Re: [linux-audio-dev] live pa questions

Dave Griffiths wrote:

>On Mon, 04 Apr 2005 18:01:02 +0200, Pieter Palmers wrote
>
>
>>the following links provide quite some info regarding distortion,
>>clipping and DC offsets:
>>http://sound.westhost.com/clipping.htm
>>http://sound.westhost.com/tweeters.htm
>>
>>
>
>interesting articles
>
>
>
>>My recommendations:
>>- Be sure to do a decent sound-check: have a full-scale piece of
>>music ready for the PA engineer to set the PA desk incoming level,
>>and be sure not to change your volume when soundcheck is done. -
>>Adapt the dynamic range of your music to the live enviroment, e.g.
>>by using a compressor plugin just before the soundcard output.
>>
>>
>
>so it isn't so much of a software problem, but rather the responsibility of
>the artist to keep the dynamic range down, and the sound engineer to set the
>levels sensibly?
>
>
>
Indeed. But the sound engineer can't do miracles. The problem with
computer music is that the engineer has very little knobs to turn. It's
all coming in on one channel, so no freedom at all.

I, as a hobby-PA engineer, have the impression that a lot of computer
musicians don't realize that live work is different from studio work.
But maybe it's the same way around for studio engineers and live bands?
Also in some musical genres the gap between live and studio is larger
than in others.

>it's interesting though, as a lot of performers who use computers eschew the
>soundcheck these days, thinking just a line test, or just plugging in and
>setting the volume, is enough.
>
>
That was the case at the gig I was talking about.

Basically the soundcheck is a lot easier for a computer (almost no
freedom), but it stays important to set the levels right.

>so, would it be a good idea to purchase a small compressor, if using homemade
>analogue synths, or even software capable of producing nasty signals?
>
>
If you're using homemade analog synths, I would recommend the use of
decent filters (a subsonic for <25Hz and a lowpass for >20kHz) after
this synth. Maybe the easiest solution would be to put an equaliser
behind it. They tend to incorporate both a subsonic and a lowpass filter
on top of their graphic eq.

But for me the bottom line is: if the sound kills PA speakers, it will
certainly damage your ears. So be carefull what you're doing.

Pieter
Received on Tue Apr 5 00:15:06 2005