-=> Quoting Timothy Trace to Bonnie Goodwin <=-
 -> ...but excellent sound takes that extra effort, experience,
 -> engineering and tweaking USING TEST EQUIPMENT EXTENSIVELY.
 
 TT> If an engineer/operator/whatever is holding up the entire production
 TT> crew and union call whilst tweaking a system at 105db, then you've got
 TT> major problems on your hands with the promoter. There comes a time
 TT> during setup when you've got to call it quits.  The lighting crew
 TT> can't focus their 600+ cans while pink noise (or worse, a Yanni CD) is
 TT> blasting out from the mains, 
 
If the lighting crew doesn't have proper communication systems, they  
shouldn't be involved in a major production to start with. 
Yanni! OUCH!  
 
 TT> the ushers and decorators can't hear themselves think while they 
 TT> prepare the venue, the video people can't communicate effectively 
 TT> while tweeking their ten Barcos, etc. etc. etc. 
Yeah, those ushers and decorators are rarely prepared for the job
technically speaking, but the video crew should be concerned with the
quality of the audio feed as much as the visual aspect of the job.
 TT> There's lots to be said for expediency.  "Close Gets It!" applies
 TT> heavily in the modern concert world, where folks have to realize that
 TT> there's lots more than _sound_ involved in a production.  The tickets
 TT> aren't being sold to folks coming to "hear" the band; those ticket
 TT> buyers are looking to "experience" the band.  
 
That is the truth. I did some local crew work for Pink Floyd back when 
they did their "Mommentary Lapse Of Reason" tour, and I was amazed that
they would go to such lengths to prepare the "experience", with all the
lighting/effects/props/lasers/smoke, etc, yet still be using MSI 
cabinets to get the sound out to the audience. The shows were 
spectacular, but it didn't sound good. They were so concerned about the
effects, gimmicks, and the overall SPL, that they just brought tons of 
cabinets, placed them everywhere, checked them, and let it go at that.
The sound was, to put it mildly, the weak point of the tour.
 
 TT> I guarantee you that
 TT> absolutely _no_ major concert artist would perform with a half-setup
 TT> sound system - but I also guarantee you that doors would be held for
 TT> a half-setup light rig as well.  Same goes for video.
This is true.
 TT> And that's where the plug-n-play systems come into the picture.  Speed
 TT> is everything, and if the system can be made mostly pure in a
 TT> half-hour, without compromising more than 2% of the seats, well, then,
 TT> that's good enough for the evening, thank you very much.  And don't be
 TT> too concerned about every last single member of the audience - you
 TT> can't please all of the people all of the time, but you _can_ please
 TT> most of the people most of the time.
I always end up in the sweet spot, and I am often less than satisfied
with the sound of a show (that resonance up in the balcony, or the back
wall needs more damping). I seldom have the time I would like to align
the system to my satisfaction, and I am not in that 2% of the seats that
aren't getting good coverage. 1/2 an hour is never enough time to align
a system the way I like to do it. Often after 1 to 3 hours I am satisfied
with the rough alignment, but then the venue fills up, and the system 
needs to compensate for the added absorbtion, changing humidity and 
temperature, and so on. Plug-n-play is a nice idea, and we are getting 
closer to that all the time, but even a SIM system takes manual tweaking.
Damn..there I go..talking about the one thing that I really want, but 
can't afford yet! 
 TT> The 2% rule is applied _heavily_ in the midwest, where Contemporary
 TT> Group, one of the nation's largest concert promoters, came up with
 TT> that theory. The reasoning is simple: of your audience, less than 2%
 TT> of them should have a major problem with any aspect of the production.
 TT> And in a worst case scenario at a shed, 2% of 25,000 is 500 people.
If 500 people are not satisfied, I am not satisfied, and have failed
to do my job properly. The exception would be those venues that are
just plain impossible to cover properly; especially the ones that have
seating installed so high that the air is thin.  Take care.
... 64,999,999 legal gun owners killed no one yesterday.
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30
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