Dave Rat Porta-Blog - Chaos and Anarchy

One of the more challenging aspects of mixing sound is developing an awareness and compensating for the fluctuating nature of our humanly perceptions.
From the inside out we cannot help but see the world and develop our decisions, preferences and opinions based on comparisons against the reference points we hold within our minds. "Am I Tired? Hungry? Warm? Happy? or Successful? Perhaps all and none at the same time as it really depends on to what we are comparing our perceptions to. Furthermore, our internal reference points shift over time due to numerous factors. The first few days visiting a summer Hawaii are filled with thick syrupy breaths of humid air and sweating in exhaustive heat. Fast forward two weeks and returning home to 70 degree weather has me looking for a hoodie in t-shirt weather.
So let's slide this into a sound perspective. "Where are my ears, at?" I've hear there is no reason grammatically to add the "at" at the end of a 'where' question but I think in thIs case it is warranted as it inquires the perception of the ears rather than their physical location.
Or better, "where are my ears at today, right now." Are our ears honest? Where are the ears at of the people we are mixing sound for? What if my ears are clean clear and crisp from plenty of sleep, healthy eating and exersize and I am mixing for an audience who has drank enough beer to fill Lake Michigan? What will be important to that audience? Subtle perfections or sheer volume.
What about monitor engineers? Where are the monitor engineer's ears at? Where are the band's ears at?
Unraveling all of this into a somewhat manageable and predictable presentation is probably more complex than mastering chess due to the fact that there are no real rules to this game.
Numerous planes crash for loss of a reference point as simple as wind speed. The altimeter is a very useful reference point for a skydiver wishing to avoid splat. Camera's have light meters to calibration for white balance, musicians use 'A' 440 or at least tune to each other as a common reference point.
A complete and total elimination of all reference points would have no option but to result in chaos, anarchy. Gravity is a reference point for all things earthly holding the planet together. So back on audio track. If you agree the lack of reference points is chaos, then establishing reference points is crucial to achieve order and consistency.
For me to try and tackle the ear drift issue, I establish familiar reference points. The constant I use to compare to is a pair of headphones, a familiar song played on a familiar music player. Reference points that are important to the task at hand should be developed, learned, studied and refined over time and once established, they can be of absolute importance.
So why the ramble? Well, because clinging desperately to reference points was how yesterday was spent. On three hours of sleep to wake to a broken shower knob straight into back to back plane flights with a 2 hour layover straight into the gig had my ears numb and ringing, everything hurt and from that hazy state of burry exhaustion, having my ears hear anything close to what all the energetic and heart warmingly wonderful Costa Rican ear would want, was just not going to happen.
The fact is that my ears were fried and no amount of willpower or positive attitude was going to fix them in time for the rock show. Like a pilot landing in a white out, it is all about being using and trusting my hopefully reliable enough, reference points. If I mix the show so it sounds correct to me, it will surely sound like ass to everyone else.
For a bIt more on the methods I use to factor hearing drift and sag out of the equation, check out "when hearing starts to drift" article I wrote a while back either on Prosoundweb.com or daverat.com:
As far as answering the question of whether the methods were successful? I think so, I hope so, sure seemed so and I guess that can only truly be answered by the 20,000 or so rocking Costa Rican's who came to hang out with us.
Oh, so a bit about the pics above in no particular order.
Just imagine my 5am airport line glee upon seeing so many wonderful people all heading the same direction as me!
Who woulda knew Big Daddy could throw down some grooving percussion beats!
The group photo of the our Columbian FOH sound and light crew, super cool!
And the shower handle still makes me smile at the mini mental tanti, turned dispair, turned laughter.
Hey, look at Peppers meals in Bogota!
And finally, my home, my interface, my connection and conduit, my instrument, my unlabeled, unlit 1000 pound bundle knobby joy, my mixing board.
Well all right, how about we go check ourselves out some Peru!
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Camping Trip

Bogota Columbia and a nice day off crew wander and meal followed by a 5pm lobby call. 'Day before presetup' and though I don't like to gig hug, we really do need it. It's another ice cold audio start. This will now be the 5th time monitor eng Tim-Sam and I have dialed up fresh consoles, repatched and started from scratch. At least it is only for 30,000 people with "TBA" on the sound check in the itinerary. But hey, no use stressing on aspects beyond my control. It's just all about getting my head around the solutions.
If you have been doing sound for top level headline acts on any sort of larger scale, you may comprehend the challenges at hand with every single knob and control is at zero. Though I do find it a bit peaceful and enjoyable spending a chunk o time massaging a console into performing how I desire, having a well tuned board is a much sweeter pleasure.
Its a Milo rig today and for the course of the South America dates, I will be rolling into a wide variety of sound systems. Some more Meyer Milo, some JBL Vertec, some Adamson, D&B and way too few L-Acoustics rigs. So until we start the Euro run in Oct, its going to be a party wave of sound systems.
Another dynamic that is throwing a bit of a wrench into today's adventure is the altitude. Bogota sits at a lofty 8600 feet up and you feel the thin air the moment you gasp your first few breaths off the plane. Even though there are less air molecules running around up here with the research I have done, I have yet to find any convincing fata showing the sound changes. Conversely, ask anyone who has mixes high altitude shows and and without missing a beat, they will tell you that things sound screwy up high.
Regardless of whether the 20% thinner air here alters sound propagated our perception of the sound, either way, it's a bit of an octopus wrestling match to try and solve.
Next on my mind is the 5:30 am aftershow flight tomorrow to Costa Rica for another large one. Hmmm, show ends at 10pm, 2 hours to load out, 1/2 hour to hotel, figure if everything runs absolutely perfect we'll hit beds by 1am for a 3am lobby call. Airport straight to gig, dump trucks and there we will be, bright and chipper fresh to tackle the new day. But hey, at leaest my consoles will still be dialed in from the Bogota show.
Oh, well I guess this is payback for bum rushing Biarritz last week and one of those times that helps me appreciate when things roll easy.
In the mean time, Columbia, let's get down to business and do ourselves a rock show!
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Dave Rat Blog - Paris Sept 6

Just off the Metro from the train station, after a bit over 5 hours on the high speed into Paris from Biarritz. High speed mini 56 hour holiday in the south of France does not suck. Scott and I headed down there to surf big scary waves and that we did or at least tried.

The adventure was wrapped around living large so the Ryan Air flight into a tiny Euopecar fit perfectly.

I had been to Biarritz before and must thank the legendary Takuji Masuda for hooking us up and lending us boards, Tak rules!

Also thank you Dudu and Axelle who own Core'S'air surf shop http://www.coresair.com which now sports a rat sticker as well. Killer board collection in there!

Our second night we hung out and stayed with Umesh and Brigitte, more friends I met last time when I was down there. And to big scary waves we went! I got smashed, I got bashed and I even paddled into some monsters and loved every second. Can't wait till next time! Too good to be true!

Now a train ride back to Paris to the office gig of hanging with friends doing rock shows.
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Dave Rat Porta Blog - Surfs Up!

Posh London hotel and I'd give the $50 breakfast buffet a miss if it was not included in the room. Stuffy condescending wealth is so annoying.

Promo tours are an awkward mishmash of hurry up and wait, shaving down an arena setup into TV studios and small clubs, and absolutely no feel of rhythm.

Facing four days off in London for the crew while the band continues with a full schedule of interviews and such in various other countries.

Last night was a video shoot at club Koko. Hey, I remember mixing Juliette Lewis there a couple years back. With the exception of carrying a Midas Verona analog board so I don't get stuck on the house digi boards, I actually have been enjoying mixing on the assorted house rigs. It went all good, plenty of PA and it just takes a bunch more work to dial up a Vertec, but hey, keeps me from getting lazy.

I mix differently for recorded shows that go to broadcast. I put the reins on a bit, moderate solo pushes and try and keep the show in a more stable and compact volume range. I didn't always do that. I used to lack clarity to see the bigger picture and dealt with sound from more of a solo project stance. Now I try and take all aspects into account. Its all about a cohesive balance between sound, lights, video, recording, sightlines and any other integral aspect that benefits the overall experience. It is when everything lines up that the shows become magic and would much rather have an awesome all around show than double awesome sound and have everything else suck.

Anyway, "Four days off in London?" Ewww, really? I like a lot of people here, cool stuff and culture but I have a better idea, how about Scott the Lampi and I do plane hop to Biarritz to catch the hurricane Irene swell headed that way?

Bye bye city, hello paradise and hopefully waves with consequences!


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Porta-Blog Paris Sept 1 2011

The attention to detail that occurs in prepping a rock show on this level can be mind boggling. There are complex rituals that the backline techs go through from polishing frets, waterproofing against sweat and to bullet proof against a myriad of potential failure points.
So for this blog I thought I would discuss the nuances of setting up Anthony's vocal mic. You are most likely thinking "how hard can it be? Mic, stand, clip and cable, no biggie, right?
So here is a description of just one of the myriad of adventures we address:
1). The mic. Anthony has been using an Audix om-7 for probably about 20 years now. These mic have a very high feedback stability and pick up very little room sound. This allows me out front to get a real 'up close and personal' vocal sound and if I need more air or space, it's easy to add with a vocal reverb. Also, the om's are really durable and the grills don't dent when they are dropped. Conversely, the drawbacks are that the mic falls off in volume quickly if you are not really close to it. Also, they tend to be susceptible to 'spitting out' faster than other mics. Since Anthony stays on the mic and we swap out the vocal mic mid show and again before encore, the drawbacks are not issues for us.
2) The stand. The mic stand is integral to the performance so it must be exact. Straight stand, no boom Atlas MS12. The 12 stands for '12 pounds' and that is the weight he is used to swinging around. The Atlas has a larger diameter tube than the Euro manufactured metric stands and is less likely to bend. The metal clutch is more durable and the larger diameter cast metal base makes it less likely to tip over as well.
3) The cable. Belden 8412 has been around for decades and is amazingly durable. With it's real rubber jacketing, (not plastic), braid shield, multiple fiber wraps and twine filler, it has minimal stretch and a withstands more abuse and tangles less than any other cable we have found.
4) The clip. Even though the mic is an Audix, we use a Shure SM58 mic clip as the Audix clip is too rubbery. It is the older version clip that is not flared up top. This clip requires the mic to be slid in and not popped in and the mic won't jump out when the stand is swung or bounced on the ground. Oh, also, if the clip is new, we heat it up with a lighter and bend it open to get the proper grip on the mic that is not to tight or loose.
5) Taping the cable. The mic cable is taped to the mic preventing AK from accidentally unplugging the mic. This is done with a single non overlapping layer of black gaff. It is critical that the mic and tape will slide out of the clip, not too easily but also not jamming either.
6) Taping the stand. A ring of gaff tape is wrapped around the inner pole to prevent the stand from getting shorter, should he bang the stand on the ground downward. Each stand is measured to be exactly 55 3/4" in height, base to thread ring. There is always at least 2 spare built and measured stands in case one breaks during the show. We go through dozens over the course of a tour.
7) Boring the clip. The stock old school Shure clip has a sharpish edge that prevents the mic to slide out with the tape on it. To solve this, the rear sharp of each mic clip is beveled and rounded out with a Leatherman tool or any sharp knife and checked for 'slide'.
8) Clip tension. The clip need to hold the mic firmly at an angle and not loosen to floppy, easily. Cheaper imitation clips do not have the tension washer stacks inside and will loosen when repeatedly moved.
9) Cable length. The mic cable is 50 feet long and plugged into a stagebox located center stage.
10) Spare mic. An identical spare taped vocal mic is figure 8 coiled center stage. The spare mic, main mic and a wireless mic all are plugged into a 3 way switcher located at monitor position. This allows Anthony to grab any of the three mics and have it instantly switched in line to both mons and house.
And so ya have it and now ya know how to prep snake channel 24!
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Dave Rat Porta-Blog

Oooh, Chili Peppers worldwide simulcast video shoot gig in Cologne.

First order of business, drop some subs to improve sightliines. I don't think anyone expected that, as I walked in and said "take away that, that and all of those please." I try to never lose track of the big picture, as much as I enjoy shoe-horning a giant PA in a small club, today is about getting a solid clean mix and steering clear of screwing the recording/broadcast truck sound. And no, it does not bother me or make upset, quite the opposite. I enjoy the challenge. I enjoy constantly changing parameters and redundant bores the shit out of me.

I'll be rocking a Verona console keeping my world slim and trim. My focus is also on keeping cohesion between all departments. Need backline to watch volume levels, gotta keep the truck happy, try and give the band the most condusive to rocking setup we can so they can do their magic. Hyper calm is magic plan, regardless of how hectIc or how much pressure presents itself. We got no problems, just challenges, solvable puzzles. And not many hours from now, Peppers will be playing live in movie theaters in 30 or 40 countries around the world.

On the pics above: check out giant archery chick! Looking like she should have a violin.

I thought the little wall spot for brooms and brushes was interesting, we usually hide that stuff.

The church view pic is from my morning run through cologne.

No one is gonna steal that fence!

Soundtip: The drumfill is part of your FOH drum sound. If you have fairly dead drums and a rocking drumfill, the combo when tuned right, will give you a huge drum sound. Yes, I know drummer tend to like resonant drums. By using deader drums you can increase and control the resonance of the drums with the drumfill and all are happy.
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Fun fun fun on the ...

Random panic is a weakness exploited by the crafty. I find both sides of that equation apathetic. Being predictable offers a perfect opportunity to support the financial predators tracking you.

Wow! The TV news sure annoys me.

Airport adventure and off to Germany, bye bye for a month ending with South America stadium shows..

This last week was full of tying up loose ends and we will be moving fast and far.

This last week kept us busy with production rehearsals at the LA forum, a Fuse Tv video/sound recorded show at the Roxy and a benefit for Flea's Conservatory of Music school at Club Nokia.

Meanwhile, Rat Sound is still running on all cylinders. I was fortunate to be invited to a screening of Pearl Jam's new Cameron Crowe movie "20" and it was truly magical to see. Rat has had the honor of being trusted with their sound for 20 years now and it was wonderful to feel the connection with such a incredible band.

In one of the pics above you can see pearl jam's amp racks being prepped for the current tour.

Hey, check out my living room table with the ping pong mod!

Ok, plane is about to leave so I'll see ya all from the other side of the pond!
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