Saturday, August 13, 2011

Porta-Blog #2




107 degrees in the audience?  Yikes!


Last night was not perfect but if the first full sized show was perfect, my standards would be way too low.

It came up clear, strong and everything there from the get go. Am so excited today to have the console already set up, this whole "start from scratch everyday" gets old fast.

So I am quickly developing a mix strategy and sonic feel for this tour that I will shoot to lock in asap and hold onto.
I have been putting a lot of thought into it and as always for me, my goals are to present what the artists create in the most inspiring and connected way possible.

I have been asked whether I will do the doublehung PA again and at least for now I will not be using a dual rig as a baseline system. With the new L-Acoustics K1 system's added clarity and volume I can get very close to many things I was able to achieve sonically with the double hung V-dosc rig in a much less cumbersome package. Also, since single hung K1 significantly sonically exceeds all other systems I have mixed on, double-hung K1 at this point would be overkill.

On Soundgarden and Blink 182 tours, I really made some solid strides in subwoofer setups like the Vortex/Orgasmatron and more recently the Subfan. I even have a new sub processing technology I developed that works really well. I will cover a lot of that in future posts and if you want to read about any of that stuff, you can poke around searches of my old blog at www.ratsound.com/cblog

With the main PA and subs all dialed in I am going to redirect my focus on this tour to the console and control side of things. While resolviing the path to follow, I wrote an article for prosoundweb.com that covers the fundamentals

http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/mixing_beyond_stereo_delving_deeper_into_aspects_of_sound_perception/

Working on the "stereo-ness" of the mix is especially exciting with addition of Mauro playing percussion.

Well alright, nearly done with the bullet train ride to Tokyo and another cooking hot day to setup for real gig #2 tonight.

And hey1 Say hey to ML Procise!





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7 comments:

  1. Hi ML Procise! Interesting commentary on using new set up - fun to learn new stuff!Sounds like you are figuring your way no matter the bumps and challenges.Do not envy the idea of starting that show from scratch every day so glad you have your console set up. As always, thanks for the education. By the time the Peppers come to the Bay area you will have this sorted well ;)

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  3. I'm looking forward to these posts, Dave. It will be interesting to see how you overcome the less than ideal conditions you are faced with in these early stages of the tour. I hope you document your thoughts thoroughly.

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  4. I've been to a few shows that appeared to have a true stereo mix. For example, a band with two guitars and it was painfully obvious that I was only hearing the guitarist on my 'side' of the venue. Was that just a bad job by FOH or should I start making sure I score tickets in the center of the venue? I wasn't able to see any of your Soundgarden shows but would I have been able to hear Kim and Chris (somewhat equally) regardless of my seat location?

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  5. Hey Joe,

    Maybe give a read to the article I put a link to in the post above. That should answer your question.

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  6. interesting article.
    and happy to read you again, dave.

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  7. Don't pout (even though it's adorable) you can use your cell phone soon! Who needs a sauna when you've got a Rock show to mix in 100+ temps? In cases like this, drink water, not wine. ;-)

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