I spent about a decade doing live sound and PA gigs. I saw wonderful bands and heard great music. I also gained a keen appreciation for the unsung hero’s of these events, the folks who put in long hours to make it happen. And a keen appreciation for good sound, which is annoyingly rare.
But why is that? Sound is very much a complex interaction of:
- The size and shape of the space (typically a room or hall)
- The ratios of the space
- The materials used
- The intended use
- The people and sets on the stage
- The size and shape of the audience
- The ambient noise level and the required SPL
- The design, size, and placement of the speakers
- The headroom of the entire sound system
- The tuning and matching of the system to the space
- The experience and “ears” of the sound guy
- How loud the lead guitarist is. 🙂
Notice I didn’t talk about price or brand names.
Those are important to impress people and usually affects reliability but have very little to do with guaranteeing good sound.
Last Updated on 2019-08-09 by Daev Roehr