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Forget something? (See Rule 01). Illustration by Tony Gleeson (WWW.TONYGLEESON.COM)

Top 40 Rules of the Road

It’s been 10 years since PLSN and FRONT of HOUSE first published Bob Higgins’ “Top 40 Rules of the Road.” For those who didn’t frame (or at least laminate) the original Top 40 Rules (July 2003), here’s a second chance. —ed.

Industry veteran Bob Higgins has more than 30 years of experience in the touring industry as a video producer, director, editor, dancer, troublemaker, and problem solver. With the help of contributing minders K. Lipschutz, G. Jones, V. Jarvis, A. Kramer, R. Alvarez, W. Willoughby, and B. Riedling, he’s pieced together the following rules, gleaned from his own early mistakes, mistakes he’s seen along the way (with the shipping records as proof), eyewitness accounts, and road stories too numerous to mention. Please read carefully, you will be tested daily…

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Soundcheck/setup in Bing Concert Hall before the show, showing a few of the 24 QSC HPR122i speakers used for the 22-channel surround system.

Stanford University Recreates Acoustics of Hagia Sophia at Bing Concert Hall

On Feb. 1, Stanford University’s performing arts presenter Stanford Live hosted a concert by the storied Cappella Romana vocal ensemble of Portland, OR. The ensemble’s name — meaning Roman Chapel — refers to the medieval Greek concept of the Roman oikoumene (inhabited world), which embraced Rome and Western Europe, as well as the Byzantine Empire of Constantinople (“New Rome”) and its Slavic commonwealth centered at Moscow. Recognized for its exploration of Eastern Orthodox vocal music, the ensemble’s performance at Stanford University’s Bing Concert Hall — titled Cappella Romana: From Constantinople to California — combined old-world Byzantine chants with the latest innovations in music technology from Stanford’s “Icons of Sound” project (http://iconsofsound.stanford.edu), to recreate the acoustics of Turkey’s legendary Hagia Sophia.

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Australian manufacturer Que Audio’s DA12 is a single-ear boom mount headworn mic featuring a compact (2.5mm) vocal capsule. Formerly marketed under the Da-Cappo brand, these mics delivered smooth, natural reproduction and good feedback resistance at an affordable price.

Que Audio DA04 and DA12

To prepare for this review, I visited Que Audio’s website and found out some interesting facts about the company and its products. First, Que Audio is owned by the Syncrotech Group, which is an Australian-owned group of professional audio companies that has been operating down under for more 30 years. When I read this info on the Que Audio site, I was quite impressed. Maybe because I happen to love Australia (and not for the shrimp), but also because 30 years is a long time to do anything in Australia, or anywhere else for that matter.

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Shure SM91 mounted inside a kick drum using the SHU Flatz mount, which in addition to holding the mic, can also keep a dampening pillow in place, if desired.

Kelly SHU Microphone Mounts

It’s not often that anything exciting comes along in the realm of bass drum mic mounts, so when I heard about the Kelly SHU™ Microphone Mounting System, I was extremely curious. The Kelly SHU is a semi-permanent suspension mount designed specifically for kick drum mics. It comes in three flavors: the SHU Pro, the SHU Composite and the SHU Flatz. The Pro and Composite will hold just about any kick drum microphone; the Flatz is designed for use with the Shure Beta 91/91A, SM91 or Sennheiser E901 (you must specify which mic when ordering).

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FOH mixer Horace Ward with the Dangerous Music 2-Bus summing amp, just before mixing an Usher show at the Moon Palace Resorts in Cancun, Mexico, 2012.

Analog Summing for Live Sound Mixing

For years, a growing number of studio engineers have turned to using outboard summing boxes that combine the individual outputs of subgroup pairs (stems) from a digital console or digital audio workstation into a single analog stereo output. This same process could easily be done within the DAW or console itself, but the many engineers who heard A/B comparisons between the two methods would often report hearing improved sound quality, with increased levels of spatial detail, channel separation, clarity, punch and definition when these multiple sources were combined using a outboard analog summing mixer.

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Tannoy T12 Dual Concentric near-fields are useful in providing a reasonable representation of a large array’s sound.

Near-Field Monitors for Live Shows, Part 1

Working as a front of house engineer for high profile performers, large-scale loudspeaker arrays are my stock-in-trade. So, why do I have those small speakers sitting on my meter bridge? Good question. Let’s start at the beginning — back in pre-production, when I am attending band rehearsals and creating the product that will eventually emerge from the components in those large arrays.

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The Biz

What’ll It Take to Get You Into This Console?

There’s been much talk in recent years about how the pro audio industry has become commoditized. There’s no doubt that digital technology and offshore manufacturing have combined to make many products more affordable and accessible, and that the additional number of players attracted to this pool has further propelled commoditization by expanding the scale of the overall pro audio market.

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Fig. 1: Simplified input-to-output signal flow diagram, with letters “A” through “D” indicating various points where the signal can be tapped.

Mixing Monitors from Front of House

Many small venues don’t have the budget or space for a separate monitor desk on stage. That saddles the front-of-house engineer with the responsibility of mixing for the band and the audience simultaneously from the FOH console — not an easy task. Here are some suggestions that can help alleviate your pain.

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An EAW MK-series speaker, hung using a Polar Focus yoke (U-bracket) combined with one of its custom beam attachments, makes for a clean and secure install that offers simple adjustment of pan and tilt angles.

Birds Fly, So Do Speakers (Sometimes)

If you are on the AV team or involved with audio in your church, you should certainly know the location of the main speakers in your sanctuary. Are they stacked on the side of the platform (stage), mounted on the wall or suspended from some point in the ceiling? If your speakers are stacked on or below the platform, you will only have to find a location that works sonically for your church space. You can move and direct the speakers until they have the best sound and coverage for your particular room.

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Illustration by Andy Au

Audio at the Gates of Hell

It’s been said that an audio technician’s job is long hours of boredom and mundane work followed by short periods of frantic maneuvering. It’s also been said that “sh*t happens,” and when that does occur, we have those small bursts of frenetic behavior as we try to stave off a descent into chaos and disorder. We stand as guardians at the gates of hell as we do our best not to allow the doors to swing open and release the multitudes of demons and devilish imps that lay waiting on the other side. We are vigilant on our watch, being aware that even the smallest opening is enough space to allow the devil to escape and unleash a reign of terror down upon our show.

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