Between the Lines, a new book by veteran audio professional Michael Lawrence about tuning sound systems for live events — and more importantly — about making decisions, is now available from a variety of outlets.
Beginning with an overview of system design fundamentals, Lawrence shares his personal approach to sound system design and alignment, and his rationale — not only why decisions are made, but also the order in which they are made, which can have a profound effect on the resulting uniformity of the system.
Readers of Between the Lines will learn to consider the outcomes and tradeoffs throughout the process, and the author’s school of thought yields a mental framework for creating consistency, regardless of the size, scope, or scale of the sound system.
Also included is a foreword by noted system optimization pioneer and specialist Bob McCarthy (read it here), who characterizes Between the Lines as “a thoughtful study of the subject, presented in plain language with a plethora of practical information ready for immediate use by practicing system engineers, designers and mixers. It is a new book with a fresh, modern approach to the subject.”
Lawrence is an independent front of house engineer and system tech who’s current clients include Miguel (FOH/systems engineer) and Ghost (systems engineer). He’s also a Smaart instructor and application support specialist for Rational Acoustics and serves as the technical editor of various pro audio publications such as Live Sound International and ProSoundWeb. In addition, he’s co-host of the popular Signal To Noise podcast.
“After discussing these topics with so many people, the one thing I found they were consistently getting stuck on is the practical workflows. Not just what to do when designing and tuning a system, buy why, and in what order. That’s where the questions always pop up,” Lawrence explains. “So this book is a book about making decisions — understanding the goals with a sound system design and alignment, and being able to clearly lay out the steps we need to take to get there.
“Whether it’s a basic pair of “speakers on sticks” or a multi-million dollar stadium rig, making informed and considered decisions in the right order is the best way to consistently achieve good results. Once I realized I could approach all systems in the same fashion regardless of scope or scale, I knew what I wanted to share in this book.
Between the Lines is already number 1 on Amazon in three categories (Physics of Acoustics & Sound, Mechanical Engineering, and Acoustic Engineering) and a “Best Seller” on Barnes & Noble.
Purchase a copy directly from the printer here for $29.99.
The book is also available internationally through most major bookstores, and local book sellers should be able to order it through their usual channels.
Note: copies will also soon be available via the Rational Acoustics webstore.
