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Honestly, Live Audio Is Not Based On Science

By Nathan Lively

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book-review-live-audio-dave-swallowDid you hear my interview with Dave Swallow? You should. In our conversation it was obvious that he has a ton of valuable information to share, but that information is kind of hidden in his book. Let’s dig around in the dirt and pull out the gems.

Your job as an engineer is to get the best out of what you are given, even when you are given the worst.

Bored.

Swallow spends a lot of time covering information that you can find in the user manuals for mixing consoles and outboard gear. It overshadows his personal experiences with mixing, which were the parts that I found interesting AND that I couldn’t find somewhere else. If I were to edit this book, I would cut everything but the personal experience.

I found the summary of audio basics to be too brief, and disconnected from the practical goals of the book. It would probably be better served with footnotes and a glossary.

WTF Bro?

Some parts of Live Audio are just plain misleading.

For example, the section on hearing loss prevention is misleading because he says, “You can’t wear earplugs while you are mixing because then you won’t be able to hear what you are doing,” then later mentions that molded earplugs are “worth the money.” The truth is that many artists and engineers work with molded ear plugs and IEMs and enjoy slower hearing loss and a longer career because of it.

I do really appreciate this point, though: “Don’t put anything down your ear.” It reminds me of a story I heard from a friend about new military recruits that had access to medical facilities for the first time and would excessively clean their ear canals, leaving them dry and irritated. Ear wax is normal.

book-review-live-audio-dave-swallow-line-arraySome of Dave’s comparisons of point source and line arrays are also misleading.

  1. Hardly anyone uses a pure line array with all speakers parallel anymore. So the arrays he refers to are really two different versions of a coupled point source array, with different speaker types.
  2. You can aim any speaker array poorly. Swallow writes, “Line arrays tend to create strong sound reflections off the rear wall, which muddies the sound in shallow rooms.” That doesn’t make sense. You can point a point source array at the back wall and make problems just as easily as you can with a line array.
  3. When Swallow writes, “Line arrays require a very high ceiling because they must be tall to work properly,” I think, wow, that’s way too general. Firstly, most line arrays have hardware available so that they can be ground stacked. Secondly, he is really discussing the physics of array length versus frequency response, so his offhand reference to “tall” is useless. Lastly, Swallow suggests avoiding line arrays for outdoor events because, “As much as they have the ability to not lose many decibels over a long distance, the actual power of the wavefront that is formed seems to be fairly weak, rendering the sound pretty useless in anything over a slight breeze.” Is it just me, or is that confusing? If it’s not losing decibels then why would the wavefront be weak?
  4. In another example Swallow writes, “…with the point source system, you get more volume down at the front”; why? I want more explanation!

I understand that Swallow is introducing these concepts in a way that won’t be overwhelming, but you can’t just skip to the end and lead the reader to think there is nothing more to know, that things are always one way. My advice is to take his rules of thumb with a grain of salt.

book-review-live-audio-dave-swallow-humidity-hf-absorptionAnother confusing subject is the environmental effects of humidity and temperature. Swallow’s comments on directional transmission are helpful, but he makes a big deal about temperature increasing the speed of sound and having some effect on high frequencies. I read it several times and didn’t understand what he was trying to say. Here are three important things to remember about temperature and humidity from Sound Systems: Design And Optimization:

  1. The speed of sound in air is only slightly temperature dependent. A 1% change in the speed of sound occurs with either a 5°C or 10°F change in temperature.
  2. As humidity rises, high frequency transmission improves.
  3. The high frequency loss rate is highest around room temperature and increases as temperature either rises or falls around this standard.

And one more thing that is just plain wrong: “To measure a room’s frequency response, you use a real-time analyzer (RTA).” Why is this wrong? Please read this.

Meeting Ear To Ear

And then, a saving grace! Remember in my article on controlling feedback onstage when I condemned “ringing out” stage monitors? Swallow totally agrees! See? I’m not crazy. The world is crazy!

This procedure…is extremely annoying for anyone else trying to work in the room and is considered by most industry professionals to be extremely amateurish. Instead, you should understand what the frequencies do in terms of how boosting and cutting each frequency on the graphic affects the overall sound…Do not sacrifice the sound of the system just for a little more volume.

Also, Swallow’s explanation of why graphic EQs are pretty much useless is right on the money. I’ve already beaten that subject to death on Sound Design Live.

Hey, remember in my interview with Philip Graham when he challenged my assumption that dynamic mics are more forgiving than condenser microphones on vocals? Well, read it and weep Philip:

A dynamic mic can be much more sympathetic, more forgiving to a bad mic technique…

There are some sections that a good editor should have just cut. For example, in the section on using an SPL meter Swallow describes the fast and slow response settings: “If you have a fast reading, you’ll see the numbers changing very quickly on the display, whereas with a slow reading, the numbers change much more slowly.” Really? You just wasted seven seconds of my life. I can’t get those back now.

Awesome!

So where are the good parts in this book?

book-review-live-audio-dave-swallow-la-rouxThe value of Live Audio is Swallow’s personal experience. For an example in this section on how he uses Pitch Shift:

With La Roux, I use +4 on the left side and a delay of 14ms; on the right side I use -14 and a delay of 4ms. When combined with the vocal, it gives a very unique sound and sinks the vocal into the music while still keeping it loud enough to be heard.

This is gold! I had never thought about using pitch shifting in live sound before! Why can’t the entire book be like this?

When we get into the chapter on mixing is when Live Audio starts reading like great advice and less like a bad user manual. His suggestions for  equalization, dynamics, and effects processing are very helpful. Also, the section on microphone technique is useful and gave me a lot of god ideas to try. Especially his five-mic array for piano.

I really appreciate Swallow’s suggestions for critical listening. I generally try to work really fast and have been guilty of trying to fix everything with EQ. Swallow reminds us throughout the book to walk around the venue and stage when there is a problem we cannot identify.

His best tip on soundchecks is to finish the soundcheck on the first song of the set so that everything will be set to go right out of the gate. Brilliant.

I’m glad Swallow talks about panning and stereo because I’ve long wondered why anyone would ever setup a stereo sound system when only a small portion of those people in the center will hear in stereo (see What’s wrong with stereo?). Swallow answers this question by explaining that while yes, stereo panning will produce a different result in each seat of the audience, it also produces a sense of spaciousness that everyone enjoys. And now I remember that Bob McCarthy said pretty much the same thing in our interview. Basically, stereo is here to stay because people like it and there are ways to accomplish it without sabotaging your system optimization.

Conclusions

I can see how this book might be good for a stage manager or technical director who doesn’t have experience in pro audio and may want an overview of how it all works. But if you are a sound engineer, skip to the sections with personal experience and definitely read the mixing chapter. Because honestly, Live Audio is not based on science. Swallow has toured the world making music, so when he says that something works or doesn’t, it’s because he’s been there and done that.

BOOK REVIEW: Sound Systems: Design And Optimization by Bob McCarthy

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-review-sound-systems-design-and-optimization-bob-mccarthy-book-featured

sound-design-live-review-sound-systems-design-and-optimization-bob-mccarthy-bookI freely admit that I love this book. I’ve read Sound Systems: Design & Optimization cover to cover and use it as a reference on an ongoing basis. The first time I read the book, I was excited to learn that there are areas of audio that can be predicted and measured. It felt like all of a sudden invisible audio could be visualized and altered. Since then, I’ve felt a strong affinity for system tuning and have tried to bring it into my work whenever possible.

The upside of reading this book is that you learn a lot about topics you never knew existed but have been affecting your audio work this entire time. The downside is that you will want to change everything, and be frustrated when you can’t. All of a sudden you will want to move speakers around and fly mono point-source clusters. You’ll want to measure everything and play a lot of pink noise. You’ll want to throw out your graphic EQ and RTA, but you will encounter resistance from producers, managers, owners, colleagues, and the clock. It is really hard to be so excited about this stuff and not be able to get your hands on it. Keep your eyes open and trust me, opportunities will start to present themselves.

Sound reinforcement is far from perfect. Speakers are “mechanical devices attempting to produce wavelengths that vary in size by a factor of over 600:1.” Luckily measurement systems are affordable and we can set goals to get the most out of our imperfect systems. McCarthy is a realist, and his book is all about triage. Your patients will never be 100% injury-free, but you can apply pressure and stop bleeding from the major arteries.

[quote picture=”https://sounddesignlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/sound-design-live-bob-mccarthy-headshot.jpg” name=”Bob McCarthy” align=”left”]If the system is always operated safely within its linear range, there is no need for limiting. This could happen in our lifetime, as could world peace. But unfortunately, we have to assume the worst-case scenario: that the sytem will be subjected to the maximum level of abuse fathomable, plus 6 dB.[/quote]

Introductory chapters walk you through terminology with a minimal amount of math and a constant connection to their necessity for the job at hand. This is not a simple read. There were many ideas and terms I had never heard before, as well as lots of tables and diagrams to interpret. This complexity is also what made the book so captivating. I couldn’t beleive that there was so much about audio that I didn’t know! McCarthy makes sure to keep you motivated by providing real-world applications like a carrot at the end of a stick.

[quote name=”Bob McCarthy”]The premise of this text is minimal theoretical math and maximum field applicability.[/quote]

Pro Tip number one: This book is best read from start to finish. Later on you can use it as a reference manual, but if you try to start in the middle of a chapter without understanding the context you may be disappointed and confused. This isn’t because you’re dumb or the material is obtuse! Rather, our brains like to preserve energy, and when you present too many new ideas (including vocabulary) at once, they fight back and try to dissuade us from attempting to understand the material. That’s why you don’t always understand everything the first time you read it, but when you go back read it again the concepts become more clear. Pro Tip number two: also check out McCarthy’s website for more real-life examples.

One thing that I love about McCarthy’s style is that he crushes audio myths left and right, but does so gently and with good humor. It is kind of annoying to find out that I’ve been doing it wrong for the past ten years, but I don’t feel attacked, just well-informed. For example, graphic EQs are really no good for system optimization because of their fixed bands, but I’ve used them for years because they were…available (see interview below at 24m24s). Also, designing a stereo system is usually a futile effort because only a small triangle of the audience will hear in stereo, but I did that for years because that’s how recording studio systems are set up (see interview below at 28m54s).

.
sound-design-live-review-sound-systems-design-and-optimization-bob-mccarthy-rta

[quote name=”Bob McCarthy”]The real-time analyzer (RTA) has a number of applications in which it is the best tool for system optimization: zero.[/quote]

Speaking of doing it wrong…back when I was starting out in theatre at the National Theatre of Portugal, they had a rack-mounted 32-band RTA. No one really knew how to use it, but look at those pretty LEDs bounce up and down! Later I bought my own handheld RTA. Man, it was cool. No one had ever seen one. I felt like a god over sound. I could take measurements in different locations of the room, average them together, and set my graphic EQ by the numbers. Solved. Why did I think this was the best tool for system optimization? From the manual and marketing materials for the RTA of course! Another win for marketing over science.

Back to the book! The section summaries and best-practice recommendations in the newest edition are super helpful. McCarthy makes a point to be unbiased and very specific in his writing, which is a breath of fresh air after audio literature that is full of useless generalizations that pander to quick answers. With the first edition of Sound Systems I would sometimes finish an entire chapter having learned many details on a subject and still not know where to start. Imagine a whole book about making pancakes that focuses on the food chemistry of eggs and flour. In contrast, the second edition of McCarthy’s book includes some recipes at the end to get you started.

Pro Tip three: Take notes! This book contains a wealth of knowledge. As you read it, you will find specific pieces of information that pertain to your work. Write those down. I refer back to mine often, except I lost it in a move a few years ago. I’m going digital this time!

One of the reasons that this book is so long is that McCarthy is genuinely trying to prepare us for any situation we might possibly encounter. I mean, it’s 106 pages before “We are now ready to apply our study of summation and the acoustic crossover to the practical construction of speaker arrays.” It does not provide solutions for specific scenarios; instead you’ll have “a road map with milestones of what we should expect to find, and where.” This is one of the rare occasions in life when stereotypes are good. Without them, the possibilities for design and optimization would be endless and nauseating. Armed with a set of geometrical tools, we can look at a design or a space and begin to narrow down our possible outcomes. No matter how complex the speaker array, it is still built on the basic foundations of physics.

I never thought that I was a geometry lover, but my favorite parts of this book are the sections on speaker coverage. No one speaker is a perfect fit for a room, so there is always opportunity for system design. Looking for help finding speaker coverage in a room? Check out my article Finding Speaker Coverage In One Step.

This is a challenging read, but completely worth the effort. McCarthy eases you into difficult physics concepts with great care and humor. Before you know it, you’re swimming in the deepest waters of professional sound system design.

Really, though, you don’t have to read this book to get great sound. You could just hire me to do it for you. 😉

BOOK REVIEW: Mediterranean Diet Cookbook For Dummies

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-mediterranean-diet-cookbook-dummies-thumbnail

sound-design-live-mediterranean-diet-cookbook-dummies-bookI follow Wendy Jo Peterson on Twitter (@FuelinRoadie) because she is the the only nutritionist I’ve come across who works specifically with musicians and live event crew. As part of my series on food and drink at work, I decided to review her book, Mediterranean Diet Cookbook For Dummies. The few things I know about cooking I picked up from friends and family, and this is the first cookbook that I’ve owned and used. It’s easy to read; each recipe is simple and straightforward, requiring only a few steps. Let’s jump right into some of Wendy’s best meals to take to work:

 

Best Recipes To Take To Work

Frittata

I love meals that last for days, and this is definitely one of them. If you’ve never made one, they are super simple. Basically, you just sauteé whatever veggies you like and throw a bunch of eggs on top. I like to make a big one for the week and heat up a slice in the morning. You may or may not enjoy this cold, so it’s best to make it when you have a microwave at work.

The first recipe I made from the cookbook was the Goat Cheese Fritatta, which was great, but I had to double the salt, pepper, and garlic to suit my tastebuds. This makes me think that the seasonings in these Mediterranean recipes might be toned down to please bland American palates.

Salad

Salads are great to take to work, but they wilt and taste like crap when they are hot, so if you are going to be outside take an ice pack with you. In the last post I mentioned Wendy’s salad in a jar, which is a great way to prepare salads ahead of time and keep them fresh. Don’t forget to include nuts and beans for added protein. And fruit salads! There is a recipe for Pomegranate Salad in the book that looks great.

If you want to turn your salad into a more substantial meal, add salmon or tuna (or tofu for vegetarians). If you want to please your stomach with more carbs, add pasta.

sound-design-live-mediterranean-diet-cookbook-dummies-polenta

Couscous and Polenta

Couscous and polenta keep well in the fridge for days. I included a great couscous recipe in my last post, Eat Healthy On Tour. Polenta will congeal when not kept warm, so you can just cut off a slice and pop it in the toaster. Peterson includes a recipe for Polenta with Prosciutto and Parmesan, but I like to use mushrooms and onion instead of prosciutto.

Beans

The cookbook includes several recipes with beans that would both taste good cold and be fine to carry around, including Black Beans with Tomatoes and Feta. The secret ingredient for most of these recipes is feta cheese. Yum.

Wendy suggests eating protein-rich food together with a bit of fat to slow digestion at meals. As you can see, all of the above recipes can be modified to have more or less protein and fat. The other recipe from this cookbook that I tried out myself was Grilled Scallops. Scallops are great! They are a little expensive and might be hard to find fresh in your town, but they are super easy to prepare on a grill or in a pan and make for a very impressive meal.

The Mediterranean Lifestyle

Research has shown that people who live in these areas have less heart disease and better longevity.

This book is more than a cookbook; it also includes a nice survey on the Mediterranean lifestyle and its health benefits. This is important because heart disease is the number one cause of death in the US. There is a great story in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers about Roseto, a US town that in the 1950s was heavily populated by Italian immigrants and had an incredibly low rate of heart disease compared with the rest of the country. After researchers exhausted all other hypotheses about diet, exercise, and location, they discovered that it was the community itself that made people more healthy. You can read the entire story here. Along with nutrition, Peterson’s cookbook covers some of these intangible qualities of work-life balance in her attempt to describe the Mediterranean lifestyle.

[quote name=”Wendy Jo Peterson” align=”left” picture=”https://www.sounddesignlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/food-drink-at-work-for-sound-engineers-wendy-jo-peterson-headshot.jpg”]Mediterranean diet is a way of life – one where you eat lots of fresh food and slow down.[/quote]

I experienced a version of Mediterranean diet while I lived in Portugal 2003-2008. While Wendy recommends eating seafood and drinking wine a couple of times a week, I’m thinking, people in Lisbon do this for every lunch and dinner! Woohoo! That’s because you can eat a complete fish lunch for the same price as buying the fish yourself. And you can get a bottle of great local wine for $4. Portugal doesn’t have a siesta after lunch like Spain, but you usually get an hour off for lunch and having alcohol with your meal isn’t taboo. (Speaking of taboo, did you know that Portugal decriminalized all drugs ten years ago? Apparently they’ve reduced national drug addiction by half. Read about it here.)

Mediterranean Diet Cookbook also has good information on incorporating more plant-based foods into your diet. This is important to me because I eat mostly vegetarian, but also because I recently watched the documentary Knives Over Forks. If you haven’t seen it, it basically blames meat and dairy for cancer. Polarizing much?

Conclusion

When I started reading this book, I thought: “I’m going to find some fast easy recipes for busy sound engineers.” In the end I found a lot more value in the recommendations for relaxation and stress reduction. There is much more to the Mediterranean lifestyle than just olives and wine. It’s gathering for food with our friends, family, and community that really reenforces our human connections and emotional balance.

Do you have a Mediterranean style life-hack?

For more about how to recover from a long work day, the best snacks for instant energy, and nutrient-rich meals for the road, listen to my entire interview with Wendy Jo Peterson.

The Best Search Engines For Sound Engineer Jobs

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-job-search-enginesIn the last post I showed you how to automate your job search. Unfortunately, the best search engines for sound engineer jobs do not allow this; either they are behind paid gateways or they don’t play well with RSS. Let’s take a closer look at those sites now.

I’ve been on the job hunt for over ten years – one of the perks of being an independent contractor who moves a lot. I’ve only ever landed two jobs from search engines, but they were a great national tour and a super fun play. So even though search engines only got me two gigs, but I still use them, for three reasons: 1) the chance that something will come up that I really want; 2) to make contacts; and 3) to share jobs with people like you! (Speaking of which, you should probably follow me on twitter.) I might not get hired for a particular job, but each post can be a great opening to meet the people producers and managers who will no doubt be hiring again in the future.

Artsearch

sound-design-live-tcg_artsearch

Paid ($40 for six months, $60 for a year)

Pros: All of the listings are real jobs in theatre; no internships or bar gigs. It seems to be well curated. Right now I see eight audio-related jobs listed across the U: six full-time, one part-time, and one seasonal. This site is how I landed a national theatrical tour.

Cons: Most listings are for the eastern half of the US & Canada, so the rest of us should be prepared to travel.

(While I don’t suggest abusing their excellent service, a birdie just told me that if you Google “artsearch login,” you might be able to get in for free. Seems like lots of schools and groups share their login info locally, possibly not realizing that it is public. Whoops!)

Off Stage Jobs

sound-design-live-offstagejobs

Free

Pros: This site is run by a lighting designer, Patrick Hudson, so it’s just for people like us. Mostly theatre, but there are some concert jobs as well.

Cons: The site has one major problem: I can never stay logged in! Every time I submit a query, I get logged out. I have been back and forth with Hudson on this, and we can’t figure it out.  Hopefully you won’t have the same problem. If you do, you can can still search the job listings, but you’ll have to log in again to see the contact info.

Local Listings

Depends

There are other national job databases, but most are not very good for finding sound engineer jobs. Your next best bet is your local theatre arts community website. In the bay area you can pay $70 to become a member of Theatre Bay Area and search their listings for a year. This is how I got my first sound design gig in San Francisco with Boxcar Theatre.

In Austin I used Austin Actors. Look under Cast and Crew Calls.

Have more local sites to share? Comment below!

Other

Depends

You might also try Music Jobs ($10/month) for concert, PLASA  and InfoComm for AV install, USITT for theatre, AACT for community theatre, Blue Room for backstage jobs in the UK, Playbill for theatre in NYC, and Cirque du Soleil. I’ve applied for jobs through several of these sites without much luck. Let me know how it goes for you.

I also recently heard about Jooble, which appears to have quite a few listings.

To Sum Up

  • Artsearch and Off Stage Jobs are your best bets for concert and theatre jobs for sound engineers and sound designers.
  • Local listings in your city are the next best option. Often there are crew calls in the local theatre arts community sites.
  • There are lots of other industry and show specific sites that you should have on your radar, but they are hit and miss.

Condenser Microphone Review: Edwina

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-edwina-review-thumbnail

You probably know that hearing is highly susceptible to outside influence. If not, watch this Audio Myths Workshop, it’s amazing.  (The good stuff starts at 5:27, with Poppy Crum playing Led Zeppelin.)

It’s Sexy

The Edwina microphone sounds good, and its sound quality is augmented by its sex appeal. I brought this large diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone from Ear Trumpet Labs to review during a festival of mostly acoustic bands at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, and its brass body, stainless steel bolts, and swiveling head basket made it immediately popular. I even got to do some group miking as described in yesterday’s post.

sound-design-live-edwina-review

Compared to a Neumann KSM105, the Edwina sounds more crisp and light in the high end on stringed instruments, with a more detailed and less rounded low end. This was useful for mixing a giant instrument like a piano in with an entire band. It was also helpful when distance miking groups, because the summing room reflections were less obvious.

I love the construction, which looks great and feels sturdy. It does have exposed cabling, but I’m not sure when that would be in danger. There are two things I think can be improved:

  1. It is not immediately obvious which side of the capsule is the front. It becomes clear on close inspection, but if you are in a hurry to record your podcast you might accidentally do the entire interview into the wrong side of the microphone. But then, who would do that?… (cough)
  2. The head basket is not 100% stable when finger-tight. When I placed the microphone and tightened the head basket by hand, it occasionally slipped out of place. When I tightened it with my multi-tool, there was no slipping.

Listen to a Sample

My interview with Philip Graham includes a short recording with the Edwina, starting at 20:45. (Using the built-in preamps of the Soundcraft i4, if you’re interested.)

That’s me monkeying around on the piano. ☺

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