Amidst the chaos and pressure of live event production, who has time for a checklist? There's just no room for paperwork, damn it! Well, buckle up, because I'm about to convince you that checklists are not just for airline pilots and astronauts. They're the unsung heroes that can transform your shows from "Survived it" to "Nailed it!" The Day the Mics Went Silent Do you like scary stories? A project manager recently called me, equal parts grateful and exasperated. He thanked me for … [Read more...]
How to Buy and Sell Used Gear
Sound Design Live · How to Buy and Sell Used Gear Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play or Stitcher. Support Sound Design Live on Patreon. In this episode of Sound Design Live I'm joined by the Chief Gearguru at Gearsupply, Mendel Rosenberg. We discuss how to get the best deals on used production hardware without getting scammed or violating tax laws. Transcript This transcript was automatically generated. Please let me know if you discover any … [Read more...]
Adventures in Alignment 3: Rapid Response
Last week was my second time doing sound for president Biden and my second time for vice-president Harris. The first for Biden was last year at a missile facility and the first for Harris was three years ago at a campaign rally in McAllen, TX. There was an interesting alignment challenge that came up during the event, but first just a couple of notes about the circumstances: I'm still surprised how a seemly simple system with a single VIP input and a few outputs can feel intense. The … [Read more...]
Adventures in Alignment #1
The only good reason for uncoupled subs. While teaching Sub School I came across an interesting fact: The only time I split my subwoofers up to cover the left and right side of the audience is when the width is greater than the depth. The beginning of forward aspect ratio (FAR) is 1:1, a square. If your audience is a square then you need a 180º speaker, or in this case, a sub array. I find this is pretty common, which is one of the reasons that the gradient array is so useful. I only … [Read more...]
7 Point Sub Alignment Verification Checklist
Picture this: You've spent hours carefully setting up a show, only to end up fighting the mix all night because of some annoying thing you forgot to check. Sound familiar? A year ago I worked on a very dynamic show with quiet talkers punctuated by a loud rock band. I did all of my normal sound system calibration procedures, but forgot one important detail. I never drove the system close to maximum show level. The show began. Kids started screaming and rushing the stage. I had plenty of … [Read more...]