Don't want to get you claustrophobic or anything.
When talking to people that are unfamiliar with sound, I like to point out that we live "under air". We live in a sea of air. Just like fish swimming in water, we live and move through this physical thing that is air. Air molecules are just as solid as water or anything else that is around us, it is that they are not as dense and therefore we can breathe them inside and strip off the oxygen and push out what is left.
The cool thing about this is that is helps to realize the real challenge that live audio engineers have to deal with. It is like taking a dropper and putting a drop of color in the water (like a singer projecting out of the mouth). Taking a hose and sucking that color out, processing it so that it is larger in volume (pun intended) and pushing that out of hoses into the same container of water. The goal is to not get any or as little of as possible of the new larger volume of color back into the little sucking hose, but only get the original drops as produced by the singer. That is the art and science of sound reinforcement.
In the studio, you usually are using headphones or in the case of like a TV show, the new larger volume is actually being put into other containers. This is why you can watch a TV show and the performer can have their mic so far away from their mouths. Unless they need loud monitors, the TV audio guy can open the mic way open and pick them up from far away. But the poor live guy has to put that same mic back into the same pond and is pulling his hair out.
Just like fish can't live outside of water, we can't live outside of our air. It is something to think about.
a lot of truth is heard in the ambience - sharing thoughts and ideas
So who is this . .
- ambientchatter
- somewhere in the middle, United States
- Been in this audio profession for awhile now. . thought it was time to let the world know what actually goes on in this head.
I figure a little about myself is in order. Because, who would want to listen to myself rant. I know that I may not.
I have been in the professional audio world for over 20 years. It is tough sometimes to determine exactly when this "professional" starts from when you start doing audio. I was doing audio as far back grade school and running the events all through jr high and high school in my school, church, and a summer camp that my family attended every year.
So putting a date on this is hard. Maybe it was when I worked with more than 16 channels on a console. Oh that day . . I layed my paws for the first time on a 24 channel console. I was overwhelmed. Knobs everywhere. That was 1986. Already had my own cassette 4 track and produced a little "album" with a sax player friend. He sold at least 15 copies of that cassette.
I have spent the bulk of my experience in the non-profit/church arena. I know that you touring guys out there may not consider that real. But I worked for years with over 40 inputs doing a completely new show every weekend with the same quality expectations that you have with doing the same show night after night.
I did do a year and a half of "touring". Small PA with a single artist, doing a different public school or church each day. I was also the driver and guitar tech. I drove across the US at least 4 times in that stint. Did the "event" in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and had my next "event" in Jacksonville, Florida, USA 5 days later once (drove 90% of that myself due to a "helper" driver that couldn't drive more than 2 hours before having to stop). Heck, how many people can say that they burnt their road vehicle to the ground out in the desert between Needles, CA and Kingman, AZ midday in July. Literally, flames, everything. Rent a UHaul, load the equipment and do a gig in Phoenix that evening. (more on that later)
I was an early digital adopter. Bought first generation BSS Soundweb and Innovason later on. Built a studio with Yamaha 02R's version 1 with 4 ADATS for the decks. Oh the days. . .
I have done Live PA, Recording (both studio and live tracking), Mastered many albums, TV post, TV live to satellite, Film shoots, and "film style" video shoots. Done football arenas, Soccer stadiums in Africa, countless auditoriums, and way too many school gymnasiums.
So I think that I should have some things that might prove interesting and possibly helpful. Don't know exactly what this will turn into but hopefully, it will be an interesting read.
I have been in the professional audio world for over 20 years. It is tough sometimes to determine exactly when this "professional" starts from when you start doing audio. I was doing audio as far back grade school and running the events all through jr high and high school in my school, church, and a summer camp that my family attended every year.
So putting a date on this is hard. Maybe it was when I worked with more than 16 channels on a console. Oh that day . . I layed my paws for the first time on a 24 channel console. I was overwhelmed. Knobs everywhere. That was 1986. Already had my own cassette 4 track and produced a little "album" with a sax player friend. He sold at least 15 copies of that cassette.
I have spent the bulk of my experience in the non-profit/church arena. I know that you touring guys out there may not consider that real. But I worked for years with over 40 inputs doing a completely new show every weekend with the same quality expectations that you have with doing the same show night after night.
I did do a year and a half of "touring". Small PA with a single artist, doing a different public school or church each day. I was also the driver and guitar tech. I drove across the US at least 4 times in that stint. Did the "event" in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and had my next "event" in Jacksonville, Florida, USA 5 days later once (drove 90% of that myself due to a "helper" driver that couldn't drive more than 2 hours before having to stop). Heck, how many people can say that they burnt their road vehicle to the ground out in the desert between Needles, CA and Kingman, AZ midday in July. Literally, flames, everything. Rent a UHaul, load the equipment and do a gig in Phoenix that evening. (more on that later)
I was an early digital adopter. Bought first generation BSS Soundweb and Innovason later on. Built a studio with Yamaha 02R's version 1 with 4 ADATS for the decks. Oh the days. . .
I have done Live PA, Recording (both studio and live tracking), Mastered many albums, TV post, TV live to satellite, Film shoots, and "film style" video shoots. Done football arenas, Soccer stadiums in Africa, countless auditoriums, and way too many school gymnasiums.
So I think that I should have some things that might prove interesting and possibly helpful. Don't know exactly what this will turn into but hopefully, it will be an interesting read.
Sites that I frequent. . .
- Vacations to Go - Their 90 day ticker for cruises is very hard to beat
- Worry Free Vacations - Cheap vacation site I have used many times, but seems to be going away soon
- Children's Safe Drinking Water Project - I am impressed with this PUR product
- Flyer Talk - forums for frequent flying programs and other travel stuff
- Medic Batteries - Inexpensive battery supplier that I have used for years
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