Dave Rat - Roadies in the Midst

More Homework

So just as I did for the Coachella sub setup, I set a few goals and restrictions to see where that would take me with the design. And just as I did with Coachella, I have the honor of being able to run the designs by Scott Sugden from L'Acoustics who has the skills, experience and software to sort through the options. I really do feel fortunate to be able to not only try and figure out cool solutions but also to have the support people and sharp humans that can help me implement these things on a fairly large scale.

Lets start off by clarifying a simple rule of thumb regarding configuring speakers.

The wider you stack speakers horizontally, the narrower the coverage is horizontally. The higher you stack speakers vertically, the narrower the coverage is vertically. This is counter intuitive at first as it is tempting to stack speakers wider and wider to cover a wide room. When using horns and with mid and higher frequencies that can be easily controlled in their directivity, stacking wider for wider coverage can work well. But the rule of thumb is based on multiple speakers reproducing the same signal with their coverage patterns overlapping.

With sub woofers, overlapping coverage patterns are all but unavoidable, so the rule of thumb works well, especially with larger arrays.

OK, so the premises I am following are:

1) Horizontal sub arrays reduce horizontal coverage and create a power alley in the room center reducing coverage to the sides. - I need to keep the sub arrays compact horizontally.

2) Vertical sub arrays tend to reduce vertical coverage. A flown vertical sub array further messes up vertical coverage due to the reflection effect. I will try to keep the subs on the ground.

3) A stacked vertical sub array is a bit more forgiving in its vertical coverage than a flown array. Yet more concerning is that the tall ground stack in an arena will usually block sight lines unless it is behind the band, and we surely do not want the band in front of the low end I am going to dumping on the audience. Keep the sub array compact vertically.

4) A stage center horizontally ground stacked sub array blasts the front row of humans and tends to arch over backwards onto the band. Even with a cardioid sub array placed stage center, my experience is that, having the singer just a few feet from the primary subs generating enough lows for an arena creates an inevitable mess. Avoid putting lots of subs stage center.

5) The setup must be easy, repeatable and be able to cover the venues without the time consuming tedium of meddling with multiple interacting delay times every day. I want two or three clean presets that I select from. Maybe a 180 degree coverage, a 220 degree and a 270 degree. Create a sub setup that allows changing coverage without re stacking.

6) Finally, as with any useful idea, the less negative side effects, the better. So the sub array ideally should not reduce venue capacity, block sight lines, push out the barricade, look ugly, or cause any issues for backline, lights, video or any other department. Plus it would be really cool if it was easy and fast to setup.

Hmmm, that really tilts toward putting subs on the floor and off to the sides as the best of the options without diving into an some esoteric 3 dimensional flown sub arrangement that would change the rules a bit. In order to reduce the power alley effect, creating a sub woofer setup where each side has a bit of reduced coverage in the room center should help.

Anyway, based on those parameters and keeping in mind the quality of the overall show as whole, the most finessefull solution seemed to be to refine the sub cannon design for added control and improved coverage. Reducing the quantity of forward facing subs towards the stage middle would be good as well.

Here is the Peppers sub configuration drawing for the 2006 -2007 tour

And a picture of it

I will also need to account for the fact that I will be using the L'Acoustics SB28's rather than the Rat subs I had on Peppers tour. I love the Rat subs and with the new Rat Super Sub, the added power is awesome. But Rat Sound has the privilege of being one of only two vendors with a K1 system in North America during this pilot phase of the K1 system release so both Rat and L'Acoustics really are focused on keeping it all intact as a complete system so we can really learn the rig and share what we experience with the manufacturer. That is not to say that it can not be augmented, but for the primary system it is all about a matched L'Acoustics rig.

So I am going to walk the line between off the shelf L'Acoustics with a bit of optimization based on my past experience and setups.

Picture time. This is pretty much the way I start projects. First establish a rough goal based on fulfilling the need or solving a flaw to what is existing. Next start drawing pictures and try and cover all possible permutations regardless of whether they are feasible or not. I then sort through the pictures and weed out the weak ones, hopefully settling in on a small range while weighing the assets and issues. Finally refine, redraw, build and test the winners out.

Just to give you an idea of some of a few of the 20 or so layouts I went through, here are some really rough stage right sketch's that did not make the cut for this tour.

The Fan. This would have the rear three at zero time and a delay added to the front three. I never ran projections as it was too big for what I am working on here.

 

The Focus. With all the work on the design of the EAW MicroSub, I have been diving into and using mechanical coupling arrangements, this is a triple sub setup seemed interesting. The delayed center can be timed to steer the coverage a bit. Never tested it and it seemed to be too limited in control.

Two behind three. This is a 12 x 12 foot and cumbersome. But perhaps you can see where I am headed with attempting to have control over the forward fire, diagonal fire and side fire while offering some cancellation on the stage and behind the subs where the monitor position and techs will be.

The Quad. The size is getting better and with subs pointing forward and to the right combined with delays it could offer some control. I really want power delivered about 45 degrees to the right of center. That tends to be the longest shot in an arena as well as a place where people will not be really be too close to the subs due to sight lines.

The Circle. Similar, and though you often hear that subs are omni directional, it does not take a rocket scientist to walk around the back of a subwoofer and hear that they are a bit louder and more direct sounding in front. This sub circle could have all subs facing inward or in several differing directions.

 

The Split. The next one actually is pretty good and fits in an 8 by 8 foot area. I could time delay it it for a 0 degree, 45 degree or 90 degree focal point. A bit light though, I was hoping to get 12 SB28's per side and to match the stage height so I am looking at 3 per stack. Meaning this is a 9 sub array. The sub on the right would add power to the side while offering some cancellation on stage. The sub up top in the drawing adds power forward and cancellation behind. the interaction between the top and right subs should cause some cancellations to the upper left power alley area and lower right 135 degree off axis area. By messing with levels a bit, the coverage could be altered a bit. Plus the distances are hovering around that magic 1/4 wavelength of 60 hz range which is useful for cardioid sub configurations.

Oh, and let me not forget the most important part. The Carpet.

How can we possibly do a rock show without a nice fuzzy carpet to stand on!

Next up, more subwoofery stuff, some simple cool measurement tools and running it old school style.

Dave Rat

Here we go Blink 182 and cool rock show. I have not really figured out my direction yet as far as blogging and adventures but in the mean time, I may as well rock on the tech side of things. Will work on losing my mind later.

The Los Angeles Forum was the playground for testing and getting things dialed in.

So what is new for this tour? Well, the new K1 rig is a monster! Truly some breathtaking horsepower, V-Dosc with nitro boost. Aside from the significant jump in clarity, it can pump enough low end from the main hangs to make the subs almost optional.

Similar to the Peppers rig, I am once again using an 8 foot by 8 foot sub array with a blow through aluminum grate on top that doubles as stage wings. It is a really cool way to go as it gives me a lot of freedom with the sub design without eating up valuable floor space while keeping the setup clean visually. My goal once again is to attack the issue of whimpy low end off to the sides of stage and while gaining control over how much power alley there is.

For those non-soundy humans, power alley is the term used to describe the area down the center of the venue where the low end tends to be more powerful than elsewhere. So in itself I guess a 'power alley' is good for the humans hanging out there but that also means that everywhere else is not a power alley. For some odd reason, it has become a commonly accepted practice to have a strong power alley. Personally, though I love the low end power, I really work hard to get the sound as consistent as possible throughout the venue. Forget power alley, I want a Power Valley and I want everyone in it!

Easier said than done. Turns out that if you stack horizontal sub arrays on the left and right sides of the stage, they will be loudest midway between them while off to either side of center the low end drops off quickly. One solution is to put all the subs in the middle which works fairly well and also tends to completely wipe out the band on stage with low end. Also, the center sub thing tends to really smear the heads off the humans parked in the front rows.

Another method that is becoming more common is to fly vertical line arrays of subs. This solves the blasting the front row humans issue quite well, offers improved low end off to the sides and a more reasonable power alley. The issues are that the vertical sub line arrays create these cancellation nodes that project like spokes just to the left and right of audience center. The cancellation nodes can be quite pronounced to the point where there are areas with almost no sub right next to areas with powerful sub sound. Another drawback with flown subs is that they create a sideways power alley. By that I mean that there is a power alley effect that offers strong low end at floor level that tapers off as you increase in altitude. You see, the floor acts like a mirror to subwoofers. When you stack subs on the ground, the subs are sitting on the mirror, in effect doubling the energy radiated.

Just as power alley occurs in the horizontal plane (wide vertical, narrow horizontal) with subs stacked side by side on either side of the stage, a vertical power alley is created when subs are flown in a vertical line (narrow vertically, wider horizontal) caused by the interaction between the flown sub array its reflection in the mirror (floor). Since power alley is in effect most pronounced for the locations horizontally equidistant from the subs, with a flown sub line array, the subs are loudest for humans vertically equidistant from the subs and their reflection. In other words, there are challenges in the vertical coverage with the center of power alley at your feet dropping with elevation. For a flat field show this is not really an issue, and can be an asset but in arenas and venues with humans up high, the reduced vertical coverage can be a significant issue.

Several years back I was doing a show where the sound vendor swore up and down that we needed to fly subs. Even after I killed the idea, I was surprised to not only find that they were flying subs when I arrived, but they went on to tell me they were going to fly twice as many. Why? Well, they went on to explain that they were having trouble getting low end into the balcony area of this huge indoor sports venue. After a bit muscle flexing and much to their dismay, I pressed the issue, made them drop all the subs and we ground stacked. I then personally walked the balcony with the head sound tech during the support act. "Better?" I asked. He was quite surprised and fully agreed that the subs to the upper sections issue was solved. The price? Well, I had power alley back in the horizontal again which meant the lows dropped to the sides. But for that venue which was not very wide, the percentage of people that heard solid low end was significantly increased.

Alright, time to fly, more to come tomorrow as I try and regain some bloggery momentum.

 

Dave Rat

Oh so many things going on. Probably the most life affecting adventure for me coming up is a 10 week US tour with Blink 182. Ten or so years ago, I was mixing Blink 182 as they grew from clubs to arena's before returning to do a Peppers tour. Here we are a decade later and it is pretty cool to join them again for a North America shed and arena run. We are going to be moving fast and covering lots of ground with over 40 shows.

So what is the plan rubber band? I have been putting some thought into sound, as one in my position would and pondering what if anything outside of the norm I could or should do. The double hung PA worked amazingly well on Peppers and I am a bit remiss to return to a single hung system.

But hey, each band/tour has unique aspects and based on the dynamics at hand, I have different plan this time out. But, while we are speaking of double hung PA's though, check this out!

 

U2 is doing a stadium tour in the round. Check out that PA, notice anything? There are 3 PA hangs, 2 hangs of Clair full range boxes inside and a hang of Clair subs to the outsides.

Well alright, U2 is touring with a double hung PA, how cool is that! Well actually that would be four double hung PA's. My good friends MC and Paddy who are out with Snow Patrol were kind enough to give me the low down. And yes, it is truly being run the same way as we did on the Peppers with the vocals in one system and the instruments divided between the two systems. That rules, the largest tour in the world right now has a double hung PA! And the desire to shout "see, I am not crazy after all!" while running around doing a naked victory dance is very tempting.

But back from the past, lets look at now and Rat has this cool new L'Acoustics K1 rig that I know is louder and clearer than V-Dosc. Blink is an energetic fun rocking band, so from a sound perspective, I am going to approach it from a clean and simple angle. Nope, no double hung this run. I am excited to take the K1 toy out and see what it can do in a conventional setup before I go getting all wacky with concepts. I am thinking that the new K1 system and it's added clarity and volume, may be able to give the double hung V-Dosc rig a run for it's money.

But I get bored to easy not to do something special so I have been working some sub layout designs, trying to fine tune and improve the sub cannons so if your interested in that sort of stuff, I will post more on later. Also, I have finally put together a little system for measuring venue acoustics in various locations so I can see setups and coverage works as predicted.

In the mean time, the storm before the calm sets in as I realize some sad goodbyes and bearing down upon me. October! , yikes, wont be home till October, that is a rough concept to get my head around, anyway, my little pals that are gals that are going starting high school before I get home.

Meet Taco the little dog pal my daughters have convinced to adopt me and has been hanging tough and keeping my company.

And without looking back cause it hurts my heart, off and away for many days in far away places.

 

Well today is my birthday but more about that later, and just by sheer coincidence, it is also the press release day for the the next product in the MicroWedge series!

**** Sound Nerd Speak ****

The MicroSub Special Report!

A while back I mentioned that there were some exciting new products in the MicroWedge pipeline, well, here is the next one, the new EAW MicroSub 15. This is the an all new design and the first product I have developed with EAW from the onset.

The EAW MicroWedge 12's and 15's designs started with Radian and then working with EAW we were able to bring them to a new level but with the MicroSub, I was able to approach the project knowing I had EAW's capabilities at my disposal. So, I thought I would share a bit of the background behind the design process for these cool little subs.

If you take a look at the subs currently available, you are always faced with a series of compromises and finding a really cool stage sub is kind of a Holly Grail quest. Larger subs have the volume and allow sidefilles to stack on top but then for gigs with sight-line issues, getting them low enough is not possible. The smaller subs work for sight lines and fit on drum risers but getting some real volume out of them can be illusive. Then you have all the eccentric designs with 3rd and 4th order bandpass chambers, steep roll offs and limited frequency ranges which I wanted to stay away from. Though many of those products have certain assets, they also come with issues, I wanted a solid bass reflex configuration that has that familiar impact and clarity.

We as sound vendors, need to be able to supply the sound engineers with something that would solve the challenge of getting powerful low end to the drummer as well as be an awesome sidefill sub covering venues ranging from clubs to arenas. It had to be compact and punchy yet also reproduce very low frequencies.

There actually have been several MicroSub designs over the years, with some making it all the way to being tested at gigs. I have one prototype in my living room that sounds great but lacked some key aspects. There had to be something new and exciting about the product. The final MicroSub design started to materialize when I realized that multiple enclosure should fit together to create a wide variety of coverage patterns and focus distances. This would allow the engineer to easily optimize the sub setup for the artists. I then had this idea to create a subwoofer that allows the end user to create a horn loaded type setup without carrying dead air of the horn. Most horn loaded designs that are just a speaker with a big huge flare of wasted space in front.

What if this sub was designed such that multiples could be configured to form horn loaded arrays or just as easily configure into conventional subwoofer arrays? What if the arrays could be built like "LEGO's" into various shapes that exhibit differing characteristics. Truly mechanical and actually optimized setups rather than digital beam steering emulations? It had to be low profile and stackable. Some gigs require a stage sub that does not block sight lines while others require a stage sub that can elevate the sidefill tops to head height or above. There are lots of various subs out there but I could not find a single an 'off the shelf sub' that fills the bill.

The sound and tuning of a single box was based proven design that has been successful for over a decade, Rat has been using a double 15 stage sub that works really well. The sound is tight and clean yet it is able to deliver low frequencies down to 35hz and it is about 8 cubic feet. So I modeled the internal tuning after that proven product. It had to be scalable and versatile enough to work as a drum sub, side fill sub or configure to throw lots of power onto large stages. I wanted a sub the will effortlessly transition from a club to an arena and back again.

Also, with the proliferation of in-ears, the need for a versatile high quality low profile stage sub system even more timely that ever. Localized and clean low end to augment the the one thing in-ear systems will never be able to achieve, that 'feel.'

The MicroSub is another cornerstone of the MicroWedge series. The MicroWedge 12, 15 and 8's are just the tip of the iceberg. They are but a few products from an entire series that all work together to form the ultimate stage monitoring and near to mid field coverage system and though I will not get into that now, there are more to come.

So this is the culmination of way too many sleepless nights pondering and 4 AM sketches. Rolling over and over in my mind, "where o where to mount the speaker?" Top side, bottom, they all have their issues, I need a 7th surface. Wait, a 7th surface, that is it, the extra dimension I need. A surface that is neither the front nor side nor bottom but rather EITHER the front or side or bottom. I refuse to waste space by pointing the speaker into an internal wall. I refuse to have a dead internal chamber and that is when it all opened up, it made perfect sense, and it became really fun. The slanted baffle offered numerous unique aspects, of course, just the same as the MicroWedge, except a sub. A 15" speaker that lives in a 13" high enclosure and even more interesting is that it can face any direction without blocking the sound, it just alters the loading and the way it interacts with the other MicroSubs.

So I create sketches and start working with the EAW engineers. I started drawing up the basics and got even more excited, could it truly be this versatile yet so simple? Right away, first generation prototypes to see if they really do couple and load as expected. Ah, but the alignment system is a mind bender. Slowly that unravels and a complex pattern of feet and valleys that fit together is created. Handles that double as alignment holes. Alignment blocks that double as rubber feet.

One of the really cool things about working with EAW is their ability to get transducers developed that are optimized for the task at hand. With the Radian MicroWedge, I used an off the shelf Radian coax, for the 12 and made a few minor changes including the impedance of the 2". For the EAW MicroWedges, every aspect of the coaxes was analyzed and refined. Changes to cone shape, thickness, waterproof cone coating, dome, voice coil material, gap, magnet type and strength and on and on. The options are endless and to have the ability to refine every aspect is phenomenal!

Well, with the MicroSubs we did the same thing. Starting with the latest greatest 15's submitted from five loudspeaker manufacturers, we weeded out the week ones, picked three, asked for upgrades and changes, narrowed down to two, asked for upgrades and changes, narrowed down to one, asked for upgrades and changes and again and again and again. Until the aha moment of "that is what we are looking for" is achieved. Oh, and don't for a second believe that I do not keep them all on their toes with my unconventional test methods!

If I can break it, it aint gonna make it!! Fun stuff and it is such an honor to work with Kenton Forsythe and Jeff Rocha and all the engineers at EAW and other companies I have met through EAW.

So back to the MicroSub.

These things can stack, array, they are small, can be on the floor behind the drum riser.

and have the speakers pointed at the drummer rather than the kick drum.

Here is a photo of 2nd generation prototypes. They can stack behind the drummer, off the drum riser or at the edge of the stage for main PA for a club

Ever have a bass player that wants a lot of low end? How about the dream bass wedge setup where the MicroSub 15 can act as large sub wedge and ego riser.! The same setup makes an awesome stereo bi-amp plus sub drumfill as well.

And it is the same height as a MicroWedge 12.

You can stack two up and have them point at the musician close to the sidefill. Or, if you need subs to sit behind a stairway, the angle is a cool asset.

Focus them farther away to the center of the stage

Or perhaps something in between the two last setups. Here the mechanical focus is far but the speakers are pointed 'near.'

Or perhaps a smooth even coverage for the near stage and center stage is needed

For those limited space situations, here is a slick way to get a powerful dual 15" setup in only 13" of depth

Or a simple near fire sub

Or the same with more coupling to the floor

A nearly omni setup

Or another omni setup that allows you to stack on top.

Check out my crude photoshop skills! Here you can see that larger horns can be formed and with a bit of processing, we can get horn loading and directional control. Extend this progression out to increase output, and directional control

They stack and another MicroSub can be added to the top to make a 4 box horn. Notice the first generation prototype below the 2nd gen proto's.

Face them out, or angle them face forward, the options as a design tool to optimize for your application are nearly endless.

 

Ha! Like LEGO! and they all have these inter-fitting feet that line the boxes up into and fit together.

Oh, plus there is a pole cup so.......

A MicroWedge will mount on top of one or two MicroSubs when used in with the MicroWedge pole mount adaptor

So a few more shots of the final units:

Oh, for the official info, check out:

http://www.eaw.com/products/microsub.html

And also, the first pair of MicroSub 15's will be at infocom in Orland this week

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

So it is my birthday and so far it has been wonderful! My day started at 5:30 am with a phone call to Brian Rat, a friend since I was 11 years old and the co-founder of Rat. Two surf sessions and chats and smiles about the ups, downs and appreciations of the three and a half decades we have known each other. Thirty five years, whoa and yikes, Rat Sound will be 30 next year! On one hand, it is pretty incredible that us two knucklehead kids got together and started a company that still survives and has done so many cool things. On the other hand, heck, with young whippersnapper multi billion dollar companies like Google pooping up, I guess us little us old Rat's are just an insignificant speck dust in the big scheme of the real world.

But hey, either way you look at it, Brian and I were estimating that this planet Earth gig has only about 12,000 days left for us before the tour ends. Hmmm, lets see, if the Earth tour length for a male human in the US is 77.5 to 80 years and I am an optimist so I will shoot high, but also, hey, I have been no angel, so I won't overshoot, I would say 82 would be reasonable goal. that means I have exactly 12,775 days left to finish this gig.

Perhaps this pondering may strike some as morbid, yet I actually find it a bit invigorating. A goal and a time frame and so now I am off to pack in as many adventures as I can without getting fired!

Speaking of fire, my mom came by last night with the worst tasting vegan cake imaginable. I have no idea why she was inspired to bring the vegan cake anymore that I can explain the dead plant she brought me as a gift. But, ya know, some things do not require explanation.

And what better way to light 47 candle than a propane torch, well, that is the best I could manage.

Rock on and I am off to see what the rest of the day will bring, wish me luck and maybe I will be lucky!!

Dave Rat

 

Hmmm, wondering if the L-Acoustics K1 Coachella system be referred to in the male or the female context. What do ya think? I can think of some big reasons it could go either way. Though I am tending towards pushing the feminine angle and so with that said, how about we take a good look at her bottom end?

**** Begin Un Censored Sound Nerd Speak ****

RATED Triple N (Must be an advanced nerd to read)

Quite a bit of thought was put into the subwoofer setup for Coachella Main Stage. I had the honor to work with Scott Sugden from L'Acoustics on the subwoofer design and it was really fun. The first thing we did was outline the goals to be achieved:

1) The design must be appropriate looks and location wise. By that I am referring to avoiding an awkward sub setup like one that pushes the barricade out too far or those super tall sub stacks that block video screens and look terrible. The goal is for speakers to be heard, not seen and if it is seen, it should look clean and fit into the look of the stage.

2) The design must be repeatable. I wanted to avoid a 'custom Coachella setup' that relies on taking advantage of unique aspects of the event or placement locations. The goal was to design a sub configuration that could be dropped into any field show and archive impressive results.

3) The design must be scalable. This is pretty simple to hit, but important none the less.

4) The design must be simple to implement. I wanted to avoid a setup that requires taking a bunch of complex time consuming measurements and extensive onsite testing that requires blasting subs for an extended time frame. We want simple, easy and very little room for error.

5) The design must have flexible dispersion/coverage capabilities. One of the coolest aspects of the sub cannon setup I used on Peppers tour was that I could easily widen the sub coverage pattern by increasing the level of the side firing boxes. If the arena sold farther around the sides, I could easily increase the coverage to well beyond 180 degrees. For the Peppers field setup with sub cannons, I could widen and narrow the coverage. We wanted to retain that flexibility while improving other aspects.

6) The design must not involve destructive sound. By that I mean that I did not want any boxes that are used to cancel out sound. Out of polarity rear firing speakers used create cardioid patterns are an un acceptable solution. I also wanted to avoid that whole beam steering thing where a whole bunch of graduated delay times are used to electronically focus. One or two delays I am fine with, but beyond that, too scary and my experience with electronic beam steering is it is one of those 'two steps forward and one step back' scenarios where side effects of db loss and complex coverage patterns negate many of the advantages.

7) The system must be able to convert to conventional sub woofer setup without moving speakers. There will be over 30 engineers mixing on the system at these festivals and we need a setup that will make everyone happy, so it needs to be able to switch to a normal-ish sub setup, should any engineer so desire.

8) The subwoofer coverage of the event must be impressive. The big challenge with subwoofers is that you are fighting two main issues. First is that the wider the subwoofer setup is, the narrower the coverage is. Secondly, the reduced horizontal coverage issue can be addressed by stacking the subs into two tall vertical arrays BUT, those vertical arrays cause these huge V shaped cancellation nodes. If you have mixed on a system with vertical subwoofer arrays, I am sure you have noticed those huge holes just to either side of power alley where there is practically no sub lows. To me, that is an unacceptable ramification.

9) The design must utilize the L-Acoustics SB28 sub woofers. Hey, they are part of our new K1 system and we are keeping the whole deal together and matched up and these subs are awesome!

10) The design should minimize low end bleed onto the stage. On a show this size where we are pumping low end over long distances, it is critical that we can deliver the needed energy deep into the audience with out overpowering our musical friends on stage just a few yards away from the subs.

So as the ideas bounced back and forth, it began to evolve in what seems in retrospect to be the obvious path. Lets combine the SB28's cardioid configurations with a version of the sub cannon configuration.

Before I go on, it is important to note that the L-Acoustics cardioid sub setup does not implement out of phase sound to cancel the rear propagation. Rather, it the rear firing sub is set at zero time delay and the front fire subs 'wait' for the sound of the rear sub to wrap around and then augment that sound. That means that in front of the cardioid array, all 4 boxes are in correct time. But as you walk around behind the boxes, the is a time error increases. This causes an effective cancellation behind the boxes while in front of the boxes it is all in time and good, hence 'cardioid.' Basically it is the same concept as the sub cannons except it requires less physical depth.

So the first thing we did was run some analysis on the arena and field sub cannon setups as well as numerous other interesting and cool sub layouts that Scott has implanted and pondered. What we ended up with is a 6 cluster setup. The primary cardioid sub cluster consist of 6 forward facing and 2 rear facing SB28's set at what we will refer to as 'zero time delay.' The next set of clusters had acoustic centers located 1/3 of a 40 hz wavelength to the outside of that. These outside clusters are the 'cannons' and are laid back in time by 1/6th of a wavelength at 40 hz, such that they augment the sub energy radiated 33 degrees off axis and create a cancellation on stage. These outside clusters consisted of 4 SB28's forward with 2 rear facing.

Finally, there are two small 2 box cardioid clusters just to the left and right of center. These serve two purposes. They act as center fill subs to even out the low end hole that created by being off axis to the main subs and also they act allow us to widen power alley and create an extremely smooth subwoofer coverage.

So maybe that sounds complex or maybe not but either way, the result is simple. Turn up the outside clusters and the coverage expands wider, turn them down and it becomes narrower. Turn up the center sub cluster and the power alley effect is reduced, turn them down and power alley increases. All this was achieved with only two very time delay settings and well thought out but simple stacking locations.

Ha! Well hopefully that got your mind spinning!

**** End Un Censored Sound Nerd Speak ****

While were are diving into all kinds of cool and exiting stuff, check out the MicroWedge 12 Case design. What do ya think? A one human operation to open and close the case.

Plus storage inside for cables, tripod mounts and MicroLegs means the case is fully self contained with all you need after the amp.

Here is the bottom storage, there is another compartment up top as well.

 

I am not through yet, much more to come, like a whole series of arm reach self photos with cool Rat crew and the rock stars of the sound nerdery world. And lastly but not leastly, I would like to mention a new drink that a few of the sound crew has come up with. Vodka straight shots followed quickly with a Vodka straight chaser. Gotta be quick though and hit the chaser before the burn of the shot sets in and be sure to use two different kinds of vodka. Ha! Just kiding or maybe not.

Dave Rat feeling a little mini road fun that I so miss and so happy to be hanging with 'my people.'.

Ooooh, check out the sexy picture of main system for Coachella:

Here you can see the mains and side hang systems and also the 6 cluster subwoofer setup as well. There are quite a few new implementations of innovative theories in the design of the K1. The actual purpose and importance of the K1 Subs in the array is something that people are having a tough time getting their head around and I must admit that early on I was thinking "Why get any K1 Subs and not just buy more K1's, do we really need a third box type?" That was even further reinforced when I heard how much low end the K1 's can reproduce without any subs.

So what do these dual 15" boxes that are identical in size to K1 bring to the table and why do we need them or want them? Heck, for the most part, they are just K1 boxes with the mids and highs missing and I find their existence very interesting. In the mid 90's V-Dosc was new and the only large-scale line array on the market. Then, over the years nearly every major manufacturer has since staked their claim in the line-array bombardment of products. Each attempting some rehash and to add an asset to set themselves above the fray and to be honest, some really nice systems have come out of it by building upon the perceived starting point set by V-Dosc.

So taking a layman's look a line array theory, it basically says that the higher you stack up speakers the more control you can gain over the vertical coverage. With this vertical coverage control, you can do some interesting things like point more speakers far away and less speakers closer. This is cool because you can make it so that it is nearly the same volume far away as it is up close. Iimproving volume consistency throughout the listening area is a huge asset and we like huge assets.

In fact, a line array can be set up such that the volume level stays the same, even as you get farther away. Ahhh, but like everything in audio and life, obtaining something so desirable comes with a price to pay. Up to now line array designers have been addressing the entire audio spectrum with full range boxes plus subs. But the demands of the lower frequencies in the line array vary drastically from the demands of the higher frequencies. To put it in maybe something easier to visualize, the wavelength of the lowest notes we hear are about as long a one of those big rig tractor tailor trucks, including the motory part where the driver sits. The highest notes we humans hear have a wavelength maybe somewhere around the width of your thumb. Hmmm, how many thumb lengths to a big rig?

Anyway this vast differential in the wavelength creates many challenges. One of these challenges relates to the physical length a line array need to be to gain control over the various frequencies. Higher frequencies with short wavelengths only need a small vertical dimension while lower frequencies need an array of a much longer dimension. This is one of the fundamental reasons for the K1 sub. It allows the lower frequencies to have a longer line array length and and help match the coverage/throw of the lows to the mids and highs. Though this concept is natural and logical to line array design, it has been overlooked completely by all the line array emulations. But if the future follows the past, not for long as I am sure other companies will be soon to scramble to follow as it works way to amazingly well to ignore.

In fact the 'low throw' worked so well that we are rethinking the way we implement delay clusters. The natural absorption of HF by the air means sound will get duller with distance and so far, this means that for huge gigs the need to put up delay cluster is un avoidable, but since the K1 has the ability to present a clean tight controlled low end over much longer distances, the demand upon the delay clusters is reduced to only needing HF and perhaps a bit of mids. Running smaller, less obtrusive delays is a very cool thing cause we all know that setting up delay clusters is a pain, screws with sight lines and running low end into delays gets messy because it is so hard to control directivity. There is also another application for K1 subs as well but that will have to wait for a another day.

In the Sahara dance tent we set up mini sub cannons for the 2 side clusters and 2 rear clusters to get cardioid control and reduce bleed to other stages. This was the first year that we had no complaints about Sahara's sound stepping on the other stages. These are 1/4 wavelength at 50 hz spacing and time aligned for forward projection. Plus there is the added benefit of becoming a wonderful stacking surface for the V-Dosc. Say hey to Ronnie!

Not only was this the largest outlay of K1, ever in the world to this point in time, I also think it was the worlds largest outlay of EAW MicroWedge's with at least 50 or so. MicroWedge's did 4 of the 5 stages flawlessly!

So fun and more to come!

 

Dave Rat

Coachella is massive and magical. For sure by now if you follow world of musical news, you have heard at least two things about Coachella 2009. "Paul McCartney played a legendary two and half hour show and the sound was shut off after the Cure went ten minutes over curfew. And surely too, each of these two event descriptions were peppered with some form of journalistic opinions. The heart wrenching moment of Paul's song dedication to his wife on the anniversary of her passing and of The Cure continuing to rock some of their biggest hits to tens of thousands while drenched in a time stopping sonic silence. So being that the there is so much to tell of this weekend's desert adventure, it seems so most logically right to describe it in the wrong direction and start from the end.

Arms in the air eyebrows raised in bewilder, I look at MC, the sound engineer from The Cure and one of the best audio engineers I know. And while his band continues to play, in my normal speaking voice raised above non existent sound I apologize. There was no other option. With the polo field equivalent of house lights on, the band continues to play song and another and another in the surreal time stoppingly endless state we are trapped. "What happened?" Yet the answer we already know, it is the "why" that is still unfolding. Police on the radio's demanding a stop to sound from the massive stage, a promoter trapped in the middle between threats of cancelled future festivals and a crowd of multi thousands and a band playing harder than ever oblivious to the un deniable absence of 350,000 watt PA system pumping their tunes into hungry ears.

"Oh tragic" says the articles, debacle and mishap tossed around as if some huge error was made.

What really did happen? Did the promoter ruthlessly shut of the sound? Was there some behind the scenes conspiracy? Did the band accidentally play past some deadline unaware? Did someone forget to inform someone else or was a mind changed mid stream? Or perhaps, just perhaps, The Cure in their punk rock playfulness, decided to test the limits with a smile just because they can. Just to un bore the masses from their own lives by giving those that wish to say, like me, something to talk about. Mystique, stories and press exploding from the event lifting the notoriety to new levels beyond the quite impressive performance itself.

But as far the putz who threw the bottle at the sound board, come on, don't be so shallow as to miss the enjoyable complexities of the bigger picture, you missed the gear but it was close and hey, you could have hurt someone!

**** Sound Nerd Speak ****

Though in the music world, the incredible performances by too many bands to name will keep blogs and articles buzzing, there was something even more significant that occurred at this Coachella, at least from a sound nerdery perspective. I know what you are thinking and yes, it is true. The Coachella Main Stage saw the the unveiling of the largest L-Acoustics K1 system ever assembled. In my honest and true opinion, I now feel it is confirmed that this PA is truly the newest, latest, greatest and best sounding large scale sound system in existence. Never before have I heard such an overwhelmingly positive response. Not only from the world class engineers we had the honor to work with but from the promoter and humans in general. I am tempted to try and describe it further but it feels too awkward and since hearing is believing I will stop and leave the opinions to others to create.

I know I have been sluggish at blogging and I will try to get back to the enjoyable patterns I miss and left behind. You see, behind the silence and bloggery smiles, I have been immersed in taking on the most challenging financial project of my life. You know when you watch Texas hold'em poker and they get to the end of the game and there is that "all-in" bet? Well, for Rat Sound to get this K1 system, it was kind of an all-in plus all the futures of all-in's for a while to come like an all-in of all all-in's. And hey, I do my fair share of stupid stuff and the best I can tell I can be so good enough at messing things up that I have it covered for a few other people as well, but then there are things that are clear and there is no doubt in my mind and I know must be done right. Purchasing the K1 system was one of those things. When Jon Rat came to me and told me about it coming out, I was skeptical, when Jon arranged a trip to France to hear it, I was skeptical, when I heard it and what it can do I knew there was no alternative. This is the best and we must have it. The fact that the planet earth was in the largest economic down turn since the great depression was just an annoyance. A really big scary and challenging annoyance. And in a nut shell, that is where my mind has been, in a nut shell.

Anyway, you are looking 8 K1 subs, 15 K1's and 3 dV-Dosc per side in the main hangs and 8 K1's plus 3 dV-Dosc per side in the side hangs. On the ground are 32 SB 28's set up as cardioid subs with some Sub Cannon timing (you can't see the 4 subs in the middle). I hope to get into more detail at some point as the setup is super cool with new and refined concepts. The only issue we ran into was that the K1 has such a clean and wide coverage, the side hangs were too wide. I am confident the KUDO would have been a better choice but we used them all in the Mojave tent. Anyway, I hope to dive into all that in the coming weeks.

Oooooh, look at the size of that thing! The whole 'banana' term that is used to refer to line arrays is going to need to be re though. That is one big hang at nearly 40 feet in length

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

Okey Dokey. Sleep and stuff and mental preparation for Stage Coach festival next weekend! Ha, I am so happy to be doing gigs. And speaking of gigs, I took a short little tour in the UK and Europe in May.

The finally getting out and about again,

Dave Rat

If only amongst the turmoil I stole the free moments to document the unbelievable flurry of last month's ride. So that leaves me with looking back in retrospect to share the hazy highlights. The glee of Obama victory waning yet the momentum lingers. I don't care much for 'hope' and 'faith' as they are to me is just versions of self deception, so in my life I have chosen to replace those lazy crutches with a vector of positive momentum. I don't hope, but rather I push pressure in the desired direction to do my best to unravel a desired outcome. Though I can not foresee the how it will unfold, my experience leads me to believe that I can increase the probability of ending up in the vicinity of where I desire. At least that is what seems to happen except when it doesn't.

As tempted as I am to say times are hard, they equally challenging in a wonderful way. Home prices collapse as gas skyrockets only to plummet, the banks dissolve the lines of credit that fuel and support business and productivity trying to bankrupt the unprepared and over exposed. Batten down the hatches as we are deep in the storm.

Last month the one of our banks pulled Rat Sound's credit line with 4 days notice. Not good news indeed as we head into the winter slow down. Fair enough, we were wise to use more than one bank and we have other resources. Off to find a new one and a bit of time and a brand new credit line. Then same thing happens to me personally, a letter saying I used to have access to a home equity that is now near zero. Aaargh and a few days and some phone calls later, I get that lined back up. The banks are trying to bankrupt a successful business. So dumb. It brings back the memories of battling financial institutions in the early days and reminds me once again that to rely on an outside entity is weakness. Always have a backup plan and let no one hold the reins of my future.

Anyway, on the more fun side of things, in perfect punk rock rebellion, what better way to celebrate economic hard times than to do the exact opposite? Come on, lets go shopping and if you are going to do something, no reason to bother unless you are going to do it right, right? So then what shall we buy?  Oh, I know!  How about the hottest new super cool best sounding bad-ass PA system ever made! We at Rat have spent the last two months lining up a purchase of a full stadium-sized L'Acoustics K1 sound system. It's only a bit more than a cool million and the largest equipment expansion in Rat Sound's 28 year history.

Oh, and so a few pics of parts of the sexy new system:

Here you can see 24 SB28's, 24, K1's 8 K1 subs, 200,000 watts of LA8 power, fly bars, amp racks and all kinds of other goodies that make up the best sounding PA I have heard yet and this is only the first delivery.

Silly annoying banks and the beauty of this whole adventure is how much I have learned in the business world, nothing like a challenge keep things interesting and I felt this video clip eloquently shares my feelings toward those financial institutions:

Stay tuned for Rat Holiday Party, my run in with planet earth and aargh, I lost yet another camera!

Dave Rat