Live Sound: Tips for Production Supplied
Abstract (summary)
McNeill
offers tips for setting up
audio equipment in nightclubs. Topics include the physical environment, doing
sound checks on the system, correcting problems, and what equipment to take
along.
Full Text
The Club
Venue
Many
venues are set up for more than one purpose, like hosting local DJs, sports
coverage, corporate events, and live
bands. When touring a circuit of such venues, you'll find that management will
always want every chair and table possible to be available for patrons, as they
should be - after all, it is a place of business. If you're carrying any sound
equipment, keep a small footprint in mind - particularly at FOH.
Environment
& Mix Position
When you
arrive at the venue, take a good look at the interior surfaces and their
relationship to the house speaker system to determine what surfaces or
materials may affect your house mix:
concrete, marble, glass, wood, drapery ... and what about the noise floor?
If you
have a standard black velour backdrop, use it every chance you get. It will add
to the consistency of the stage sound no matter what the venue is. The same
applies to your drum or percussion carpets that can also be spiked to expedite
set-up. The mix position is
where it is in many venues. You may even end up mixing from the kitchen, listening through the space
in the wall where they pick up meals. So plan a path to get out into the room
to hear the mix that the
majority of the audience is hearing.
System
Check
You may
not always get to advance the sound system in detail before you reach the
venue. When this happens, be prepared and give yourself some extra time to
check through the system before any sound checks.
New
advances in speaker technology means most new sound installs will have a pretty
good speaker system and generally work well for the application intended for
the venue. However, it may lack somewhat when it comes to live band requirements.
Many
venues come equipped with what looks to be, and has the potential to be, a
good-sounding rig both at FOH and stage monitors. You're familiar with the
speaker system and console at FOH and the type of monitor wedges available for
use. How bad can it be?
Well,
technicians come and go, wear and tear happens, things don't get fixed, and the
system may not be left in its optimal starting point or preset.
If the
speaker stacks look like they will work where they are, try it first.
If it
looks like they can be maneuvered for better performance or coverage, find out
if you can do this.
Perhaps
the PA was set up for last night's dinner event and not restored, so it's
nowhere near the right spot for your show.
Line
Check
Only when
you get to the line check and start ringing out the monitors do you find that
things are not sounding as they should. The monitors you have used successfully
before don't even sound like the same monitors. One monitor horn is fatigued
and sounds much softer than the others, the two down stage monitors and/or the
drum sub and drum wedge drivers sound out of phase. The stage right monitor has
been placed on a part of the stage that's hollow, and it's causing the entire mix to sound muddy and resonant
even at low levels.
You'll
need to correct any speaker phase issues, processor setting issues, and
acoustical issues now to avoid trouble later at sound check and show.
Place the
monitor with the quiet horn in a mix
position where it can be used on its own. Pull your phase checker out and get
all those questionable speakers back in phase. Move the stage right monitor
around until you find a more suitable spot.
Getting a
good stage sound is very important.
If the
artist is comfortable with the sound on stage this translates to a better performance,
and as long as you're paying attention, a better FOH mix.
Just One
More Mix
Today,
the system you're using is set up for two mixes from the FOH console. You need a third mix of just a few channels - say
there are enough amps and monitors for a third mix but no equalizer. Take your XLR splitters and
split/duplicate the channels you need in the third mix at the console. Plug the split channels into
fresh input channels on the console. Now you can dedicate these channels to the
third mix. Route these
channels post EQ to an output like another auxiliary send, if available, or a
sub group - or even a matrix would work. You now have your third mix and tone control is from the
channel strips, as it is post EQ.
If you
decide to carry sound and lighting, make sure you advance the power at each
venue. There is no use in carrying something the venue does not have power for.
When
you're faced with a smaller than usual stage, your road cases will come in
handy to help build the stage out to the front or side so you can place a
monitor or amp on it.
Carrying
mic stands and cables is always a good idea. Carry what you can in your audio
adapter kit. You never know when you'll need a phase-reverse, a pinl lift, one
to one balanced iso transformers, splitters, or adapters to go to and from the
ever-more-popular 1/8" devices.
Word
count: 906
Indexing (details)
Narrow
subject
Broad
subject
Title
Live Sound: Tips
for Production Supplied
Author
Publication
title
Volume
Issue
Pages
61
Publication
year
2007
Publication
date
Nov 2007
Year
2007
Publisher
Norris-Whitney
Communications Inc
Place of
publication
Toronto,
Ont.
Country
of publication
Canada
Journal
subject
ISSN
0708-9635
Source
type
Magazines
Language
of publication
English
Document
type
Instruction/Guidelines
Document
feature
Photographs
ProQuest
document ID
1358858
Document
URL
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1358858?accountid=144516
Last
updated
2012-08-23
Database
International
Index to Music Periodicals Full Text
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