There are a lot of great things about live audio and what we do as engineers that I really appreciate. It can be fun, exciting, entertaining and rewarding while, at the same time, providing us with a decent livelihood. The hours are often long, but we are neither shoveling manure, risking our lives (unless you're a rigger), nor are we working in a dead-end 9-5 job.
We are warriors living each moment as fresh and new, alive with the call of the road and the novel demands of the different venues we set out to overcome and conquer on a daily basis.
Standing tall, we take a fierce pride in our determination to win against all odds. Head to head, back-to-back and shoulder-to-shoulder, we hold strong against the onslaught of frequency chaos, equipment malfunction, improper gain structure, deadlines and the dreaded feedback. Surrounded by ignorance and indifference, we are required to fight and win a war which our clients fail to recognize even exists.
Sharp-witted and aware, we attack each of the situations presented to us with cunning and guile, pressing forever forward in our march to keep the hell hounds of audio destruction at bay. Unrelenting as we struggle forward in our quest to provide the best equipment and the ultimate sound in a timely and courteous manner, appeasing and pleasing not only the client, but the band, the venue and the audience as well – but who cares?
No Compromises?
Other than the warrior engineers and stagehands attempting to create a technical masterpiece, or the sound designer who endeavors to capture and transmit the audio essence of a band by creating a sound system of flawlessly balanced components that is perfectly situated for the environment, who cares? If the event is a concert, and intended to be heard as such, then I would assume everyone cares, and as long as we all agree that a concert should be viewed as a work of art, then no compromise need be made. The artist is booked to perform their art, and the production team is booked to enhance the artist's performance by practicing their art of technical expertise. The artist demands certain materials and staging area with which to create their work of art and we – on the technical side – have our needs as well.
A Perfect World
In a perfect world, all performances would take place on a stage no less in size than 40 feet by 40 feet, four feet high. The roof would be at least 30 feet high, and there would be no issues with hang points. The lights would be as specified, and the audio would consist of the latest state-of-the-art system with at least 20 to 24 boxes per side for the main system and 16 on either side to cover the side throw. The monitor position would be stage left and guitar world stage right, with the FOH position being in front of the main speakers no more than twice the distance of the stage's width and with a height of at least four feet. The snake would run through a trough directly from FOH position to the stage, and power would be from a 100A, three-phase service. There would be no curfew or volume ordinance and, if the engineer needed the system to reach 120dB at the FOH position – as specified in his rider – it could be done with headroom to spare. The artist would have complete control over their performance and the audio providers would have total command of their gear and the operation therein. The space would be filled with an artistic sonic and sensual vision.
Art – but for Whom?
True artists need not compromise! No one told Picasso to put an eye on either side of a face, nor did anyone ever tell Monet that his water lilies were out of focus. Was Beethoven ever notified about his music being angry and dark, and did anyone let Brahms know that his music was putting people to sleep? No, of course not, because they were true artists and they were creating art for the sake of art and not necessarily for hire.
On the other hand, Michelangelo, who also created masterpieces, was told to cover up his painted nudity with bits of strategically placed renditions of cloth, while at the Council of Trent the Church censored their top musicians and composers and decreed against all profane music. The difference between the former and latter artists is that the latter, no matter how great, were hired to create their art for an individual or an organization.
These great artists of the past, much like current musicians or artists that sign on to do movies, television or commercials, are constricted by the commercial needs of their client. Whether the agenda is to promote a product or a plot, the artist is hired specifically for that particular reason and not predominantly for their inventive or "free thinking" capabilities. There is a job that needs to get done, and the producer or client hires the appropriate person to complete their vision. Along the same lines, it is the reason that professional sport arenas choose to play Queen's "We are the Champions," instead of one of their other songs, such as "Killer Queen." When a movie producer needs an "Americana" feel, their first choice would most likely not be someone like Giorgio Moroder; instead, a composer such as Randy Newman would be hired to do the job.
Creative Collisions
Audio companies are faced with the same type of limitations as the artists for whom they provide sound. If one is hired to fill an arena with sound, then it's expected that the company will use all its technical and creative energy to do just that. If the same company is hired to fill a living room with sound, they are expected to do so with the same artistic and technical integrity, regardless of who the artist might be. Unfortunately, as a small regional company, our "artistic" expression is often compromised by the mere fact that so many event producers "know not what they do" and pass on the detritus from their poor decisions to the production team.
Case in point: A producer booked a Grammy Award-winning R&B act at the Bartos Forum within the New York Public Library for a WebMD dinner party. I'm sure that the event planner had the best intentions, but putting an R&B artist who was internationally known (except by anyone at this particular party) in an 80-by-80-foot room with towering glass ceilings, where one third of the space was to be filled by the stage, band and audio, seems to lend itself to artistic compromise. The rest of the room was filled with circular tables, bars and buffets and intended for the dining and drinking pleasure of the attending corporate medical professionals.
The money flowed freely, so there was no need to compromise the production due to any lack thereof, and instead of Genie lifts, I opted for sound wings on which to stack our EV XLD line array with four high packs over two XCS312 cardioid subs per side. The XCS312 have three 12-inch speakers, with two in front and one in the back for cancellation. They sound great, and stack perfectly with the XLD high packs, which is a big plus because, as with most of these events, there is more importance given to form rather than function.
It was then that everyone's artistic side began to reveal itself. First off, why any producer would book a well known R&B act who is an unknown among this certain crowd is beyond me, but that said and deed done, it then becomes our responsibility to ensure that the band's rider is fulfilled to the best of our capabilities and that the client's event is a success without the decor being ruined.
All was going to plan until artistic visions began to collide and the band's engineer insisted on having two double 18-inch speaker enclosures per side in conjunction with the XC312 subs. I argued that the XC312s would suffice, but even my FOH engineer argued that the 12-inch subs would not be enough firepower. "You need to feel the punch in your gut," said my engineer. "The low end has to rumble your insides and make you sh*t."
"The only punch these people care about is the one that contains alcohol," I replied. "And maybe we should warn the caterer about the grand plan. Hey yo, Maurice, hold the Foie Gras; we've got double eighteens, and it may get a little messy in here tonight."
Nonetheless, I understand that they were used to a certain speaker configuration, and when someone says R&B, the first thing that comes to the audio mind is a big round bottom (no pun intended), but considering that the artistic vision for this event was already compromised by the artist accepting an obscene amount of money to ply his trade, a little more compromise was not out of the question. By the way, in the end, most of the people left after the first few songs, and the XC312 provided enough sub frequencies in the room to make the remaining people want to avoid the mocha prune cheesecake…but who cares?
