Topic: Echo at outdoor venue?

[gladcarrot]

I just got back from the Jay-Z / Eminem show at Comerica Park in Detroit after leaving early because the sound was a disaster.  We were near the left field flag pole in the upper deck and the stage was in center field.  There was an echo the whole time where I sat.  It was about a full second after the initial sound and nearly as loud.  It was almost as if the various stacks of speakers placed through the infield were out of sync.  It was kind of disorienting and it sounded like garbage.  Sound could have easily bounced off the right field stands or Ford Field directly behind left field.

Is this just bad sound engineering or unavoidable laws of physics?

I saw Alice in Chains / Kid Rock last summer and the sound was surprisingly good.  I was in the upper deck near first base.  No echos.  I just listened to my recording from that show again just now.

Anyone else have problems with echo's in the venue?   Or know of places to avoid in the future?

[Napo]

Moreover how do you eliminate/attenuate echos/booming in post editing?

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

Sounds to me like the sound left the stacks, crossed the entire field, bounced off the stadium and came back to you. Not much you can do about that other than move.

There is no way to do anything about echos in post.

If the booming is due to high levels of low end sound you can roll off the low end with an equalizer.

[Napo]

Mike B,

crystal clear! T+

[page]

Yeah, I've seen a pavillion where anywhere further back then the impact zone produces a wicked echo. Actually, now that I think about it, the impact zone has one too... That's the bummer of building a funnel shape out of concrete/brick in a canyon-type environment.

I'm with Mike, gotta move to a better seat. 4/5 times, that will reduce or eliminate it, but there are some some places that you have to accept it and hope the sound crew have done their best. In your case, the sound crew may not have had the proper equipment or even knew that the upper deck had issues.

[newplanet7]

This along with extreme phasing happened in 2009 for phish at fenway.
Horrible sound.

[fleish]

Reminds me of 2009 Bonnaroo @ the main stage. As you got close to the back fence there was a bounceback echo happening. The sound was great closer to the delay stacks though & you got lots of room to spread out compared to FOB.

[greenone]

Yup...welcome to the wonderful world of slapback. No solution other than moving or avoiding shows in venues that weren't designed to handle music.

[Belexes]

Helps to be closer to the sound source in these venues. Taping from a mile back won't be advantageous unless you have directional capsules to assist.

[SmokinJoe]

And narrower patterns.... hypers/guns will be somewhat better than omnis in reducing some of the echoes coming in from the sides.

We went to Furthur 6/30/2010 at a baseball field.  There were seats/walls behind us and some wicked echoes coming off it.  Some places in the park the sound was so bad I couldn't tell what song they were playing.  I ran hypers from the OTS and didn't really hear the echo on the tape.  It actually sounded quite a lot better than when you were there.  People who ran FOB, in the sweet spot, made out even better.

So yes, as always, location is key, but if you can't get a great location, directional mics might take the edge off a little.

[gladcarrot]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has had this problem.  What really pisses me off is that they charged $50 for these tickets!
Here is an example of the echo at Comerica Park.  If anything maybe Comerica Park officials can be made aware of it and lower ticket prioces for these sections.

Eminem with echo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU1YTgppfv4

JayZ with echo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03hyZ65KL00

[Depechemode1993]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has had this problem.  What really pisses me off is that they charged $50 for these tickets!
Here is an example of the echo at Comerica Park.  If anything maybe Comerica Park officials can be made aware of it and lower ticket prioces for these sections.

Eminem with echo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU1YTgppfv4

JayZ with echo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03hyZ65KL00

Every concert at the Copa has had that problem. The only really good spot to tape from there is from the floor. I taped the Rolling Stones there a couple of years ago and it was awful then too. I just scrapped the tape.

[greenone]

If anything maybe Comerica Park officials can be made aware of it and lower ticket prioces for these sections.

This is, of course, assuming people go to concerts to actually hear something. Most don't.

[fleish]

If anything maybe Comerica Park officials can be made aware of it and lower ticket prioces for these sections.

This is, of course, assuming people go to concerts to actually hear something. Most don't.

Technically inaccurate - they are hearing themselves & their drunk friends talk over the music

[stevetoney]

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