Quote:
>this theory looks real nice on paper. but unfortunately, most touring bands do not
>have the time/ money to worry about such things. these stacks are bolted/ chained
>together the same way, hung in the same array from night to night, city to city, and
> Venue to Venue. the stacks are hung, the cables are run, and the rest of the
>tweaking is done through the mixing console.
Hi All,
I've been away a bit lately but just got a chance to get some reading in. This comment concerns me as I've always strive to assure that correct information is being shared. I know many folks are not interested in deep system design information but since this is among my primary activities, and I work with some of the world's finest system designers, I must clearly address this issue.
While bar bands may not get the luxury of a system designer, many major touring acts do have a system engineer on the tour. Peter for SCI, three guys in rotation for DMB, two or more in rotation for Phil/Dead related bands, Panic used to have Fumi (with Andy)--I don't know their current guy. The role of each of these guys is to set up the system, use the array calculator or have comprehensive understanding of how the system should be installed and tuned on any given night to optimize its interaction with the room and within itself.
The rigging hardware is variable for degrees of coverage and throw distance. Once the rough installation is complete including proper trim height and cabinet splay, the level tapering and delay times between cabinets from high-to-low (far throw to near-field downfills, frontfills, etc..) and zone levels are all tuned for the show. While it is not always possible to spend as many hours as desired doing this set up, the bigger touring acts are certainly implementing great care in optimizing the PA each and every day for the rooms (venue) in which it is being used.
The goal of a system engineer (not just the mix guy (front of house engineer) at the console) is to assure that each seat in the house sounds as close as possible to any other. Of course, this is not totally possible to achieve but the idea is to keep the sound on the people (and as close to their ears as possible), off the walls, ceiling, and floor, while giving each listener the best experience possible in whatever seat they are in.
If anyone has further questions or issues about this, please feel free to inquire.
Happy Recording Everybody,
Marc