Last month, I wrote about the role played by using near-field studio monitors during band rehearsals. This month I will concentrate on show applications for these small but very useful speaker systems. During rehearsals, I ran these speakers off the console’s monitor bus as one would in a studio. Once we are out on the road and working, I use a different output configuration to drive the near-fields. Because I don’t want the output signal interrupted whenever I PFL an input channel or AFL a VCA group or output bus, I put the near-fields on their own stereo matrix output, instead of using the console’s Monitor Out. The monitor function is reserved solely for headphones.
» Signal Flow
The Avid VENUE console has eight stereo output matrices available. I use one each for Main Left/Right Out, Near-fields, Record, and Video. That still leaves four free for auxiliary uses. If I am using the Lake processing equipment I customarily employ on tour, I create the following groups on the main page of the tablet computer. On subsequent pages, these large groups are then subdivided in descending steps down to the most basic individual control elements. The following are the main control groups I use for a theater show:
All PA System
All PA
Main Left/Right Flown
Main Left/Right Ground
Mono Subs
All Frontfills
Mono Inner Frontfills
Mono Outer Frontfills
Mono Under Balcony
Mono House Delay
Near-Fields
This configuration gives me maximum control over gain, crossover drive levels, EQ and delays for the various speaker systems deployed in the performance space. It also allows me to mute the entire sound system with one click if I need to do a bit of private listening on the near-fields. The Lake system’s AES digital inputs are fed by a combination of stereo and mono matrix busses soft-patched to the VENUE’s eight AES outputs.
» The Near-Field Solution
I find that near-fields are especially invaluable in those theaters in which the mix position is stuck at the back wall of the orchestra section, hidden deep beneath the balcony overhang. Even if the theater has been both diligent and generous enough to install under-balcony speakers, Murphy’s Law will require that the FOH mix position will be placed in a location at which the engineer is in the worst possible position to hear any of them.
In this less-than-desirable situation, I have come to rely on the Genelec 1031s. These self-powered enclosures are small and light enough to be placed on top of any console’s doghouse and the high end is crisp enough to help me hear a balanced mix without offending the patrons around me with excessive volume. I don’t use the subwoofer in this particular circumstance, because my main goal is to increase articulation and low frequencies seem to be the least impacted by the theater’s physical deficiencies.
» The Setup
Not surprisingly, one of the most valuable pieces of gear in my FOH workbox comes from a camera shop or sporting goods store. I often use a good quality laser rangefinder to determine the various distances from the main array to any of the locations at which I am listening. A device that computes ground plane linear distance, height and hypotenuse distance is the most versatile and will yield the most accurate results. Shooting the distance and then dividing by 1.1 gives me a good ballpark number from which to start lining up the various audio elements I may be hearing. Personally, I like tuning and aligning the entire system setup by mind, eye and ear but computer assisted systems such as SMAART or SIM are perfectly valid tools as well.
I always set up the near-field delay and level last — after I am certain that the arrival times of all the other audio sources already line up in the most advantageous way. As a general rule for determining when all the delays are properly set, the point of reference should always be the stage. Audience members should be minimally conscious of the fact that they are listening to distributed sound sources. For under-balcony or upper balcony arrays, I always set delay times three or four milliseconds long to ensure that aural focus is directed toward the performance and not the ceiling. I next set the volume level right at the point where it cannot be determined if the delayed speakers are actually in use unless they are turned off.
I then configure the delay on the near-fields in exactly the same way. However, I run the near-fields at a hotter level because a mix position located deep under a balcony is adversely affected by several acoustic problems. By far, the two most difficult hurdles one must overcome are the loss of high frequency content and the overall attenuation/compression created by the architectural structure. Most FOH mixers have a volume and frequency comfort zone in which the show just sounds right. I use the near-fields to make up for the volume and high-end loss and strive to best simulate the sound of acoustic environment in free space. This keeps me from mixing too loud for the rest of the room or making the system too bright.
» In the Real World
At the time of this writing, I am working with James Taylor at a corporate event at the beautiful Four Seasons Manele Bay in Lana’i, Hawaii. However, the mix position in this ballroom is located at the far right rear corner of a rectangular room that is approximately three times wider than it is deep. This less-than-perfect circumstance is immensely ameliorated by the use of near-fields. We have all encountered this problem — especially at corporate events that consider sound and lighting control areas as unwelcome incursions into the decorating scheme.
As soon as I made aware that a FOH mixing position has been located where it’s impossible to hear one side of the PA, I always require that near-fields be provided. That way I don’t have to trash the detailed stereo mix that I’ve carefully created and revert to mono just so I can fully hear the balance all of the instruments. At this particular event, there are two main left/right four-deep arrays of Nexo Geo systems. On each side, there are additional two-deep arrays hung about 20 to 30 feet further offstage. My greatest challenge has been manipulating the various arrival times to a location that is way outside the audio sweet spot.
I will also use near-fields in a particularly reverberant space so that I can resist the temptation to turn up the PA in a futile attempt to hear better articulation. More volume from the sound system has never defeated a bad room. It’s a far better idea to adjust the setup to best accommodate a negative acoustic space and then trust your system engineer to perform all of the “on-the fly” tweaks during the show. I use the near-fields to get into a comfort zone and I try to stay there during the show.
Excessive reflectivity and reverberation are generally problems one encounters during an arena or shed tour. In most of these larger venues, there is adequate setup space and distance isolation from the audience to use larger near-field systems. I therefore carry the 12-inch Tannoy T12 Dual Concentric monitors on most arena/shed tours. Judicious use of good, reliable near-fields will help to keep you focused and out of the negative headspace that bad sounding rooms can all too easily impart.
One final reason for regularly having near-fields at FOH is the artistic requirement for constantly updating a mix. When I have the time and space in an arena or shed, I will set up the near-fields and run a bit of the previous night’s show so that I can have instant feedback on the progress of the overall mix, the correctness of snapshots and the effectiveness of effects, inserts and equalization. I revert to the system EQ I created at rehearsal on the 1031s and the sub if those are what we are carrying or the full-range rehearsal EQ on the Tannoys. One should never stop crafting the presentation or sit on one’s laurels — even mid-tour. I often marvel at how the luxury of carrying a multitrack recording system has now become a day-to-day necessity. What used to require its own truck now fits easily in a 17-space shock-mounted rack. What an age we live in!
Safe travels, everyone!
