Octave Communications

Sound Reinforcement Basics For Musicians & Artists.

( Ver. 1.0 )

By: Nandan Gajendragadkar

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Technical Gyan: 1. 2. Sound propagates through medium in form of waves. Waves get obstructed or deformed if there is obstruction between the source and the listener. Human hearing follows logarithmic and not linear pattern, therefore in human perception 100 dB SPL sound is not double of 50 db SPL sound (it is 32 times louder). For human hearing 10 dB SPL more sound is double the sound i.e. 100 dB SPL is double sound when compared to 90 dB SPL. Because of logarithmic nature of sound, doubling of loudspeakers and amplifiers (when they are perfectly matched and are in phase) does not double the sound, it only increases sound by 3dB SPL which is minimum noticeable difference between loudness of two sounds. For doubling loudness of sound more then 8 times of original speakers and amplifiers is required. A human adult can only hear sound frequencies between 40 Hz and 13 kHz (13000 Hz). Each sound is given its own character because of frequencies that are involved in producing it, their relative intensity and the manner in which the frequencies and/or their intensities vary with time. Perception of loudness of sound varies from person to person; an individual who is constantly exposed to loud sound will have his permanent hearing threshold shift, such person would like to hear louder sound than a normal person. An artist has to understand that sound which he can not perceive as loud could be loud for his audience &/or his co-performers. The marketing gimmick watts (P.M.P.O.) has practically very little relevance explaining loudness of a system. Proper term used to describe amplifier output or speaker output in electrical terms is watts R.M.S. (note that R.M.S. music power or R.M.S. program power are typically twice of R.M.S. power) Good quality sound system is expensive because it evenly produces entire/specified frequency spectrum (linear response). With identical power input a good system produces louder sound than a cheap system. Also, a cheap system looses its loudness and produces more distortion after its drivers get hot in 20-30min. of use. A cone transducer (speaker) and a compression driver (high) produce good loudness and good linear sound only if they are perfectly tuned to the cabinet (box) and/or flare that house it. Thats why reputed performers and event managers insist on leading branded systems. By: Nandan Gajendragadkar

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What should an artist know and do to get optimum result from Sound system Engineer. 1. Explain to the sound engineer nature of program (Sugam sangeet/ Rock etc.). 2. Discuss and identify maximum expected audience. 3. Discuss on stage artist placement with sound engineer. 4. Inspect the venue with the system provider; if it is not possible then explain to him in detail the venue and its acoustic nature (i.e. reverberant room, dead room etc.). 5. Always be precise in telling your requirement/s to the system provider a. b. c. d. e. f. Singers and kind of musical Instruments that are going to be used. Number of microphones required. Type of microphones required. Kind of microphone stands that your team will need. Line-in inputs for electronic instruments. Kind of monitoring and number of monitors.

6. Always reach the venue well before time, get yourself introduced to the sound guy, after all its your performance. No matter how good you perform, its no use if does not come good out of sound system. 7. Discuss the kind of effect that you want to use for your voice/ instrument with the sound guy. Tell him exact name of effect that you want to use, memorize its name Reverb, Delay, Echo, Flanging or its combinations. Sit with sound guy till you get it right. Also remember, not all live sound mixers have built-in facility to mix effects to monitor output (so that artist listens to what he is playing/singing). 8. It is expected that an artist needs to hear the same sound that he is getting out of his instrument/vocals so that he can correct/change his instrument settings and/or his/her voice as per performance demand. Unless absolutely essential there is no point asking sound engineer to change hi, mid or low for monitor sound. Only alteration that an engineer can be asked to make is for the relative loudness of sound in the monitor mix. Channel Eq.s are set as per FOH (Audience speakers) requirements. 9. Monitors are set exclusively for performers. There is no point cribbing about monitor settings. Sound engineer sets monitor only as per artists instruction; sound engineer at the FOH console can not hear the sound of monitor. Reach the venue well-before time and get your monitor set as per your requirement. Last minute setting creates trouble and leads to feedback and howls. By: Nandan Gajendragadkar

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10. Place your microphone close to mouth or instrument, its head pointing away from the monitors. 11. Once monitors are set and sound check is done, do not change gain setting of your electronic instrument (unless told by sound engineer). Increasing gain from your instrument will cause distortion at mixer input level and reducing it will cause too little signal being present for mixing. 12. Always carry your equipment power cord and extensions with you. Ensure that equipment is working fine. Carry good interconnect cables with you. Ensure that you are able to provide line-out cable your-self. 13. In-case of equipment failure or bad acoustic venue, remember to cooperate with Sound Engineer. Best of equipments fail at times. Remember you are the showman and what matters to audience is your performance. At critical times it is your art and presence of mind that can save your performance from going haywire. 14. If you have sour throat or equipment problem discuss it with sound engineer. Together you can minimize the problem. Not taking Sound Engineer into confidence and putting blame on him will not help. Remember he too is a smart guy. 15. Remember you will get what you have paid for. Do not expect top quality equipments and service for peanuts. 16. Always consider sound provider as your team member; it is because of him your audience will be able to appreciate your performance and it is because of you that he will have his job.

By: Nandan Gajendragadkar

Octave Communications

Basic dos and dont for Event Manager/ Program organizer : 1. 2. 3. 4. Ensure that you identify and book trusted Sound Provider and professional audio engineer in advance. Have written contract with sound provider for the required system and your payment schedule. Stick to your word, it makes job easy. Always ensure that sound and equipments reach the venue and are set well before start of an event. Provide Ground Support to the sound provider well within time (e.g. elevated platform for speaker placement, tables, chairs, generator, power etc.). Usually, it is observed that because of support system being not ready, sound is not installed on time. Realise that audio is critical to any event/show and requires time to set-up. Give it due respect. Take necessary legal permissions for sound in advance. Discuss power requirement with sound provider and provide him with clean and stable power (for India 230-240 V AC @ 50 Hz) of required Amperage. If a generator is being used, make doubly sure that it is a silent one which indeed matches required technical specification (read KvA) provided by/to you. Ensure that no other equipments or lamps are connected to sound systems power line, this is important because electric motors, chokes, loose wires, Dimmer Packs add hiss and hum in AC lines which are then amplified by sound system. Introduce your Sound Engineer to the artists/ performers. Never create panic before start of a program. Let your sound provider take his time to do sound set-up. Ensure that you provide the system Engineer with program it-nary and details; no surprises. Post program, dismantling an installed system takes time, instruct ground support accordingly.

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By: Nandan Gajendragadkar