Sound Design Live

Build Your Career As A Sound Engineer

Phase Alignment Science Academy Handbook: Introduction

By


The phase relationship is the wild variable: The one we must tame to make the summation junction function.

6o6

Year: C019

History of Mainland and Subterra

Throughout recorded history, the peoples of Mainland and Subterra have lived in harmony with one another. Though located on opposite poles of the planet Boh, each nation boasts ample quantities of Magnitude, the most valuable element found on Boh.

Though distant from each other, the two nations are connected by a thin but continuous land bridge that crosses the Sea of Spektral Xovr between them. This bridge has held solid for centuries. Forged from a perfect match of Magnitude and Phase, the bridge is a lifeline between the nations, allowing for commerce, diplomacy, and free passage between the two. The bridge is the key to Boh’s long-term success, and stability is particularly vital in the crossover region.

Vital Element: Magnitude

Infinite varieties of Magnitude exist. Mainland produces those varieties with high-frequency (HF) vibrations and Subterra produces those with low-frequency (LF) vibrations. Both develop into stable forms of Magnitude with specific qualities of coherence and phase. Scientists on Mainland and Subterra use delay and polarity (among other tools) to further refine the stable form of Magnitude into the structures of their productive societies. Without both HF and LF, life as we know it would not exist on Boh.

Conflict

In B992, a team of Dissonance from the planet Ekoeko arrived secretly on Boh. Faced with the environmental destruction of their own planet and seeking to colonize a new planet rich in Magnitude, the government of Ekoeko determined that the best way to overpower Boh would be to destroy the bridge connecting Mainland and Subterra. With advanced weapons of Displacement and Asymmetry their fighters began an unprovoked attack on the bridge that is still ongoing.

Your role

Boh has but one hope for all the peoples of Mainland and Subterra–to repair the bridge and restore harmony. To accomplish this, your primary objective is to rehabilitate coupling through the acoustic crossover region. If coupling cannot be maintained Magnitude relationships must reach isolation as quickly as possible before causing instability. Combing and Transition, having the greatest potential for cancellation are to be minimized throughout the region.*

Both nations send their best and brightest here, to the Phase Alignment Science Academy (PASA), to learn to manipulate and control our most powerful elements so that we may build a bridge that is strong enough to withstand any assault. During your time at the Academy, your job will be to master the properties of our precious elements and fight back against the Dissonance.

Rankings

During your training, you will advance through the ranks of PASA before earning the rank of Master of Alignment. You will prove yourself at each level by earning experience points for every successful alignment you perform that leads to the restoration of a section of our bridge. The Academy’s Simulator will provide you with test missions in which to increase and demonstrate your skills before you are deployed into the field. Should you advance far enough, you may also choose to train as a Scout, using your skills to identify and anticipate potential threats and destroy them before they can do us harm.

Intern: we welcome you to the Academy. Together we will defeat the Dissonance of Ekoeko and enjoy harmony in Boh once more.

*Consult your handbook’s Definition of Terms.

Definition of terms

  1. Acoustic crossover region: The location where two separate sound sources combine together at equal level.
  2. Asymmetry: Lack of equal response characteristics.
  3. Coherence: Signal to noise ratio.
  4. Combing: Magnitude relationship of 0-4dB with maximum risk of cancellation.
  5. Coupling: Phase offset <120º preventing cancellation.
  6. Displacement: Distance between two sound sources.
  7. Frequency: Cycles per second in Hertz (Hz).
  8. Isolation: Magnitude relationship >10dB with low risk of cancellation.
  9. Magnitude: Level component of the audio waveform expressed in dB. Also a vital element in the nations of Mainland and Subterra.
  10. Mainland: A nation on Boh located across the Sea of Spektral Xovr from Subterra producing high-frequency varieties of Magnitude.
  11. Phase: The relationship in time between cycles of a wave. The radial component of the audio waveform expressed in degrees.
  12. Subterra: A nation on Boh located across the Sea of Spektral Xovr from Mainland producing low-frequency varieties of Magnitude.
  13. Transition: Magnitude relationship of 4-10dB with medium risk of cancellation.


What is the best sounding target EQ curve to use in Smaart® on every show?

By

Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play or Stitcher.

Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

In this episode of Sound Design Live I talk with touring FOH mixer and system tech Chase Benedict about the challenges of touring, the benefits of starting out at a sound company, the dangers of relying on a single target EQ curve, and that time a lighting fixture fell on his head from 10ft in the air and he had to mix the show with electrical tape holding his face together.

I ask:

  • In the book Get On Tour in a section called What I hate about touring you write, “There are many things that we take for granted in life and touring can shed a unique light upon them. In that sense, the lessons learned can make one especially grateful for what they have. One might find themselves giving up the most basic of life’s necessities, like showers or decent toilet paper. There was one tour in particular where, over the course of three months I spent more days off on a bus in a Walmart parking lot than I spent at home. I can think of another time when the entire crew had to go four days without showering and then hop on a plane. Our only saving grace was the baby wipes we had on the bus.” What’s it like touring on a bus?
  • You have made it it clear in the book that an important step into touring is to work with a sound company that has touring accounts. But we’ve all heard stories about people getting hired straight out of concert venues or Laundromats. Is that still a thing? Why did you choose sound companies?
  • Let’s talk about the danger of relying 100% target curves. You write, “One major problem for me was thinking that an FFT could provide qualitative data. For the longest time I had several target curves I would try to achieve when calibrating the PA. While I’ve heard of this technique working well for tours that carry their own system, it doesn’t really hold up when dealing with different makes and models of boxes. Different PAs have different sonic characteristics. For example, let’s say the first leg of the tour was spent with a Meyer Leo system and the second half was spent with a combination of L’Acoustic and VTX. All three are great systems, and while the magnitude traces in Smaart might look the same, they most likely will sound very different. I dug myself into so many holes because of this. It especially becomes a problem with some of the lesser quality rigs out there. Over time I started to paying more attention to he differences in transfer function measurements and began storing individual traces for each make and model of PA. Vertec has a specific magnitude trace, as does Leo, K1, and even some of the smaller trap boxes. Then the next time I encountered one of these boxes, I would listen and EQ, observing how similar the EQ decisions I made resembled my target traces. It’s usually pretty close. This strategy has been working well for me.” First of all, what is a target curve?
    • So what’s wrong with using a target curve? If I take a measurement with one system in one room and then take another measurement with another system in another room and make them match, won’t they sound exactly the same?
    • If a single target curve solution doesn’t work, what can I do instead?
  • There is a lot of confusion about where to place the microphone for level setting and time aligning FFs. Could you talk about how you approach this? How do you find the right mic position?
  • What’s in your work bag?
  • What is one book that has been helpful to you?

FFTs only provide you with quantitative data not qualitative. You’re seeing an analytical representation of what’s happening

Chase Benedict

Notes

  1. All music in this podcast by Deborah Heltzer.
  2. Chase on Instagram
  3. Test tracks: Straighten Up and Fly Right, God Is My Friend, Doin’ It Right
  4. Books: Get On Tour, Sound Systems: Design and Optimization, The Brothers Karamazov, The Stranger
  5. Foothills Brewery in Winston-Salem, Spotted Cow Lager
  6. Chase’s workbag: hard hat, safety harness, high vis vest, Behringer Uphoria 404 interface, turn arounds, spare glasses, cold medicine, cable tester, multi meter, wireless CAT5 tester,
  7. Podcasts: Sound Design Live, Why Oh Why, Where’s my 40 acres?, Business Wars
  8. Spatial acoustic crossover point: The frequency and/or location where two separate sound sources combine together at equal level.
  9. Aligning front-fills to mains:
    1. Estimate spatial acoustic crossover point based on overlapping coverage patterns.
    2. Measure main solo.
    3. Measure front-fill solo.
    4. Use Smaart’s delay locate function to find the time offset (delta delay). Enter time offset into the delay DSP for front-fill.
  10. Download Chase’s target EQ curves
  11. Quotes
    1. Don’t shit on the bus. That’s rule number 1.
    2. I was sick and tired of working with dodgy gear. I wanted to go work for a place where I knew there was a quality standard.
    3. I mixed FOH that day for this artist with electrical tape wrapped around my head.
    4. FFTs only provide you with quantitative data not qualitative. You’re seeing an analytical representation of what’s happening, but it’s not telling you anything about the actual tone or timbre of the sound system you are listening to.
All of Chase’s target curves with the average on top.

I made sure every sound engineer, tour manager, and production manager knew I wanted to tour

By

Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play or Stitcher.

Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

In this episode of Sound Design Live I talk with FOH mixer for artists such as Spin Doctors, Indigo Girls, Styx, Melissa Etheridge, Gwen Stefani, Kesha, Jewel, Mr. Big, Goo Goo Dolls, Christina Aguilera, and Adam Lambert, Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato, about how she went from mixing local bands to international tours. I ask:

  • In the book Get On Tour you write, “For several years before I started touring I worked at a local sound company, in the A/V department at an entertainment complex, as a stagehand, at a nightclub, mixing local bands, and occasionally as an assistant at a recording studio.” How did that happen?
    • The milestone in this story is that a friend of yours called to offer you the tour with The Spin Doctors and you credit that to simple word of mouth marketing. You say, “I made sure everyone knew that I wanted to be on tour. I talked constantly with friends and colleagues about touring, and when I worked with visiting bands and engineers I would pick their brain about how they got started. When the opportunity came, I seized it.” Could you talk in a bit more detail about what that looked like in practice? How did you make sure that everyone knew that you wanted to be on tour?
  • Can you explain the hiring process to me? From the initial idea where a production company or artist says, “I want to go on tour,” what are the chain of events and people that then lead to you or someone else getting hired for a tour?
  • Let’s talk about the Mr. Big tour. Could you give me an overview of the inputs you are mixing?
  • What’s in your work bag?
  • What is one book that has been helpful to you?

It’s always someone who knows someone.

Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato

Notes

  1. All music in this podcast by Niklas Harju.
  2. Books: Get On Tour, Illusions by Richard Bock
  3. Hardware: Beyer M88, RE20, EV ND76, Telefunken M80, kettlebell
  4. Michelle’s workbag: headphones Sony MD7506, flashlight, sharpies, tuning CD, karaoke mic, iPod to XLR cable, cool towel, batteries, adapters, ear plugs Sensaphonics, Gerber multi tool, e-tape, Purell
  6. Quotes
    1. That came from a classmate who I was friends with and remembered always saying that this is what I want to do and he gave me a shot.
    2. Meet the crew, production managers, tour managers, stage managers, and other crew members and build connections with them because they are the people who are going to refer you for a job.
    3. It’s always someone who knows someone.
    4. I love the kettlebell because it’s the only workout where I feel like, Wow, I just did something.

Bob McCarthy: Where do I place my delay towers?

By

Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play or Stitcher.

Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

In this episode of Sound Design Live I talk with the director of system optimization at Meyer Sound and the author of Sound Systems: Design and Optimization, Bob McCarthy, about how to decide where to place your delay towers and how many boxes they should have.

Notes

  1. Movie: WW1 doc They Shall Not Grow Old
  2. Roskilde Festival
  3. Sub arrays: End-fire, Gradient inverted stack
  4. MAPP XT
  5. Design files for Jockey Plaza
  6. Do I have enough boxes in my delay towers?
    1. Compare the ratio of boxes in your Main array vs your Delay array to the ratio of distances they are covering.
  7. Quotes
    1. One of the big lessons of this experience was how important it was to not just extend 100Hz and above, but to extend the whole show. If you want it to stay impactful, you have to bring it down to 30Hz.
    2. If you’re in an outdoor environment, I prefer over covered to under covered.
Trump Wall at the Roskilde Festival

How Robert Scovill Got Fired by John Cougar Mellancamp and Hired by Prince

By

Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play or Stitcher.

Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

In this episode of Sound Design Live I talk with Robert Scovill about the importance of good training, subjectivity vs objectivity, the dangers of becoming tribal around a brand, and how to earn the respect of John Cougar Mellancamp and Prince with excellent relationship management. I ask:

  • How did you get your first job in audio?
  • In 1985, you were 24 years old and you learned that there was an opening in the monitor engineer position on the John Cougar Mellencamp tour. You write: “I was certain that this was my shot. I lobbied VERY hard for that position.What does lobby very hard mean? What exactly were you doing to try to get the job?” You did end up getting that job, but then lost it. What happened?
    • After you lost the job you had a very difficult decision to make: go home or attempt to stay in a place where you had just been rejected. I think most people would not have given it a second thought. Losing the job means you go home. But you saw an opportunity here. Take us to that moment in your life. Describe what was happening and what was going on in your head.
  • One of the most helpful pieces of advice you give in the book is: If you want to be a FOH mixer, build relationships with artists. If you want to be a monitor mixer or systems technician, build relationships with sound companies. Tell me more about this. It sounds like maybe the artist wants to choose the FOH engineer, but not the monitor engineer and system tech. Is that correct?
  • I want to talk about how you like to set up your mix console. You have an excellent training video online called Console Management & Live Mixing and in it you describe the signal flow of a typical input going from the preamp to Preamp saturation emulation to tape compression to EQ and then all of your channels go into groups before they hit the master bus. Is that correct?
  • What’s wrong with setting all of my mic preamps in such a way that all of my channel faders will sit at 0dB?
  • What outputs do you send to the PA? Subs on an aux?
  • What’s in your work bag?
  • What is one book that has been helpful to you?
sound-design-live-robert-scovill-john-cougar-mellancamp-prince-small

Can you learn it all on the job? You can, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend it.

Robert Scovill

Notes

  1. All music in this podcast by François Leclerc.
  2. Robert’s workbag: Headphones – Shure 840, polarity checker –
  3. Console Management and Live Mixing
  4. Robert’s “sometimes applicable” process for aligning front-fills:
    1. Send test signal to the drum-fill.
    2. Time align at first row so that the front-fills match the drum-fill.
    3. Time align matrix sends from console subgroups to front-fills so that all instruments arrive with drum-fill.
  5. Books: The Revenge of Analog, The Perfectionist
  6. Quotes
    1. Can you learn it all on the job? You can, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. It’s the slowest hardest path. Find the people to get quality insight from and find good work to do. It’s a real challenge for our industry right now.
    2. The technology has outpaced the user group, especially in this IP based world.
    3. The thing that I fight so many times with younger guys or fresh guys is confusing subjectivity with absolute truths.
    4. I’m so tired of this: Just use your ears! Well, I do use my ears. I just also use science to back up what I believe.
    5. It doesn’t serve anyone for all of the users to become tribal.
    6. All of a sudden I became keenly aware of that relational aspect to the job and I was watching like a hawk and learning every time I watched someone interact with an artist.
    7. If you’re on the list of mixers who have been fired by Prince, you’re on a pretty elite list.
    8. We have the terrible tendency to try to provide you with a silver bullet. If you use this, you’ll have the analog sound. No. If you go back and look at what caused that sound with analog, it’s a lot of things. Not just one thing.
    9. It’s important to understand where line level is on your [consoles’ input].
    10. I like to keep the faders between +6 and -10 because that is the highest resolution of the fader.
    11. My LR buss is only band. My vocal bus goes directly to the matrix. This allows me to tonally and dynamically address that music mix without ever affecting gain before feedback on the vocal.
    12. If you’re gonna be the mixer, you should also be the system tuner.