CMU School of Drama


Sunday, April 15, 2012

Live Sound: Step By Step: One Guy’s Path To Building A Pro Audio Rig

Pro Sound Web: I’ve been in the pro audio business for almost 20 years, but I never set out to be a sound system provider. But in 2008, after eight years working at a large university’s theatre complex, well, as Bob Dylan said, “one day the ax just fell.” I called all of my old friends but couldn’t find a decent gig anywhere. So I ended up mixing acoustic acts for next to nothing in a local bar and grill.

3 comments:

Dale said...

I read this entire article and found it fascinating. I know a modest bit about designing a sound system, I know more about operating them. The author was very thorough without going too far over my head technically. My question to the room is this: At what point does this level of knowledge and execution matter? I’ve been in an hour long conversations about where to place the mic over a high hat. The sound engineer in me would deem that this is a very important decision. But the concert attendee would ask, “does this really matter?” I’d be very pressed to find evidence of how much an audience really notices. If you install a $50K sound system that has been tweaked for 2 days verses a $10K sound system that was installed in an hour, will anybody besides the engineer notice?

Will Gossett said...

This is a very informative article about Weaver's setup. I've been around various sound equipment companies and have worked with owner/operator sound engineers that sound similar to him. It sounds like a really great way to have a system that can be set up so quickly and stuck in 45 minutes but sounds really good as well. The option to record up to 26 channels is a really good selling point for his audio services, and something I would be interested in learning how to set up in a mobile situation.

seangroves71 said...

its nice to have an answer other then "I like its sound" or "I'm just used to it" when ever i ask a designer why they like a one mixer over another or why they prefer one mic over another or why they have to have one particular stool. I completely understand having a personal preference but its a lot more confidence instilling when a designer or engineer can give a straight answer as to why they prefer something over another. this gives a great look into the process of effectively searching out and researching products to pick the best system for your needs