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Understanding Capacitance and Electron Flow

Capacitance in the Real World (See explanation in the text near this image below)

Understanding Capacitance and Electron Flow

Last month, we looked at conductivity and electricity, the lifeblood behind our industry. Without electricity, and conductors to direct it, there would be no professional audio. We discussed what defines electrons, electric and magnetic fields, and how electrons moving inside of conducting materials give rise to resistance and the famous Ohm’s law equation, V = IR. That article was focused on the internal effects of electrons inside the crystal lattice of a conductor. This month’s article now turns to the realm of how the electric and magnetic fields characteristic of electrons influence several other aspects of the conductors we use in professional audio.

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FOH Buyers Guide, March 2013, Double-18 Subwoofers

Double-18 Subwoofers

When you start talking about big sound, ground-stacked double-18 subwoofers are pretty much the standard of the industry. And whenever you’re on that topic, the subject soon turns to “How many do you need?” This isn’t to say that there are other variants that can do the job — ranging from double- and quad-15 boxes to massive systems with one, two or more 21-inch drivers, but if anything defines the foundation of large event product today, it’s the double-18 sub. And one of the easiest ways to upgrade an existing sound rig is to add a couple — or more — ground-stacked subs.

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Mackie DLM8

Mackie DLM Speakers

Last year, when Mackie first showed its DLM series with three powered, DSP-driven speakers. I was intrigued. Here were two extremely compact two-way systems with a 12-inch or 8-inch LF driver paired with a coaxial 1-inch exit compression driver, 1,000 watts RMS of biamplification (2,000W peak), a built-in, two-input digital mixer with line/mic inputs, 3-band EQ, 16 DSP effects, multiband feedback destroyer and memory presets for storing mix configurations. Also in the line is the matching DLM12S, a powered single-12 subwoofer.

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Fig. 1: The NLS Channel page

Waves NLS Non-Linear Summer Plug-in

In recent years, most of my work is performed at seated shows rather than at large outdoor or indoor events with festival seating. At seated events, promoters want to sell as many unobstructed view floor seats as possible to maximize the dollar return from each show. And with live performance becoming the most popular (and lucrative) sector of the music business, the motivation for optimum financial return has reduced the amount of space allotted to FOH mix positions. It’s also driven productions to mandate lower shipping costs and fuel expenses. This has resulted in the ascendancy of smaller, lighter digital mixing systems over the larger and heavier analog consoles (and outboard racks) on a majority of tours.

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Fig. 1: A 1/3 octave RTA display made using SMAART 7.4.2

Interpreting RTA Measurement Techniques

One of the most familiar audio analysis tools for live sound is Real Time Analysis (RTA), also known as spectrum analysis. Many of us are familiar with the process. One reproduces a known signal from a tone generator (typically pink noise), sends it through a PA system and uses a measurement microphone to capture the sound. The RTA displays the manner in which the audio signal has been changed on a graph showing frequency versus amplitude. You then adjust EQ in an effort to ‘flatten’ the curve, thus ‘fixing’ the problem.

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FirstLive A Guide to Live Music Venues, New York City

The Good Book

Back in the day (1975, to be exact), Warner Bros. Records put out a trade paperback tome called The Book of the Road. It was a compendium of information about significant venues across the U.S., collected by Jo Berger in Warners’ artist relations department, offering information like stage plots, PA types, FOH and monitor console types with I/O counts, and relevant contact info for stage managers. It grew out of an in-house project for use by the label’s own artists when on tour, and while it never became a best-seller in book form, it caught the fancy of musicians and live-sound techs alike as a kind of Fodor’s for roadies.

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You can mic the drums individually, with eight or more mics (as shown here). But sometimes a simple combination of one (or two) overhead mics along with a kick drum mic will provide good results, especially in a smaller sanctuary.

Drums, Mics and the Church

When we think of the ancient city of Jericho, we think about the Israelites marching around the walls for seven days playing their trumpets, and then the walls came tumbling down. However, historically speaking, besides the trumpets, the Israelites played many percussion instruments (drums) for those seven days while they were marching around the walls of Jericho.

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Illustration by Andy Au

Bidding and Pricing Job Proposals

I received an email from a reader asking me to write an article about giving a bid for festivals and club gigs. Other than the few glowing comments he used to flatter me into doing this piece, his letter included other points such as: “How much detail is required on the gear we’re supplying? Sometimes it feels like I’m giving too much information, and in other cases, too little. What format should the quote be in? What should my profit margin be? How should I account for and cost-in the ‘suck fee’ — contingencies for covering things that inevitably change after arriving at the venue, like having the generator moved at the last moment and needing to pull 300 feet of 4/0 feeder cable!”

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Morgan Sound upgraded the audio system at Sacred Heart Church, Bellevue, WA with Tannoy speakers and Lab.gruppen amps

Sacred Heart Church Clarifies Sound with Tannoy, Lab.gruppen Gear

BELLEVUE, WA — Morgan Sound overcame reverberation and intelligibility issues at Sacred Heart Church’s 750-capacity sanctuary here with one Tannoy VX 15Q for the main seating area, five time-delayed VX 5.2s per side, five Tannoy IS 52s for front fill and two Tannoy VX 6s and a pair of DVS 4s for the choir. The system is powered by Lab.gruppen amps.

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Audio Light Systems provided a technical upgrade for The Palace Theatre here that included a new RCF HDL-20A line array system, NX12SMA floor monitors and Media 502 enclosures.

The Palace Theatre in Scotland Installs RCF Gear

KILMARNOCK, Scotland — Audio Light Systems provided a technical upgrade for the 503-seat Palace Theatre here that includes RCF gear.  Twelve HDL20-A elements are flown (L-R, six per side) and two SUB8006 AS subs are floor mounted. The new system also includes five RCF Media 502 units, 10 NX12SMA powered floor monitors and an NXM22 mid high with PRO 8003-AS active sub bass.

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