1000, 02R96, DM2000, M7CL, LS9, DSP5D, PM5D, and DME24/64N. Dan Dugan Sound Design automatic mic mixing products eliminate cueing errors, reduce feedback and ambient noise pickup, allow for smooth transitions between talkers, and provide consistent system gain no matter how many mics are open. The card can handle up to 64 live microphones, and is remote controllable.

Yamaha

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Mixing With An Attitude: An Interview With Chris Lord Alge

The man behind Green Day, Paramore, Deftones, Madonna, Tina Turner, James Brown, among others, shared his working methods and ethics from his studio in Tarzana.

The Beginnings

Hi Chris, can you tell us what are you currently working on at the moment?

Chris Lord Alge: What I am currently working on right now is finishing up an album by a band called Shinedown, just wrapping that up. The single is already out to radio and then the record comes out.

Just before I finished Shinedown, I finished mixing Bruce Springsteen. I kind of co-mixed that with Bob Clearmountain. Bob mixed it himself and then Bruce wanted me to mix a few songs.

I literally just had dinner with Clearmountain last night and we were definitely having some good laughs about it.

There’s a good partnership between engineers! I’d like to go back to the beginning of your career, and just to know a little bit more about how you started and the reasons for why you do this job today?  What pushed you to become a sound engineer?  Specifically, a mixing engineer…

It started with my mom having a band. My mom is a Jazz musician and a professor of music theory.  She’d have her trio set up at my house, so here I am 12 years old and there are musicians rehearsing every day at my house, with tape recorders, a small board and a few microphones. Every chance I could get, when they would leave to go do a gig, I would take the gear down into my basement and let the experiments begin there.

So it’s a family thing?

Yes, absolutely, my mom is a musician, I’m a musician, it was just what I wanted to do since I was young, and by having some gear to tinker around with it was fun to start there. I already had my own band when I was 12, I just used that gear to start recording it. At that point I played keyboards, and then I moved to drums; I kind of filled in where the weaknesses in the band were.

Is there any personality or mentor who showed you the path or took you under his wing?  Showed you some tricks, who gave you the will to do this, someone apart from your family?

Yes, of course! So what had happened was that my mom had realized that I really wanted to do this, so she took me to a studio to interview for a job. I got a job at H&L Records under the mentorship of Steve Jerome (GrandMaster Flash, Bobby O, Pet Shop Boys, NDA). They had hired me for $50 a week to be a runner, an assistant. I started with the toilets, to the tea, to the coffee, to the track sheets, until I finally became an assistant and then Steve Jerome had trained me and showed me how he’d like me to do it. He was in essence, my mentor at that time. When I was at a young age 13/14, he showed me the ropes, all the disciplinary moves that became embedded in my life.

So then I read that you’ve been working at Unique Sound Studios?

Well, let’s not cut to that straight away. I put in a bunch of years right there with Steve with Hugo and Luigi, and that studio ended up being taken over by Sugar Hill Records, which in essence was the birth of rap.  So I was right at the beginning of rap, with Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”, GrandMaster Flash’s “The Message” and “White Lines”; all the big initial rap records were all done under that roof with Steve or with Eric Thorngren. So I was there for all of that.

What a period! So then Unique Sound Studios came later on?

At that point I started to work in New York freelancing with a few artists, and then I actually apprenticed to get a job. I went back down the food chain to be an assistant at Unique because I saw it as the cutting edge hip studio that was happening at New York at the time, in 1982- 83. It kind of ended around 87- 88. I became an assistant and then staff, basically kind of took over, had a few reasonable hits, and then I just kind of took over working there. Just doing what I wanted.

So it was kind of the normal evolution: you started as a runner, then an assistant, and then as an engineer, very naturally.

Exactly. But you can always go back from an engineer back to an assistant, it helps put you in your place.

The fact that your two brothers are also working in the industry, was there any competition with the two others?

It’s pretty simple. My brothers worked with me; Jeff used to do live sound for my band, Tommy used to run the lights. Jeff started as my assistant in the studio first, and then I convinced Tommy not to do live sound and come and be my assistant also. Both of those guys started working with me and I trained them.

Tommy, I basically dragged in, put him in front of every other assistant waiting in line to be my assistant and trained him right at the forefront. So was there any competition? Not really, because they are my brothers and we work together ! (Laughs) It wasn’t really about that, it was about, “there’s plenty to do, you want this gig, do it, or that gig, do it.” I don’t compete with my family! (Laughs)

But absolutely, I have a very competitive attitude towards anybody else. My attitude is : “You better take your best shot, because I am not going down without a fight.”

Are there any working methods that you acquired back in the 80’s that still serve you today?

Well that’s an interesting question, because the reason why the business has changed is because all the engineers now weren’t brought up with the severe discipline of a mentor. They buy a Pro Tools rig, they buy a few plug-ins. They compress something and they think they are a mixer.

And that’s not me being angry or derogatory, it’s about, you know, until you have cleaned a few toilets, written up a thousand track sheets, have been beaten to submission wrapping up mic cables, putting away mics, and being completely intimated in front of every producer and artist that you can, you haven’t earned your wings to sit behind the desk. Not that I believe that my way is the only way, but I think there are a lot of guns for hire out there that didn’t even earn the gun.

So all the experience, it all pays off, but you learn something every day.  It’s not just about being an engineer but about being a people person and dealing with the attitudes and the relationships with the artists. What you do behind the desk means nothing unless they are comfortable.

I am doing so many seminars to change the course of recording by getting every possible student a 3- or 5-hour lecture with me, at my cost, with SSL, to come down and inspire them to show them the path that makes sense. And see who wants to be inspired and who doesn’t. And just try to push the next generation into the hot seat in the right way. I’m working that angle.

You consider education as something that’s really important. You are doing a lot to promote that.

Yes, here’s an example. I call up the president of SSL and say, “Look, I want to do a seminar for the engineering students in L.A., and I’m going to host it in my studio at my cost. You bring a film crew, you bring the best 30 students you can, and I will give them 4 hours of pep talk about mixing, recording and everything. That’s great, here’s the date, let’s do it.” Now that’s in L.A.

And then I said, “Let’s really move and now next weekend I’m doing another one at the Power Station in New York with another 30 students for SSL.” 

And after that I’m going to go to Real World - which is Peter Gabriel’s studio - and we’re going to do it for like a 100 students there. And speaking of Paris, I’m trying to orchestrate one because I’m doing a seminar called Mixing with the Masters in July in La Fabrique. So I am going to try to do something with Studio Guillaume Tell, I believe is the big one in Paris, using one of the big SSL rooms there and bring all the French or Swiss students and do a seminar there.

I just want to do it at a room that has the big G console, so I can show them how I mix on that console, and a big enough room where I can get 30 or 40 students in there for the whole day, talking about the whole deal and giving them all the insight. (I’ll probably need a translator.)

You still find it very important to show others how to do it and train people. Do you know how many assistants have you trained over the years?

I probably only trained 10 or 15, I’ve probably touched a few more, because assistants stay with me, they don’t really want to quit.

Let’s put it this way, they want to quit every night because I am so annoying ! (Laughs) I have the best assistants in the world. They have been trained to the point where no one can mess with them and I give them that self-esteem and that attitude to completely outdo every other assistant on the planet. 

And that’s the mentality because the clients we deal with expect perfection, they expect you to be on 24 hours a day. It’s a hard job, you need a life too. I’m on duty 24 hours a day - and it’s not because I am mixing 24 hours a day - but because the artists are around the world and they are emailing and texting, they want to be taken care of.

It’s a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes, but when Mick Jagger calls you or Bruce Springsteen or David Bowie or someone important calls you or texts you, you take care of them; that’s just what you do. It doesn’t matter what bottle of wine you are drinking or where you are. It doesn’t matter.

Can you remember mixing your first real hit?  The moment where you left the studio and you said to yourself: “Wow, that song was really really cool or this album was so cool and I have great expectations for it?”

I would say the earliest moment was when as an assistant under Steve Jerome we completely tracked and mixed a song called “The Message” by Grand Master Flash which became their biggest hit. I guess it was 1981 or 79-80. In that situation, Steve had mixed it and it was 8 pm, he splits to go home, and the band is still hanging around and they are like “Hey, why don’t you mess with it a bit?”

So I end up making my own version, which only the mastering engineer knows for sure which one ended up as the release - mine or Steve’s. That’s where it crossed the line a little bit. You are the assistant engineer, that means when the engineer is gone, you are the engineer. So when the band asks you to do something you don’t say no.

My first involvement in actually pushing faders on something that became large was that. After that point, the one that becomes obvious was “Living in America” by James Brown, which was a huge hit in 84 or 85. I engineered and mixed the whole thing with Dan Hartman. I remember making the edit, the single version from a 7-minute album version down to 3 and a half. It was my first real stint at making a short version.

Do you remember the first mixes - where you respected the artist’s vision - but still had your own signature sound come to life?

The whole signature sound was created and came from Bob Clearmountain. As soon as I heard Bob’s first mixes… the first mix that I heard and liked was “Good Times” by Chic. People don’t really know that he mixed the Chic stuff. They think that he just did Bryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen, Huey Lewis, David Bowie, they don’t realize that some of his earlier stuff was so amazing.

I didn’t even realize that at the time. I was more about what he did with rock. To me he had a signature drum sound. Right off the bat, for me it was the drum sound and the vocals that I just went after; being as good as Bob, if I could be in the same league with Bob back then, that’s what mattered. I was always striving to be like Bob—“BLB“—that was my whole thing ! (Laughs)

Funny enough, sitting at dinner last night, it complements the reverse, he (Bob) is like, “Man, you must be able to hand pick anything because you are so freakin’ busy at this point.” And I said, “I’m just trying to keep up with you. You’re the one doing the Rolling Stones and Springsteen at the drop of a hat every day!”

I think the signature sound comes from just how I hear it, and it was making the drums louder than they should be on all those early hip-hop records.

Making the drums louder than they should be is one of the first things that comes to your mind when doing your own signature sound?

Being a drummer I always heard the drums being really upfront, like “Oh my god, here they come!” Definitely some of my earlier mixes are really drum forward. And it’s still the case today, the records are pretty drum forward.

And the artists really like the “larger than life” drums today! O.K., let’s move on to the technical side of your work. Let’s be a techie for a while.

Technique

I know you are set up at the former Can Am studios in Tarzana for a while now. And besides the SSL 4K, what was your reason for moving to this studio at the time?

It started out as a simple process of logistics. I lived in Tarzana and I’d commute to Burbank and Hollywood to work. I was not in my own studio, I was in a studio owned by someone else.

After all this commuting and not being able to actually get home to my family because of the traffic—I had worked in Cam An in the 90’s—I mixed the Damn Yankees and John Wetten (Asia, King Crimson), I mixed a few records here back in 90-91.

One day I drove down here to see if it was still here, and sure enough I walked in, and of course it was in disrepair and under some new ownership. I came in and looked at it and wow, I talked to the owners and said “Hey, I’d like to check that room out.”

I started by leasing it, basically renting the room from the guy, and in one day, I’m like, “I’m not renting the room, I’m buying the place. Let’s get this guy out of here.” I started by taking over the Studio B side, and soon as there was a chance to buy Studio A, I bought it. There were a couple of other people interested in buying it, but I just steamrolled over it.

My business manager said, “Look I don’t care how you do it, I’m taking over the studio.” It was a no-brainer. I didn’t really need both studios, I needed to have control of the whole facility because I needed to make it mine and under my control. The best thing about it is that it already came with the console I wanted. It just took me some reverbing. I am completely happy about.

I read that you are still using some 3348 tape machines for mixing. Can you describe a little the process and the reasons for using that? Are you still using the 3348 for mixing?

Of course. Even last night, Bob was getting a couple of good chuckles because he’s been off those tape machines for at least 5 or 6 years now. Look, they stopped making the tape in 2008.

For me the format was the best format ever invented because it puts your song on a finite piece of tape that once you print the song on there as a multitrack it doesn’t change form. So there is no opening a session, there is no worrying about hard drive crashing, it’s on a piece of tape, it’s digital and I like the way the machine sounds and it’s all transferred digital from ProTools.

So when the tape goes in the box after the album is done with the track sheet, it’s exactly where we left off when we mixed the record. Aside from sounding good—which is always the number one reason—you know that, when you put it back on, it’s exactly where you left it. My work flow does not slow down because my assistant is preparing the next song while I am mixing the first song.

It’s a bit of an antique, but not really. It’s sonically great. I have plenty of virgin tapes. It’s not going to last forever, but I still like all the things it brings.

That leads me to another question. You have 48 tracks on the tape, I can figure that you have some Pro Tools sessions from your clients, so your assistant is doing some pre-mixes to fit onto the 48 tracks… But if for example there is something in the string stem, and you’d like your assistant to redo the mixing of the stem how does it work?

Well it’s really easy. When you want to modify what is on the tape, you open the session, you make the changes and you punch it in. Say, in the bridge, I want more high strings and less low strings, we just modify in the Pro Tools session, we punch it in and it’s done, backgrounds, whatever.

Generally, even a 200-track song folds down pretty good without a lot of comps. And by comps I mean when there’s 4 tracks to 2 or 8 tracks to 2 or whatever. Most of it is hand-offs. Which means a pair hand-off to a pair, which hand-off to a pair. We are so good at making the comps be as uncompromising as possible so the master tape is still not just a comp, not just a stem reel. Plus we have the original sessions it came from. So that work perfectly also if we ever want to spread it out.

So it forces the mixing process to make decisions very early if the client doesn’t do so.

Right, it makes all the difference because it makes no matter what you get, manageable.

Which monitors do you use?

I still use 3 sets of monitors. I still use the original NS10’s with covers on them from the 80s with the original Yamaha 2002M power amps and a subwoofer, which is an Infinity BU2.

Then I have the M&K top-of-the-line powered speakers with two subs, to hype it up a bit more. And still, a Sony ZS-M1 boombox which is, you know, managed right off the console feed and it’s in a rack. So between those 3 monitors it’s plenty.

Do you have any monitor controller or are you using the monitor management form the SSL?

It’s just what is built up to the console. It’s an A/B monitor, it’s minis, and then large. And then your boombox is basically your studio loudspeaker vibe control so it’s all off the bus at the console.

I have some questions about the Waves plug-ins you developed with the Waves guys. Can you just tell us about the process of doing that, and how the idea came about?

It really started when they were coming out with their SSL E Channel Strip, which is exactly what I sit in front of for 30 years or since the SSL came out.

They came after me and said, “Look, can you listen to these and tell how you think they sound?” I helped them modify them and make them as good as they can be, and they became the most popular plugin they ever sold. I still use them to this day as they are really simple and they are exactly what I know.

We started with the SSL emulation, which I made some presets for, after that point it became, “let’s make copies or emulate my 1176’s, LA3A’s and LA2’s because I use them every day.” So they came out with the CLA76, LA3, LA2, all that.

They actually took my original units to Tel Aviv for months, they scoped them, we went back and forth until they sounded distorted enough, and I was really happy with the result, the GUI, the whole deal.

Once we did that, then it was like, “design your own plug in!”  Then I literally took a cocktail napkin with Mike Fradis—who is product manager—to a steak house one night and wrote the original design for the Signature plug-ins, which look like little mixing boards with buttons on it, something really simple for the user.

I’ve been using the CLA Bass or Vocals, and they sound really great. It’s compiling some of the units or effects that you use a lot of time like reverb, delays, presets for the reverbs, voice doubler—it’s basically taking the chain that you’re using on those instruments?

Well, the thing I was trying to accomplish: have a plug-in for the new user so they could just have my Signature plugins only. And that’s all they would need because it has everything you want built in. The thing is that you have to have sends and returns, and that’s a pain in the ass after a while. Believe me, I know, you have to set up sends and returns, and it’s complicated.

With this, you could just drop it in on everything and you have EQ, compression, gain, preamp, all that in one plug-in. I think it conquered it. Look, if you want to get more detail then you can get some separate delay plugins. It’s really made for like 80-90 percent of your mixing you can use those.

Do you use your native plug-ins as well on Pro Tools sessions?

Of course. If I am looking for one of the effects I want, I always use mine.

So it’s you and your assistants who use the plug-ins in front of the mixing during the Pro Tools process. You can use the plug-ins there and then everything is transferred to the 3348, and then it is you with the SSL and the outboards.

Exactly!

You work hand in hand with your assistants, you have a special partnership with them. They are very complementary to your work. I can figure that they are really important for you while you are working.  They have to be trained very well to let them mix stems and things like that.

Well of course. The most important thing is when the clients are in here, they want to experiment and do some things, move some vocals around, do some editing, move some backgrounds. My assistants just pay attention and make it happen, just punch it in.

The outboard gear that you use, for example, the 1176 or LA3A, are pretty much inserted on the same desk channels and then you have the same kind of track sheet for your 3348 tapes, then the drums from, let’s say, track 1 to 10, then bass, then guitars…? You pretty much have the same workflow all the time?

Right. The most important thing is making the song work. So if you have to figure out where all the parts are coming from that becomes a real struggle.That becomes difficult.

I take all the difficult stuff out of the equation, then all I am doing is focusing on the song. When you go to reach for where the drums are, they are always at the same faders. They are not always the same sound, but they are always at the same place.

When you are a chef in a kitchen, you know where the knives are, you know where the flour is, you know where the cutting boards are, you know where the pans are. When you go to create an inspirational meal, all your tools are in the same place, but you always create something different. That’s the mentality.

Let’s go back to the instruments a little bit. Can you describe to us what you use for basic rock instruments? Like drums, bass, guitars, keyboards… What do you use most of the time as outboards on drums, for example?

The first thing you do is put all the faders up and find where the song is. If I solo the drums, I take all the compression off, so I start to balance them with no compression. Literally. And I see which samples I need to add to make the drums come alive. Then I see if I can get away with no compression.

Once you start putting the other instruments in, if the drums aren’t speaking enough, then I say “OK, I have to compress the overheads, or I have to compress this room track.” I try to do the least amount of damage because I can just start by compressing the bejesus out of everything, but then it just starts to sound backwards and dull. I try the least amount first, and add just a little bit at a time.

A lot of it is how much room or reverb I am using. I have 6 different reverbs and I just feather them in to taste. It’s not like “I’m going to use this reverb on this snare drum,” it’s more “I’m going to use these 4 reverbs on the drums or these 6 reverbs that are just on one send.” It’s a palette. I have 14 different reverbs set up - in total - and I will just push those returns up. It’s like, “this balance is working great for the chorus, this balance is working great for the verse.”

It’s not an exact science, but you are definitely using digital reverbs, some typical analog compression, and EQs all off the desk, plus there are a couple of Pultecs helping the kick and snare. So we are definitely using some old school technique.

Speaking of reverbs, what are your favorite reverbs?

My favorite ones are EMT246, originally Yamaha Rev1, a Sony DRE2000, and an EMT252. The Lexicons I use are the 224 and 480 originals, which have their own sound.

Then there are the newer ones, the Bricasti M7, which is probably the only new reverb I use. But then I also use an AMS reverb, the Ursa Major Space Station, which is not really a reverb, but somewhere in-between. And then there is also the Eventide SP2016. They are all chained together, all getting used. Sometimes I’m using 4 or 6 of them at the same time. They are all on their good settings, and sometimes I just adjust the times. You can’t really beat the original digital reverbs.

If you’re using up to 6 reverbs on the drums, I can imagine that you can do the same for the vocals…?

The vocals have their own line of delays. The vocals have 6 delays that I can use, and in 4 different channels of slap that I can use as a package, and then vocal doubles and then specific vocal reverbs.
They have their own arsenal of stuff. Between the vocal reverbs and the drums reverbs, that covers everything.

Talking about outboards, are there any outboards apart from the 1176 and the LA3A that you use all the time?  Like Pultecs?

There are always 2 Pultecs going, all the delays and reverbs are always engaged, they are always sending, it’s just how much you’re returning it.

Some songs I look back and I go, “oh, I’m only using 3 compressors on this” and some songs I look back and I’m using 23 compressors, and then some songs need all 8 reverbs to make it do something. It’s all dependent on what the tune is. By having all those faders available, here’s some more flavor, here is some more reverb, here is some more delay. You just texture. It’s like the sous-chef ! (Laughs)

What about new gear? Have you seen some new pieces of equipment that made you feel like you want to have it? New compressors? New EQs?

Shadow Hills makes these new compressors—I use a whole bunch of those—the mastering compressor and their 500 series compressors. Steve Firlotte makes his own Inward Connections compressor, I use the new ones, the FETs; I even hand built my own 1176s with my tech staff. They just make new sounding ones. The ones I use the most are the Retro 176s—they’re brand new, those new tube limiters, they’re great.

What about the Vac-Rac?

Yeah, the Vac-Rac is fairly new. I use new and old. Of course there are some delays and reverbs I use, even the Line 6 EchoPros, are still relatively new—the TC reverb and all that, that’s all brand new stuff.

What is your mix bus processing chain? Do you have some compressor and EQ inserted on the mix bus or do you print your track with the compressor on?

Well, your mix is your mix. The compressor is built in, you never unglue it by turning the compressor off, and I am not really compressing it that much. It’s either the Shadow Hills mastering compressor on the bus or the Focusrite Red 3, which is an original Red 3, a very low serial number early ones. It sounds different than the new ones.

For EQ, I have some mastering Pultecs that I use on my mix bus so the whole mix goes through tubes and transformers.

How do you print the mixes?  Do you print to them a Pro Tools session through which converter? How many versions can you do?

It’s always a six-pack and it’s always printed through the Apogee Symphony at 192 kHz.

OK, so you do main mix, playback, instruments….

You do master mix, vocal up, TV track, instrumental, then you do lead vocal acapella, and background vocal acapella. And then, no matter what version you have, if there’s a single edit, there are six versions of it. If there is a long edit, there are six version of it. If there is a clean edit, there are six versions. So everything becomes six. This way the artist has a TV instrumental that matches every configuration you have.

Artistic and Human Point of View

I’d like to talk a little bit about the relationships you have with producers, you have been working a lot with Don Gilmore. Are there any other producer’s you like to work with?

Let’s get to the right names here. The producer I mixed the most records for is Howard Benson.

Howard Benson and I have done at least 100 records together. We started working in 98. It could be more than that. One of these days I am going to have one of my guys tally it up, but I’d say it is pushing the 1500 to 2000 song limit.

After Howard Benson, another client is Rob Cavallo, who is now in charge of Warner Bros. I’ve been mixing his productions since the 80s. He produces Green Day, he produces Shinedown, he produced some great bands—the Goo Goo Dolls, the Dave Mathews Band. He’s the second runner up.

Then if falls to Don Gilmore, Matt Serletic, John Fields, and then it is everybody else at that point - Rick Rubin. The list goes on with the producers. I’m skipping names off the top of my head, but I want to make sure that I put them in order; Howard, Rob, are the key players. Bryon Gallimore, I’ve done all the country records with for 10 years.  There is definitely a loyalty and an attitude that we can do whatever you want, whenever you want always.

What’s your advice to any mixer or student aspiring to become a mixing engineer?

Your relationship with the band and the producer is what makes your job. Unless you have a relationship with the band and the producer and they are happy with what you do, and want you to do it all the time, you don’t really have a title then. That really defines who you are. The band wants you, the producer wants you, the record company wants you to be doing it, and they are happy with what you do, then you can consider yourself a mixer at that point.

How do you see the evolution of the business now? The record business crisis at the moment, and it’s happening in every country… How do you see the evolution of making records and selling music today?

I think today is the new frontier. People still, no matter what, want music. We just want them to pay for it. They are paying for it in a different way. We have to be more creative in how we make it. To be more efficient in how we make it.

Bottom line is, bands still want to make music. Bands still want to record, and bands still need you to mix. We’re still going to have people buying the music, we just have to keep them from stealing it. I think the excitement is more than it has ever been.

That’s a very positive point of view.

Everyone is just doom and gloom. Well, that’s just your attitude. If you want to be a doom and gloomer, go work in a different business. But as far as I’m concerned, music is only going to get better, and you just have to be positive and make it happen.

The Bernard Pivot Style

What’s your favorite memory from mixing an album or working on an album?

My favorite memories would probably be from records I produced. They are all favorite memories, it’s hard to say “this was the best.”

I think the ones I got the most laughs on were albums I produced by Tina Turner, or John Miles or Rick Price or Joe Cocker, where being the producer, it was basically tweaking your last rough mix, with the artist in there and having some laughs and some fun with it.

Knowing that you’re playing on it and you’re producing it… And it came out great and you are excited. Rather than, mixing something that you didn’t produce.

Of course, working on “American Idiot”, which went by so fast… It was exciting because the songs were so good and you didn’t really realize it at the time.

But the best memories are definitely the ones I produced because there is more at stake because you’re a producer. Human wise, because you are artistic about it, you play parts of it, there is more “blood” on the tape, than you just mixing someone else’s record.

You mean that this job is 60, 70 percent human aspect?

It’s 100 percent human. It’s not a business at all. It’s a personal, emotional business, that unless your heart is into the song, you’d might as well go back into the car and go home. You have to be emotionally attached to the music or there is no point in doing it.

Your worst memories/moments from mixing of all time?

There have definitely been some moments. I’m not going to name the bands, but there were full-on fights in here internally with the band mates. No one agrees with what you’re doing. Each guy leaves the room and comes back with a different idea. It makes it really difficult when the band doesn’t get along.

There have been a couple where the band is breaking up or fighting at the time you are mixing it, or completely unsure of what you are doing. It’s not you, it’s them, and that’s what makes it difficult. A lot of the best records I ever mixed are when nobody is here but me.

Sometimes, they are their own worst enemy. It’s not their fault. They’re really better off coming toward the end. When they want to come in here and do battle with it, sometimes they can unglue some of the magic that you’ve put into it by isolating their favorite parts.

Which artist would you still like to work with and why?

I want to work with Paul McCartney, I want to work with Coldplay, I want to actually mix a full fledged U2 album, not just one or two songs like I have done in the past—I want to be in the room with the band. I’d like to mix a new Rolling Stones record with the whole band in here.

I want to go after the ‘last of the Mohicans,’ the biggest guns that are left while they still have something. It’s more the absolute legends of rock and roll.

Of course, I want to work with Muse and Foo Fighters and all the newer bands, but still they have some time. I want to get the old guys while they still got some action. I want to get it while there is a chance.

You’re engaged to mix an album for an artist you love but the requirements are less is more. So you have to pick only 5 pieces of your equipment. Which do you choose and why?

If I can pick only 5 pieces of equipment, I’d pick my favorite vocal limiter, I’d pick my favorite vocal reverb, drum reverb, that’s three…

Which ones?!

It would be my Urei Blue1176, my original EMT246, my Sony DRE 2000, then it would be a pair of Pultecs on my bus, and my Focusrite Red. The Pultecs I say they are one piece of gear cause they are a pair.

You’re cheating! (Laughs)

They come as a pair. With those 5 pieces of gear in a rack, I can go anywhere.

Just to finish up, do you have any leitmotiv or quote/catch phrase about music that you like to use?

One of the things we say in the studio is “Don’t try this at home”! (Laughs)

Everything I have here is not going to work at home. It’s really meant to be in the proper facility, in a temple of sound. Not your garage. For me it doesn’t work!

Find out more about Bootz here. The author thanks Sarit Bruno (Chater-La) for making this interview happen. Photography by Brian Petersen.

For more audio/sound related content and resources, go to Audiofanzine.

 

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Dynamics, Condensers & Phantoms: Getting Into The Design Of Microphones

Experiment, evaluate and make your own live sound a little better

Why are there so many microphones? Which is best? These are among the most common questions asked by my audio students.

First, there is no single mic best suited for all tasks, and this statement is also probably the best answer as to why there are so many mics on the market.

Our ears are very sophisticated transducers capable of changing sound into electrical impulses that our brain can interpret as sound.

Sound frequencies are measured in Hertz (Hz). 1 Hz is one sound wave passing a certain point at the rate of one time per second. Our ears are capable of “transducing” sound pitches ranging from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz (20 kHz.)

Unlike our ears, mics can only accurately “transduce” (and reproduce) a particular range of pitches within the normal “20 to 20k” range.

If a mic can reproduce frequencies without boosting or cutting volume in a certain range, it is said to be “flat” in that range. This measurement of mic accuracy is known as frequency response, and is one characteristic that is a “must know” for any engineer when choosing a mic for a particular application.

A mic’s frequency response can potentially change the timbre of a sound because of its inability to reproduce all of the frequencies present in an audio signal.

Another characteristic to consider when choosing a mic is its signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) - the amount of usable audio from the instrument or vocalist as compared to the inherent noise that the mic generates by itself. (Every piece of analog and digital audio equipment has a S/N ratio and a dynamic range, which is S/N plus headroom)

But possibly the biggest factor to consider when choosing a mic is its design type. There are two basic types of microphones, dynamic and condenser.

Although dynamic mics have long been the choice of live audio engineers, condenser mics are making their way to the stage more of late for reasons that we’ll address later. And both are worth examination.

Let’s take a look under the hood.

DYNAMIC MAGNETICS

There are two classifications of dynamic mics, “moving coil” and “ribbon.” Dynamic mics work by the principle of magnetic induction. Most of us have experimented with magnets. They are bi-polar, with one side we’ll refer to as “north” and another side we’ll call “south.”

When two magnets are held “north to north” or “south to south” they tend to repel (or push away) one another. Oriented “north to south,” magnets tend to attract one another. If magnets are held in this orientation close enough to create an attraction, but not touching, a magnetic field is created between the two.

This magnetic field contains invisible lines of “flux.” All dynamic microphones have this magnetic field. In ribbon mics, a thin corrugated strip of metal is suspended between the magnets in the magnetic field. As the sound waves strike the ribbon, it vibrates. This vibration breaks the lines of flux, which induces an electrical voltage. This voltage is conducted by the ribbon and is identical to the frequency of the vibrations of the sound waves.

In dynamic moving coil mics, there is a thin diaphragm that is attached to a coil of wire. This diaphragm/coil assembly vibrates in the magnetic field, which breaks lines of flux and induces a voltage in the coil. Again, the vibration is identical to the frequency of the sound waves.

The sensitivity of dynamic moving coil mics is determined by the size of the diaphragm, strength of the magnets and the amount of wraps of wire in the coil. 

Although ribbon mics are more sensitive than moving coil mics, they are more fragile. Ribbon mics also exhibit a bi-directional pickup (or polar) pattern - they are sensitive to sound in front of, as well as behind, the mic. Couple this pickup pattern with inherent frailty and most agree this limits uses for ribbon mics on stage.

MOVING ROBUSTLY

Conversely, moving coil mics are inherently robust. This design is an overwhelming success story for the working band or sound reinforcement crew. It is also inexpensive.

Most moving coil mics are unidirectional - they only pickup what is in front of them. This is useful because sound entering the mic from the monitor system can cause that squealing sound called feedback that is an unmistakable beacon of failure. Sound engineers work hard to avoid it, and everyone in the house knows when they don’t. 

The strength of the magnets and the number of wraps around the coil matters, as does the size of the diaphragm. Large diaphragm moving coil mics are more sensitive than their smaller diaphragm counterparts. They’re generally good mics for drums with the exception of snares, which produce a high-end rattle (from their wire “snares”) that small diaphragms (found in mics like the Shure SM57) seem to do better on.

Snare drums also produce very high sound pressure levels and can distort large diaphragm moving coil mics.

Large diaphragm moving coil mics like the AKG D112, D550 or the Shure Beta 52 make very good kick drum mics. Sennheiser also makes some nice mics for drums, such as E602 for kick as well as E604 for toms. The latter also includes a mount that grips the top rim of the drum, eliminating bulky mic booms that clutter the stage and can be knocked over. (I’ve even used these in the studio.)

If you’re running sound using onstage wedges for monitors, dynamic moving coil mics are a good choice, providing a high amount of gain before feedback while also relatively easy on the pocket book. If you’re using in-ear monitoring systems, you may opt for condenser mics for vocals and some instruments. There is quite possibly some additional expense, but the rewards can be considerable.

CONDENSERS FOR STAGE

Condenser mics have found their way into more and more live sound applications. Condensers are very sensitive and have a flat frequency response over much of the 20 Hz to 20 kHz audio range, in part due to their design.

These mics work by the principle of variable capacitance, with a fixed plate and a moveable plate. These plates function as the polarized magnetic source. Sound pressure enters the mic and causes the moveable plate to vibrate in proximity to the fixed plate. This vibration is identical to the original frequency of the sound vibration. 

As the plates move closer, then farther apart, they perform the function of an electronic component known as a capacitor. The capacitance varies and a small electronic circuit in the mic produces a current flow that mimics the sound signal. Dynamic mics’ magnets are charged at the manufacturer so that they retain up to 20 percent of the voltage applied to them permanently.

Unlike dynamics, condensers don’t have magnets that are charged permanently at the time of their manufacture. As a result, their diaphragms must be charged every time they’re used, accomplished with the use of phantom power. Supplied to the mic through the mic cable, phantom power is normally 48 volts DC for large diaphragm “air” condensers.

The variable capacitance design of condenser mics makes them more sensitive to incoming sound pressure. They’re very “hot” mics. Guitarists can relate this to active circuitry in guitar pickups, and for much the same reason.

Condenser mics also generally exhibit a very flat frequency response. One specific design of the genre is the electret condenser. This design can use a small DC battery or phantom power of considerably less voltage than the 48 volts required by air condensers. Don’t confuse this function with a battery-powered transmitter for wireless mic systems.

PHANTOM CASES

Not only does phantom power provide the necessary voltage for the plates, it also provides power to the onboard impedance transformer. Without phantom power, the large-diaphragm air-condenser mics will simply not work. So where does it come from? Normally, the mixing console supplies phantom power.

Many consoles offer a separate button or switch on each channel that will enable phantom power. Some consoles have a switch that enable several channels at once, or one switch that enables all of the channels.

Fewer buttons saves cost but sacrifices function. And certain consoles don’t offer phantom power capability or only 18-volt phantom power for electret condenser mics only, making external power supplies necessary for 48-volt air condensers.

With a crisp clean sound, it’s tempting to use condensers on vocals. You’ll find numerous models designed for just that purpose. But be aware of some precautions. Condenser mics are more fragile than dynamic moving coil mics, so it’s a good idea to have solid road case for them when used on tour.

Also note that because condensers are so sensitive, they tend to be more susceptible to feedback. Care must be taken to manage stage volume. In-ear monitors can be useful in this scenario. Also be sure to make your vocalists are aware of these facts as well so that they can take some precautions. 

What if you phantom power a dynamic mic? It doesn’t damage the mic, but it’s unnecessary. Here’s a tip - if you’re using a condenser mic and notice that you’re not phantom powering it (because there’s no sound!), mute the channel before engaging the phantom power. Doing this while a channel is live can result in a loud pop.

There can never be too many mics to choose from, and inventive engineers and microphone manufacturers are discovering new techniques on a regular basis. Experiment, evaluate and make your own live sound a little better.

Scott Foulkrod has a degree in audio engineering and currently teaches audio engineering at the college level.

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In Need Of The “Big Hammer”

Making a small or mid-size line array perform like a large line array

Many regional sound companies today have made the strategic decision to invest in smaller mid-size line arrays as their main speaker systems of choice (the “A” rig), as oppose to making the huge investment of owning a large-scale “big box” line array system. 

One of the reasons for this is a smaller box system is much easier to “scale up” for larger events, than it is for a large box system to “scale down” for smaller events. 

And we all know how painful it is to see that large scale system sitting in the warehouse waiting for that next big festival to put it out on (a few times per year), while most of the daily “bread & butter” jobs are utilizing the “B” and “C” rigs from our inventory.

However, not owning a “Big Hammer” rig in the tool box does present its own problems when trying to be the “go to” company in a given region. Cross-rentals are not always an option, and in some cases not desirable, even when readily available due to potential “competitor poaching” of clients.

So how can a company compete when the investments made don’t include the “big hammer” rig? This story illustrates one possible solution.

Starway Productions from Southern California is a moderate sized “full production” house (Audio; Lighting; Video; Staging, etc) that currently does not own a big-box system in their inventory. 

Their client base includes several large casino resorts, municipal and corporate clients and several concert and festival promoters (just to name a few). They decided to make their main loudspeaker system of choice the QSC WideLine 10 system (for most of the reasons stated above). 

And they have found over the past several years that they can easily satisfy over 80 percent of their clients without having to own a big-box rig. For those occasional artists whose rider demands an SPL capability exceeding 115 dBA at mix position, Starway would typically cross-rent a large box system from one of the big touring companies in the region. This got them through the event, but often cut deeply in to their profit margin. 

This past summer (2011), Starway completely designed and produced an outdoor “Summer Concert Series” for Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, CA. – including the temporary venue, large stage, and all the technical production.

Many world-class artists were booked for the season, most of which representing a wide range of music genre, with a few of them requiring a “Big Hammer” system. Austin Hill, (Starway’s senior audio engineer) contacted me to see if we could come up with a system design utilizing their QSC inventory that could meet the added (SPL) demand of those few shows.

We decided to create a large “5-way” system for the main left-right hangs, which included 20 flown WideLine 10 (WL10) enclosures, 8 flown WL218-sw dual 18” enclosures as “LF” devices, and 8 x stacked WL218-sw dual-18-inch enclosures as the aux-fed sub-woofers on each side of the stage.

In addition to the main L-R system we also hung a 10 box WideLine 10 center array as a “vocal only” system to enhance the vocal clarity and point-source imaging throughout the venue. For the crowd of people leaning on the barricade down front, we placed 6 self-powered QSC K8 speakers spaced evenly across the lip of the stage.

In order to make each of the flown Left and Right systems behave as one coherent array, we changed a number of parameters in each system’s processing & deployment methodology.

First we flew the LF array so its vertical acoustic center matched the vertical acoustic center of the WL10 array, and carefully articulated the splay angle of the LF array to match the curvature of WL10 array.

Because the venue was only 175 feet front to back, I was able to keep the array shape to a very modest bend and maximize the potential sound power of the array using a combination “arcuate” into a slight “spiral” array shape. 

Using some custom link bars, we set the array curvature angles at .5 degrees for the top four cabinets; 1 degree for the next four cabinets; 2 degrees for the next seven cabinets; and 3, 4, 5 and 6 degrees on the last four cabinets.

Next, crossover points in the WideLine 10 array were changed to allow for the added LF array. WL10 normally utilizes a frequency shading topology between its dual 10-inch woofers, wherein we allow both woofers to go all the way down to its bottom knee (usually 80 Hz when used with subwoofers). 

At 130 Hz, the LF assist woofer begins to roll out at a gradual 6 dB per octave slope so in the upper mid range frequencies, only one of the 10-inch woofers is actually operating – eliminating off-axis time smear and nulling (cancellations) in the MF region. This gives WL10 the bass response of a much larger box (down to 52 Hz), while keeping the footprint of the box relatively small. 

However, the caveat to this topology is the MF device becomes the hardest working device in the enclosure, because it is doing double duty – MF and LF. So the idea was to take some of the strain off the MF woofer and let the LF array take on more of that low and low-mid duty.

With the MF 10-inch drivers positioned to the inside (on stage) of the arrays, and the LF arrays hung to the outside (off stage) of the WL10 arrays, we raised the high-pass of the MF 10-inch device to 160 Hz, and the LF 10-iinch device up to 100 Hz and kept all the low-pass filters the same. 

Then, we programmed the dual 18-inch LF arrays to operate from 40 Hz to 150 Hz acoustically using an 8th order Bessel low-pass filter at 110 Hz (See composite below).

Taking time arrival measurements dead center of the audience area (85 feet from stage) of each band-pass (left and right separately) we time aligned each within .02 mS of each other (including the center array, lip fills and ground-stacked subs). We allowed the center array to be 2mS ahead of the main left-right system just to put the vocals a little more “in your face.” This technique worked very well in the show as the vocals really stood out on top and were very clean.

The net result in this experimental pairing of these two separate arrays (into one 4-way system) was a significant increase in midrange clarity and headroom; increased bass extension and impact of the flown system before subwoofer use; and increased overall sensitivity and system output (total SPL). 

And having that much bass extension in the main arrays allowed us to use the ground-stacked dual 18-inch subwoofers as an aux-fed sub harmonic effect for those sources needing to go that deep. We limited the subs acoustical band-pass to only work from 28 Hz to 50 Hz, resulting in the low-end being very big & very tight!

In summary, what we created was a big-box line array using smaller modular components. Some may say that we used an enormous amount of cabinets for a venue that size. However, this was done to meet an SPL requirement for only one or two acts for the entire season. 

When comparing a small box system to a large box system, it’s not the number of cabinets but rather the height of the array that determines its potential SPL output. The 20-box array we hung measured 16.8 feet tall, which is roughly the equivalent of a 10-box large format line array (i.e. – V-DOSC, VerTec 4889). That’s actually not that large of a system for a venue this size (4,500 seats) needing that amount of SPL and vertical coverage. 

The cool take-away to this experiment for me was that this technique is scalable to smaller venues and smaller box counts - It’s making one “big hammer” out of a few smaller ones… Happy mixing out there.

Brian English is director of concert system solutions at QSC Audio (www.qscaudio.com).

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Chuck Mulhearn Joins SLS Audio As Director Of Cinema Sales Worldwide

SLS Audio of Ozark, MO has appointed Charles (Chuck) Mulhearn to take the reins of their growing Commercial Cinema division.

As Director of Cinema Sales Worldwide, Mulhearn will focus his years of experience in the Cinema industry towards managing the expanding channel to market success SLS is experiencing.

Mulhearn has been in the Professional Audio Industry for over 35 years and spent 30 years with Klipsch Audio Technologies developing many different domestic and international market segments for their company. He has extensive market knowledge in both the North American Cinema/Exhibition market as well as its worldwide market.

In addition to being responsible for market distribution, sales and P&L accountability, Mulhearn is also proficient in Product Development and overseeing many audio system designs. These systems consisted of applications from small business background audio, cinema/exhibition to large outdoor arenas.

During the last 12 years, Mulhearn has concentrated his energy within the Professional Cinema/Exhibition industry. Along with several other specialists, he was involved in the design of the very first operational 16 channel Cinema audio playback system, created to take advantage of the multiple audio tracks available in today’s Digital Cinema programming.

Over the last 3 years, Mulhearn has consulted for cinema equipment providers and has been responsible for the design and project management of many multi-screen complexes. He was not only responsible for the audio portion of the design, but for Digital Projection, Screening, and Private VIP rooms and seating as well.

“For the past two years we have seen a huge increase of both international and domestic sales of our Cinema speaker systems. Our growth has reached a point to where we needed someone with more in depth expertise in this field to properly service our clients,” said SLS Audio’s President, John Gott. “With Mulhearn’s vast knowledge of the Commercial Cinema industry, he is the perfect fit for SLS.”

SLS Audio

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Auralex Installed In World Music Nashville’s New Live Venue

Auralex Acoustics, Inc., helped World Music Nashville, located in Nashville, TN, launch its new live music venue with the installation of Auralex SonoSuede HT System acoustics treatment panels throughout the space.

World Music Nashville is a niche, high-end guitar shop run by Larry Faragalli. The store was recently remodelled to include a 120-seat event venue.

“This new space will be used in a number of ways,” says Faragalli. “We’ll have live performances, music industry educational events, manufacturer clinics, student performances, CD/DVD releases and community events.”

A Taylor Guitar Road Show and a Martin Guitar Steel String Showdown were recently hosted at the new venue. Performances by such artists as Alex Call, composer of the hit “867-5309:Jenny,” as well as the Nashville Blues Society’s “Nashville Blues Challenge” have also already been held there. 

The SonoSuede HT System is a cost-effective, complete do-it-yourself room treatment system ideal for any critical listening environment. The synthetic suede fabric-covered panels provide the acoustical performance and visual impact critical for today’s applications. The SonoSuede HT System’s unique mounting blocks enable users to space the panels off the wall. The resulting air gap dramatically improves low-frequency absorption and also offers a multitude of decorative options.

As audio technology continues to evolve, sound control solutions must meet greater acoustical demands while maintaining aesthetic appeal. The SonoSuede HT panels are the sole provider of critical acoustical absorption and enhance the look of the World Music Nashville’s live music venue.

Brown SonoSuede HT panels are mounted along the walls of the space, on the back and just off to one side of the stage. They are also strategically placed along the side and back walls of the audience.

Faragalli couldn’t be happier with how the new live space turned out. “The room sound is now perfectly tuned,” he says. “A big reason for this was the help from Auralex. They analyzed the room dimensions and advised us on what Auralex products to use and how to apply them in a manner that looks good and sounds great. Auralex was there all along the way when it came to helping us tune our room.”

The live music venue is fully equipped with a PA system, including Peavey mains and monitors, along with inputs, effects and mics. There is also a drum kit, keyboard and bass amp, along with lights above the raised stage.

World Music Nashville is one of Nashville’s finest musical instrument stores and also houses the city’s largest and most successful privately run Music Lesson Center.

Auralex Acoustics, Inc.

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