| Greetings everyone. Brandon Potter
has been a member of the high school tech mailing list for a very long
time. He has taken much of his own time to contribute several very
interesting ideas to to the list. Therefore, I have created the Brandon
Potter Words of Wisdom page. Here it is in chorological order.
|
|
For those of you with audio, and particularly audio editing,
if you're trying to sync a long sound effect or a song to a show where you're
trying to get it to end perfectly with the chain of events, here's a quick tip
that I came up with tonight that I thought might help you with your shows.
The problem is that I was doing sound for a wedding, with all the music being from
a digital playback source. During the processional they wanted to play Canon in
D, a 6 minute song, but it only took them 3:30 to get down the aisle and into
place. I really wanted to avoid a cheap fadeout, so I edited the song in Cool
Edit Pro so that I had one version that was 3:35 and one that was 3:55 . That
way I had one that was supposed to go perfectly with the processional ( 3:35 )
and a backup if something went wrong or people were walking slow.
Now, how do I switch between one or the other at the last moment? I created a new
stereo WAV file, and put the 3:35 version on the left channel, and the 3:55
version on the right channel, starting at the same time, and then burned it to
a CD. Hooked the CD player up to the board so that the Left channel has it's
own fader, and the Right channel has it's own fader.
Now the left and right channels of Canon play at the same time, but I mute the
right fader and leave the left fader up so the 3:35 version is playing to the
audience via the left channel. If I get to 3:30 and people still have a ways to
go, I switch channels while the CD is playing, and voila, nobody ever knows.
This was the plan initially, but I was able to expand on it by installing an 8-output
sound card and running 8 different versions of Canon at the same time using
computer layback.
Anyway, cheap solution to a simple problem (lesson: hire real musicians), but I
figured I'd tell you guys just in case you're in this situation sometime!
Brandon
Audio Technica microphones have their place - I've used them
for a lot of bands (a couple national) and have been very pleased with their
systems for guitars and vocals, and so have the artists.
Since you have enough experience to say that they aren't good, what was your application?
When you used their wireless systems, did you check the frequency compatibility
in your area with other wireless services? Did you use a properly distributed
antenna system? Did you configure the frequency channels properly? Was the
venue a suitable area for radio frequencies to be used?
And furthermore, Audio-Technica's products are used on tours everywhere, with very
good results. Their condenser microphones are totally awesome, and they have
probably recorded a component of 1/2 the music you listen to daily. And if you
know anything about audio at all, you know that a fundamental rule is that you
pick the right brand and product for your application, and you try different
microphones/brands on the same source to see what sounds good. I can't count
how many times I've put 3 microphones in the same kick drum and then mixed them
together at the console, using each microphone's characteristics to make a beautiful,
in-your-face, shake-the-room, clear, crisp sound.
So, with that said, given Audio-Technica's reputation and my personal experience
with them, if you think their products suck, it's because you bought the
cheapest thing you could and expected more than you knew it could produce, or
you just flat out didn't know how to use audio equipment properly. :)
Sorry if that was a little harsh. I'm just kind of the wrong person to fight with
over audio... and in this case, I and 300 other professional audio engineers
can pretty much say, with confidence, that you're wrong, and I'm sorry that you
had a bad experience. ;)
Brandon
And, why would you want them? LOL
By the way, to add to the list... To be the ultimate know-it-all techie, you must
be able to do the following: (by the way, I also call this my Brandon's Technical
Observations on How To Get Chicks In Theater List)
A) Walk into a completely dark theater, go directly to the wall lighting controls,
and press the right button (the faster the better)
B) Also with lighting, you need to be able to give that good, blank stare at the
set like you're contemplating something philosophical, and you must have the
ability to walk up to the back of the light board, and operate the controls
quickly and effectively seeing the controls upside down. (This, also, will get
you the chicks, depending on how fast you do it!)
C) Pyrotechnics. If you roll up in your steel toed black boots, walk in and start
doing some funky things with flash powder, you WILL have a date that night.
D) You must posess knowledge of both sound and lights. However, this is not enough.
To "warm up" the systems in front of everyone, you must have a fully prepared
kickin' light show to accompany "Lords of Acid - Drink My Honey". When
created and executed properly, you WILL be the cheese.
E) You must be able to climb the ladder to the flies with one hand. No excuses.
How you figure it out is up to you. ;)
F) If you have the resources, create a "light board alarm". All you
need is a MIDI-capable light board, a computer, and a little programming
experience. Here's how I configured this little joke:
1 - I set the light board up to output all level changes / buttons through MIDI .
2 - I set the computer up to recieve MIDI .
3 - Programmed computer to have 2 modes ("Armed",
"Unarmed")
4 - Connected computer to sound system, at fairly high volume level.
5 - Create 2 cues... 1st cue is all dimmers at full, 2nd cue is all dimmers at
0.
6 - Get a pretty good nuclear submarine alarm sound effect (add voice over if you
wish)
7 - Synchronize 2 cues with nuclear submarine alarm sounds.
Now, the inspiration behind this was that people liked to come by the light board
and just start pressing buttons to see what they did.
So, if you can imagine, before I walked away from the board, I
"armed" the computer. Sure enough some little freshman came up and
pressed a button. The scene that follows is kind of like this...
<button pressed>
FRESHMAN: Haha, this is fun!
<computer recieves MIDI message>
<computer activates sound effects>
<computer sends MIDI message to run cues 1
and 2, looping>
BUZZZZZZ <all dimmers full> BUZZZZZZ <all dimmers 0> BUZZZZZ
<all dimmers full > BUZZZZZ
"LIGHTING SYSTEM VIOLATION!" <all dimmers 0> BUZZZZZ
"PLEASE STEP AWAY FROM THE CONSOLE WITH YOUR HANDS UP" <all immers full> BUZZZZ....
(buzzing needs to loop with dimmer effects until you come back and de-arm the system)
By the way, you might want to have an extra set of underwear on hand for that unlucky
soul that presses the button...
Night!
Brandon
Hi there!!
Express series - excellent choice... Any reason why your school chose the 48/96
over the 24/48 for an 80 channel system? you guys gonna dive into the world of
moving lights?
First of all, a particular acronym comes to my mind - RTFM (read the friggin'
manual). That will answer a ton of your questions and spark your creativity
into what you can really do with that board. (actually, that board can handle
almost anything you can dream of if you can spend the time programming it, the
only thing you're limited by is the number of channels... and doing
incandescent 80 dimmer setups you'll have no problems at all).
If you're looking for the fastest way to make a chase just so you can look at
the stage and go "oooh, pretty!", then here it is (assuming I get it
right off the top of my head)...
I would like to call this " Brandon 's Beginner Guide to
Make Pretty Flickering Things"
1. Start board
2. Turn every little fader down and turn the master up, and the cue faders (A/B
and C/D) up all the way.
3. Press [Cue] [1][0][0] [Enter] (this chase will be on cue 100 for the sake of
this example)
4. Press [Type] (and it will display a menu in red) [3] (Effect) [Enter]
5. Slide up a couple faders for the first frame in your chase.
6. Press [Record] [Enter]
(note: this is the quick way, because it automatically fills in the cue number
100 because that's the last cue you were working with - the long way is
[Record] [Cue] [1][0][0] [Enter])
7. Now slide some more faders around to get what you want for the second frame
of your chase.
8. Press [Record] [Enter]
9. Repeat steps 7 & 8 for as many frames as your heart desires.
10. Now that you're done writing the chase, you'll want to see it, right? (btw
- by default, the default fade time for effects is .2 seconds, if you have
sensitive lights that don't like this, or you don't want your dimmer system
rapidly going FULL, OFF, FULL, OFF for 5 times each second, then edit the
effect before you run it, see below) So, press [Cue] [1][0][0] [C/D GO] (C/D Go
is the Go button on the right side... A/B is the left one)
11. Now that the teacher and the other members of the class think you are THE
mack daddy of lighting, stop the chase by pressing [C/D CLEAR] (it's located to
the right of the C/D faders)
12. To edit various aspects of the chase (or see the programmed version of what
you have just done) press [Blind] [Cue] [1][0][0] [Enter]
Enjoy! I recommend preheating your instruments at about 10% for 5 minutes prior
to executing a chase like this... The higher-wattage bulbs don't like waking up
that fast otherwise... (it would be kinda like being in a nice, deep sleep when
your bed catapults you 40 ft away to wake you up)
Enjoy! Make some cards for yourself and keep them handy for when the chicks see
what you've done and ask for your #. :)
Brandon
Color Scroller
Hey guys, just got back online from the week of heck...
recordings of 4 orchestra groups, 47 tracks mixed, and 529 CDs sold... worked
my lil bootie off and customers are pleased, and nowwww there's enough in the
account to get my long-awaited WholeHog II!!!!! So forgive me if I seem a
little bit bubbly excited :)
Anyway, on to the homemade color scroller -
First I got a Radio Shack project box about the size of a normal scroller, and
with a dremel tool, cut a big gel-sized square hole in the middle of it so the
light could pass through.
Next I went to the mall and found these miniature cookie-dough wooden roller things
(just a wood cylinder) that was just a little bit longer than the box not
including the handles. I got two of them, one for the business end of the gel,
and one for the other side. I measured and cut the handles off and part of the
big cylinder so that they'd fit into the box with a few mm of clearance.
After that I ordered a bipolar stepper motor and it's control card and got it working
with basic functionality with the computer.
Now back to the cookie dough rollers - With the dremel I made a long slice down
the side of it so that I could stick a piece of gel into it and have it hold
(kind of like those really old movie reels where you stuck the film into the
little hole and then started turning it) and did the same for the other roller.
Then in each of the rollers at the top created a little groove all the way
around for a rubber band to go around. The result was that the rubber
band would be what makes both the rollers turn... please see Exhibit A1 for an
overhead view...
Exhibit A1... an ASCII representation of this concept ;)
_________ <- rubber band
O________O <- cookie dough roller
I drilled 2 holes on the left side of the color scroller (where the motor would
go), drilled really small holes for the motor's chassis to screw on to, and
stuck the little rotating motor shaft thingy (yes, it's a technical term) through
the hole on the bottom, secured the chassis of the motor to the project box,
and then drilled a small hole on the bottom of the cookie dough roller. As far
as securing the motor to the roller, the hole I drilled was slightly smaller
than the shaft of the motor and it's little nut at the end, so I just forced
the roller onto the shaft of the motor and eventually with enough force it
stuck (story of my life)...
Next I positioned the rollers to about where I wanted them and then drilled through
the box into the rollers, and after praying that the heat from the light
wouldn't melt the glue, used a hot glue gun and inserted a dowel through the
hole in the project box and into the roller. Repeated this process until the
ends of the rollers (except for the one attached to the motor) had dowels and
could rotate relatively smoothly in the box.
Then I realized that since the rollers were already in place there was no way I
could get the gel in. So, I ripped the dowels off the ends (glue had already
cooled by this time) and started the process over again, this time with a big
strip of gel attached ;) In my planning I didn't leave room for the circut
board so that got gaff taped onto the side of the box ;)
To attach it to the fixture I just used paperclips on the top (spaced far enough
apart so that there was enough tension that it wouldn't fall through the gel
slot in the fixture) and the bottom.
To control it I went and got another project box, a female RS232 connection, mounted
that on the box, and 3 female XLRs on the other end and split the connection
into the 3 XLRs at the box so that I could run it through the snake. (This
caused a few problems because RS232 doesn't like to run more than 50 ft, but
using 3 individual Whirlwind mics cables solved the problem)... for the color
scroller end I just made an adapter and taped it
all together. ;)
And there ya have it. Since then it's been scrapped because of 1) the large amount
of WD-40 it took to make those things spin around smoothly and 2) reliability
issues with bigger shows.... but it sure was fun when it worked for the time
being!!
Brandon
re: Clipping.... I had a couple things I didn't agree with, regarding some of the
things I read. The problem was that they blew 2 speakers. It didn't say whether
how many of what size drivers the speakers had in them, which drivers blew in
which speakers (or maybe if they were old, the cone itself committed suicide)...
Scott sez:
>>
Which would cause clipping?
a) Speakers rated at 200 watts and an amp rated at 100 watts.
b) Speakers rated at 100 watts and an amp rated at 200 watts.
<<
In situation A, underpowering a speaker does not necessarily mean that the speaker
is going to die no matter what. It all depends on what kind of levels you're
sending to the amps. In situation B, driving a 100w speaker with a 200w amp is
actually a good power ratio, although in theater and concert applications,
you're dealing with speakers that are 300w and up, and therefore should power
them with amps that are 1.5 - 2x the RMS rating of the speaker. That way, you
can exceed the peak rating of the speaker without
clipping the amp.
>>If you turn up the amp to it's max power, it'll start to clip the signal.
If the speakers can handle more power, they'll try to produce that rough jagged
edge of the cut off wave and that's what causes them to fry. They just can't
move that way.<<
Well, hang on. There are two general groups of sound reinforcement people; Those
who think the amps should be turned all the way up, all the time, and those who
like to match the amp input gain to the system. Both are a fairly accepted
practice, although in theater applications, it's best to match the input gain
with the rest of the system, because it gives you a lower noise floor to start
out with. It all depends on what kind of signal you're ending to
the amp in the first place, and how much headroom you need for the application.
Keep in mind that when you turn up the input on the amp, you're not adjusting how
much of the actual amplifier's power is being used. You're just adjusting the
level of the signal that's going to that amplifier. Some manufacturers build
extensive limiting circuts into their amps for the express purpose of turning
them up all the way, giving you the maximum headroom available from that
amplifier.
Lets see if I can get this right... here goes...
If you are just sending +24db (a buttload) signal to the amp from the board anyway,
what happens is that during the time that a signal is flat-topped, the cones in
the loudspeaker are not being moved at all, as it's essentially receiving a DC
signal. All this energy goes to heating up the voice coils rather than
producing sounds, and therefore is 100% efficient at converting the amplifier
power into heat. A tweeter normally converts 75% of it's power to heat. So
during clipping, it has to produce 1/4 more of it's power into heat.
A woofer normally converts 97% of it's power to heat, and therefore only has to
produce 3% more of the power into heat, so, the more efficient the driver, the
worse the problem (the tweeters will heat up faster). In addition, the tweeters
have less mass to heat up since they are smaller, so they heat up faster,
burning them up faster than woofers.
Someone also said:
>>You guys don't have any limiters?<<
That may or may not solve the problem. It depends where the clipping is occuring
in the signal chain. If you have a microphone that is run pretty hot into the
preamp of the console, when someone yells, the input clips, and regardless of
the fader position, and any other electronic gizmos you have down the line, the
signal is clipped, and it will come out sounding like some guy with a great
subwoofer inside a loose trunk lid (you've all heard it... the guy that thinks
he's going down the road lookin' cool with his loud stereo... but what he
doesn't hear is the back of his car about to vibrate violently off it's
wheels)...
A limiter CANNOT detect a clipped signal if it occured somewhere along the line
before the limiter.
What I do for my system for protection is that I give a generous (7/8) amp input
level so that I don't have to send a great deal of signal out of the board and
the rest of the DSP chain, and I put a comp/limiter that starts compressing at
+4db with a 8:1 ratio, and a VCA-based limiter that engages at +12db, that way
I never get too high even in the yellow area, but with the amp input set where
it is, the system still has plenty of room. However, I have to make sure that
nothing is clipping on the board.
A war story....
I was guest mixing for an opener, and got to talking with the system provider afterwards,
so I got to hang around in the FOH area for the rest of the show as an
observer. The headline act (with their own band engineer) claimed that they
were the loudest band that had ever come to the arena. The system provider said
"well, we've put extensive limiters in the amp racks for this show so that
they can't blow anything up no matter how hard they try." ha.
haha. There are 2 6x8 arrays flown with 10 subs on the
floor.
They get to rockin', and at this point I decide that there's something wrong with
mixing a band wearing earplugs while you're wearing earplugs for an audience
wearing earplugs... but that's beside the point. About halfway through the
show, the board is showing nothing but clip, clip, clip. About 5 min later,
something doesn't seem right. The room isn't vibrating as it should. Oh, but
wait, there's someone running under the stage with a fire
extinguisher! Ahh! A subwoofer has burst into flames! Followed by.... the high
end drivers! And that was the show! The promoter paid for all the blown drivers,
as stated in the contract, should it occur. But just goes to show that limiters
aren't the end-all solution!
B
Hey -
>>Isn't it usually fairly standard practice to have the mic inputs going into
your soundboard, and then turn up the "Gain" on the soundboard until your
max vocal level on the mic doesn't cause clipping in the soundboard output?
Aren't the amps usually placed down the line from the board outputs before
hitting the speakers, such that the input to the amps is gauranteed to be
non-clipped as long as the people feeding into the mics
don't perform significantly louder than they do in the sound check?<<
It really depends on your sound console; Most consoles have a SOLO (Mackie) or
a PFL (Pre fader listen - most other consoles) button on each channel that will
engage a LED meter of some kind that will let you see where you're at as far as
gain on that particular channel.
I don't care where you are, or what type of show you're doing, the performers,
99.9% of the time, will perform on average 6-10db louder during the performance
than they will during sound check. I think it's a law...
Anyway, back in the old days the general practice was to "turn the input
up on the channel until the clip light comes on, then back off a little" –
no longer is that the case, since we have these fancy devices called METERS! A good
practice is to set the level to a little below 0dB during sound check (0dB
should typically be marked on your console at about the center or in the top
half of the LED meter), so that your performers won't be clipping your inputs
during show time (you have headroom).
>>Brandon-
where have you learned all this about sound as only a high school student? Got
any good resources I should check out?<<
I just started with sound at school, then proceeded to sound at church, which opened
up the gateway to work with a few Christian bands, which in turn opened the
door to work with some companies in the area for major shows, same with
lighting... and recently the video world has started to open up for me... and
I've learned from those mentors everything from connecting power to a panel in
the middle of a restaraunt kitchen (which by the way I will never use since
anybody who needs this service HIRES AN ELECTRICIAN, RIGHT PEOPLE?), to how to
build a rack of useless equipment for the express purpose of making a lot of
LEDs light up to attract the chicks (it makes you look
like you're doing something more important)... color, rapid movement, and quantity
are the key to this idea....
>>By the way, a tip for anyone doing lighting- double check any fixtures wired
by other techies who don't know what they're doing... wiring the ground lead
into the hot pin doesn't feel very good when you try to turn on the PAR and all
the current goes into the bolt you're holding on to!<<
What you're saying is that you should let whoever wired it hold on to it for the
first time it's turned on, right? ;-)
Brandon
Gain Structure Techniques
|
I'm waiting for a recording to transfer from recorder to
computer through network right now, so might as well add to the discussion...
>>1. Old School--more gain, but less consistent sound. Zero the board.
Put all the mic faders at full. Go through and turn the gain up on each
channel until you ring. Keep going and for ever channel, turn the previous
channels down slightly. When all of that is
done, back each channel's gain off a little for some headroom. If more gain
is needed, you can EQ the channel enough to usually get a couple more points,
but that's not always the case.<<
This is kinda similar to the "turn it up till the clip light comes on,
then back it down a little" method from the pre-meter era... However, I
think you're missing something here. As this may be a great way to set your
levels keeping feedback in mind at all times, there are a lot of variables,
and the larger the system, the bigger the problem; In terms of strict gain
structure, doing it like this leaves you no idea of where the preamp's level
is, only when the mic starts to resonate with the system. What about a guitar
going through a direct box? That will take a buttload and a half of
amplification to resonate... And take for example a Midas XL3 console, the
preamps don't really open up and become "warm" till you start
getting above -3db or so..
Anyway, the biggest problem is that this may be great during sound check, but
the acoustics of the room are going to change drastically when people get in
there. The noise floor is increased because of the audience noise, and your
gain before feedback level also increases. And, if you're doing a band, when
they are actually playing, you can get some channels that would normally feed
back in quiet situations way louder.
If you're having feedback problems, first, the room might be the problem, and
acoustical treating is the only solution to that; Then adjust at the source.
If you use a large diaphragm condenser studio mic for a distant live choir,
you're gonna have problems. Replace it with a shotgun condenser. Problem
fixed. Then maybe add an imperceptible amount of delay into the main feed of
the system to reduce feedback, and a noise gate.
>>2. New School--provides a cleaner sound with a well balanced EQ, but
less gain.
Know the equipment you're working with. Different mics require different
gains, have different pick up patterns, and different frequency responses.
Turn the gain up just enought so you don't get acoustical noise. <<
What is acoustical noise? I had a guitar player tonight that couldn't get it
together... was that acoustical noise? ;) Also one thing I wanted to add is
that in addition to knowing your equipment, apply your equipment to the
correct application, experiment, and find out what works best. Sometimes an
SM58 on the right kick drum is better than the world's greatest kick mic on
the wrong kick drum. (and when you get that "thump" kick drum sound
in a restaurant, the subs can move enough air to blow out the candles on
tables... it's really cool, try it sometime!)
>>I tend to use the New
School method, only
because that's what our house likes using now. I used to do Old School, but
we have since changed management.<<
Why does "management" have anything to do with YOUR mix? If you
have something that works for you, why don't they let you just use it??
You'll always have a better show if you're comfortable with the way you set
it up rather than "doing it their way"...
>>One of the most valuble things I've ever learned is when going to a
new theatre(providing it's not an old theatre
that use sailors as flymen), whistle. You can
get the acoustics of the space by doing that.<<
Erhm... well, you can get the acoustics of the space by whistling... but
unfortunately in my opinion that method gives no you help with doing the
sound... gives you no indication of how the speakers actually interact with
the room, if there are multiple speaker zones (ie underbalcony) if the delay
times are correct, if there is additional reverb coming off a delayed zone
that's going to affect your mix, etc... sometimes ya just have to plug in a
mic and go for it...
Jeremy you have some good points, I
like the way you think in having "a feel" for the system and your
levels.
Brandon
ps - yesterday, designed lighting for 3 shows, just got in from a concert /
live recording... been shocked with various voltages 4 times in last 24
hours, have 2 more recordings with first one starting in 6 hrs... 52
gigabytes worth of audio in one weekend... not enough sleep... starting to
hear things that aren't really there... for past 3 nights, been having
recurring nightmare about a hard disk recorder failing in the middle of a
recording.... therefore, if I seem a little weird, that's what's goin on!
How did you get into tech???
|
|
I kinda missed this by about 2-3 days (busy..... if anyone knows how you can
rig up some system for the ethernet connection on an ETC console so you can
check your e-mail on it, let me know!)
Before 3 years ago, I had way too much computer experience and no theater experience.
Some guy at lunch one day said "hey, we're building part of a set for
Cinderella this afternoon, why don't you come along?"... That was the first
time I realized that this stuff was hard work and wasn't magic. Then, I came
the next week and saw the light board for the first time.... the gray body,
the black faders, the green LEDs... I wasn't even quite sure what it was, but
I just kinda knew I was in love... For that play I got to be stage crew and
move a doorway. Every spare moment I was looking over the light board
operator's shoulder to see if I could figure out exactly "what all them buttons
do"...
2 years later, every time I walk in the theater and turn on the board, I sit down
and put my hands on those little faders and know that I would rather not be
doing anything else in the world ;) In that time my teacher has humored me while
I try to combine networks of computers with lighting and sound. I think we've
done some pretty cool stuff. I guess I just love entertaining people, and
combining new & different technologies together to leave the audience going
"How did they do THAT!?" and I think I love it more and more each
day!
And that's how I got started in tech. ;)
- Brandon
How many a year??
|
|
I'm waiting for a recording to transfer from recorder to computer through
network right now, so might as well add to the discussion...
>>1. Old School--more gain, but less consistent sound. Zero the board.
Put all the mic faders at full. Go through and turn the gain up on each
channel until you ring. Keep going and for ever channel, turn the previous
channels down slightly. When all of that is
done, back each channel's gain off a little for some headroom. If more gain
is needed, you can EQ the channel enough to usually get a couple more points,
but that's not always the case.<<
This is kinda similar to the "turn it up till the clip light comes on,
then back it down a little" method from the pre-meter era... However, I
think you're missing something here. As this may be a great way to set your
levels keeping feedback in mind at all times, there are a lot of variables,
and the larger the system, the bigger the problem; In terms of strict gain
structure, doing it like this leaves you no idea of where the preamp's level
is, only when the mic starts to resonate with the system. What about a guitar
going through a direct box? That will take a buttload and a half of amplification
to resonate... And take for example a Midas XL3 console, the preamps don't
really open up and become "warm" till you start getting above -3db
or so..
Anyway, the biggest problem is that this may be great during sound check, but
the acoustics of the room are going to change drastically when people get in
there. The noise floor is increased because of the audience noise, and your
gain before feedback level also increases. And, if you're doing a band, when
they are actually playing, you can get some channels that would normally feed
back in quiet situations way louder.
If you're having feedback problems, first, the room might be the problem, and
acoustical treating is the only solution to that; Then adjust at the source.
If you use a large diaphragm condenser studio mic for a distant live choir,
you're gonna have problems. Replace it with a shotgun condenser. Problem
fixed. Then maybe add an imperceptible amount of delay into the main feed of
the system to reduce feedback, and a noise gate.
>>2. New School--provides a cleaner sound with a well balanced EQ, but
less gain.
Know the equipment you're working with. Different mics require different
gains, have different pick up patterns, and different frequency responses.
Turn the gain up just enought so you don't get acoustical noise. <<
What is acoustical noise? I had a guitar player tonight that couldn't get it
together... was that acoustical noise? ;) Also one thing I wanted to add is
that in addition to knowing your equipment, apply your equipment to the
correct application, experiment, and find out what works best. Sometimes an
SM58 on the right kick drum is better than the world's greatest kick mic on
the wrong kick drum. (and when you get that "thump" kick drum sound
in a restaurant, the subs can move enough air to blow out the candles on
tables... it's really cool, try it sometime!)
>>I tend to use the New
School method, only
because that's what our house likes using now. I used to do Old School, but
we have since changed management.<<
Why does "management" have anything to do with YOUR mix? If you
have something that works for you, why don't they let you just use it??
You'll always have a better show if you're comfortable with the way you set
it up rather than "doing it their way"...
>>One of the most valuble things I've ever learned is when going to a
new theatre(providing it's not an old theatre
that use sailors as flymen), whistle. You can
get the acoustics of the space by doing that.<<
Erhm... well, you can get the acoustics of the space by whistling... but
unfortunately in my opinion that method gives no you help with doing the
sound... gives you no indication of how the speakers actually interact with
the room, if there are multiple speaker zones (ie underbalcony) if the delay
times are correct, if there is additional reverb coming off a delayed zone
that's going to affect your mix, etc... sometimes ya just have to plug in a
mic and go for it...
Jeremy you have some good points, I
like the way you think in having "a feel" for the system and your
levels.
Brandon
ps - yesterday, designed lighting for 3 shows, just got in from a concert /
live recording... been shocked with various voltages 4 times in last 24
hours, have 2 more recordings with first one starting in 6 hrs... 52
gigabytes worth of audio in one weekend... not enough sleep... starting to
hear things that aren't really there... for past 3 nights, been having
recurring nightmare about a hard disk recorder failing in the middle of a
recording.... therefore, if I seem a little weird, that's what's goin on!
How did you get into tech???
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|
I kinda missed this by about 2-3 days (busy..... if anyone knows how you can rig
up some system for the ethernet connection on an ETC console so you can check
your e-mail on it, let me know!)
Before 3 years ago, I had way too much computer experience and no theater experience.
Some guy at lunch one day said "hey, we're building part of a set for
Cinderella this afternoon, why don't you come along?"... That was the first
time I realized that this stuff was hard work and wasn't magic. Then, I
came the next week and saw the light board for the first time.... the gray body,
the black faders, the green LEDs... I wasn't even quite sure what it was, but
I just kinda knew I was in love... For that play I got to be stage crew and
move a doorway. Every spare moment I was looking over the light board
operator's shoulder to see if I could figure out exactly "what all them buttons
do"...
2 years later, every time I walk in the theater and turn on the board, I sit down
and put my hands on those little faders and know that I would rather not be
doing anything else in the world ;) In that time my teacher has humored me while
I try to combine networks of computers with lighting and sound. I think we've
done some pretty cool stuff. I guess I just love entertaining people, and
combining new & different technologies together to leave the audience going
"How did they do THAT!?" and I think I love it more and more each
day!
And that's how I got started in tech. ;)
- Brandon
How many a year??
|
To be considered a "show" in my opinion it would be something done
only by the theater group, where a set is built, floor mics are put on stage,
and lights are hung and pre- programmed....
If we included concerts and other departmental shows where the tech crew was just
backup (no talking props--er, actors) used, that in itself would be right about
30 shows a year.
We keep track of hours worked in our theater... at the end of the year last year
I had about 920 hrs of time (not doing specific things, just the hours that I
was physically in the auditorium doing something)... dang, I might as well have
moved a bed into the flies and slept there..
Brandon
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just make it work!! ;)
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Sometimes I can seem amazed by how many people you guys say it takes to run a
show!! hehe, I like the way things are done at our school (mostly cuz I get to
push buttons)... but it works like this... For band/orchestra/choral concerts
in the auditorium, a couple people show up maybe 30 min before the musicians
start getting there, get out the lighting/sound consoles, fly in some
curtains and create a nice look, run the snake, drop the electrics,
remove gels, and aim them while someone on the board is creating a cue :) By 30
min before showtime, we're ready with light cues, sound levels, and a recording setup. There are a couple people
on the tech crew that I love to work with (and have the privilege of doing
so) and we have it down to a science :)
Now, for plays, I can use an example from this past year; we designed a fairly
long play to be a 3-person crew. Fortunately our lighting console rules (ETC
Express) and it's very flexible so it allowed us to do this... We created all
the light cues for the show and then I brought in a computer, and during
acting rehearsals I made a Visual Basic program (Intelligent Show Server
v1.0, had to throw the name in cuz it sounds big and real
professional-like!) to run everything, so in the end it was, let's see...
well, we're still not sure who exactly was running lights and who was running
sound, it was kind of a team effort, but my drama teacher and I sat back at the
light/sound consoles and there was one person on flies backstage. There were
a bunch of sound and light effects that had to be coordinated together (ie
lightning & thunder), so using MIDI control, every time someone pressed "GO"
on the lighting console, the Visual Basic program ran sound effects accordingly,
and using Windows ME's multiple monitor capabilities, displayed instructions
for flies and actors, where we were in the show, upcoming cues to be aware
of, an estimation of how much time the actors had before they had to be ready
to go, a picture window from one of those little Intel digital video cameras
sitting on top of the light board, etc on a second monitor, linked to TV's
that I put in the flies and in the dressing rooms. That way everyone involved
with the show knew what light cue we were on, what was coming up next, what
everything looked like from the audience point of view, their fly cues, scene
change cues, and special instructions from wherever they were in the theater.
I gotta admit it took a good deal of debugging time but once it worked, it
was pretty friggin cool. ;)
So, as far as who was doing lights and sound, it was kind of a "whoever
can reach the button first, at the right time" kind of thing... if there
were wireless microphones to worry about, teacher would take those, I'd
control SFX volume, if there were a bunch of sound changes we'd both go for
the buttons, etc etc. I think I have a reputation for being the kind of
overdone stupid stuff.
Oh yeah, my only stage managing experience was during an orchestra concert...
I was playing cello, but I had designed a light show to go along with some really
powerful piece of music... (but of course none of the people on tech crew
could read music, go figure, so they couldn't read where my cues were)... BUT
never fear, I took a cell phone hands-free headset, ($10 at your local Sprint
PCS friendly dealer), busted out the soldering iron, and made an in-ear monitor
out of it, put a wireless lavalier on my shirt, and off went the concert, as I played I
called cues to the lighting and sound guys, and they had a microphone to talk
back to me on the in-ear monitor. and to think, Clearcom sells the same
system for outrageous prices. sheesh. ;)
Just goes to show that some of the best performances can be accomplished with
a little planning and a very skimpy tech crew. ;) and now I think it's time for
me to shut up since this is about 13 times as long as it was intended to be!
See ya,
Brandon
] just make it work!! ;)
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Hi!!
I'd be happy to explain as best I can... It may seem complicated at first but
actually it's a simple system. The key is a little knowledge in Visual Basic and
MIDI. (I'll just assume you know a little
about MIDI cuz that could go on for days if I tried to explain how every byte
fits together and how it's adapted for a light board), but the equipment used
was:
- 1 Gateway 450mhz Desktop PC (on the 4th night of a musical, the big monitor
is a lot easier to look at than a laptop)
- 1 Intel Create & Share Video Camera
- 1 MIDI in/out to serial port cable
- 4 spools of Radio Shack 2-conductor wire ($2.95 for 100 feet baby!!!!)
- 1 Soldering Iron
- 1 First Aid Kit for when you forget the soldering iron is still hot
- 2 packages of RCA solderable plugs from Radio Shack (another $2 special)
- 1 male XLR solderable plug
- 1 female XLR solderable plug
- 1 Express 24/48 Lighting Console by Electronic Theatre Controls
- 1 DMX512 to XLR adapter (you can make this)
- 1 XLR to DMX512 adapter (you can make this too!)
- A couple TVs with RCA plug inputs (if it only has a cable input, an RF
modulator can be purchased from Radio Shack on a $29.95 special)
- 1 Computer Monitor-to-TV converter
Now, the first part is to get the light board up and running; Our school doesn't
have the luxury of a light or sound booth, so to put our light & sound
boards out in the house we had to run them through the snake. Most snakes
have only male and female XLR (3-pin) cable inputs, and our lighting console
used the DMX512 protocol which requires a 5-pin cable... However, because of
the nature of DMX512, in all but very rare situations, the last 2 pins on the
cable are not used (they were meant to be a means of communication so that
the dimmer rack could talk back to the light board, but few manufacturers
implemented this capability... and especially with ETC equipment that is
making it's way into schools all over the place, they put this capability in
a totally separate interface, ETCLink, which is not required to be
connected).
So, what I did was I bought male and female DMX512 plugs and male and female
XLR plugs, and soldered the first 3 pins of each together, so that the DMX signal
would run through the snake. After I figured out that I soldered them backwards
and every dimmer in the theater stopped turning on and off at random
intensities, all was good. (And what a freakin cool light show it was!)...
Right here I will insert a word to the wise... If your snake is unshielded
and you are running both DMX512 and audio through it, be careful, the DMX512
protocol uses 10 volts of power through it's line to transfer the
digital data and can create a slight buzz in audio signals that are coming to
the sound board through the snake. For us, the buzz/noise was unnoticeable on
the house theater system, and I only discovered the noise when we were doing a
VERY sensitive recording... but it can
vary depending how your audio system's gain structure is set up. :)
Then, the computer came into the picture. For this particular example I'll use
the Sound of Music since that is when this little "system" of mine
was pioneered... Before I took the computer out of my house I loaded it up
with all the sound effects that the script called for and more (variations in
thunder etc); then set off for school extremely nervous about what I was going
to try to do.
First off was the problem of getting the computer and light board to talk to each
other. When I started building the system I had no idea what MIDI addresses
the ues/submasters would respond to,
so I set up an application made by High End Systems (the intelligent lighting
people) called "Status Cue" that can be downloaded from their web
site; That program let me view the binary data that the light board was
sending through MIDI, so I pressed a button, watched the MIDI that came
through, and wrote down that MIDI message and what button it corresponded
with on the light board. (it wasn't pretty, but I felt like I was trying to
re-invent the wheel). Once I had the MIDI
information I could start programming...
My first and most important task was to create a realistic-looking lightning effect.
This particular lighting console had the abililty to assign effects to
submasters (which can be MIDI controlled,
mind you!). So I made a lightning effect on a submaster and made it random so
it wasn't the same lightning each time. Then I programmed the Visual Basic
software so that when we reached the range of cues that the famous
"storm" scene took place in where Maria is singing to the children,
when that particular submaster was
pressed and the effect was executed, it would use it's pseudo random number generating
capabilities (now that sounded all technical and genius didn't it!) to make a
delay for the thunder between .2 sec and 1 sec, and then used the random
number generator again to choose between 6 different thunder effects.
Now that we had digital thunder, we had the issue of getting communication to
the actors, stage crew, flies, and dressing rooms (our classroom is directly below
the stage with the dressing rooms built on the sides of the classroom). So, I
put another display card in the computer and ran a 2nd monitor out of it,
connected to a monitor-to-TV converter borrowed from the Science Department
(after begging they agreed that we could use it if someone had a meeting with
the science teachers and showed them how to use it when we were done). So
then, naturally, we don't have RCA plug connections going into the
snake (yes, this is where Sir
Solder-A-Lot Brandon
comes riding in on his royal genie lift again).. Again, I soldered an RCA
plug to a male XLR and then another RCA plug to a female XLR so the video
signal could run through the snake. At the other end of the snake we needed
to connect multiple TVs, so I took my 400 ft of Radio Shack El Cheapo Wire
and went to town splitting the signal and running it and taping it
everywhere. All I did after that was program instructions for
sound/lights/actors/flies/stage crew to appear on the TVs, add a camera window,
and a messaging system so those without clearcom could still get instructions
from the TVs (ie - "John – Your microphone isn't as loud as it should
be, get one of the tech crew to check the -20dB attenuator switch on it
please, thanks") etc etc... And plus the camera was auto-brightness
sensing, so when blackouts occured, it would compensate and use the orchestra
pit light to show the curtain... so I could see on the monitor when the
curtain was going up before anyone else and could
time the lighting cue appropriately :)
In conclusion I've uploaded some screen captures of the sound of music version
of the program (the one I used for Little Women which I described in the
previous email kind of evolved into a different breed of a program, it's function
now is to take an input of a kick drum from the sound board and then use MIDI
control to sync intelligent lights to the beat of a concert and generate
random effects on the fly).... Here's the screen capture:
<http://www.digitalmillenniumsound.com/somscreen.gif>
Oh, and here's one of the pics from the show that was computer-controlled...
I had to throw this in cuz it's my one proud lighting design picture...
<http://www.digitalmillenniumsound.com/scrimshot.jpg>
Happy controlling...
Brandon
Hey guys,
I may have fallen off the traditional theatrical road here but I have just started
experimenting with LED (light emitting diode) lighting fixtures and I have
been overwhelmed with the results that I've gotten. Now these are just your
typical edison
screw-in kinda fixtures used for architectural lighting but I replaced them
with the kind of LED bulbs that some of you are starting to see in your
traffic lights in your cities. Talk about SMOOTH coverage. Anyway, has anyone
else played with this type of lighting in a theatrical environment?
Seems like someone could develop a LED PAR bulb for use in your everyday aluminum
Parcan, and your lighting rig for a small club concert could go from requiring
30,000 watts to 500. Not to mention NO HEAT. :)
I'm ready to start focusing some Source Four Pars that stay the same temp whether
they're on or off! Maybe in the next couple years...
Brandon
Lighting Questions & Opinions
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If you're going around renting intelligent lights you probably can come up with
the funds to install a few phases of power distribution (read: HAVE A LICENCED ELECTRICIAN
install a few phases of power distribution... don't put on a pair of gloves and
start patching into your circut panels, otherwise some chinese guy will start
coming toward you right when you have live rods exposed and start spraying
water all around you... ah, another time, another gig...)... getting things
powered properly is what draws the line between "doing it right" and
"just making it work"...
Always match your power distribution system with the ratings on the lights with
room to spare. If you have 50A of distribution, put 40A worth of lights on it,
and use the appropriate gauge cable to do it. If you're just plugging in lights
anywhere there's an outlet, and you happen to be pushing the limits of the
existing (and maybe old) electrical system, and things are probably heating up
somewhere along the line. It's really tough to pay for all those lights and
then explain to the judge why you felt the system was adequate after the
building has already burned down...
If it came down to it, I'd go with the generator idea when the other
alternative is to use outlets that were designed for regular very low-amperage
appliances... the power would at least be matched to the ratings of the lights
and it would be extremely clean power which keeps the electronics in your
lights happy. :)
Not to mention the sound crew will be extremely PO'd if they get all their
equipment set up and working perfectly, and then you turn on your dimmers and
intelligent lights to find out everything is on the same ground, and that you
just turned your 80 ft of triangle truss into a giant radio antenna which is
bleeding Radio Disney quite clearly into the sound system (which you can barely
hear over the 60Hz hum anyway)... not that I've ever had this happen or
anything like that.... O:)
In short, do whatever ya have to do to get the lights on their separate
electrical system from the rest of the theater.
Oh, and while any DMX boards can handle moving lights... there becomes a point
where you need a board that can handle moving lights WELL... you won't have
much of a show if you have to spend your whole time figuring out why that one
intelligent light goes into a color and prism spin while everything is fading
out...
Rant over.. stepping off the soapbox...
Brandon
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Lighting Questions & Opinions
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About trying to program moving lights with the Express --
The moving light support on the board (as far as doing things on the fly and frustration
levels) pretty much downright sucks. BUT with a little time and preparation you
can come up with some really cool things -
I'm doing a show now that uses 6 moving heads @ 13 ch each... but, I planned it
out in advance, made a diagram of the stage, and drew areas on the stage and
assigned them a number (which would later be the focus point)... Before the
console was even rented I had colors programmed in groups, as well as certain
gobos, and had all the cues written with focus points... All I had to do when I
got there was put the disk in the drive, configure the moving
lights correctly, and sit for about 30 min programming focus points... after that,
all the cues were updated, and I ran the show the first night of rehearsal, all
I had to do was change the colors and press Record. :)
Off to bed -
Brandon
If it's any indication, I used just 2 moving lights for a couple plays that made
me end up not using 12 of the Source Four's.
Also made a light show for an orchestra concert out of them (that was fun too!)
Oh, and if something does come into contact with the mirror, one of three things
will happen: either a) the mirror will fly off, but you can glue it back on, b)
it will knock the mirror out of position and the mirror will be off calibration
until the next reset of the fixture, or c) if the fixture has a sensor to
correct the mirror then it will resume to it's intended position!
Be careful if you work with a large bank of moving head fixtures though. I made
a mistake of ordering 42 of them for a large show/concert (biggest, baddest,
and most fun and nervous show I've ever done) and then put them all on hanging
electrics. I created a fast cue where all the heads moved in the same direction
at once, and I looked up to see $200,000-some worth of intelligent fixtures
swiiiiiiiiiiiiiinging back & forth. Needless to say those got secured with
some good ol' aircraft cable. It did make a really cool ocean-looking wave
effect when 3 electrics were swinging around though! Lesson: Secure truss is
good! Mirrors good too, but not as cool. ;)
Brandon
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Putting Microphones on a High School Stage
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>>So they placed 6 mics along the stage<<
Sheesh, if it's
not a large room, take it down to 2 or 3 shotguns, move them a little further
away from the stage for cosmetics, increase your gain before feedback level
without the extra open mics... or try out some of the Crown PCC130's or 160's
(whichever one has the tighter pickup pattern, I can't remember, it's been a
26 hr day) as floor mics... Are the mics on stands? If so, can you hang them
from the ceiling? Could you replace them with smaller, choir pickup-type mics
to be less obtrusive?
I dunno. Tough situation. My best idea is to decrease the number of open mics
you have available (I can get you some formulas for gain-before-feedback if you
want to try and calculate in advance, although it never works perfectly)...
and then move them further from the stage until they are either out of the
way, or they're a little more out of the way and you can still get the juice
you need out of them.
Brandon
Suggestions for juggling classes and work/theatre
|
Well, let's see... NyQuil before you go to bed and DayQuil right as you're getting
up.. j/k, don't become an addict of some kind...
For me (in high school) my first class starts at 7:25 in the morning and I have
classes all the way till 4:00 with a 15 min break in between for lunch. Then I
go to after school rehearsal from 4 to 5:45, then from 5:45 to Community
Theater rehearsal from 6 to midnight. I get home around 12:10 and finish
homework and go to bed around 2:30-3.
I'll be the first to admit that this is not a healthy schedule and I can feel myself
suffering from it. The best advice I've tried to live by is to use that lunch
break to it's maximum potential, whether that's a nap, homework, etc and make
sure you have Saturdays free enough so that you can sleep till 2-3 in the
afternoon.
I also invested in a Palm Pilot and MS Outlook XP for my computer, that's the only
way I can remember things, by putting my homework in my Palm "Student Assistant"
program along with theater schedules, etc and then whenever I get home, link it
to the computer, and it's all right there with what I have to do on Outlook XP.
I could never remember everything if it wasn't for that.
Plus, if a hot girl comes over to the light board thinking that it is not just
a console, but a shrine of modern technology, a beautiful piece of machinery,
and that I'm the man for knowing how it works, if she asks "hey baby, what
are you doing Saturday night?", it's just a quick flick of the cover as I
whip out the palm pilot and happily proclaim to her that my Saturday is free
after 3pm (sleep time) ;) (note:
the above scenario has yet to be tested... I just don't get why it hasn't
happened yet...)
Brandon
Hummmm if it was me... here are some things I'd do, some
cheesy, some fun.. Designate one side of the stage as the "sound
board" and one side as the "microphone"... First one to connect
2 or 3 XLR microphone cables together with correct ends (male to sound board,
female to microphone side) wins... First one who coils them up correctly wins.
;) Get an extension cord for everyone out of the closet.... first one to
untangle it wins.. For the slower and perfectionist people... The one who cuts
the best-fitting gel wins Ask random questions that everyone has an idea about
but not a sure answer... i.e... How many outlets are there on a power strip,
how many seats are there in this theatre, stuff like that
Some fun little tricks to play... some of our
"oldies" during tech orientation a few weeks ago were showing people
around then one of them pointed something out and said "Oooh, I'll always
remember that fire extinguisher... poor little Tommy.." - then all the
newbies go "WHAT?" and they all add a little piece to the story, like
"We don't know exactly what he was doing, but he was walking around on
stage with a lighter and there was this big explosion..... I'll always remember
that trip to the hospital..."They left the meeting with wide eyes... it
was great...
Brandon
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sound design
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In our school we have evolved to have the following positions:
1 - stage manager (sometimes-depends on whether it's an intense show)
2 - the sound dude
3 - the light dude
(depending on the show, the sound dude and light dude positions may be combined)
4 - any running stage crew (usually don't need any)
Sometimes we use headsets to communicate, most of the time we don't. (think I'm
crazy yet?)
I usually enjoy being light dude / sound dude. Usually I read over the script
once or twice, make some notes, then a couple days before the show the drama teacher
and I stay after school, bring in the electrics, look at it for a minute, go
"hmmm....", grab a wrench, divide the scenes in half, I hang what I
need to hang to make my scenes look good, he hangs what he needs to do the same,
and the whole show is done in about 2 hrs.
Then during a rehearsal we program the show (no stopping, gotta be quick on your
fader sliding and button pushing) and make notes of what we need to go back
and re-do after rehearsal.
For sound, I take the list of needed effects, go into my little home studio and
create or find whatever we need, burn to a CD, bring to school, connect any
compressors, gates, processing gear, etc that we need... for complicated effects
that involve sound and lighting, we use a hard disk recorder time-synced to
the light board. For those more intense-cue shows, I run everything from a
computer and program it into a MIDI Show Control system.
When the show starts, I'm behind the sound & light desk, just reading
along with the script and pushing buttons, sliding faders, and turning knobs
like a madman ;) I never get bored and I absolutely love this approach to
doing a production... I'm a firm believer that although it takes a lot of
skill as an actor to improvise your way out of problems, it takes just as
much effort from the technical end.
hehe, sometimes I can't even believe it works, our record time from having the
light and sound board in the closet to a full production is 3 1/2 hrs... Used
a crew of 2, someone hung lights while I set up the boards, did rehearsal
(programming), used the 30 min dinner break to go put together a sound
effects CD, and we were ready to go 15 mins before the show. Come to think of
it, that was one of the most fun days I've had!
I guess most people would look at this and say it's impossible, or think our shows
are crap, etc etc. But our school is a little different.. sounds a little
cheesy, but we're all friends, the actors and the techies all hang out with
each other, go out to dinner together, and the people I have the privilege of
doing tech with usually know what I'm thinking before I even say it. The
actors know what our "usual" preshow light cues are, they're on
their own to get to the stage on time, and when the first cue of the show
starts, they magically appear where they're supposed to be. If the
"crew" has problems (i.e. the telephone doesn't ring when it's
supposed to ring), the actors cover for them. If the actors have problems
(forgetting lines) then the crew whispers them their line in the monitors.
These are the responsibilities for our school's crew. ;)
Brandon
Sound System - The Gym
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Well, looking at the pictures from the gym, that one doesn't appear to be as complicated
as the theater installation. The big $$ seems to be in the amps and speakers
side of things.
My suggestion, in order in signal path from microphone input to speaker:
Microphone: Shure Beta 58 Wireless Handheld... XLR cables and gyms don'tmix...
better to have 1 or 2 great wireless microphones for everything so that 1)
don't have to install as many XLR wall plates for inputs and 2) people can't
trip over wireless stuff while they're playing basketball ;)
Mixer: Mackie DX8
www.mackieindustrial.com
The DX8 is a digital mixer designed for installed applications such as this...
It's an 8 input, 2 output mixer, where most of the processing is set by
computer inside, but the basic, basic controls are on the outside (gain, and 2
band EQ). I think anyone who can figure out the self-checkout line at the
grocery store can figure this one out. And if for some odd reason you want to
add a console later, there are 2 line inputs direct to mix outputs for it.
Processor / DSP: DBX DriveRack 480
www.driverack.com
99.9% of the driverack can be set by the installer and then password protected.
The driverack has infinite configurations, but for this one, can take the input
from the Mackie DX8 mixer and then split it into different signal chains (for
the different speaker systems in the gym) and then apply individual EQ,
dynamics processing, etc on each of the outputs. To switch between speaker
systems, there are mute buttons located right below the output meters for each
output. Just mute the speaker systems you don't want to use.
Amps: Crest Vs1500
www.crestaudio.com
Again, my favorite amp for installations. Self-explanitory. ;) If volume levels
don't have to exceed much, then consider a couple Crown CTs 8200 (8 channels in
one amp at around ~200w each)
Speakers: For a gym, being a reverberant environment where the echoes come back
and hit you from 10 minutes ago, the further away you can get from a central
speaker system, the better. Get the speakers as close to the people as possible
and distribute as much as possible. But, a center cluster is great for those
events that you need it loud and thumpin'.
Sporting event speakers: JBL Control Series
www.jblpro.com
Approx. 3/4 of a buttload of these speakers can be put on the catwalk facing the
bleachers around the perimeter of the gym. They can be divided into sections
for individual muting purposes on the Driverack. If a center cluster is used in
addition to these, then they should be delayed appropriately (no sweat with
Driverack on this one)...
Graduation and other ceremonies: Something loud.... up to you! I prefer EAW stuff
for vocal reinforcement such as this... but that's me! ;)
Gotta go get ready for the day....
Brandon
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Tales of Electricity, Episode I
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Just got in from building this... For your entertainment I thought I'd do a
write up... for those of you who don't enjoy breaker panel humor, just skip
it...
When: This afternoon
Setting: An old warehouse in central NC, full of sound and lighting cables,
odds and ends, etc
Scene I: The promoter's office
Earlier this morning, the multipinning of the effects racks and Whirlwind W-series
multi snake was pretty uneventful. That's all good to go.
I sit in the comfortable chair, going down the checklist of items for the new
lighting and sound systems that are making their maiden run Saturday.
Brandon:
OK, as far as power... Where do I get or pick up the PD from?
Promoter: What's a PD?
Brandon:
Power Distribution box/panel... you know, where the electricity comes from that
powers all of this stuff...
Promoter: Oh, umm... we don't have one?
Brandon:
No, someone was supposed to have it built, weren't they?
Promoter: Hmmm... I guess not... Can we make one?
Brandon:
(thinking: CRAP)
When: Later that afternoon
Setting: The old, old basement of an old, old warehouse building in central NC
Scene II: The Panel
I wander around in the dark with no flashlight looking for parts to build a PD
panel. Fuses, circut breakers, cable, anything. Suddenly my eyes fall (or maybe
it was just me falling over something in the dark) upon a grey, 6 breaker panel
with a service disconnect. I say:
Brandon:
Hello, my new power panel!
Nobody knows what the circuts go to coming out of the panel. They aren't
labeled. The service disconnect is off anyway. Good enough for me! After much
breaking of screwdrivers, many band-aids, and other such oddities, the panel was
no longer attached to the wall and was headed upstairs under my left arm.
The panel is already set up for 2 legs of 110v using the neutral as ground.
Perfect.
When: Even later that afternoon
Setting: Home Depot Connectors Department
Scene III: Using the promoter's credit card
I need two range plugs. One male and one female. That's not so complicated now,
is it? One that works in most every range plug installed between 1975 and 1995
across the USA.
Does Home Depot have it? Of course not. They have every freaking weird style of
range plug other than the one I'm looking for. However, I happen to find 4 wire
twistlock connections that are pretty industrial, that happen to fit the many
4-wire twistlock to Edison
breakouts that I saw back at the warehouse.
I'd like 6 female and 3 male of these, please! $15 each, no big deal, not my
credit card, and "Build a PD" was not in my job description for today
either.
On the way to the cash register, I see a sale on Maglites, $15 for the big kind
and a belt mini-mag. Yes, I'll take one of those too, thank you! (I'm sure the
promoter wouldn't want me walking around in the dark now would he?)
When: Tonight
Setting: Back at the warehouse
Scene IV: Panel Surgery
Brandon:
Do you have a pair of heavy wire cutters around here that I could use?
Promoter: Wire cutters?
Brandon:
Yeah, okay. Nevermind. Are you going to use that pair of scissors on your desk
for the next few hours?
Promoter: Nah, go ahead and take them.
I find 500 feet of 4-conductor 8/4 cable that looks pretty good. I chop three 5
foot pieces off and begin attaching female twistlock to one end, and then punch
the holes in the panel for the cable to go through to get to the circut
breakers. The pre-punched hole in the breaker panel is not big enough for the
cable to go through.
Millions of sparks and 2 dremel bits later, that cable went through in all 3
holes, thankyouverymuch.
I made 100' sections of 4-wire twistlock extensions to go from panel to
wherever, using 8/4 cable, WITH A PAIR OF FRIGGIN SCISSORS.
Now the scissors don't cut as well as they used to... and the screw in the
middle is kind of falling apart...
When: Late tonight
Setting: The same place
Scene IV: The strain relief
I get everything connected, pick up the panel, and the cable slides in the 3
holes. Of course I didn't have any strain reliefs for them, and even if I did,
it wouldn't have fit in the kind of egg/oval-shaped dremel holes in the panel.
So my next task is to create a strong strain relief for this stuff.
I start digging around in cases, and I find the solution rather quickly. Three
wraps around of Rosco glow tape, followed by a couple wraps of blue gaff tape
on the inside of the panel, and that thing is not moving through the hole. Ever
again.
------------------------------
And then I go home. Stay tuned tomorrow for EPISODE II: THE LOAD TEST.
Should I take some pics of this stuff throughout my adventures so that you can
see the path of this gear, from creation/wiring to concert? And of my new
flashlight? ;)
Brandon
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Scott,
Is it possible for you to take some pics of the theater and gym for us to see
with the drawings?
Also before I throw out any suggestions, do you know what kind of volume/dB level
the system has to produce? How many wireless mics you think they would need?
How are the acoustics in the rooms right now (very live or dead room?) Are
there any problem frequencies right now that you know of that would warrant a
parametric EQ as opposed to a graphic EQ?
From what you say it sounds like they need a system (at least in the theater)
that can be reset back to it's original, installed settings quickly and easily,
but with enough flexibility that will allow the students to get in there and
play with the settings and hear the differences, have a minimal noise floor
for theater productions, and have a metric buttload of power for the upper-dB
concerts.
I await your response, so I can begin writing this book of
recommendations...;)
Brandon
The Perfect Sound System?
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I started writing all this out and then figured it would
be better if you have visuals, so I made it into a web page (I got up to the
amps and then I'm not quite Shure what happened, but anyway, that's where I
stopped so far):
<http://www.brandonpotter.com/systemrenovation>
Some additions spawning off what Paul said...
For the speakers, Meyer stuff is
definitely near the top of the line. I got to chat with John Meyer one
evening and I like him, what he stands for, and the way his company works, in
addition to having some great sounding cabinets. I'm not sure if being
powered would be a plus or minus in this installation. If you want to go the
traditional passive speaker route, for vocal reinforcement I'm a big fan of
EAW. Also, for theatre reinforcement, if you look at cabinets with a horn,
make SURE it is a 1", not a 2". 2" horns are great for rock n'
roll at large volume levels but they lack the smoothness and clarity of a
1" as far as locals are concerned.
SM58's are the way to go as far as mics. I'd get a package of (12) SM58's and
(24) 25' Whirlwind XLR cables. Also for general purpose (read: choir, acoustic
instruments, etc) I'd get a pair of Shure BG4.1's. They have gain-before-feedback
like you wouldn't believe, and a great response. If there are applications
such as pianos, then an SM81 is the way to go.
If the school (or anyone else on the list, for that matter) will be doing any
recording, pick up a pair of Superlux CM-H8A large diaphragm condenser mics. They're
$100 a piece with $25 for a shockmount, and sounds as good as a Neumann. I know you've never heard of it. ;) If you want
some raw .wav's of my voice coming straight off the hard disk recorder I'll
be happy to share (by the way, I love these things) ;)
For stage reinforcement I would get 3 Crown PCC130 floor mics and place them on
the lip of the stage at equal distance. That will take care of the downstage
area. Then I would fly one Shure Microflex series mic above the center of the
stage to capture the upstage area. If you roll a little bass off the
Microflex, you can almost match the sound of the Crown PCC's and come up with
an awesome coverage area.
My personal preference for SFX is a computer with good ol' Winamp in manual playlist
mode. Reliability and simplicity. Plus the computer is great for a game of
Midtown Madness or Solitaire during those band concerts (just make sure you
mute the computer channel on the sound board or you'll have a nice roaring
engine in the middle of the concert)... For CD players, Paul
nailed it... I just bought my 3rd Denon dual CD deck.
Wireless microphones... For theater you'll have the best luck with Sennheiser...
Sennheiser stuff has a very clean sound and great high end clarity. For
rock'n'roll stuff, you'll have a great experience with Shure. Shure just came
out with a new series of wireless systems that are multi-channel but don't
carry quite the price tag of the pro touring stuff...
I've tried the Beta 58 and Beta 57 handhelds in this system and I was impressed.
(I think it's the ULX series?)
Also if you have more than 3 wireless mics/receivers, definitely see about getting
a central antenna system... makes life a lot easier! Just remember, you can
spend $3000 on a ton of wireless mediocre mics and have endless problems, or
you can take that same $3000 and buy 3 quality mics that will last a long
time and never give you any problems, OR spend it on extra processing gear
that will get an incredible amount of gain before feedback. This year I took
2 parametric EQ's, 2 gates/compressors with sidechains, and
turned a hanging Microflex mic into something that kicked the snot out of the
Lavalier on the channel next to it.
If you can stay away from reverb and other assorted effects at this level, don't
buy them.... 1 at the most. Students that are new to sound will immediately
clutch on to the effect processor, use it too much, think it can "fix"
everything (just like a newcomer to a 31-band graphic EQ), and they won't
learn how to really get the best sound out of a source. If you must, a TC
Electronics M-ONE is a wonderful effects processor that's versatile enough to
do just about anything.
I'm sure I could babble for a few more mins, but, get this, I have an early appointment
tomorrow morning building a 300' Whirlwind W4 multipin snake and Elco
processing rack multipin lines, to go along with 1200 ft of Socapex, 84 par
cans, and 96ch dimmer rack that has to be put together for a concert on Saturday...
I should be personally sponsored by Motrin or Advil by the end of this
weekend... :)
Nite!
Brandon
VHF trash? lol
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>>Go UHF, VHF is trash...<<
Hey hey now, just because it's old technology doesn't mean it's not good ;) Unless
you happen to be doing your gig in the middle of a big city or next to an
airport, VHF will usually do you justice (along with having the system, and
the building grounded properly so you don't wind up with a big sign on your
rig that says "WE LOVE RADIO INTERFERENCE")
:)
In my experience, the cost differences being about the same, an upper-end VHF
system can kick the snot out of a low-end UHF system (especially the $300 Shure....
UT series, I think it is... if I had a dollar for every time I've swapped out
transmitters for these puppies)... so give me a variable-channel VHF, a
scanner, and the proper antenna system and I'll be happy....
Brandon
PS - working on the color scroller writeup...
Wireless Mics
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Put the 1604 right next to the Yamaha and go on your way.
One thing to remember with going from the 1604 with 1/4" TRS outputs to a Yamaha
line or XLR input is that you have the proper cabling to do what you need to
do... There are some issues when going from the main outputs of the Mackie to a
channel on the Yamaha, I can't remember the exact solution whether it was
balanced or unbalanced, etc, but if you get nothing in the Yamaha when your
Mackie says it's outputting outrageous levels, either change the cable
configuration or use the subgroup outputs to get your signal to the Yamaha.
Just a little tip that might save you a few hours so you don't have to do what I did an hour before a concert ;)
Brandon
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