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Tuesday, May 07, 2013
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 mixing dictates that every show will be unique - and that none will be perfect. A front of house engineer is in the business of creating a memory. Impact, excitement and anticipation form the landscape of the journey you’re guiding… View this story
Filed in: Live Sound • Feature • Blog • Study Hall • Concert • Engineer • Mixer • Signal • Sound Reinforcement • System -
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Dave Rat 01/30/13 06:14 PM,I enjoy seeking parallels and connections between various aspects of the world that surrounds us in search of clarifying analogies. One of those connections occurred to me not long ago while doing one of my sound seminars. I was looking for a way to clearly explain the theories I implement when equalizing live sound systems. Though mixing a live event can be a complex process with many factors that need to be simultaneously juggled, it’s possible to look at mixing… View this story
Filed in: Live Sound • Feature • Blog • Production • Audio • Consoles • Engineer • Measurement • Mixer • Signal • Sound Reinforcement -
Friday, December 07, 2012
Dave Rat 12/07/12 09:18 AM,It’s pretty common knowledge that if you get the wires mixed up when hooking up two loudspeakers that something “not good” happens. Loudspeaker phase (actually, polarity) seems at first glance a pretty simple concept. If both loudspeakers are moving outward at the same time the sound adds together, and if one is moving out while the other moves in, the sound cancels out, especially the low frequencies. Hearing this effect is quite easily demonstrated - listen to your home stereo… View this story
Filed in: Live Sound • Feature • Blog • Study Hall • Consoles • Loudspeaker • Microphone • Mixer • Monitoring • Signal • Sound Reinforcement • Stage -
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Dave Rat 09/18/12 10:16 AM,I’m asked a lot of questions about sound. Many of them focus on unraveling and understanding some particular function, feature or concept, while others are directed toward distilling my opinion on methods or industry trends. A while ago. I was asked some questions that led me to some in-depth pondering. The questions: Why are line arrays so popular? Are they a fad or here to stay? And what will be the “next big thing”? The fact is that line array-type… View this story
Filed in: Live Sound • Feature • Poll • Concert • Line Array • Loudspeaker • Measurement • Sound Reinforcement • Subwoofer -
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Dave Rat 08/28/12 11:57 AM,How fast do sound signals travel through the various parts of the sound system? Do sound signals travel faster in analog snake cables or fiber optic cables? Also, what about transmission through the air with wireless mics? And where do the true and relevant sources of time lag exist in a audio system? What I find really interesting is that sound signal travels at differing speeds depending on whether it’s in the form of electricity, or sound waves in air,… View this story
Filed in: Live Sound • Feature • Poll • Study Hall • Digital • Sound Reinforcement -
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Dave Rat 08/22/12 02:22 PM,Back in 1974, the Grateful Dead put together what was easily the most unique, experimental and perhaps complex sound system ever configured for live sound reinforcement in that era. This system was named the “Wall of Sound” and jt was a complete divergence from conventional sound reinforcement thinking. There were two key concepts combined together resulting in a very interesting outcome: 1) Because PA systems of the day were stacked on either side of the stage and often blocked audience… View this story
Filed in: Live Sound • Feature • Study Hall • Production • Audio • Concert • Education • Line Array • Loudspeaker • Sound Reinforcement • Stage • System -
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Dave Rat 08/08/12 04:34 PM,Face it, stuff happens. Sooner or later something stops working during a show. Front of house engineers must know the absolute essential components of the sound mix that are most vital – in other words, the channels that the band must absolutely have to continue playing. Generally, for a four-piece rock band in a large venue, these channels are kick, bass, guitar, and lead vocal. Just four inputs, everything else is pretty much fluff and spares. A bit extreme? Perhaps,… View this story
Filed in: Live Sound • Feature • Opinion • Poll • Concert • Consoles • Engineer • Mixer • Sound Reinforcement • System -
Friday, June 22, 2012
Dave Rat 06/22/12 03:43 PM,So much of what we do as sound engineers is based on habit and repetition. Better safe than sorry, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, that’s the way everyone does it, and so on. I enjoy questioning and testing that validity of these patterns. One of the beautiful aspects of live sound is that there is no true right or wrong way, but rather, certain approaches are more likely to result in preferable outcomes than others. With that in… View this story
Filed in: Live Sound • Feature • Study Hall • Concert • Signal • Sound Reinforcement • System • Technician • Audio -
Friday, June 15, 2012
Dave Rat 06/15/12 09:50 AM,As live mix engineers, the audio reinforcement systems we operate typically fall into two categories: mono or stereo. Yes, there are the occasional opportunities to mix surround sound, and for many events, delay clusters or various fill loudspeakers are common, but for the most part it’s all about some version of mono or stereo. While on the surface it may seem that stereo offers just a version of dual mono, there is a lot more to stereo than just two… View this story
Filed in: Live Sound • Feature • Poll • Consoles • Engineer • Loudspeaker • Microphone • Mixer • Processor • Sound Reinforcement -
Thursday, June 07, 2012
Kevin Young 06/07/12 11:15 AM,Over the years, Dave Rat has authored numerous articles for this website and Live Sound International, most recently “Snake Channel 24” (read it here). This time, however, Dave is the focus, for living up to his mantra of never going on tour without a project. As he memorably said during a 2009 tour as the front of house engineer for Blink 182, “I always want to come back with something new. If all I come back with is a bunch… View this story
Filed in: Live Sound • Feature • Training • Education • Engineer • Sound Reinforcement • Technician • Audio
Articles Tagged Dave Rat
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