Nathan Lively's Blog, page 24

How to Become a World Class Audio Engineer (if I had to start all over)

If I were starting over again and needed to know how to become an audio engineer, here’s what I would do: find an expert in my city and pay them to train me. And if I didn’t know who in my city could help me or where to begin, I would go to soundgirls.org and sign up for a mentorship there.

The latest science says that the key to becoming an expert is diligent practice. Not just repetition, but focused action with the goal of improved performance. And how do you get that? Individualized training.

One consistent finding across disciplines is that coaches are often essential for sustaining deliberate practice. In many cases, it is nearly impossible to both perform a task and measure your progress at the same time. –James Clear

Schools are great, but the truth is that I could teach you how to do my job in a day. Of course, after only one day you wouldn’t have enough information or experience to do the job really well, but you would know enough to get out there and start working. And as we all know, on the job is where the real learning happens.

So if I were starting all over again and wanted to know how to become an audio engineer, I would do whatever it took to get into the line of fire as quickly as possible. Inexperienced sound engineers always want to know how to operate X, Y, and Z digital console, but if you wait until you feel totally prepared you’ll never get started. No matter how much I learn, some new problem or piece of hardware always shows up. The real skills that you need are quick problem solving and knowing how to find answers fast, skills that, again, you learn on the job. Usually through urgent phone calls to friends, colleagues, or mentors.

The first time I ever attended a Meyer Sound seminar with Bob McCarthy, I asked him if he would be my mentor. Not really. I didn’t have the guts. I asked him how I could get a job designing and tuning sound systems. He said, “See that guy over there? That’s Matthias. He’s is going to fly to Macau next month, on his own money, to see me work on a system there. You could do something like that.”

And I thought, “Oh shit, that’s way beyond me. I barely have enough money to fly to Germany for this seminar.”

After that I began calling Bob McCarthy my mentor, even though I never asked for his permission and we’ve never worked together. I just call him on the phone sometimes and ask him how to do math. He’s a minor celebrity at this point. So I wonder how many other people out there are calling McCarthy their mentor? I guess it’s part of the Choose Yourself economy. We should form some kind of support group.

If I don’t even have it in me to ask my mentor to be my mentor, how can I expect you to do the same?

Bring ideas and commitment to take action.

If you can walk in the door with enthusiasm about what you want and ideas to barter, you are already way ahead of everyone else. I get lots of emails from people asking me for leads on work. They often don’t know where, when, why, or what kind of work, so I have to pull all that information out of them. Then there are people who want to take my courses for free…period. No offer. No ideas. Usually just a sad story about how hard their life is.

I also work with a lot of students who don’t take action. I’ve done about 135 career consultations over the last 3 years. In every one of them, I challenge the person to take some kind of action to move forward. Of those 135, only two have ever followed up with me about the actions they took. And right now I’m running a free business training course for audio engineers that includes 14 homework assignments that involve emailing me. Three people have emailed me.

But you won’t do that, will you? You’ll walk right up to that expert and look right in their big fat eyes and say, “I really want to work as a sound designer on fun, modern musicals like Rock of Ages, because I love the emotional power of audio. I want you to help me get there. I want to meet for one hour every week for two months. In exchange, I’ll write a review of your book and post it on Amazon, Facebook, and LinkedIn.”

And then you’ll commit to taking action on whatever that expert says. The more energy you put into it, the more you’ll get back. Next thing you know, they’ll be referring you for gigs and buying you coffee. All because you listened to them and took action.

The availability of free information today is a false sense of security. You can get lost for hours and hours in forums, tutorials, and Youtube videos. It can feel like progress.

Don’t be fooled. Unless you are seeing results, you are spinning your wheels. I can tell you for sure, if I was starting over again on how to become an audio engineer, I wouldn’t spend years of my life reinventing the wheel. I would find an expert in my city, pay them to train me, and get results fast.

Do whatever it takes to find the right teacher and get started. Free options are available to the creative and motivated.

This article How to Become a World Class Audio Engineer (if I had to start all over) appeared first on Sound Design Live. Sign up for free updates here.

Loved this post? Try these:
Balls Of Steel: 10 Surprising Tips For Live Audio Engineer Training
Do you want a job as a touring FOH sound engineer? You need to hear this.
One Simple Reason I Chose To Be An Audio Engineer Major

Mixing Monitors from FOH: 17 lessons I learned from Grealy at Soulsound

It doesn’t matter how good a monitor engineer you are. If you have severe halitosis you will not be asked back.

Things that I learned/re-learned from watching Mixing Monitors from FOH on Soulsound:

Although each physical microphone input on a mixing console can have only one headamp gain setting, each input channel on a digital desk has its own input attenuator.
On a digital console, duplicate all inputs and set up a completely separate mix for the stage, even in small venues!
Listen to monitors in pairs that are near one another to verify polarity.
If you are going to double up on vocal mic monitors make sure to aim them using the HF driver, not the center of the box.
Place the stage monitor as near to the performer’s head as possible.
If you are using sidefills as vocal reinforcement for a singer standing center stage, everyone stage left and right is going to get blasted. Using a short stack (
Sidefills are a good solution for artists who want “a bit of everything,” which is basically a copy of the FOH mix.
Rubber strips (or a stack of Gaffe tape in a pinch) underneath a drum fill will reduce vibration and movement.
Moving the drummer off center can help reduce leakage into the vocal mic.
“Let them hang themselves.” Don’t anticipate every instance of feedback due to improper microphone technique. “I’m a good believer in allowing people to teach themselves…”
After soundcheck: spike monitor and stand positions and label stands with position and name of performer.
Glasses and hats are reflective enough to significantly reduce GBF. Nothing you can do about this. Just something to test ahead of time.
Make musicians sound check every instrument they plan to use. Watch out for singers with harmonicas. Huge level change!
Try not to irritate the musicians. “Make sure I don’t have hard boiled egg in my beard.” Breath mints and chewing gum.
Teach yourself pitch memory by trying to whistle 1kHz every day.
Start out mixing monitors with the FOH muted. Then slowly bring up FOH to assess collateral damage.
Bog standard = perfectly ordinary. Halitosis = bad breath.

I’ve been a member of Soulsound for 2 years and 7 months. Their videos are great quality and watching them always makes me want to go back and redo all of mine.

I learned a lot from watching this masterclass with Justin Grealy. He is very thorough and it really motivated me to up my game and deliver better service to the clients I work with. Instead of minimal effort to get the job done, prepare for every possibility and make every comfortable.

The only thing missing from this class is practical work with a band on stage, which would make a great part 2 (hint hint).

How I do things similarly

If you have an analog console, Y-split at least the vocal channels.

I’ve done this technique a couple of times. My first question is always: What will I do differently to the monitor split compared to the FOH split?

Answer: EQ, dynamics, effects.

One of the biggest problems I have in small concert venues is that the mix in the room can be ruined by the LF from loud stage monitors. At first you think, “Who cares, crank it up till their ears bleed if they want it.” But remember, every speaker is omni directional at some point, not to mention reflections from the back wall. So a loud stage monitor is going to give you lots of LF into the front rows as well as the stage. One way to help mitigate that is to raise the HPF on the vocal channel to something insanely high, like, as high as you can get away with. I’m talking 350Hz! And you can get away with that by splitting the vocal channels.

When it comes to dynamics, it’s likely that you don’t want as much compression on your vocals in the monitor mix as you do in the FOH mix. In most cases, on small, loud stages, you want almost no compression so that the vocalist can hear their raw performance to improve their microphone technique. In the same way that an actor learns to “find their light,” a singer must learn to find the pocket for a consistent performance.

The more you compress it, the more you affect the way the musician “actually” plans the instrument. It’s really easy to make people overplay.

A gate set correctly can also be a huge advantage in the FOH mix, but tricky in the monitor mix. Vocalists will complain at the first hint of a problem, and we could get into the psychology of that, but what’s important here is that you don’t want to give them any reason to complain. It’s like when you’re on a Skype call and it mutes everyone else while you’re talking. You’d think silence would be nice, but it’s unsettling.

How I do things differently
I live in the US.

You will rarely meet an analog desk these days.

This is an interesting difference between the US and UK markets. In the US, analog mixing consoles still hold strong, especially in small rooms and hotel AV. They are cheaper and easier to train people on. Which makes me wonder, why have analog desks disappeared from the UK?

I never run a separate monitor mix.

Grealy suggests duplicating all inputs for a seperate monitor mix for more control, which is ideal, but I never do that. There’s just not enough time to do both jobs comprehensively. I can imagine a situation where maybe you have some of the controls linked between layers or quickly copy and paste your settings, but I can’t imagine anyone having the patience for me to track down technical problems, set up the FOH input channels, and then set up the monitor mix for three different bands. In a typical situation I barely have enough time to do one job.

So time management is the main consideration, but hearing is another. Most venues at which mix monitors from FOH are not going to include a stage monitor for me at FOH to listen to my changes. That means I’ll need to listen from across the room, on headphones, or do a lot of guessing. I might be creating more problems than solutions.

I don’t use graphic EQs, especially not for system tuning.

In the video, Justin inserts graphic EQs in his monitor sends. I never do this anymore since most desks also have a parametric EQ on every output.

There are only two good reasons to use a graphic EQ: 1) ear training and 2) the war zone that is monitor world. But aren’t we in monitor land? Yes, but the reason we might want them in a war zone is the simple speed of grabbing a fader and moving it. That doesn’t work on a digital mixing board.

Check out the graphic EQ setting in the image below. It looks pretty minor. A little shaping. Maybe removing some feedback.

Then look at the shape that it’s actually creating in the measurement below. Yikes!

I don’t double up stage monitors for lead vocalists.

One thing I’ve never understood is the doubling up of stage monitors for the main vocalist. I mean, I’ve asked people about this. When I asked Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato about why Eddie Vedder has 8 stage monitors she said, “SPL and coverage,” which I still don’t quite understand. In all cases, why not just turn one speaker up louder or get a louder speaker?

Maybe someday I’ll work on a show like that and finally understand it.

I don’t say “Phase Reversal.”

The way Grealy uses polarity and phase interchangeably can be confusing. Grealy says he is going to “check that all of the monitors are in-phase with each other,” then proceeds to verify polarity. It’s important to remember that phase shift is frequency dependent and caused by delay in the signal. Polarity is frequency independent and has no time offset. If we are checking phase we need a delay line or physical offset, and if we are verifying polarity we just need a polarity inversion switch or cable. So when Grealy says that on tour he found an out of phase cable, he basically discovered a time machine.  That being said, I do appreciate his quick and dirty method of listening to stage monitors in pairs. Nice!

Things that Needed Further Explanation
Pink vs. White Noise

Grealy’s explanation of pink vs white noise is a little confusing. Although white noise is statistically equal level over the frequency range, we perceive it as spectrally tilted toward the high frequencies because our ears respond on a logarithmic basis and are more sensitive in the high end. Pink noise is filtered white noise, attenuated at 3 dB/octave, to sound more even to our ears.

Audio Analyzer

Some people cheat and use an analyzer. I use these [pulls on ears], because I find that they work rather better.

You didn’t think I was going to let Grealy bash audio analyzers and get away with it, did you?

Grealy goes on to say that an audio analyzer can mislead you, but fails to demonstrate how, which seems like fear mongering. There is already enough misunderstanding about audio analyzers without Grealy piling it on. An audio analyzer is a tool to supplement the two audio analyzers you already have attached to your head, not to replace them.

Things I Want to Test
If you put the stage monitor on a beer crate, do you lose all of the low end?

Grealy says that he is a big fan of decoupling the stage monitor from the stage to get it closer to the performer’s head. Somewhere along the line I learned that stage monitors are tuned for half-space loading, but I’ve never measured the effects of the change. My question is: Does removing the stage monitor from the stage require EQ compensation in the LF? My guess is yes, but I’m not sure how much.

I would test this by comparing measurements of a stage monitor on the stage and two feet up on a stand.

How far apart can I space two stage monitors before the bass player complains?

I like Grealy’s suggestion to keep two monitors as close as possible if you want LF coupling, but I wonder where he came up with 30cm? Two LF drivers spaced 30cm apart would give you coupling up to 755 Hz, since the wavelength of 755 Hz is 45cm long and 2/3 of that is 30cm. But the fundamental range of a 4-string bass goes from about 40Hz to 400Hz. So if all you need to do is support the fundamental range, then you can get away with a wider displacement, up to 58cm. Maybe Grealy is counting the overtones, but that would go way past 755 Hz.

I would test this by pulling stage monitors apart until the bass player complained.

Random tip for watching training videos online

Are you a person that listens to business books at 1.3x speed? I am. Grealy is very well spoken, but in almost any training video there are enough pauses and “uhs” that I installed the Vimeo repeat & speed extension for Chrome so I wouldn’t get distracted.

This article Mixing Monitors from FOH: 17 lessons I learned from Grealy at Soulsound appeared first on Sound Design Live. Sign up for free updates here.

Loved this post? Try these:
11 Lessons I Learned From Ken ‘Pooch’ Van Druten
The good, the bad, and the ugly of being a Tour Managing FOH Engineer
Mixing The Biggest Festivals In Europe with Dave Swallow

3 Simple Ways to Phase Align Main+Sub with SATlive

Make the pictures match.
Math (just a little!)
Automatic (Delay Suggestion Tool)

#1 – Make the pictures match.

This is the method I used for years and is the most common, but it has two problems: 1) It’s slow and 2) It’s not easy to tell if a polarity inversion is required.

#2 – Math

This makes the process faster.

#3 – Automatic (Delay Suggestion Tool)

This makes the process faster and can detect polarity inversion.

Notes

Aiming Triangles Business Card
SATlive

This article 3 Simple Ways to Phase Align Main+Sub with SATlive appeared first on Sound Design Live. Sign up for free updates here.

Loved this post? Try these:
SATlive + Thomas Neumann: Sound system tuning with a single measurement microphone
3 Simple Ways That Busy Sound Engineers Can Protect Their Hearing
How To Tune A Sound System In 15 Minutes

Live Training Webinar: Gigs on Demand

As you know, I was kicking around the idea of doing a free webinar training about how to easily find new clients that you love working with. A couple of days ago I sent an email asking for feedback about what you’d most want to see covered… and the replies that came in were AMAZING!

Feedback like:

Staying busy during the off season.
Finding consistent high-quality shows.
Promoting yourself for the right kind of work.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg…

We’ll cover all of that and more during the live training on February 21st. I want to make it as accessible as possible, so you can choose from two times: 11 AM or 4 PM CST.

I’m calling the webinar Gigs on Demand.

Here are a few more ideas we’ll cover:

Making the leap from taking on small bits and pieces of paid work to actually making a living in audio.
Finding consistent gigs to grow & establish yourself.
Finding work that you actually enjoy doing.
Getting noticed for your skill in audio, not just lumping and dumping.

It’s going to be fantastic, and you’re going to get a lot out of it. Mark your calendar and join us live on February 21st.

Here’s that registration link:

11 AM or 4 PM CST

See you soon,

Nathan

P.S. We’ll be doing a live Q&A session at the end, so make sure to bring all of your questions. As a bonus, you’ll also receive the Sound Design Live eBook just for attending!

This article Live Training Webinar: Gigs on Demand appeared first on Sound Design Live. Sign up for free updates here.

Loved this post? Try these:
Balls Of Steel: 10 Surprising Tips For Live Audio Engineer Training
One Critical Skill You Need to Get Stage Theatre Jobs: How Surrey University Is Training Audio Engineers
Sound Design Live eBook – FREE Chapter

Do you want a job as a touring FOH sound engineer? You need to hear this.

Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play or Stitcher.
Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

In this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I talk to Dave Swallow, Merlijn van Veen, Bob McCarthy, Darryn de la Soul and Michelle Pettinato about their best tips to find a touring FOH sound engineer job.

Who should I build relationships with to get international touring gigs?
Should I work for free to get my foot in the door?
Who are the best people to cold call to find touring jobs?
Should I approach bands who are on tour about working with them?
Should I work for free to get experience?
Where is the best place to work to get picked up for a tour?
How do I get my name out there for a touring FOH sound engineer job?

Show notes:

All music in this episode by Steve Knots.

Dave Swallow

The less money you charge, the more work you have to do.

Find out which local bands are touring internationally and reach out to their management.
Don’t poach gigs/clients.
Be friendly with sound engineers, tour managers, and production managers. Keep up regular email correspondence. You have to be able to stick in their minds. But if you are cold calling, go through management.
Don’t work for free. Instead, do multiple jobs (driver + tour manager + merchandise).

Merlijn Van Veen

There’s no way to tell if it will do you any good, but if you never try, you can be sure it won’t do you any good.

Get involved with local production companies that do international tours.
Last minute calls on FB groups.
There’s no harm in making yourself known. The worst thing they can do is say no.
If an artist or client says something positive about your work, ask if you can put it on your website.

Bob McCarthy

The number one thing [the artist] wants is trust. That this person can listen to them and interpret their music to the people. They’re much more looking for that than super hot shot technical chops.

Get a job on an international music festival.
Knock on the door of a big international touring company.

Darryn De La Soul

Don’t poach gigs/clients.
Work with a rental company. Get on a small tour. Help the supporting bands that don’t have a sound engineer of their own.

Michelle Pettinato

The people who succeed are the ones who are trying to tap out every single avenue they can think of.

Meet production managers and tour managers. They do the hiring.
Work anywhere where touring bands come through and give your contact information to everyone. You have to make a personal connection and build a connection. Check in with them a week later. Do that on a regular basis. Ask for more connections. “I’m just trying to build my contact base. Can you introduce me to someone on this tour?”
Research the trade magazines to learn the names of production managers and tour managers. Use LinkedIn to find contact info.
Tell everyone that you meet what you want and what your goals are. You never know where that connection is going to come from.

 

 

This article Do you want a job as a touring FOH sound engineer? You need to hear this. appeared first on Sound Design Live. Sign up for free updates here.

Loved this post? Try these:
Beyond FOH: Job Search Advice For Sound Engineers
The Best Search Engines For Sound Engineer Jobs
The good, the bad, and the ugly of being a Tour Managing FOH Engineer

Behind the Scenes of the Ringling Brothers Circus Sound System

Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play or Stitcher.
Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

In this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I want to share with you an interview that I did Nate Schneider at AV Shop Talk. We talk about the technical challenges I faced while touring with the Ringling Brothers Circus, how I got my first jobs in the 7 different cities I’ve lived in, and the advice I would give to the 23-year-old me.

Show notes:

All music in this episode by Colin Owens.
Ringling Brothers Circus Out of this World
DiGiCo SD5 Mixing Console
[Video] DiGiCo SD5: Faders
Waves Vocal Rider Plug-in
Nathan Lively Linked-In Profile
Tips for finding work in a new city

Create list of potential employers
Go door-to-door
Get creative with bilingual postcards


John McLaughlin Official Website
“It’s not who you know – it’s what you know” – unknown
“It’s not who you know – it’s who knows you” – David Avrin
[eBook] Master Your Craft – Sound System Tuning For Confidence And Consistency

This article Behind the Scenes of the Ringling Brothers Circus Sound System appeared first on Sound Design Live. Sign up for free updates here.

Loved this post? Try these:
Circus Touring with 21 Channels of Sim 3 Audio Analyzer
Learn from the Sound Engineers for Tori Amos, Prodigy, and The White Stripes Online
Emergency Digico SD5 Optocore Procedures

Top 5 Posts of 2016

2016 saw huge changes for me. From joining the circus to launching a full course on system tuning, it has been quite a roller coaster.

Here are the most popular posts of the year ranked by page views.

5 – SATlive + Thomas Neumann: Sound system tuning with a single measurement microphone

Interview with Thomas Neumann about his dual channel FFT audio measurement software SATLive and his single mic sound system tuning techniques.

4 – How Much Do Live Sound Engineers Make?

I updated this article with my 2015 income and expenses. If you would like to submit yours to improve the article, I would be happy to post them.

3 – Growth Hack 2016: 13-Day Career Building Challenge

A short lesson and action step each day from such industry leaders as Bob McCarthy, Darryn de la Soul, Dave Swallow, Merlijn Van Veen, Moldover, Larry Crane, Josh Srago, Ken “Pooch” Van Druten, Björgvin Benediktsson, Harry Mack, and Steve Knots.

2 – Sound System Tuning Roadmap

One of the biggest mistakes sound engineers make with system tuning is jumping straight into EQ, when there are other more important steps like placement, aim, and verification. This is the exact same process I teach people in Pro Audio Workshop: Seeing Sound.

.

1 – Master Your Craft: Sound System Tuning for Confidence and Consistency

Coming in at 31,662 pageviews, this was by far the most popular post of the year.  The video outlines why the need for sound system tuning is greater than ever before and the opportunity it hold to make or break your career. While the book is no longer free, you can download the Cliffs Notes for free here and purchase the book for $7.97 here.

This article Top 5 Posts of 2016 appeared first on Sound Design Live. Sign up for free updates here.

Loved this post? Try these:
SATlive + Thomas Neumann: Sound system tuning with a single measurement microphone
Growth Hack 2016: 13-Day Career Building Challenge
The Five Most Popular Posts of 2013

SATlive + Thomas Neumann: Sound system tuning with a single measurement microphone

Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.
Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

In this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I talk with Thomas Neumann, the creator of SATLive and Level Check. We discuss sound system tuning with some of the really cool features in SATLive, including the Low-Frequency Delay Finder, Delay Suggestion Tool, and Speech Transmission Index measurement. We also talk about:

Why Neumann only uses one measurement microphone in the field;
How to see the amplitude and phase interactions of saved traces;
What new features you can expect to see in future SATLive updates;
The fancy adapter Neumann carries to interface with old Behringer processors; and
Software Audio Console.

Show notes:

All music in this episode by Johan Sveide.
The most common mistakes Neumann sees other engineers making.

They don’t understand dual channel FFT and end up measuring crazy things.
They focus on the amplitude, but not the time. EQ is the last step.


Delay Suggestion Tool

Neumann normally uses the maximum power option. The flat option will sometimes try to remove energy from the sub.
If you get a negative value while measuring the sub, you need to delay the main.


What’s in Neumann’s work bag?

Roland Quad Capture
iSEMcon EMX-7150 measurement microphone
Neutrik line isolator
RS232 to XLR adapter
Microphone calibrator
Bible
Handkerchief


Software: SATLive, LevelCheck, Software Audio Console
Poor Man’s Galileo
Quotes

Be yourself. Don’t try to imitate somebody. Look at yourself and see what you like. What’s your unique selling point? What makes you special? Invest in that. The other way to get jobs is by knowing people and being cheaper, and those aren’t good ways to move forward.
Now you can change everything, which will give you more possibilities, but demands more knowledge.

This article SATlive + Thomas Neumann: Sound system tuning with a single measurement microphone appeared first on Sound Design Live. Sign up for free updates here.

Loved this post? Try these:
Turn Your iPhone into a Wireless Microphone
Tuning vs. Toning A Sound System
Condenser Microphone Review: Edwina

SIM3 is easy. The hard part is figuring out what to do with that data.

Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.
Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

In this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I chat with Dale West and Brian Mohr about the most important things we learned at Meyer Sound’s SIM3 seminar with Bob McCarthy. We talk about calculating phase offset for a frequency range, using lateral aspect ratio to space your front fills correctly, aligning off-axis points of your speakers for even coverage, and debunking line array myths.

Download Dale’s Phase Alignment Calculator

The biggest thing I’ve found in system teching is that if things aren’t behaving in a way that you predicted, you really need to find out why. -Dale West

People have been perfecting and teaching cello playing for hundreds of years. Whereas the science of sound system engineering is only 50 years old. -Brian Mohr

SIM3 is easy. It just delivers data. The hard thing is figuring out what to do with that data. -Bob McCarthy

Show notes:

All music in this episode by Graham Spice.
Software: Smaart, SATlive, Room EQ Wizard, Daniel Lundberg’s Uncoupled Array Calculator
Hardware: SIM3
Other Training: Smaart, Merlijn Van Veen
Math

To convert phase offset to time offset for a frequency range: T = (∆Phase / 360) / ∆Frequency

((60-0) / 360) / (1000 – 250) = .2ms
((60-0) / 360) / (125 – 90) = 4.76ms


Linear to LOG

20xLOG10(Linear)

20xLOG10(2) = 6dB
20xLOG10(0.5) = -6dB


Memorize

20dB = x 10
6dB = x 2
5dB = x 1.8
4dB = x 1.6
3dB = x 1.4
2dB = x 1.25
1dB = x 1.1
0dB = x 1.0
-1dB = x 0.9
-2dB = x 0.8
-3dB = x 0.7
-4dB = x 0.6
-5dB = x 0.55
-6dB = x 0.5


When calculating summation, subtract if polarity reversed


LAR (Lateral Aspect Ratio): the usable lateral width perpendicular to the speaker from 0dB on-axis to -6dB at the edges. Ideal for e.g. front-fill spacing.

60º speaker

FAR (Forward Aspect Ratio) = 1 / sin(60/2) = 2
LAR = 2 / FAR = 1
At 10ft we know the coverage width is 10ft because 10 x 1 = 10


90º speaker

FAR = 1/sin(90/2) = 1.42
LAR = 2 / 1.42 = 1.4
At 10ft we know the coverage width is 14ft because 10 x 1.4 = 14.






Quotes

The biggest thing I’ve found in system teching is that if things aren’t behaving in a way that you predicted, you really need to find out why.
SIM3 is easy. It just delivers data. The hard thing is figuring out what to do with that data.
Anyone who has ever tried to do their system tuning with a graphic EQ and RTA has either not done so again or gone into video.
You can’t solve acoustic problems with electronic solutions.
People have been perfecting and teaching cello playing for hundreds of years. Whereas the science of sound system engineering is only 50 years old.
There is this idea out there that line arrays focus low end energy, but that’s not what they do. They focus the cancel.

This article SIM3 is easy. The hard part is figuring out what to do with that data. appeared first on Sound Design Live. Sign up for free updates here.

Loved this post? Try these:
How To Find Speaker Coverage In One Step
How To Tune A Sound System In 15 Minutes
Tuning vs. Toning A Sound System

SIM3 School with Bob McCarthy: Our biggest takeaways

Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.
Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

In this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I chat with Dale West and Brian Mohr about the most important things we learned at Meyer Sound’s SIM3 seminar with Bob McCarthy. We talk about calculating phase offset for a frequency range, using lateral aspect ratio to space your front fills correctly, aligning off-axis points of your speakers for even coverage, and debunking line array myths.

Download Dale’s Phase Alignment Calculator

The biggest thing I’ve found in system teching is that if things aren’t behaving in a way that you predicted, you really need to find out why. -Dale West

People have been perfecting and teaching cello playing for hundreds of years. Whereas the science of sound system engineering is only 50 years old. -Brian Mohr

SIM3 is easy. It just delivers data. The hard thing is figuring out what to do with that data. -Bob McCarthy

Show notes:

All music in this episode by Graham Spice.
Software: Smaart, SATlive, Room EQ Wizard, Daniel Lundberg’s Uncoupled Array Calculator
Hardware: SIM3
Other Training: Smaart, Merlijn Van Veen
Math

To convert phase offset to time offset for a frequency range: T = (∆Phase / 360) / ∆Frequency

((60-0) / 360) / (1000 – 250) = .2ms
((60-0) / 360) / (125 – 90) = 4.76ms


Linear to LOG

20xLOG10(Linear)

20xLOG10(2) = 6dB
20xLOG10(0.5) = -6dB


Memorize

20dB = x 10
6dB = x 2
5dB = x 1.8
4dB = x 1.6
3dB = x 1.4
2dB = x 1.25
1dB = x 1.1
0dB = x 1.0
-1dB = x 0.9
-2dB = x 0.8
-3dB = x 0.7
-4dB = x 0.6
-5dB = x 0.55
-6dB = x 0.5


When calculating summation, subtract if polarity reversed


LAR (Lateral Aspect Ratio): the usable lateral width perpendicular to the speaker from 0dB on-axis to -6dB at the edges. Ideal for e.g. front-fill spacing.

60º speaker

FAR (Forward Aspect Ratio) = 1 / sin(60/2) = 2
LAR = 2 / FAR = 1
At 10ft we know the coverage width is 10ft because 10 x 1 = 10


90º speaker

FAR = 1/sin(90/2) = 1.42
LAR = 2 / 1.42 = 1.4
At 10ft we know the coverage width is 14ft because 10 x 1.4 = 14.






Quotes

The biggest thing I’ve found in system teching is that if things aren’t behaving in a way that you predicted, you really need to find out why.
SIM3 is easy. It just delivers data. The hard thing is figuring out what to do with that data.
Anyone who has ever tried to do their system tuning with a graphic EQ and RTA has either not done so again or gone into video.
You can’t solve acoustic problems with electronic solutions.
People have been perfecting and teaching cello playing for hundreds of years. Whereas the science of sound system engineering is only 50 years old.
There is this idea out there that line arrays focus low end energy, but that’s not what they do. They focus the cancel.

This article SIM3 School with Bob McCarthy: Our biggest takeaways appeared first on Sound Design Live. Sign up for free updates here.

Loved this post? Try these:
SPECIAL REPORT: Sound System Design for Small Venues with Bob McCarthy
Sound System Design And Optimization with Bob McCarthy
BOOK REVIEW: Sound Systems: Design And Optimization by Bob McCarthy