Dave Rat - Roadies in the Midst

**** Sound Nerd Speak ****

So I found this interesting

http://www.audioprointernational.com/news/625/JBL-rocks-Rio-with-Gabisom

and I was happy in that one of the larger festivals in the world has adopted the double hung PA concept and an honor that something I spent so much effort on, is catching on. And saddened a bit as well that the company did the press releases as if they had come up with the concept on their own. Which is entirely a feasible possibility as the idea of a side by side PA makes a lot of common sense. Had I not been at that same festival:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4FUJA_en___US237&q=Gabisom+Rock+in+Rio+Vertec+Dave+Rat

on the last Peppers tour while touring with a double hung PA, I discussed the concept with that same company, it's feasibility and advantages. Otherwise, I would have given them the benefit of the doubt that they stumbled on the same idea. That is not to say that the Peppers tour was the only time versions of a dual system have been implemented, though to the best of my knowledge, the Peppers tour was the first time it was implemented to increase the headroom and clarity of a large scale line array system.

**** End Sound Nerd Speak ****

**** Other Nerd Speak ****

So, what else is up? Well, I thought this was cool. A 6 Stroke gasoline engine that improves efficiency by adding water injection and expansion strokes while increasing cooling and eliminating the radiator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crower_six_stroke

Kind of a unique and creative way to massage existing technology in a refined direction.

**** End Other Nerd Speak ****

Me? well, I have been reading emails and notes an such sent to me but lax on responding much. So strange how time slows down and all the gaps fill when I stop moving around the world quickly. The question I so often heard, "Where do you get all the time to write the blog?" is now one I find myself asking.

Speaking of time and being honored, I am taking the time to travel up to AES as I have been asked to speak on a workshop forum discussing microphone techniques.

http://www.aes.org/events/125/livesoundseminars/session.cfm?code=L8

Fair enough, I can handle talking about that and what is really cool is that I will be on the forum with none other than Dan Healy. Some may ask "Who is this Dan Healy guy?" Well, Dan not only mixed the Grateful Dead for many years but also was involved in developing the "Wall Of Sound" PA.

http://dozin.com/danhealy/house.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Healy_(soundman)

Oh and if any of you are coming to AES, please come say hello!

And finally as a last note in this picture less blog, I thought this was interesting:

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-cows26-2008aug26,0,3764260.story

Cows naturally prefer to point north, according to Google Earth images. Hmmmm, if credible, it does lend itself to us earthly critters being a bit more perceptive than those who thought not may have thunk.

Dave Rat

Seven months home and the rhythms of tour are as clear in my recollection as the food I ate 7 weeks ago tuesday and even if I mind-smunch my brain deep enough to retrace my steps, I could not possibly recall more than rudimentary guesses as the sensations and aromas have long ago drifted into oblivion. Where does my time go? And why do I let running around in daily circles sponge my life away into gas receipts. How is that important? Yet the desire to get there or here can seem so desirable and crucial and looking back all I see are tail lights and patches and broken things and a few smiles at the moments when I broke free of the pattern. Oh to look forward to a magnetic future that pulls happiness from the monotony. A single phone call holds the power to shift drudgery into closed-eye bliss or to obliterate euphoria into a slap-stinging reality of the past haunts I've created. Run away! but I wont as I have chosen to stay. I have stepped off the moving ship that allowed me to live in the disconnected reality of motion. Sir Isaac Newton, the falling apple on the head guy, once said "an object in motion will stay in motion till acted upon by an outside force and an object at rest is bored." Or something like that. Do we watch the movie or do we strive to be actors? Ooooh! The beauty of disconnected observation. And ooooh, the temptation of jumping into the limelight of celebrity attention. Each with their downfalls both so alluring depending on the moment. Claps and cheers for those who ramp up and are willing to crawl out of their defeats on the way to success. Boos and hisses for those that crawl shifty behind deception to force their greedy goals. Am I wrong to remember gas was $1.50 a gallon when "we" (in the soft and broad unfortunate form) elected that slurring annoyance? Ah, but is it so wrong that the spiraling bumblefuck around us is reinforcing we humans into getting our shit together and bumping up our minimization of crapping on the earth about us? Ah the "Barney Syndrome," the purple dinosaur so bent on happy-cheery and perfect it invigorates resentment in even the most kind hearted observer. A peon propped into power so bent on ass kissing his indebtedness away to the string-pullers that all he touches begins to decay, creates the Barney syndrome in reverse. Here we sit at a hopefully a zero crossing upward as the natural oscillation from dark to light, fight to fun and falling to climbing enters the next stage. Speaking of the cycles and competitions of life, check this out. I would like to say nothing makes me cry but I have spent too many plane flights with sunglasses on watching sappy movies to say that with any integrity, anyway, this video made me smile with watery eyes so I figured I would subject you 'all to it as well:

And out of the ramble and into midst lets go for a wander to see what we can find in the world of France. Meet Christian Heil, the big kahuna creator of the modern line-array sound system configuration. For those of you outside the audio realm and maybe some within, in the mid to late 90's a PA created by a French company called L' Acoustics began gaining considerable traction on large tours with a system called V-Dosc. Immediately all the major players in the speaker building industry started coming up with reasons the line-array systems do not work and are inferior. Then they realized that there profits were in jeopardy so they all copied it. Today, with only three manufacturers that I know of,

Continue reading "Time Sponges and Mind Sparkles"

Before I sweep up the tail end of some straggling Coachella shots, I want to share a bit of a different adventure. As you most likely realize by now, I try and dedicate a percentage of my time sharing back bits of info. Part of the motivation is rooted in the desire to offer glimpses into the touring and sound world that I wish I had when I was getting started while the other part is me trying to capture the memories in a way that wont fade into the abyss of the falling away past. Anyway, though it does not phase me to stand behind a mix board with 100,000 humans dependant on every knob twist, the thought of standing solo on stage and being on the band side of the microphone when the show starts, scares the shit out me. Sooo, what better adventure to partake in than exactly that?

I have been trying to fit it in to my schedule for a while now and finally a gap formed large enough for me to run out of legitimate excuses. "Yes, Gene, I would love to come out to Full Sail University and speak to the students." "Did you say 250 will be attending? Four hour time slot available?" Yikes! Perfect, all good, I am on my way and off to Orlando I headed.

I need a plan, an approach, a way to figure what to say. So my plan was not to have a rigid plan. Since I am headed to a stage, I will approach it a band, minus the whole rehearsal part. My set list will be a folder on my laptop with some pictures that look interesting and have some background. More importantly, what better way to figure out what to talk about than to ask? None better.

I really enjoyed the whole experience, and though I do not have any comparative reference, I am told it went well. Four hours of chatting with and to 250 of my new best friends I felt nothing but welcome from everyone.

Oh, so at the end I tried to take a picture of everyone before they left but the lights were pointed the wrong way and all on me. Since I could not put the lights where the people are, why not put the people where the lights are! "Hey everyone, come up on stage!" I have always wanted to do that, seen so many punk bands do it, never thought I would get the chance!

Thank you Gene and Kristi and Dana and especially everyone that came to hang out with me! Rock on Full Sailers and good luck in your adventures ahead.

That was fun, I could definitely do that again. While I am thinking about it and on the subject of learning and getting into the business, I may as well cover a question I was asked:

"Is it better to go to a school such as Full Sail or learn another way?"

And the answer in my opinion is

Continue reading "The Wrong Side of the Microphone"

The Coachella and Stagecoach Festivals are about 180 miles from home out in the hot and often windy desert. As seems to be the case with any adventure, there is a lot to be seen and learned. Fortunately I was pay attention enough to grab a few pics.

Whoa! Check out this massive propeller farm!

And a bit later I look to my right and what do I see? ...........

Continue reading "Who Woulda Knew!"

"How was Prince?" I keep getting asked. Well, I saw a lot of bands the last few days and several that I really like. The two bands playing here though that held the most hype were Roger and Prince. As I lay in my after show hotel bed rolling over in my mind the few nights past, a contrast dawns on me clearly. Prince with a magnificent show, skills immaculate add in Sheila E, Morris Day and a show that was refined and rehearsed to every detail of talent and impact perfection. Roger's presentation was built on decades of concepts and ideals and talent as well, bold statements, perfect alignments of technology and vision. What is it about Prince's show that has my defenses up and Roger's show that I feel trusting? It was the the words still resonating that were forced into my own and everyone else's ears, that define it best, "What's My Name?, Say My Name!" and watching the crowd respond quasi-unified act as commanded and I realize that Prince's show is all about the perpetuation of the 'ME' that is the 'him' that we are occasionally allowed to call Prince. In what I am sure is was an unintended yet amazingly perfect 'ying and yang' contrast, Roger Waters' show carried message after message focused on the benefit of the 'WE' that is 'us' as a human group and individuals sharing the planet that surrounds us as "Don't be led to Slaughter" floats away on an inflatable pig.

**** Sound Nerd Speak *****

Enough of that and lets take a look at the main stage. 15 deep V-Dosc with triple dV's under, 6 V's over 6 dV's on the side hangs and a thundering 40 Rat Subs across front. 8 of which are loaded and processed separately as they are Rat Super Subs and quite a bit more powerful than the standard Rat subs. As things develop down that front, I will share more in time.

Each day FOH changes a bit and consoles come and go with the various bands, here we have a pairs of Digi Design Profiles, Midas Heriti 3000's, Yamaha PM5D's and one Lee.

Out in the field there were eight surround sound clusters loaded with 6 to 8 V-Dosc.

Two left, two right two mid field pointing toward the stage and two rear field pointing toward the stage. Plus the midfield clusters had Kudo on the back side as delays and the stage left clusters had ARC's acting as VIP fills. All in all, there was a whole lot of everything everywhere which would account for why we needed eight semi trucks to haul the sound gear out here, yikes!

While we are sound nerding out a bit, check out the new EAW MicroWedge 12's rocking the Outdoor Theater Stage

And loading into the Sahara Tent.

**** End Sound Nerd Speak ****

But more important than the gear, cause anyone with a wad o cash can mish some mash together and end up with a pile o boxes, how about let's start meeting the crew!

**** Mini Ratchella Crew Special Part 1 ****

Grandpa rocks the old school Rat shirt working the Sahara tent.

Hoover bunnies the FOH duties on the vintage Rat rig in the Gobi tent.

Continue reading "Me versus We"

How cool is it when time loops back on itself and the past becomes the present from a differing point of view. When I was 16 I was listening to music as loud as the headphone/stereo combo would get, lost in a state of timeless bliss trying to pick out all four guitars on the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young live album, 4 Way Street. I was 15 years old when I bought the just released Pink Floyd "Animals" record and are there actually a pig sounds in the recording or is it just the swine references that make it seem like they are there?

Anyway, fast forward 30 years and here I sit surrounded by hundreds of surround-sound speakers sprawled out in a giant field. The reality did not hit me until the show and I heard my memories in real time. Me and my friends that built, run and operate this evolving entity called Rat Sound are providing audio for Roger Waters! Who would have knew! Ha, that rules! And not only that, since the moment the show ended and I got done pinching myself, I have been drilling to find memories of a show that was more impressive and amazing.

If if that was not enough, check this out. You know the big pig that is all over the news that got away? The $10K award for finding it pig?

Well, check out piggy's front right paw:.....

Continue reading "Time Circles and Gatherings"

I am back before gone and what better way to keep friends around than to give them free stuff! So, if you are interested and send a letter with a "Self addressed stamped envelope" inside to:

Rat Sound - Stickers
321 Bernoulli Circle
Oxnard, CA 93030
USA

We will drop in 3 Rat stickers and post it back to ya!

---

So who woulda knew that diving into blogging about roadies would be so read? So read that somehow the Spike TV show "ManSwers" found me and sent a crew out to interview me on some roadie-ish stuff. Don't know when it will be on or whether I will end up on the digital parallel to the cutting room floor, but I must admit that it was really fun and I had a blast. Especially the part where I felt very manly while getting my face powdered

The ManSwers crew was super cool and I realized that in a way, they are a special breed of TV roadies that travel in a small herd of 4 in a minivan. And what do roadies love? Yep, you got it, SWAG!!! So to test whether they were truly roadies, I offered swag which they seemed to be quite happy with.

Rock on Sacha and crew!

**** Not Sound but just the same, Nerd Speak ****

What else,,,,, Oh, a special treat for our bloggery friends that use the somewhat awkward combination of Blackberry phone and Macintosh computer. There is now and finally a way to tether your computer to your phone. For those unfamiliar, tethering is where you connect your phone to your laptop via cable or Bluetooth and utilize your cell phone's internet connection to access the internet on your laptop. This is super cool, though a bit slow, as you can surf the web for free from anywhere you have cell service. (assuming you have the unlimited data plan on your cell phone that is). Anyway, tethering with a PC laptop into a Blackberry or similar phone is pretty common and fairly simple. Tethering with a Mac is a bit more illusive as Apple likes to block those kinds of things. But finally the puzzle has been unraveled and Mac users can now enjoy that wonderful internet connectivity freedom that I have come to depend on.

http://www.blackberrycool.com/2007/07/19/005156/

**** End Not Sound but just the same, Nerd Speak ****

Into a fleeting gap in the onslaught of projects streaming by, I wedged in enough time to capture a snapshot of roadie adventure past. Rewinding back to Ireland we find our roadie friends fearlessly braving frigid rain at the base of the majestic Slane Castle. Yes, the Peppers made a DVD and too did the Foo. Puzzling at it is, I realized that in their haste and exuberance of filming the sliver of time occupied by the evening of "rock", both somehow have overlooked what occurred behind the scenes during the bulk of the day preceding. Alas, all is not lost for by sheer luck and a clear sense of the impending obvious, I had spent that August day wandering the roadie encampment with a tiny video camera documenting those roadie creatures frolicking in their natural habitat.

Without further ado, here are three 5 minute shorts of:

Roadies in the Midst - Slane Castle Unplugged

Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm0USJt5ZdM

Part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1XPpC2Hve0

Part 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWrXvR4ejwE

And finally, a parting shot for the day, on a whim I decided that I need some tunes in my office so I headed back into shop world, grabbed a few bits and set myself up a little sound system to enjoy while I work and make phone calls.

Two double 18 cable and two EAW MicroWedge's, a couple thousand watts of power and an MP3 player and I am ready to rock!

See you all soon and would love to hear how ya like the Slane video. I have several more old video tapes from tours past that I can put up if people are into the Rat Roadie Films.

Dave Rat

 

I tour well. Perhaps naturally nomadic or maybe just that I have spent much of my adult life traveling between hotel rooms. Either was, landing myself down in one place for more than a few months is an incredibly challenging process. First there was the hazy shock of solid ground, the realities of washing my own clothes and figuring out the proper food purchase to consumption ratio. The glory of a full fridge followed by the dread of tossing away piles of rotted food only to be followed by scouring the kitchen for something edible. Then sets in the dreaded weight of repetitive patterns. Drive to work, wash car, clean house, being at various places at certain times. All the while fighting the sensation of collapsing freedoms. I tell myself it will be ok once I get used to, I tell myself that tour looks so shiny from a stationary standpoint and try and keep the downsides in focus so I do not slip away into "grass is greener on the other side" envy.

As I navigate the doldrums and desirable aspects of the non roadie lifestyle, the bright spots of my days pull me like magnets past the trenches. One of those magnets is surfing so I would like to introduce you to a few friends that form the core crew. Meet Randy, John, Mac and Ray with whom I spend the crack of dawn surveying the waves before diving into the icy waters. I would like to thank John for the loaner of the rattle snake skin hat for the photo op.

And No Wave Dave who's ability to focus right in on what I call "poking the bear" is a constant source of smiles.

And Gene whom I hold I hold personally responsible for getting me hooked on surfing and spending my mornings hanging out with this motley crew.

Gene and Dave are not part of what they term the "goofy hat wearers." Clearly, I have no issue with it. Speaking of snakes, snaking is a term used to refer to the act of taking off on a wave in front of someone which you can see occurring to Gene in the photo below. You may also notice Gene entering "the bear pose," a clear indication that he is less than pleased with the maneuver.

And to better enjoy the adventure in wave, hey, why not make something a bit different and fun? Hmmmm, how about a custom Surfboard? Well, upon searching through my computer I seemed to have an abundance of a certain logo so.....

I sent out the graphics to Ray and had some silk printed and the Blinky (William Dennis) at Ventura Surf Shop made it up for me. Thank You, the board rocks!

Moving on to another source of smiles, here is a picture of a speaker I made with my mom on Christmas day. Together we worked in my garage just hanging out and though I am not a celebrator of corporate holidays, this was one the best Christmases ever. It is a 6 feet long polished aluminum tube with progressively dense filler and an open back. The tweeter is a bundle of 6 microphone capsules. The sound is amazingly clear and open.

Oh, and I have another way cool aluminum tube speaker coming. Just thinking about that zone and rhythm of building creations in the garage makes me happy.

First in line of the source of "making home being worth while though is being soccer coach for AYSO U12 girls team and going to softball games to watch shorty #1 and #2 rock out on their sports skills.

**** Sound Nerd Speak ****

MicroWedge 12 is out and about and in bloggery modern networking tradition, I even persuaded EAW to embrace an "Official MicroWedge Myspace Page."

http://www.myspace.com/microwedge

How many wedge's have their very own myspace site? Ha ha! Al in good fun and I made a little slide show as well.

Also the official EAW MicroWedge site is up as well.

http://www.eaw.com/products/microwedge

So I head out to EAW about once a month for all kinds of secret designing and such. The all new EAW MicroWedge 15 that is smaller and sexier than the old one, an EAW MicroWedge 8 and Shhhhh.... rumor has it, if I was to spread rumors, that a speaker box like you have never seen of the ultra cool EAW MicroSub 15 could very well be in the pipeline. I so wish I could share the MicroSub 15 prototype pics as it is a design I have been working on for a long long time and finally unraveled the answer to what I believe to be is the most useful and versatile stage sub ever. And it looks cool too!

**** End Sound Nerd Speak ****

Ok, I will try and pick up my bloggery pace a bit from once a month but no guarantees other than I will be back.

Rock On!

Dave Rat