Dave Rat Porta-Blog RRHOF

I came into this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction adventure lumping the event in with award shows like the Grammy's and Academy Awards. You know that reality TV mentality that survives off of pitting artists and actors against each other in events that they never intended on competing?

The hypocrisy of award shows where popularity versus talent clash as and if too much attention to obscure talent is paid, the audience shrinks and if too much of the pre contrived bias toward following profits shows through, credibility dwindles.

And as walk through the RRHOF museum I realize I was wrong, this is really cool, standing at a display between the Clash, Blondie, Fear, Black Flag, Mudhoney, Soundgarden and more, I found my era, at least the forming of adventures that brought me here and it sure felt good to stand there.

Shhh, I found after that I was not supposed to take pics, but hey, if iwe followed all the rules, rock and roll would never have existed to have a hall of fame for me to the break the rules.

Dave Rat Blog Friday April 13 RRHOF

Oh, I so hate working TV gigs. Being a sound guy at a televised concert is like being a fine chef working at McDonalds, it is all about pleasing the masses and the importance of my gig in the bigger picture is somewhere between annoying and meaningless.

The deal is that the attendees are such a small fraction of the people that will see/hear the concert via TV and other recorded mediums that as long as what I do is less than catastrophic, the internal venue sound is crazy low on the list.  That said, Gary Lanvy is heading up production and way on his game and a pleasure to work with. It is great to see Bryan Olsen and all the Firehouse guys and so in good company, a nice big dive into the clusterfuck hurry up and wait world of constant changes and piles of complexity.


Welcome to the Red Hot Chili Peppers getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! And personal tanti aside, it is cool to see such a great group of guys that worked so hard, so long get recognized.

Sort of cool to have production in the theater that is behind the stage, Mission Control!



Some gratuitous shots of Chad's kit fully mic'ed

Flea's rig with the custom super close to speaker beta98 setup

And so goinf to miss all the Santigold band and crew.  You all are awesome and see ya at Coachella next week!

**** Sound Tip ****

I pull the fader knobs off of 250HZ and 2.5K on the graphic EQ's I use to EQ the main system. I then tape them to the back of the unit so they don't get lost.  

The missing fader knobs allow me to feel where 250 and 2.5K are so I can EQ without actually looking at the EQ. It is faily easy to count my way to any other frequency very quickly as the frequency doubles every three faders. Three faders down from 2.5K is 1.25K and so on.  This allows me to be able to find frequencies quickly in the dark and also EQ the system while standing and listening without having to keep moving my head, losing my sonic reference point. 

Dave Rat

CD's, albums and MP3's are an attempt to capture a sound, a feel and a state of mind then presenting it using the technology that was prevalent at the time. Mono, then stereo and now surround sound but nowhere in the creation of the actual music do multiple instruments radiate from solitary sound sources. In the real world each instrument occupies a unique place in the physical space that surrounds us. We now have the technology to offer recordings that more distinctly mirror the actual spacial context of the original source.

The mindset of the recording industry and delivery system is entrenched in limiting the end user. Limiting the control over the mix and over dynamic range to plop prepackaged music into our laps, which is fine for those that desire it.

In live audio we do not face those limitations, we do not have to play by those same rules. Nothing says we have to pass through the stereo paradigm as we strive to amplify and connect the essence of the artist offering it to those that wish to immerse themselves in the experience.

So seminar world continues and the unexpected complexities of this adventure are awesome

Thank you Carl for hosting at the Raleigh Theater, the largest venue I have ever "played" to a sold out audience of  a couple 6 packs.

 

Greensboro crew, so sorry I spaced a photo in Charlotte

And thank you Kim, I really could not do these without you.  The seemingly simple task of getting a dozen audio humans together is was miles beyond what i expected.  Kim is out here on tour with me arranging rooms and taking care of logistics. Also thank you Daniella, Danalle, Jessica and Cassi back at Rat as well. I really appreciate all the work you all are doing to make these seminars happen.

And back to the rock show, say hey to Kelo, sound eng for Santi Gold and beyond cool with great mixes.

Tomorrow is our our last Santi Gold show and I must say that one of the highlights of each day is Iku, Ian and Ray coming to hang at FOH during peppers set, gonna miss you guys.

Yay Santi Gold!

Ahh and back to the other reality of a Cracker Barrel bus stop awaiting hotel rooms

Seth and Monkey

And what better time to get the tools out, completely disassemble my camera and fix the flash from dropping it a few days ago

 

And for the best spirally adventure award, I go swimming in the morning, and lose one ear plug.  Of course I swim with my only set of molded ear protectors. An vanishing between m the pool and my room is my right ear plug.  The Proximity Hotel staff was awesome, they even brought in someone to search the elevator shaft and scouring every inch between no success.

Ha, and only hear a radio call at the gig the next day.  Yep, of course none other than Narci, our production manager found an ear plug in the elevator.  Aaargh, happy, and thank you!!