Who takes the time? (was Fripper Gear Trivia)

[kkissinger@kevinkissinger.com]

Quoting nemoguitt@aol.com:
>
> << How many of you are willing to take the time..... >> asks dennis.....
>
Just to elaborate -- I think most people "take the time" -- just it  
may not be on-site.  I've given the topic some thought.

Actually, I've taken a lot of time and have to think strategically  
since, unlike headliner performers, I am not granted luxurious amounts  
of setup and sound check time.

When I work in 5.1, I calculate the delays based on the maximum  
separation distances of the speakers -- based on my best estimate.  It  
is ok to add a little additional delay time as a "buffer".   The  
problem is, with too little delay time, people seated close to the  
rear speakers will perceive the sound coming from the rear when it  
should be the front.  Of course the opposite is true -- when the sound  
source comes from the back, the reverb to the front must be delayed by  
at least the physical delay time from the source speaker.  This also  
holds true for left-to-right.

Getting back to stereo -- To center pan sound means that listeners  
will percieve ALL the sound from the closest speaker (the Hass  
effect).  A minimum system should have a middle channel to get around  
this problem but about the best one can do is center pan stuff while  
realizing that other than listeners that are seated exactly between  
the speakers others will loose the center imagery.

For this reason, I simply place source material in discreet speakers  
and try to avoid center panning.  Any reverb "padding" is delayed and  
shared between speakers however I place source material in single  
speakers.  The only exception is when the sound is intentionally  
panned -- then a slide from one speaker to another works ok.

My ideal system would have at least eight discreet channels, plus a  
sub channel but my software only supports 5.1 so that is that.

OK, forgive the digression -- in my mind I have a rather grandiose  
soundstage and to deliver it to listeners is the goal and my best  
solution has been to anticipate the setup and adjust my equipment in  
advance.

Ironically, if I were granted, say, an entire day for sound check it  
wouldn't take me that long -- I would have already had the dimensions  
of the room and made any needed adjustments.  All I would have to do  
would be to do some tweaking.

Another "issue" is subwoofers.   I prefer to address them discretely  
rather than to depend on a cross-over network to do the job.  However,  
all the house systems I've played on send the mains material to the  
subs.  What often happens on all but the most sophisticated sound  
systems is that phasing issues cause a kind of muddiness or rumble in  
the low-tenor range -- a function of the intersection of the crossover  
curves between the mains the the subs.  (Again, when I have played  
through top-of-the-line systems, the engineers have already worked  
this all out, and all is well.)  So, what I try to do is to keep all  
but the low bass out of the subs by rolling bass off of the main  
channels and keeping all but the deep bass out of the sub-channel.   
So, in a practical sense, I use EQ as a means of addressing the subs  
discretely.  When in doubt, a 3 to 6 db cut centered around 150hz  
(about an octave wide) doesn't do any harm.

Forgive this long post... the point I make here is that, speaking for  
myself, I have put untold hours, research, experiment, and thought  
into my sound design.

Thus, don't let a quick setup time (such as the quick setup at Y2K)  
give the impression that there isn't a LOT that has gone into it.  In  
fact, I've spent a few hours of rehearsal time simply to set up and  
take down my equipment in 15 minutes.

Oh -- I'm in a much better mood than yesterday.  Not ranting today,  
just thinking-out-loud.

-- Kevin