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Huge Rooms and ZDM
Reader Robbie is in quite a fix! Plus, it's always nice to get fan mail, even if it is from someone named The Slice ...
Any comments on how to deal with rooms that are very live and reverberous as far as sound design for front of house is concerned?
IS "REVERBEROUS" REALLY A WORD?
I am having trouble getting intelligibilty of vocals and solos in these situations.
AS DO MANY OF YOUR COLLEAGUES. THE RETARDED ONES DISREGARD THAT PHENOMENOM AND JUST JAM THE SYSTEM HARDER, CREATING A HORRENDOUS STEW OF ECHOES AND CONFUSION. THE WORLD IS TOO BIG FOR ME TO GO AROUND AND PERSONALLY WHACK UP ON EACH OF THEM WITH A BASEBALL BAT, OR ELSE I WOULD!
Also many clients, although I know it sounds bad, expect big thumpin' kick drum and bass guitar even if it's a rock band. Any tips in how to get this sound with out cluttering the mix with too much low information?
Robbie
YOU NEED TO BE A VERY CREATIVE CHEF, ROBBIE.
YOU NEED TO PUSH THE LOW-END ENVELOPE UNTIL YOU SENSE THAT A HAIR MORE WOULD CASCADE INTO RUINOUS RESONANCE. YOU NEED TO WORK WITH YOUR BAT EARS AND FEEL AROUND THE EDGE OF THE MIX, AND HOW IT IS INTERACTING WITH THE ROOM.
YOU NEED TO THOUGHTFULLY ADJUST THE GRAPHICS FOR THE SYSTEM, AND ALSO CHANNEL EQ FOR CERTAIN INSTRUMENTS, LIKE THE BASS AND THE KICK, FOR EXAMPLE!
YOU WANT THE LOW END TO BE "WORKING" AND EXPRESSING THE INTENTION OF THE MUSIC. YOU WILL INJECT THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF LOW END INTO WHATEVER SPACE YOU ARE IN, I COMMAND YOU!
DO YOU HEAR ME, SOUNDMAN?
CHECK OUT MY LATEST FAN LETTER HERE:
Hey OSM, I just read your article on ZDM. I love it!
YOU ARE TOO KIND!
If you think back to when Surround sound came out, it was around the time that they had developed these, for lack of a better term, "adventure cocoons", that you would get into and experience the idea of something like a virtual rollercoaster or other stuff.
I HAVE CORRECTED YOUR SPELLING OF COCOONS.
Surround sound is great for something like that, but it's not logical for ANY type of stage event, whether it be a rock concert or a theatrical production where you are out in front of the action rather than in the middle of it.
YOU ARE CORRECT, SIR!
WHY CAN'T THESE MORONS UNDERSTAND?
If you're standing 10 - 15 feet away from a group of people listening to them talking, your'e not going to hear them behind you! Besides, isn't this surround sound idea going just going to muddy up the sound the way the lack of delay on speakers further back would in a ZDM mode? This surround sound stuff is just a gimmick that unfortunately took off.
IT'S SAD, ISN'T IT?
I've done some work with a friend of mine who has his own business in sound, lighting, and staging, and the relatively few times that I've worked with him, I've seen many of the same scenarios that you discuss in terms dealing with the clients. One of my favorites, and probably happens EVERYWHERE, is people not understanding, first why it costs so much to bring in a sound company to do a show, and second why they can't set up an hour or two before the curtain opens.
THOSE CRETINS! DAMN THEM!
One of the other things that he impressed on me is how, for the most part, musicians make the worst sound folk - especially if it's their own band that they're mixing for. What really burns me is the guy that "short circuited" this man's work in developing a sound system in a high school by promising them what they wanted, not what they needed.
PLEASE TELL ME MORE.
To give you an idea of how UN-knowledgeable this guy was, I had gone back for a visit (my last) and one of the kids showed me a couple of 9v batteries that had obviously been connected to each other to deform them. Fortunately they didn't explode in the kid's face.
Well anyway, this "sound guy" tried to tell me that it was caused by the report of a pistol being shot on stage (with blanks) and that they had forgotten to bring down the gain on that channel.
I'M NOT SURE I UNDERSTAND WHERE THE BATTERIES WERE.
THAT MAKES TWO OF US, RIGHT?
It also supposedly took out the equalizer in the effects rack as well. This guy had started out in a rock band, and physical installation of PA/intercom systems in places like schools. It's know-nothing guys like that who undercut everyone else's prices, that make it that much harder for the real pros like you and my friend.
I am absolutely enjoying your advice mixed with wit, humor, and sarcasm.
The Slice
THANK YOU, SIR!
I AM VERY PLEASED TO ENTERTAIN YOU -
- THE OLD SOUNDMAN
