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Thursday, June 06, 2013
What’s The Delay? The Effects Of Weather Conditions On Sound
Bruce Main
06/06/13 12:11 PM,
Summer is here, and a good many of us are out working those “mud and dust” shows, fairs and festivals. We get to clean amplifier filters on a daily basis, put wedges into garbage bags to keep them dry, mix…
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Monday, June 03, 2013
80 Years On & Counting: Progress In “Getting It Right” With Speech Reinforcement
Alan Hardiman
06/03/13 02:41 PM,
This past April 27 marked the 80th anniversary of a historic milestone in the history of audio. On that date in 1933, the Philadelphia Orchestra, under deputy conductor Alexander Smallens, was picked up by three microphones at the Academy of…
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Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Mixer Inside The Mixer: Applications Of Console Matrix Sections
Craig Leerman
05/28/13 11:24 AM,
Each of us has our own distinct take on what we look for in a console. To me, the most important thing is reliability, followed by output routing capability. In the high stakes world of corporate gigs, I can’t have…
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Time Can Be On Your Side With Sound System Alignment
Tom Young
05/28/13 10:47 AM,
When traveling to different time zones, we need to correct our time-keeping tools in order to align our activities to the local standard time. Very simple. Likewise in sound reinforcement systems, we often encounter multiple sources of misalignment, albeit in…
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013
One-Stop Shopping: Captain, What Does It Mean, This Term “Full Production”?
Teri Hogan
05/21/13 02:30 PM,
Sound companies handle “one-off” shows every day. It’s usually formulaic, and after a while, we do it by rote. But what happens when the client wants one-stop shopping? This is also known as “full production” or “turnkey service,” and it’s…
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Friday, May 17, 2013
From Simple to Complex: The Wide World Of Drum Microphone Techniques
Bruce Bartlett
05/17/13 05:08 PM,
A drum kit can be viewed as a single instrument. Like an orchestra, it can be captured with a pair microphones in a stereo configuration (or a single stereo mic). Or, it can be viewed as a collection of individual…
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Thursday, May 16, 2013
Pro Production: Understanding The Language Of The “Show”
Alan Hamilton
05/16/13 05:44 PM,
When first starting out in audio, a newcomer will hear terms that may seem like a whole new language. These terms are very common to hear in arenas, union halls, theatres, and similar venues. While not so common in clubs,…
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The Single-Mic Technique: An “Old-Fashioned” Approach That’s Surprisingly Effective
Bruce Bartlett
05/16/13 04:08 PM,
What goes around comes around. From the 1920s through the 1940s, PA systems for music often used only a single microphone. Band members would gather closely around this mic, balancing their sound by moving toward or away from the mic.…
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Bigger Picture On The Equalization Of Loudspeakers
Pat Brown
05/14/13 04:06 PM,
The procedure often followed for equalizing a loudspeaker is to place the measurement microphone on-axis and adjust for the flattest frequency response. This often involves boosting some filters when the axial response over a range of frequencies is lower than…
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Tuesday, May 07, 2013
A Great Mix? Sometimes It Depends On Who You Ask…
Dave Rat
05/07/13 05:31 PM,
Mixing sound in the live realm is not rocket science. In fact, it’s probably closer to voodoo. A studio engineer creates a masterpiece that will (hopefully) live forever in permanent hard copy existence. But the very nature of a live…
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Tools of the Trade: How Boundaries Affect Loudspeakers
Pat Brown
05/07/13 05:16 PM,
It’s nearly impossible to mount a loudspeaker in a room without placing it near a room boundary. Some logical questions arise: 1. Does this affect the response? 2. Is the effect good or bad? 3. Can I use the boundary…
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Thursday, May 02, 2013
Slick & Seamless: Developing A Live Digital Recording System
Todd Hartmann
05/02/13 03:51 PM,
Choosing an audio console can be likened to a guitarist choosing an ax – it’s the pallet with which one creates. Some engineers have built their mixing techniques around plug-ins while others rely on complex channel grouping or outboard gear.…
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Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Defying Gravity…Safely: Approaches And Best Practices In Flying Loudspeakers
Craig Leerman
05/01/13 04:36 PM,
Some in audio think that the term “rigging” only applies when loudspeakers are flown, but it also pertains to lesser endeavors such as placing a single loudspeaker on a tripod stand. The bottom line is that for any piece of…
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Monday, April 29, 2013
Happy Time In Monitorland? Getting Your Stage Together
Teri Hogan
04/29/13 03:51 PM,
A concert sound system is, in reality, two completely separate sound systems, joined at the hip by a split snake. Each system requires a skilled engineer, but the skill-sets between the two differ vastly. The thing that baffles me is…
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Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Monitor Wedge Tips: Tools Of The Trade To Have A Successful Show
Mark Frink
02/20/13 06:41 PM,
Touring as a monitor engineer has taught me many tricks over the years. Here are some of my favorite pieces of advice for those who may be just starting out… Audio Logs Like Groundhog Day (or a symphony pops tour),…
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Monday, February 11, 2013
Preventing “Hollow” Sound Through Microphone Techniques
Bruce Bartlett
02/11/13 03:06 PM,
Suppose you’re reinforcing a singer/guitarist in mono, with one microphone on the singer and another mic on the acoustic guitar. The vocal sounds funny - sort of hollow or filtered. What’s happening? Both microphones are picking up the singer, with…
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Friday, January 25, 2013
The “Power Alley” - Discussion & Solutions To The Troubling Interaction Of Subwoofers
Joe Brusi
01/25/13 09:22 AM,
Subwoofer cancellation is not an unusual occurence, particularly for open-air applications. Performance is not good in some audience areas. Sometimes a specific model of sub gets the blame. The underlining problem is that of the interaction between subwoofer stacks located…
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Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Chainsaws & Scalpels: What’s Really Going On With That Equalizer?
Ken DeLoria
01/15/13 01:29 PM,
In the beginning there were volume knobs, and that was good. Then came bass and treble controls, and that was better still. But more was wanted, so more was created and thus the equalizer was born. Over time, equalizers have…
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Tuesday, January 08, 2013
The Basics Of Audio System Gain Structure
Chuck McGregor
01/08/13 04:02 PM,
Although this is not a rigorous treatment of the subject, the following are general guidelines that may be helpful in setting the gain structure for an audio system and making final adjustments to it for best results. A Basic Procedure…
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Monday, December 10, 2012
Understanding Target Sound Pressure Level And Required Amplifier Size
Charlie Hughes
12/10/12 08:07 PM,
In a previous article (“Loudspeaker Sensitivity”), I examined the topic of loudspeaker sensitivity and how it may or may not relate to the overall sound pressure level (SPL) produced by a loudspeaker. One of the conclusions of that article is…
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