Dave Rat Blog - Aaargh, intermittant belt packs!

So we switched to a Shure PSM1000 system for Chili Peppers in-ears, which have been working really well. The diversity dual antenna packs helped overcome noise from the LED stage. The internal pack volume control helped get the pack volume knobs where the musicians want to have them. and the sound quality and stereo separation is the best I've heard on a multi frequency tunable pack.

So here we are over 6 months into using them and we are starting to see packs dropping out during the show. After some poking around, we found the intermittent packs were losing battery power.

After digging further, I have found that the cause is loose positive terminals in the belt packs. Sometimes they are very loose and easy to spot, other times it is nearly impossible to tell....

Except if you get a sharp object and try to spin the terminal, the packs that have terminals that spin are also the pack that are intermittent. The packs that are intermittent are also the packs have spinning terminals. So far out of 16 packs, we're are down 5 but bought 2 replacements, which leave us with 13 fully functional.

The issue appears to be that the positive terminals in the packs are most likely crimped and either needs a better crimp or to be soldered.

I have actually seen this issue before, way back when I worked at Mattel Toys. At one point either a vendor switch or change in manufacturing resulted in the 9 volt battery power connectors having the same issue: spinning terminals. The games would work for a while and then while the customer was playing, it would loose power and reset mid game. Then the customer would send them back and I would get t change the power connector.

So, super curious to see how this pans out. Wondering if we are alone with this experience and working on getting things dialed back in.
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Dave Rat - Sooo Slow

I love surprises, and I had the wonderful surprise of hearing the answer to the question I asked Thomas from Highlite Sound "so, how many L-Acoustic boxes do we have out here on this tour?"

 and the breakdown for the gear and placements for Gelsenkirchen are:

Main system Left/Right - 14 K1 + 4 Kara underhung per side

 Outer system L/R- 16 K1 + 6 Kara underhung per side

Outer outer L/R - 6 Kara per side

9 Kara Center cluster

Two Kara per side as deck fillson the lip of the stage

Three delay clusters each with 12 K1

Totaling a whopping and imprssive:

96 K1,  56 SB28 and 45 KARA

Now on to other curiosities....

So we are all set up in Gelsenkirchen at Veltins Arena and wandering about I notice the seats behind the stage are slid back, ooooh, lets go look!

So, the seats roll back on the these rails

Driven by electric motors

 and you can walk underneath

to find a huge grass field outside

 that is also on wheels and tracks and 

the entire gassy football (soccer) field splits in two and rolls outside to get some sunshine and move out of the way for rock shows and other events. So cool and I ask 

"How long does it take to roll the grass out?" 

"What? Fourteen hours? wow!" I'm surprised, "why so long?" so she says 

"Because it is very heavy" Ha! I guess that's pretty obvious and can you imagine having the gig of spending 14 hours watching the grass roll, heck I bet the grass is taller and needs to be mowed as well after moving.

OK, a soccer field is 100 meters or 330 feet. It takes 14 hours for the 2 halves to slide out and they travel maybe an extra 85 feet or so to clear the bleachers. 1/2x330+85=250feet in 14 hours. 17.85 feet per hour, 3.57 inches per minute or about 300 hours to travel a mile.

And how about a look in that little tent three photos up?Ahh, it's Adam's world! Our European pro tools live recorder guy.

 And a straggling pic from last tour leg, Public Image was surprisingly captivating to see

Some new cool graphics have been showing up in the peppers set

So lets give a shout out to Scott and Leif and may as well dig up an older photo of them looking 'cool' as always

Next stop, Prague and will blog an amazingly cool seminar adventure.

Dave Rat Blog - changes of plans

So, seminar Frankfurt is not going to happen and will be postponed to some future date yet to be figured. Instead I am heading over to do a sound check which of course is my first priority.

Peppers rarely sound check but starting up a new tour leg and with our new monitor engineer Bob Lewis on board, getting some quality check time is important. It's great to have Bob out as well as we miss Tim Engwall whom has graciously and amicably relinquished the position.

Well alright, off to give a listen to a bunch o sound gear in Gelsenkirchen. Oh, this the same place Peppers played for that Stock Car Race TV show last year.
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Dave Rat Blog - New journey

Town car off to Lax and a schedule to rival the punk tour days.

22 fly
23 arrive
24 seminar Frankfurt
25 Show Frankfurt
26 fly Prague, seminar Prague
27 show Prague
28 fly Zagreb, seminar Zagreb?
29 show Zagreb
30 fly Bucharset, seminar Bucharest
31 show Bucharest
1. show Sofia
2. off Sofia
3. fly Athens, seminar Athens
4. show Athens
5. fly Beirut, seminar Beirut
6. show Beirut
7. Fly Istambul, seminar Istambul
8. show istambul
9. Fly Tel Aviv, seminar Tel Aviv?
10 show Tel Aviv
11 fly home or stay and seminar Tel Aviv
12 fly home

Yay! A day off in three weeks or at least wishful thinking and Kim and I will end up self destructing. We will be traveling light, fast and nearly independant of the actual tour.

Sustain-ability test and how cool would it be to be able to go on tour as a sound engineer without the band?

Oh, and I will try try to blog the unraveling sanity I somehow feel we are heading towards.

Bye bye to Sammy and Madeline just melt my heart and at least I was in town for the first few days of their senior year.

Well alright, off to Frankfurt and hey, I included a reference pic of recommended minimum package labeling in case you ever need to ship something.
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Dave Rat Blog - New Toys

Well the home town LA and Oakland shows are done and all seemed to run well. Surreal to be surrounded by so many long time friends immersed in excitement. 

Some cool stuff happening with the SoundTools products and slowly but surely filling out the product line.

www.soundtools.com

The Switcher: A 3 in 1 out XLR switcher.  On Chili Peppers tour we use one, with Anthony's main vocal mic on channel A, a spare mic on channel B and a wireless mic on channel C.  Anthony can grab any of the three mics and our monitor engineer can switch to it instantly for both monitors and FOH.  The mic of choice just shows up in my main vocal channel. No more of that ClearCom calling and warning of a mic switch. Plus, all three mics show up in my already EQ'ed channel.  It is totally the best way to deal with mic switching

The Swapper: Same as the Mic Switcher but it is a 2 in 2 out unit that allows you to preview the spare mic before switching to it or test the mic on another board channel after switching from it.

Both units work with mic level or line level and can be used for a wide variety of other A/B and switching applications.  Plus the tubular housing fits in a mic clip.

1/4" Sniffer/Sender: Same as the XLR Rat Sniffer/Sender units except it is 1/4" TRS.  These 2 piece units allow the testing of 1/4" tip/sleeve and tip/ring/sleeve lines and you do not need to have both cable ends in the same location. Plus they can be used in conjunction with the XLR Sniffer/sender units

More products to come soon. 

In seminar world I took a break on the last run to regroup a bit with the exception of Tampere Finland which went really well. Thank you Pauli! So now, Kim and I are back on track with the most adventurous seminar schedule yet. We have moved the sessions to days off in the evening instead of show days to reduce the stress and potential overlap with gig issues.  If you are interested, shoot an email to seminar@ratsound.com and see you soon.

• 24th August-Seminar in Frankfurt
• 26th August-Seminar in Prague
• 30th August-Seminar in Bucharest
• 2nd September-Seminar in Sofia
• 3rd September-Seminar in Athens
• 5th September-Seminar in Beirut
• 7th September-Seminar in Istanbul
• 9th September-Seminar in Tel Aviv

Other cool and curious stuff:

There are few business-humans that I hold respect for but one is Jack Bogle.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/business/john-bogle-vanguards-founder-is-too-worried-to-rest.xml

Next up in curiosities is check this out

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679248/dutch-kids-pedal-their-own-bus-to-school

And who would have known there are such things as a Ligor and a Tiglon!

And finally for today,

9 great mechanical principles and inventions

Well alright.  Off to take the daughters to a soccer game and 2 days before I am off to Europe.

Dave Rat

Dave Rat Blog - Just a bit of travelling

Not going home between tour legs can really be disorienting. June 19th to Aug 5th left me seven weeks away and while by old school and most tour standards, that is just a short jaunt, for me personally I just feel like I have been batted around like a cat toy.

"Hey man, what have you been up to?"

"Ahh, not much, just mixing and travelling around a bit, ya know, well , lets see I went to do some SoundGarden dates and then went on to do some Chili Peppers gigs"

All I really did was go to.........

SoundGarden

28-Jun CREW FLIES TO TORONTO
29-Jun LOAD IN TORONTO
30-Jun FULL PRODUCTION REHEARSAL TORONTO
1-Jul FULL PRODUCTION REHEARSAL TORONTO
2-Jul SHOW- MOLSON AMP TORONTO
3-Jul SHOW- LABATT CENTRE LONDON
4-Jul OFF OTTAWA
5-Jul SHOW-LEBRETON FLATS PARK OTTAWA
6-Jul SHOW-UNCASVILLE, CT UNCASVILLE
7-Jul OFF NEWARK,NJ 
8-Jul SHOW- PRUDENTIAL CENTER NEWARK,NJ 
9-Jul SHOW-JONES BEACH LONG ISLAND, NY 
10-Jul SHOW-COMCAST CENTER MANSFIELD, MA 
11-Jul OFF FAIRFAX, VA 
12-Jul SHOW- PATRIOT CENTER FAIRFAX, VA 
13-Jul SHOW-PENNS LANDING PHILADELPHIA 
14-Jul SHOW-BORGATA ATLANTIC CITY 
15-Jul OFF CHICAGO
16-Jul SHOW-UIC PAVILION CHICAGO 
17-Jul OFF DENVER
18-Jul SHOW-REDROCKS MORRISON, CO 
19-Jul OFF LAKE TAHOE
20-Jul SHOW-HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE
21-Jul SHOW-BILL GRAHAM CIVIC SAN FRANCISCO
22-Jul SHOW-FORUM LA
23-Jul SHOW- THE JOINT LAS VEGAS
24-Jul OFF CALGARY AB
25-Jul OFF CALGARY AB
26-Jul OFF CALGARY AB
27-Jul SHOW-SADDLEDOME CALGARY AB
28-Jul OFF VANCOUVER,BC
29-Jul SHOW-ROGERS ARENA VANCOUVER,BC
30-Jul SHOW-THE GORGE SEATTLE, WA
31-Jul TRAVEL HOME SEATTLE, WA

And then Straight into Chili Peppers Tour with a show that night:

31-Jul Los Angles, CA- show


1-Aug Rehearsals in LA 
2-Aug Rehearsals in LA 
3-Aug Rehearsals in LA- Load out DC 
4-Aug Day Off
5-Aug depart for HK
6-Aug
7-Aug arrive Hong Kong
8-Aug
9-Aug CHINA, HONG KONG: ASIA ARENA
10-Aug Travel / Tokyo
11-Aug Day off 
12-Aug TV Show Tokyo
13-Aug JAPAN, OSAKA: SUMMER SONIC
14-Aug JAPAN, TOKYO: SUMMER SONIC
15-Aug Travel Home/ load in Forum
16-Aug Forum Rehearsals
17-Aug Forum Rehearsals
18-Aug Forum Rehearsals
19-Aug VH1 Story Tellers(TBC)
20-Aug Forum Rehearsals
21-Aug Forum Rehearsals
22-Aug Roxy   FUSE TV
23-Aug Forum Rehearsals
24-Aug Beniffit Nokia
25-Aug Flat bed truck perfromance
26-Aug Load out Forum
27-Aug Off
28-Aug Off
29-Aug Depart for EUROPE
30-Aug EURO PROMO
31-Aug EURO PROMO

September 2011


1-Sept EURO PROMO
2-Sept EURO PROMO
3-Sept EURO PROMO
4-Sept EURO PROMO
5-Sept EURO PROMO
6-Sept EURO PROMO
7-Sept EURO PROMO
9-Sept DEPART FOR COLOMBIA -17 DAYS / 7 SHOWS
10-Sept LOAD IN BOGOTA
11-Sept COLOMBIA, BOGOTA: PARQUE SIMON BOLIVAR
12-Sept COSTA RICA
13-Sept Travel to Peru
14-Sept PERU, LIMA: ESTADIO UNIVERSIDAD
15-SeptTravel to Santiago
16 CHILE, SANTIAGO: ESTADIO BICENTARIO LA FLORIDA
17Travel to Buenos Aires
18 ARGENTINA, BUENOS AIRES: Estadio Unico
19 Travel to Sao Paulo
20 LOAD IN SAO PAULO
21 BRAZIL, SAO PAULO
22 Travel to Rio
23 Load in Rio
24 BRAZIL, RIO DE JANEIRO: ROCK IN RIO
25 TRAVEL HOME
26 Off
27 Off
28 Off
29 Off
30 Off

OCTOBER

1 TRAVEL TO GERMANY
2 Arrive Germany
3 Setup
4 GERMANY COLOGNE REHEARSAL (PLUS PRODUCTION)
5 GERMANY COLOGNE REHEARSAL (PLUS PRODUCTION)
6 GERMANY COLOGNE REHEARSAL
7 GERMANY, COLOGNE: LANXEES
8 GERMANY, HAMBURG: 02
9 Travel to Sweden
10 Setup Sweden
11 SWEDEN, STOCKHOLM: ERICSSON
12 SWEDEN, STOCKHOLM: ERICSSON
13 Travel to Denmark
14 DENMARK,HERNING: BOXEN ARENA
15 Travel to Holland
16 HOLLAND, ROTTERDAM: AHOY
17 Travel to France
18 FRANCE, PARIS: BERCY
19 FRANCE, PARIS: BERCY
20 Travel to Frankfurt
21 GERMANY, FRANKFURT: FESTHALLE
22 FLY HOME
23 Off
24 Off
25 Off
26 Off
27 Off
28 Off
29 Off
30 Off
31 Halloween - Off

NOVEMBER

1 TRAVEL TO IRELAND
2 
3 Load in
4 EIRE, DUBLIN: 02
5 Travel
6 
7 UK, LONDON: 02
8 Travel
9 UK,LONDON: O2
10 UK, LONDON: 02
11 Travel
12 UK, GLASGOW: SECC HALL 4
13 Travel
14 UK, MANCHESTER: EVENING NEWS ARENA
15 UK, MANCHESTER: EVENING NEWS ARENA
16 Travel
17 UK, SHEFFIELD: MOTORPOINT ARENA
18 Travel
19 UK, BIRMINGHAM: LG ARENA
20 UK, BIRMINGHAM: LG ARENA
21 FLY HOME
22 Off
23 Off
24 Thanksgiving - Off
25 Off
26 Off
27 Off
28 Off
29 Off
30 Off

DECEMBER

1 Off
2 TRAVEL TO GERMANY
3 Travel
4 GERMANY, BERLIN: O2 WORLD
5 GERMANY, MUNICH: OLYMPIAHALLE
6 Travel
7 AUSTRIA, VIENNA: STADTHALLE
8 Travel
9
10 ITALY, TORINO: PALAOLIMPICO
11 ITALY, MILAN: FORUM
12 Travel
13 SWITZERLAND, ZURICH: HALLENSTADION
14 Travel
15 SPAIN, BARCELONA: PALAU SANT JORDI
16 Travel
17 SPAIN,MADRID: PALACIO DE DEPORTES
18 Travel
19 PORTUGAL, LISBON: ATLANTIC PAVILLION
20 FLY HOME
21 Off
22 Off
23 Off
24 Off
25 Christmas Day - Off
26 Off
27 Off
28 Off
29 Travel to St Barts
30 Setup
31 New Year's Eve - St Barts

2012

January - Off

February - Off

MARCH

1 DAY OFF

2 DAY OFF

3 DAY OFF

4 DAY OFF

5 DAY OFF

6 DAY OFF

7 DAY OFF

8 DAY OFF

9 DAY OFF

10 DAY OFF

11 DAY OFF

12 DAY OFF

13 DAY OFF

14 DAY OFF

15 DAY OFF

16 DAY OFF

17 DAY OFF

18 DAY OFF

19 DAY OFF

20 DAY OFF

21 DAY OFF

22 DAY OFF

23 DAY OFF

24 DAY OFF

25 DAY OFF

26 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

27 TAMPA, FL - ST. PETE TIMES FORUM (LOAD IN / REHEARSALS)

28 TAMPA, FL - ST. PETE TIMES FORUM (REHEARSALS)

29 TAMPA, FL - ST. PETE TIMES FORUM

30 DAY OFF

31 ORLANDO, FL - AMWAY ARENA

APRIL

1 DAY OFF

2 SUNRISE, FL - BANK ATLANTIC CENTER

3 DAY OFF

4 RALEIGH, NC - RBC CENTER

5 DAY OFF

6 CHARLOTTE, NC - TIME WARNER CABLE ARENA

7 COLUMBIA, SC - COLONIAL LIFE ARENA

8 DAY OFF

9 GREENSBORO, NC - COLISEUM

10 DULUTH, GA - ARENA AT GWINNETT CENTER

11 DAY OFF

12 MEMPHIS, TN - FEDEX FORUM

13 DAY OFF / PARTIAL CREW TRAVEL HOME

14 CLEVELAND, OH - RRHOF INDUCTION

15 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

16 DAY OFF

17 DAY OFF

18 DAY OFF

19 DAY OFF

20 DAY OFF

21 DAY OFF

22 DAY OFF

23 DAY OFF

24 DAY OFF

25 DAY OFF

26 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

27 TORONTO, ON - AIR CANADA CENTER

28 TORONTO, ON - AIR CANADA CENTER

29 DAY OFF

30 OTTAWA - SCOTIABANK PLACE

MAY

1 DAY OFF

2 MONTREAL - BELL CENTRE

3 DAY OFF

4 NEWARK, NJ - PRUDENTIAL CENTER

5 NEWARK, NJ - PRUDENTIAL CENTER

6 DAY OFF

7 BOSTON, MA - TD BANK GARDEN

8 DAY OFF

9 DAY OFF

10 WASHINGTON DC - VERIZON CENTER

11 PHILADELPHIA, PA - WELLS FARGO CENTER

12 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

13 DAY OFF

14 DAY OFF

15 DAY OFF

16 DAY OFF

17 DAY OFF

18 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

19 GULF SHORES, AL - HANGOUT FESTIVAL

20 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

21 DAY OFF

22 DAY OFF

23 DAY OFF

24 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

25 ST. LOUIS, MO - SCOTTRADE ARENA

26 GRAND RAPIDS, MI - VAN ANDEL ARENA

27 DAY OFF

28 ROSEMONT, IL - ALLSTATE ARENA

29 DAY OFF

30 PITTSBURGH, PA - CONSOL ENERGY CENTER

31 DAY OFF

JUNE

1 DETROIT, MI - JOE LOUIS ARENA

2 CLEVELAND, OH - QUICKEN LOANS ARENA

3 DAY OFF

4 COLUMBUS, OH - SCHOTTENSTEIN CENTER

5 DAY OFF

6 CINCINNATI, OH - US BANK ARENA

7 LOUISVILLE, KY - KFC YUM CENTER

8 DAY OFF

9 MANCHESTER, TN - BONNAROO

10 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

11 DAY OFF

12 DAY OFF

13 DAY OFF

14 DAY OFF

15 DAY OFF

16 DAY OFF

17 DAY OFF

18 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

19 ARRIVE / TRAVEL DAY OFF

20 CROSS LOAD

21 KNEBWORTH, UK - LOAD IN / TECH DAY

22 KNEBWORTH, UK - TECH DAY

23 KNEBWORTH, UK - KNEBWORTH HOUSE

24 SUNDERLAND, UK - STADIUM OF LIGHT

25 DAY OFF

26 DUBLIN, IRELAND - CROKE PARK

27 DAY OFF

28 NIJMEGEN, HOLLAND - GOFFERT PARK

29 DAY OFF

30 PARIS, FRANCE - STADE DE FRANCE

JULY

1 WERCHTER, BELGIUM - WERCHTER FESTIVAL

2 DAY OFF

3 BERNE, SWITZERLAND - STADE DE SUISSE

4 DAY OFF

5 MILAN, ITALY - HEINEKEN JAMMIN FESTIVAL

6 DAY OFF

7 MADRID, SPAIN - ROCK IN RIO MADRID

8 TRAVEL to Greece

9 Greece holiday

10 Greece holiday

11 Greece holiday

12 Travel to London

13 SoundGarden Hyde Park

14 Travel to Greece holiday

15 Greece holiday

16 Greece holiday

17 Greece holiday

18 ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

19 LOAD IN

20 ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - SKK ARENA

21 DAY OFF

22 MOSCOW, RUSSIA - LUZNIKY STADIUM

23 DAY OFF

24 DAY OFF

25 KIEV, UKRAINE - OLYMPISKY STADIUM

26 DAY OFF

27 WARSAW, POLAND - BEMOWO AIRPORT

28 KAUNAS, LITHUANIA - KAUNAS ARENA

29 DAY OFF

30 TALLINN, ESTONIA - SONG GROUNDS

31 DAY OFF

AUGUST

1 TAMPERE, FINLAND - RATINA STADIUM

2 TRAVEL TO CHICAGO

3 DAY OFF

4 CHICAGO, IL - LOLLAPALOOZA

5 TRAVEL TO LOS ANGELES

6 DAY OFF

7 DAY OFF

So right now I am home and working on some stuff at Rat and next I........

8 DAY OFF

9 DAY OFF

10 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

11 LOS ANGELES, CA - STAPLES CENTER

12 LOS ANGELES, CA - STAPLES CENTER

13 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

14 OAKLAND, CA - ORACLE ARENA

15 OAKLAND, CA - ORACLE ARENA

16 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

17 DAY OFF

18 DAY OFF

19 DAY OFF

20 DAY OFF

21 DAY OFF

22 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

23 ARRIVE DUSSELDORF

24 TRAVEL TO GELSENKIRCHEN

25 GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - ROCK IM SPEKTOR

26 DAY OFF

27 PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - SLAVIA STADIUM

28 DAY OFF

29 ZAGREB, CROATIA - HIPPODROME

30 DAY OFF

31 BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - NATIONAL STADIUM

SEPTEMBER

1 SOFIA, BULGARIA - GEORGI ASPARUHOV STADIUM

2 DAY OFF

3 DAY OFF

4 ATHENS, GREECE - TERRAVIBE PARK

5 DAY OFF

6 BEIRUT, LEBANON -

7 DAY OFF

8 ISTANBUL, TURKEY - TURK TELEKOM ARENA

9 DAY OFF

10 TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - HAYARKON PARK

11 TRAVEL / DAY OFF

There is plenty more to come as I think we at only 2/3's or so of the way through tour. Ha! I sometimes I wonder why I feel like I have such a hard time staying focused on projects.  Looking at all this in one spot makes me not feel so bad. Anyway, looks like I am going to rock a bunch more seminars on this next trip out, hope to see ya there!

And say hi to the sound crew!

Dave Rat Mic Input Calculator

Mic Input-itus

A common affliction amongst sound engineers typically caused by small pee pee syndrome or Little Ball Syndrome

          * Note, females engineers please appropriate gender specific equivalents to any male oriented terms

Take the # of band members, multiply by 5 and add 2.

If venue sizes are below 1000 capacity, subtract 1 input per band member, to adjust for on stage levels effecting the FOH mix.

If venue size and ticket sales are between 2500 and 5000, add one input per band member as a success bonus.

For venues selling over 5000, add one input for every million albums sold in the first 30 days of the current album. Note; this applies to headline acts only! Support acts do not add album sales bonus inputs and must use the calculation for the largest headline show of the tour.

If any venue on the tour is less than half sold, take a 5 input embarrassment penalty for the remainder of the tour.

Once you have determined the correct amount of inputs including the modifier bonus and penalties that should be used, next compare that total to the actual inputs you or the engineer being analyzed for possible syndrome affliction actually uses.

Engineer's utilizing less than the correct amount are considered exceptional. + or - 1 input from the calculation is considered normal in most cases.

Engineer's implementing an excess of inputs beyond the calculation are typically suffering from small pee pee syndrome where in they have unnecessarily over bloated the sound setup much to everyone's chagrin and often to the detriment of show sound quality, purely to pump their own ego and pretend they are doing something more complex than it really is. Alternately, lack of control over the # of input channels is also caused by another form of sound engineer ailment wherein the sound of the show is sacrificed to chaos due to the artist adding more things on stage and the Little Ball Syndrome affliction prevents the engineer from suggesting better ways of accomplishing the same result in a less complex manner. The engineer, so willing to ass kiss and excited about the delusional thought that somehow over-complication equals job security, adds inputs like they are seeding a lawn.