Most concert sound systems used in large venues consist of a larger main system with multiple separate support systems that must be tuned and optimised to work together as a complete system. Do this every time the system is set up as having any portion of the system automatically swap over to its analogue input will create some very strange sounding artifacts indeed! A favourite board microphone plugged into the console with some, ‘Check one, twos’ while panning between the left and right stereo outputs will tell you very quickly if the system, in its raw state, is at least reasonably stereo matched on the Mains. If the system is being run with digital AES wiring it’s essential to check that all processors are seeing and locked to a digital AES source. There are so many small elements that can be overlooked. You must be extremely careful at this first system turn on/check out stage to ensure you’re not starting to tune a system that is not working correctly. When setting up in a new venue you should never assume everything in a large-scale sound system will work perfectly when first turned on! Then listen to each section of the system in isolation to verify the complete integrity of the entire system. ‘the mix’ - generated by the operator at the mixing console’s output.īefore attempting to tune any sound system it’s vital to very carefully check all the various sections of the system ensure all the rigging, wiring, patching and powering up have been performed correctly. The goal of this method is to have the sound system reproduce as closely as possible the same tonal balance and perspective - ie. An important side benefit of this method is that any recordings, video feeds, and live broadcast mixes fed directly from the mixing console are far more accurate and more closely reflect the actual live sound of the show. Some of these variables are personal listening tastes and tuning methods, system brand and design, differing venue styles and each venue’s acoustic properties.īy removing as many variables as possible in the signal chain after the mixing console all the creative focus is now placed where it belongs - at the actual mixing console. My method here removes many of the variables that have made previous system tuning approaches extremely unreliable and caused them to deliver inconsistent results from venue to venue and system to system. According to at least one badly translated Swedish review, the sound on the Sting tour was ‘powerful and stable, strong without doing evil in the ears.’ If you like, you can follow my method and stop doing ‘evil in the ears’.
Herein lies the method I’ve developed for reliably and consistently tuning and optimising any large scale concert sound system. Many times the participants suggested I put the documents in print, naturally I thought of AudioTechnology. During this last Summer European tour with Sting I conducted a number of impromptu masterclasses at FOH with the local sound company’s crew. But even though the tuning of some operators would have you believing differently, there is more to a sound system than just sub bass. Over the years, I’ve prescribed some low-end diets for AudioTechnology readers struggling to unveil the clarity in their PAs.
0 kommentar(er)
