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The Poor Man’s Galileo

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-poor-mans-galileo

How much does a Meyer Sound Galileo cost? $10,000. How much does my Poor Man’s Galileo cost? $500 (assuming you already have a computer and audio interface).

Boom.

This happens to me a lot: I’m called to work on a small event that has just enough equipment to justify using some output processing for the speakers, but it’s not in the budget. That’s when I break out my Poor Man’s Galileo setup.

The Meyer Sound Galileo is a rack-mount loudspeaker management system with EQ, dynamics, delay, matrixing, and level setting. I wish I could have one at every event. Instead, I bring my Mac Book Pro with my RME Fireface 800 to run Software Audio Console with some free VST plugins. I use a ReaXcomp multi-band compressor on the inputs and ReaEQ and Dual Linkwitz-Riley Filters on the outputs.

This is the same setup I’ve been using for the last few years and on tour. If you know any better plugins, let me know in the comments below!

Thanks to Chris Barrineau for the iPhone filming!

How To Find Speaker Coverage In One Step

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-speaker-coverage-calculator-featured

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If the embedded calculator above is not working, you should still be able to load it at this link.

In sound system design, step one is to define speaker coverage. Lucky for you, Daniel Lundberg and I have created a great new speaker coverage calculator that makes this initial step quick and easy. The calculator will give you a consistent coverage result for any scenario, but unfortunately it’s not very smart. It doesn’t know about walls and other speakers, so it works best for single-speaker applications like balconies, side fills, and smaller venues.

Consistent coverage means that SPL will not vary more than 6dB. So if the highest measured level in the audience is 100dB SPL, then no part of the audience may be lower than 94dB SPL. This calculator is designed to give you the least amount of level variation across the listening area, but there are many more variables at play here. With that in mind, let’s proceed.

Step 1 And Done

Put your measurements into the Speaker Coverage Calculator above. That’s it! Listen to my conversation with Lundberg for a more details on how it works.

Example 1 – Balcony

Let’s take the room from How To Tune A Sound System In 15 Minutes, add a balcony, and raise the ceiling. I used visual aids to show a four-foot seated audience height covered by four speakers: Main, Balcony, Sidefill, and Under Balcony. Download my MAPP Online Pro project to follow along.

sound-design-live-speaker-coverage-calculator-example1

Put your measurements into the speaker coverage calculator above. It recommends a nominal vertical coverage of 51° and a UPQ-1P aimed 25.3° above the front. You can manually work out the angle in MAPP, or use the speaker coverage calculator. Input the angle of your architectural guide (the one showing distance to front) and the calculator will tell you exactly what to put into the Rotation About CDRM box in MAPP. I put in a 139° front angle and got -15.7° for the speaker aiming angle.

sound-design-live-speaker-coverage-calculator-example-balcony1

Here’s a prediction at 8kHz. Did we meet our criteria for consistent coverage? Just looking at the graph I would say there’s no more than a 3dB difference from on-axis to off-axis, and consulting the virtual SIM I see there is no difference in average SPL and only about a 4dB difference in the high end. Great success!

sound-design-live-speaker-coverage-calculator-example-balcony

Example 2 – Side Fill

sound-design-live-speaker-coverage-calculator-example-side-fill1

The speaker coverage calculator recommends a UPA-1P aimed 21.2° above the front. Virtual SIM tells me that there is about a 8dB difference from on-axis to off-axis. This doesn’t meet our requirements, but I found that if I aim it lower I can can get more even coverage and meet the crossover point with the main speaker.

sound-design-live-speaker-coverage-calculator-example-side-fill

Example 3 – Under Balcony

sound-design-live-speaker-coverage-calculator-example-under-balcony1

With limited height, it’s going to be hard to cover this listening area with one speaker. The speaker coverage calculator recommends subdivision, but it also keeps recommending a giant JM-1P (see prediction below).  Now I know how Dr. Frankenstein feels: I asked for consistent coverage and I got it, but I also got a mob of angry townspeople. I tried a UPM-2P here aimed at the last row and that worked a lot better.

sound-design-live-speaker-coverage-calculator-example-under-balcony

Example 4 – Small Venue

Let’s take a look at Ashkenaz, one of the first music venues I worked at when I moved to Berkeley. When I first put the triangle lengths into my speaker coverage calculator (9.5′, 28.5′, 25′), it gives me some crazy results and recommends that I subdivide the array. Let’s assume that I use a down fill to cover the first ten feet of the audience. With new results, I try a UPQ-1P and see that it provides even coverage. I also observe that aiming it further down will get me less consistent coverage, but will let me send more of those expensive decibels into the audience, providing more bang for the buck.

sound-design-live-speaker-coverage-calculator-example-ashkenaz

To Subdivide or Not To Subdivide

How do we determine when we need to subdivide our coverage into more than one segment? Here’s a nice rule of thumb that I learned from Bob McCarthy’s seminar: measuring from the speaker, take the ratio of the distance from the first row to the last and subtract one. So in our example the first row is 9.4ft from the speaker array and the last row is 28.5ft from the same array. That’s a ratio of 1:3. 3 – 1 = 2. So a two-segment array would probably work better for this coverage area. How many speakers in each segment? That’s up to you and your budget.  For a much better explanation of this topic, read McCarthy’s article, Array Or Not To Array.

Finding Speaker Coverage When Front And Back Are Equal

The horizontal coverage plane of a sound system often looks like an isosceles triangle (two equal sides and angles) and the loudspeaker nominal coverage can be found with basic trigonometry. Remember soh cah toa from trigonometry? No?! Me neither. Lets watch this video! To find speaker coverage angles in the field, find the lengths of the triangle for the area you are trying to cover and solve for the inside angles. There are also plenty of free triangle solvers online and iPhone apps.

Please test this out the speaker coverage calculator and send me your results! If you have suggestions for a better calculator, let me know in the comments below. After I get some more comments and suggestions I’ll publish a second version and Daniel and I will do another podcast with a better explanation and more case studies.

Sound System Design And Optimization with Bob McCarthy

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-sound-system-design-optimization-bob-mccarthy-MAPP

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In this episode of Sound Design Live I speak with Bob McCarthy, author of Sound System Design & Optimization and Director of System Optimization at Meyer Sound. We talk about variable acoustic architecture, why we must optimize before we mix, and how to prioritize our system check list. We also discuss why graphic EQs are useless, common misconceptions about stereo, the pitfalls of L/R stacked subs, why sound is so difficult to teach, tips for finding on-axis points and relative splay angles between speakers, wireless microphones for measurement, hardware and software measurement systems, and how to get what you want without humiliating the client. Hold on to your hats and bring a snack, we have a lot of ground to cover.

sound-design-live-bob-mccarthy-headshotSystem optimization is dedicated to a very simple scientific concept: Not to make it sound good, but to make it sound the same. We are a waveform delivery service.

sound-design-live-sound-system-design-optimization-bob-mccarthy-melodieDetails from the podcast:

  1. All music in this episode by Gala Drop
  2. Bob’s website and his seminars at Meyer Sound
  3. Bob’s forward to my eBook, Sound Design Live
  4. Jazz At Lincoln Center, The Alan Room, Julliard
  5. Constellation Electroacoustic Architecture
  6. The musical Wicked, with sound design by Tony Meola assisted by Kai Harada
  7. AES 50th conference on education: There is currently no audio or video of the conference to share, but I did get some a nice photo and Bob’s presentation slides. See below.
    1. Why is sound so difficult?
      1. It’s invisible.
      2. It’s almost inaudible. [You can only experience it at the location you are right now, unlike light which can be seen at many different locations at once.]
      3. We experience it logarithmically, but talk about it linearly. You cannot ignore the science or the art.
  8. Sound system check list:
    1. Basic signal flow: Correct sound out of the correct speakers. Is the cabinet wired right? Are all drivers functioning?
    2. Speaker position: Aim, relative splay, relative spacing. Is it pointed at the right place? Is it splayed correctly compared to its neighbor? Is anything obstructing the sound?
  9. Measurement systems: SIM, Smaart, SATLive
  10. Sound & Video Contractor magazine
  11. Quotes:
    1. “The reason you can’t just go to your artistic place & start mixing is that your canvas might have a giant rip in it.”
    2. “If you want to get your artistic message delivered, you have to go through the science to get there.”
    3. “Never humiliate a client.”

sound-design-live-sound-system-design-optimization-bob-mccarthy-aes-education-conference

Photo by Kelly Ford and used with permission courtesy of the AES 50th International Conference.

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Show Networks and Control Systems

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-john-huntington-show-networks-control-systems

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In this episode of Sound Design Live I talk with author and professor John Huntington about his new book on show control systems, who is responsible for audio quality at live events, and practical weather guidelines. We also discuss setting up computers to be show reliable, whether or not you should go to college, and how to do an ABX blind test so you don’t over-spend on pricy hardware.

[quote picture=”https://sounddesignlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/sound-design-live-john-huntington-thumbnail.png” name=”John Huntington” align=”left”]The record industry collapse has been fantastic for the live sound business. You have to tour now to make money.[/quote]

“You don’t have to go to school, but you do need to educate yourself one way or another.”

sound-design-live-john-huntington-show-networks-control-systemsDetails from the podcast:

  1. All music in this podcast by Zé Dos Frangos except at 1:09:50 by Animal Collective
  2. John’s Book: Show Networks and Control Systems
  3. John’s Blog: Rethinking Entertainment Technology Education, Concert Goers Bill Of Rights,  Stuxnet Worm Targets Siemens Industrial Control Systems, The Weather Is Not Boring, Indiana State Fair, Weather Resources For Show Crews, ABX Test Star Quad Cable, Cisco CCNA Bootcamp
  4. Acronyms:
    1. ACN – Architecture for Control Networks
    2. LDI – Live Design International
    3. USITT – United States Institute for Theatre Technology
  5. Sound System Engineers: Jamie Anderson, Bob McCarthy
  6. Designers: Bran Ferren, Marcus Stern, Steve Terry, George Kindler, David Smith,
  7. Software/Hardware: Wireshark, Starquad cable, Dan Dugan and the Dugan Mixer
  8. School: Ithaca, Yale, City Tech
  9. Press: Live Design, Lighting & Sound America, Theatre Sound List, Show Control List
  10. The Amazing Meeting with James Randi
  11. National Weather Service
  12. Definitions:
    1. Thunderstorm Watch: Conditions are right for severe storm development.
    2. Thunderstorm Warning: Storm has been sighted.
    3. Outflow Boundary: A storm-scale boundary separating thunderstorm-cooled air (outflow) from the surrounding air.

john-huntington-himalaya

From Highschool Dropout To Head Of Audio

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-steve-brown-royal-exchange-theatre

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In this episode of Sound Design Live I talk with sound designer and composer Steve Brown about the 2013 World Stage Design and how he went from high-school drop out to head of audio at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. We discuss the best exhibitions to show your sound design work, new software for live performance, and why your show should rely less on automation and more on skilled operators.

sound-design-live-steve-brownI’ve made every mistake a sound engineer, a sound technician, a sound designer can ever make, but I think the important thing is that I only made them once.

A good operator is as much a part of a performance as a good actor.

sound-design-live-steve-brown-royal-exchange-theatre-inside

  1. All transitional audio elements in this podcast by Steve Brown
    1. Helsinki Barrel Organ
    2. The Comedy of Errors – Opening Cue and Underscore
    3. Lost at Sea – commissioned by Dody Nash – The Listening Shell at the V&A Museum, London
    4.  T1 T2 T3  – commissioned by Jen Hingley – Synaesthesia exhibit, Manchester
  2. Steve’s sites: Homepage, Twitter, Scoop, SoundCloud, Podbean, LinkedIn
  3. Steve follows: Martyn Ware, Scanner, Des Coulum
  4. Theatre:  Royal Exchange, The Boy Friend, Royal Shakespeare Company,
  5. Hardware: UPM-1, MSL-2, UPA-1, USW, Control-1, Akai S6000 Sampler, Korg Kaoss Pad,
  6. Software: AudioMulch, MaxMSP, Pure Data, Waves Pluginssound-design-live-steve-brown-royal-exchange-theatre-layout
  7. Groups: International Organization of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians, World Stage Design, United State Institute For Theatre Technology, Prague Quadrennial
  8. Designers: Dinesh Yadav, Daniel Belton, Bassam Yaqout, A K Azad, Vinnie Olivieri, Brad Berridge, Joe Young, Nick Hunt, Rachel Nicholson, David Budries, Olivera Gracanin, Adrian Curtin
  9. Sound Libraries: Sound Dogs, Sound Snap, Aporee
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