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Being Bilingual Does Not Always Work

By Andrea Arenas / Collaborated by Vanessa Montilla

It is possible that you have done several language courses. However, nothing prepares you to work day-to-day as a sound engineer, if you are on tour in a country where a language other than your native language is spoken. It is likely that no matter how many courses you do, you have not been taught how to “comb the wires” (slang for ¨Untangle the wires¨ in Spanish), and many words of technical, and even everyday jargon.

That is why I have decided to make a small glossary of objects commonly used in audio but that you may not find in any book of system design or recording techniques, and that therefore you are not accustomed to using in a language other than of yours. I hope it is useful for you and that we can also complete it in different languages.

Cables

Conectores/Connectors

Audio

 

Electricidad / Electrics

Herramientas / Tools / Gadgets

Artículos de oficina / Office supplies

Acciones / Actions

Instrumentos musicales / Musical instruments

Medidas / Mesurements

1.5m 5 feet
3m 10 feet
7.6m 25 feet
15m 50 feet
30m 100 feet
50m 165 feet
100m 330 feet

Playing With Voices

When I went to the Acoustical Society of America’s meeting a few years ago, I did not know what to expect.  I was presenting an undergraduate research paper on signal processing and was expecting individuals with similar backgrounds.  Instead, there were presentations on marine wildlife, tinnitus, acoustic invisibility and the speech patterns of endangered languages.  One individual, I met there was Colette Feehan, a linguistic doctorate student at Indiana University.  I gravitated to her upbeat personality and affinity towards collecting awesome trivia. When she mentioned to me in passing her interest in voice acting, I thought I should follow up and pick her brain on the nuances of voice acting.

Colette Feehan

What is voice acting?

Voice acting is providing vocalizations for various kinds of animated characters and objects. This can be speech, grunts, screams, musical instruments, animal vocalizations, and a whole array of other sounds. When watching an animated TV show or movie, every sound you hear has to come from either someone’s mouth or some creative use of props. Often voice acting draws from generalizations about language that both the actor and the audience hold. In a way, some might think of voice acting as acting with a handicap. You’re not just acting with one arm tied behind your back, your acting without the help of any of your body language, facial expressions, etc. You need to convey all that information using just your voice. It’s honestly quite fascinating.

What got you interested in voice acting?

As a kid, I would always imitate sounds from baby elephants to musical instruments to voicing children younger than me. I can’t think of one specific moment that made me interested in voice acting, but I can certainly say it has always been a part of my life.

Who are your favorite voice actors?

I have too many to count. Some classic voice actors are Daws Butler (Yogi Bear, Elroy Jetson, Cap’n’Crunch) and June Foray (Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Cindy Lou Who, Mulan’s Grandmother). There is also Charlie Adler (Cow, Chicken, and the Red Guy from Cow and Chicken, Mr. and Mrs. Big Head in Rocco’s Modern Life), Frank Welker (Fred Jones from Scooby Doo, Nibbler from Futurama), Rob Paulsen (Yakko Warner, Carl Wheezer, Pinky), Grey DeLisle (Mandy from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Azula in Avatar), Tara Strong (Timmy Turner, Bubbles from Powerpuff Girls, Dil Pickles), and Dee Bradley Baker (Momo and Appa from Avatar, Olmec in Legends of the Hidden Temple, Perry the Platypus).

What are your favorite voices to do?

First, I think it’s important to mention that I study the linguistics, phonetics, and acoustics of voice actors MUCH more than I actually do voices myself, though I have lent my voice to some improv, plays, friends animated projects, etc.

I’m a bit of a one-trick pony when it comes to voices, though. I can do teenagers and little kids, but not much else.

Any favorite tricks or sounds?

In contrast, I can do loads of weird sounds: kazoo, trumpet, electric guitar, mourning dove, cats (meow and purr), dogs.

Does voice acting have a specific lingo, and if so what terms should directors learn for more efficient directing?

It does! I’ve actually considered starting a bit of an informal dictionary on terms while working with voice actors on the linguistics of voice acting. Most of the lingo that I’ve really paid attention to are linguistics concepts like what linguists call “dark L” some voice actors call it “Lazy L”. “Breathy Voice” in linguistics is called “Smokey Voice” by voice actors. The one that is really interesting is what Rebecca Starr (2015) calls “Sweet Voice” this is an EXTREMELY specialized kind of breathy voice found in Anime that indexes a very specific character archetype.

I have heard that you are doing some research on voice actors, could you tell me a little about that?

In the Speech Production Lab at Indiana University, I am using a special 3D/4D ultrasound set up to look at the articulatory phonetics of adult voice actors who produce child voices for TV and film. A lot of people either don’t know or don’t think about how when we listen to child characters, particularly in animated TV, those voices are often being produced by an adult. The big question I am asking with my dissertation is–What are adults doing with their vocal tract anatomy in order to sound like a child?

So if anyone doesn’t know a lot about how ultrasound works, here is a quick and dirty description:

Ultrasound works by emitting high-frequency noise and timing how long it takes for those sound waves to bounce back. We place an ultrasound probe (like what you use to see a baby) under the participant’s chin and record ultrasound data of their speech in real-time. What we can see using ultrasound is an outline of the surface of the tongue. The sound waves travel through the tissues of the face and tongue, which is a fairly dense medium to travel through. When the waves come into contact with the air along the surface of the tongue, which is a much lower density medium to travel through, they show up on the ultrasound as a bright line which we can trace to then create static images and dynamic video of the tongue movement. So what does 3D/4D mean? We have a fancy ultrasound probe that records in three planes: sagittal, coronal, and transverse. So we take all these static, 2D images, trace them, then compile them into one 3D representation of the tongue. Then we can sync this with a recording of the speech creating our 4th D, time. So we can create videos of what a 3D representation of the tongue is doing while speaking and we can hear what it was doing at that moment. It is really cool.

So back to voice actors. With my dissertation research, I am imaging a few voice actors in two conditions: 1) doing their regular, adult voices and 2) doing their child voices. Then I compare what changes across those two conditions and what doesn’t.

So things I am looking for are: What is the hyoid bone doing (the bone in your neck near where your neck meets your head)? Does the place where the tongue touches the roof of the mouth for different consonants change? Are general tongue shapes and movements different across the two conditions? How do the acoustics change (how does the sound change)? Are those changes in acoustics changes that we would predict based on what the anatomy is doing?

How balanced is diversity in the voice actor industry?

Voice acting has a bit of a double-edged sword in that you don’t have to *look* the part to get the role. It’s just your voice! So someone who might not be your size -6, blonde-haired, wide-eyed beauty can still get the opportunity to play that character. Where this becomes negative, however, is with actors of color. Because you don’t have to look the part, I think a lot of white actors get roles that otherwise would have HAD to go to an actor of color. I do know the field has recently been trying to address this issue, but we can certainly do better.

So what is your opinion on vocal fry

I love creaky voice (I’m going to use this term instead). It can mean so many different things, socially. Is the speaker a man or a woman? Are they in their 20s? Are they using uptalk? Are they just running out of air at the end of their utterance?

Why is there the focus on women’s vocal fry?

I can’t say I’ve studied why specifically women’s creaky voice has blown up so much recently. Creak is really common in deeper voices, so men do it all the time, but we don’t seem to notice. Maybe when women started doing it more people unconsciously associated it with being manly and negatively reacted to it. Or maybe it’s that creak is often paired with uptalk, so it became stigmatized really quickly.

How are men’s and women’s voices different?

Again, I’m not sure I’m the most qualified to talk about this, but I can say that men’s and women’s voices differ in many different categories. First, there is simply anatomy; men have an Adam’s apple which increases the area for resonance in the larynx. They also tend to be bigger, have bigger lungs, etc., making their voices different. Then there are a lot of social ways in which men’s and women’s voices differ. Taking creak for example again, when women use creak it is associated with very different things than when a man uses creak. So the same “thing” performed by a man compared to a woman doing the same thing can be interpreted quite differently. Humans are fascinating.

 

Multitasking – Why you should avoid it

Being multitalented is excellent and almost a necessity in the audio industry. It is expected of us to be able to do many different things, sometimes even at the same time!

However, I believe multitasking at work should be avoided if possible, and here is my reason why;

The other week I was asked to do a live recording of a band while they performed. We have set up multi-track recording via Dante, which means we can record straight into Pro Tools via a Cat 5 cable. This is great and makes life a hell of a lot easier when doing live recordings.

But also recently, having had a lighting course in the Jester 24 Zero 88 Lighting desk, I now also control the lights more in-depth than we used to.

So this one evening I was going to run the live sound, the lights, and record one of our four acts, while also making sure all the artists were looked after and ready to go for their allocated time slot.

I did not think much of it; I came in early to set up Pro Tools to make sure it was up and running. When that was set up, I prepared the stage and the setups for the different bands. I set up the lights; we had photographers in that evening so we made sure the lights hit all the sweet spots and set the colours, to make sure the artists would look great on picture.

I felt good about having everything set up, ready to go on time, and did not feel stressed at all.

Well, that was until I had the first act on who had almost finished their set. I thought I would do a test recording of the first act to make sure it sounded great for the second act; the band I had promised to record. At this point, I realised I did not get any signal from any of the wireless microphones.

Why?

Well, we have a Yamaha Rio 32×24 stage box, but our Shure Beta 58A wireless microphones we have are directly plugged into the back of our Yamaha QL1. Immediately, I felt fairly stressed as the first act walked off the stage and I simply did not have the time or hands to re-route it in the Dante Controller software.

As the second act walked on stage, I helped them set up and then quickly decided that the vocalist would have to use a wired Shure SM58 running it thru the Rio as I knew this route was already working. Not a big deal, but I definitely panicked for a second as I had promised and confidently said I would be able to record it, and there was just no room for any mistakes. Luckily, I managed and very quickly, came up with a solution though feeling ever so slightly stressed out.

I recorded the band, it sounded great, but I felt that my focus was definitely not where it should have been. It was a live show, and my focus should have purely been on the live sound.

My thinking was that everything was going to go well, it is not like we can predict disaster and obviously, we want all live shows/recordings to go well. However, something I have learned throughout the years it that most of the time, it does not run smoothly and you must leave room for mistakes. No matter how good you are, no matter how many things you think you can do, mistakes happen. Technology breakdowns happen. And when you are alone, you simply will not have the time to solve a problem, and you will cause yourself unnecessary stress.

I did, after all, run a successful night, the band was happy with the recording, photographers were pleased with the lightning, everyone was happy with the sound. However, I did learn my lesson, and next time I will get another pair of hands into the mix. It is simply just not worth the risk of messing up a show and recording because you decide to do everything on your own.

However, if you are ever having to multi-task and do several things on your own; leave plenty of room for mistakes because they will happen!

 

 

The Road from Montreal to Louisville – Anne Gauthier

Anne Gauthier is a self-taught independent recording engineer, producer, and drummer originally from Montreal, Canada. She is currently working at La La Land in Louisville, KY.

Anne started touring with bands as a drummer when she was 19. She found her favorite part of being in bands was in the recording studio and at some point decided she wanted to get serious about recording. “The non-official start of my recording adventure was a boombox setup to record casio/vocal duet rock operas with my brother when I was seven. A friend lent me a four-track tape recorder and a couple of 57 knockoffs in my early 20’s which I used for a few years to record my own projects”. She finds the recording process to be technical, creative and instinctual all at once. She would go on to build a home recording studio.

Anne would become interested in analog recording and would stumble across an article in Tape Op on Kevin Ratterman and his studio and his work with analog recording. She decided to email Kevin, and he responded. They would stay in touch for a couple of years and then one day he invited her to assist at the studio. Anne got a work visa and moved to Louisville. She says she has been “very, very fortunate to find such a kind and talented mentor and co-worker.”

Anne would start engineering her own sessions shortly after arriving at La La Land and she just became the head engineer. At La La Land, she has access to a broader selection of gear, and she has found being able to track in a large room has changed her recording decisions. Anne says that her “approach to recording has always been about finding the best recording color to fit whatever project’s personality. Using gear as a means to represent the band in their most natural and interesting light. So even if I wouldn’t call myself a gearhead to any extent, it’s been really fun having a wide array of classic recording gear to experiment with while recording”.

As an engineer, she has been able to work on diverse projects, from hip-hop, jazz, metal, rock, pop, roots and country bands. This has made her a well-rounded engineer. She has also learned to work with different people and personalities. She has found this experience has made her more patient.

Anne finds inspiration from recordings that were made using vintage gear and tracked to tape. She loves the old country and Motown records. Some of the recent recordings that has influenced her are Mary Gauthier “Mercy Now” (Gurf Morlix), Mac DeMarco “Salad Days,” Vivian Girls “Share the Joy”(Jarvis Taveniere), Black Mountain s/t (Colin Stewart), Wye Oak “Civilian” (John Congleton), The Dead Weather “Sea of Cowards (Vance Powell), Big Thief “Capacity” (Andrew Sarlo).

Anne can count on half of one hand the number of women who have risen to the top of the industry. While enrollment has increased in recording schools, she has not seen the results in studios. She says she has been fortunate that she has been supported and has had fantastic mentors.

Anne also volunteers her time with  Girls Rock Louisville that teaches young women and gender-nonconforming youth how to play instruments, write music and form bands, thus building confidence, self-esteem, and critical thinking.

Anne is excited to keep working, growing, and learning. Even after 20 years, you can always get better. Parting Advice is Be Yourself, Be Kind, Be Respectful. Keep learning and don’t be scared to stand up for yourself and others.

Must have Skills: Patience, an understanding of different styles of music, a good musical instinct, being able to be both creative and technical.

Favorite Gear: I’m privileged with the gear we have at the studio, but really I think you can make most things sound cool & exciting with any gear.

You can contact Anne through her website

Murphy’s Law

I love meeting people in the industry to talk about the events and situations they have encountered. My favorite topic is to talk about the odd or strange things that have happened and hearing about how they overcame those situations. Our industry is so dynamic, no two shows are ever the same and our partners in this industry have all had some interesting experiences.

I get the most out of learning about how people have problem-solved different situations in the past or how they have overcome something unexpected. It’s truly fascinating to hear how they defeated barriers they have encountered over time.  I was recently talking to someone about these same topics, and they commented on it all just being like Murphy’s Law. If you don’t know what Murphy’s Law is, it’s often summed up with the common adage of what can go wrong, will go wrong. I found this outlook very interesting and thought to myself – we’ve all been there.

The equipment stops working; the team wasn’t notified of a drastic time change, the truck is three hours late, and more.  Some things we can quickly recover from, others will cause us hours of extra work to correct, but in the end, the show will go on. We continuously work to overcome everything that goes wrong for the good of the show. These are the things we like to complain about, but they never stop us from doing it again.  Every situation, once experienced and conquered, turns into a great story, often shared during happy hour. I’ve written about some of the situations I’ve had to work through such as an artist not showing up and not having a proper budget for a building; each situation being overcome in diverse ways with skills I have learned over time.  We’ll never know the answers to everything, but we can often use our previous experiences to overcome new obstacles.

In the beginning, some of these will seem like show stoppers, your blood pressure might go up and anxiety may kick in, but you will get through it. With time those issues get easier and new ones pop up, but as you gain experience, problem-solving gets faster and it’s easier to tackle the new ones because you have a better foothold than you did before. Problems that arise often kick-start our adrenaline. Some of us thrive on the challenges that Murphy’s Law seems to provide. It’s an adventure to overcome the obstacles, to adapt to the changing situation in seconds, and to create a solution so the event can move forward. Eventually, we have gained enough skills where these issues don’t seem as big as they once were.

Murphy’s Law gets the best of us from time to time, but if we keep learning through these issues, we’ll only get better for the next show. I also think we might be trained a bit like Pavlov’s dogs; coming back for more food whenever the bell rings.  There is something within the event world that keeps bringing us back time and time again. Maybe we’ve been conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs, but instead of a bell and food, we hear gig and think something along the lines of, oh this will be fun!

So, here’s hoping Murphy’s Law doesn’t kick in for your next show, but your Pavlov’s senses keep you coming back for more.  What can go wrong, will go wrong – but hey let’s do that again and learn from the last time!

 

Systematic Inequality, Part 2: Culture, Culture, Culture

In my last blog post, I discussed the ways in which culture influences the media that we create, consume, and how we interpret it. Expanding upon that this month, I will explore how culture affects every aspect of our lives. Every single thing that humans do is cultural. We are a product of the culture that we are raised in – but that’s not to discount the existence of free will. This means that everything that we do, from what that we eat, to the way we eat is all culturally defined. And there is more variation than you might initially think. The first time I experienced any amount of “culture shock” was a couple of hours after I landed in Romania. Thinking my Romanian upbringing would have prepared me for anything, I was utterly taken aback when my well-meaning family members ordered Pizza for my sister and I. The pizza had a whole fish on it, and everyone ate the pizza with a fork and knife. After spending over ten hours on a plane, and adding the jet lag, I was actually shocked by this (literally) fishy pizza. My family found my shock amusing. To them, fish pizza is normal; and eating pizza with your hands, well that’s borderline barbaric.

Culture is what tells us what “normal” is. The process of learning this “normal”  is called socialization; which describes a variety of processes that can range from overt to so subtle you probably didn’t even notice it. An overt process would be something like a company handbook with a list of values and typically a page that you sign agreeing to act accordingly while on the clock. More subtle socialization could be in the form of negative repercussions and/or positive reinforcement. For example, I have developed the mouth of a sailor. As a complete coincidence (it wasn’t a coincidence), my cursing increased drastically when I started working as a stagehand. My cursing was positively received and therefore reinforced, while the use of what I like to call “SAT vocab words” was met with mostly confusion and a dash of resentment for being pretentious. That’s how I learned what sort of vernacular (that would be an example of a pretentious “SAT Vocab Word”) was “normal” for stagehands. It happened pretty quickly, and I didn’t really notice until my cursing started to bleed into my personal life.

 

One of the “normal”s of the live event industry is the predominantly male workforce. When I show up on the show site and am the only woman, that is normal for me and everyone in the room. In a different cultural context, this lack of a female presence would be very noticeable. However, we in the industry have been socialized into this normalcy. Male is the default and female being different, creates a situation in which I arrive on show site and I am the other. I feel this on the daily from comments about “you’re a young and competent tech, and a woman!”  to dress codes and apparel not taking the possibility of women into account.

The inherent masculinity of the industry is yet another roadblock that women face. Recognizing these cultural norms, and then challenging them is an essential step in achieving a more equal workspace. We need to actively socialize current and incoming industry members in a manner that includes more than just white men. Changing the whole culture of an industry will be a long and arduous process, but it will be well worth it. Studies have shown again and again that more diverse and inclusive workplaces are more productive. So if the ethical standpoint that women are human beings that deserve to be treated equally isn’t enough of an argument for you – there is an economic incentive as well.

As always, work hard, do your best, and make yourself proud.

Tia Azimioara interest in live sound engineering began while studying the clarinet at the Orange County High School of the Arts, where she took a class on music technology. She would go on to double major in Anthropology and Classics at Lawrence University while working as a sound tech. She googled and youtubed her way through shows and concerts. She fell in love with the fast-paced, trial by fire world of live production. After graduating she began working any live events that she could. After two years she has completely fallen in love with her varied and fast-paced life; today you can find her doing anything from slinging deck at a concert venue in Doc Martens, to working as in IT specialist for a corporate event in a suit. She is not sure what the future holds, but would like to use her training in anthropology to help make the industry more inclusive for everyone. 

 

 

Consideraciones para realizar un diseño de refuerzo Sonoro.

Que es el diseño de refuerzo sonoro? Reproducción del sonido en una determinada área de audiencia mediante medios artificiales, que tienen como finalidad realizar una amplificación del sonido para obtener un nivel de presión sonora homogéneo (se consideran aceptables las diferencias de +-6dB) en todos los puntos del recinto a sonorizar, además de asegurarle la inteligibilidad del mensaje a cada uno de los escuchas.

A continuación, mencionaremos algunas consideraciones a tener en cuenta para el diseño de refuerzo sonoro:

1) Consideraciones acústicas previas. Se deberá realizar un análisis de diferentes parámetros, tales como: Tiempo de Reverberación(RT60), inteligibilidad, Definición (D), Claridad de la voz (C80), RASTI, %ALcons.

PARÁMETRO ACÚSTICO VALOR RECOMENDADO
Tiempo de reverberación medio (500 Hz – 1 kHz), sala llena 0,7 ≤ RTmid ≤ 1,2 s
Claridad de la voz C50(“ speech average), sala llena C50 > 2 dB
Definición D (de 125 Hz a 4 kHz), sala ocupada D > 0,50
Relación primeras reflexiones ERR, sala vacía u ocupada 2 ≤ ERR ≤ 6
STI/RASTI, sala ocupada STI/RASTI ≥ 0,65

 

TIPO DE RECINTO REVERBERACION (s)
Cine 0.4 s
Salón de Clases 0.6 s
Teatro y Música Auto amplificada 1.0 s
Sinfónica 2.2 s
Iglesias 3.0 s

2) Debemos preguntarnos qué tipo de recinto vamos a sonorizar

 

3) Solicitud de planos del reciento a diseñar.  En este punto se recomienda tener medidas del lugar por medio de un scouting al recinto; se deberán solicitar planos en AutoCAD, tanto en vistas en 3D, 2D, plantas y cortes del recinto, para poder realizar un análisis exhaustivo. Asimismo, debemos recordar que este diseño se llevará a cabo en la práctica, por lo que no debemos olvidar hacernos diferentes preguntas que nos permitan determinar el alcance adecuado del proyecto: ¿que se espera de este diseño de refuerzo sonoro por parte del solicitante?, ¿existe alguna obstrucción visual posible?, ¿existe limitación en cuanto a peso del equipo?, ¿es un espacio abierto o cerrado? a nivel subjetivo ¿que se busca o que se espera?, ¿qué tipo de sistema se solicita: arreglo lineal o sistema convencional?, todo esto encaminado a determinar el alcance adecuado del proyecto.

 

4) Análisis de cobertura.  Se aplicarán y comprobarán diferentes técnicas de diseño apoyándonos de un software de predicción, tal como MAPPXT el cual se utiliza para medir y cuantificar parámetros. En este punto debemos ser capaces de resolver problemas de interacción entre altavoces, selección de nivel de presión sonora adecuado, análisis de la respuesta en frecuencia y fase en diferentes puntos del recinto, cobertura vertical, horizontal, ubicación de altavoces, ángulo de inclinación y peso de altavoces, distribución de señales para un adecuado ajuste del sistema buscando así una cobertura homogénea en todos los escuchas por igual. Asimismo, debemos aplicar parámetros de referencia o normas existentes según el tipo de aplicación; por ejemplo: en cines con formato de reproducción ATMOS existen normativas por parte de Dolby que ofrecen especificaciones a cumplir referentes a nivel de presión sonora, altavoces en pantalla, posición de altavoces, niveles de presión sonora en la zona de baja frecuencia, entre otros. En recintos deportivos existen normativas que ofrece la FIFA como guía para realizar un diseño. De igual forma, se deberá realizar el análisis de qué tipo de sistemas serán necesarios con base a las necesidades de cobertura de los altavoces: sistema principal, sistema frontal, sistema bajo balcón, sistema de retraso, sistema lateral, sistema de baja frecuencia, sistema multicanal 5.1, 7.1, por mencionar algunos. Al finalizar dicho análisis se genera una memoria de diseño del mismo.

 

5) Supervisión de montaje.  Una vez que se terminó la etapa anterior, lo más importante que se debe considerar y no debemos olvidar es que ese diseño se llevará a cabo en la práctica, por lo que debemos asegurarnos que el diseño se lleve a cabo tal como se planteó. En ese momento debemos contar con las herramientas adecuadas para poder supervisar dicho montaje, tal como inclinómetro, láser, cintas métricas y memoria de montaje.

Gabriella Galán Mendicuti estudió audio estudios como ingeniera de telecomunicaciones con especialización en audio y video en la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Ella ha estado involucrada en audio profesional durante los últimos 12 años con un énfasis especial en el diseño de refuerzo de sonido. Actualmente trabaja en Meyer Sound México como Especialista en Servicios de Diseño para México y América Latina. Ha participado en varios diseños de refuerzo de sonido de los lugares más importantes en varios países, como teatros, iglesias, espectáculos en vivo, eventos especiales y lugares.

 

 

Considerations for a Sound Reinforcement Design.

What is the sound reinforcement design? Reproduction of the sound in a certain audience area by artificial means, which have the purpose of amplifying the sound to obtain a homogeneous sound pressure level (the differences of + -6dB are considered acceptable) in all the points of the room to sound, in addition to ensuring the intelligibility of the message to each of the listeners.

We will outline some considerations to take into account for the sound reinforcement design

 

 

ACOUSTIC PARAMETER RECOMMENDED VALUE
Average reverberation time (500 Hz – 1 kHz), full room

Average reverberation time (500 Hz – 1 kHz), full room

 0,7 ≤ RTmid ≤ 1,2 s

0,7 ≤ RTmid ≤ 1,2 s
Clarity of the voice C50 (“speech average), full room C50 > 2 dB
Definition D (from 125 Hz to 4 kHz), occupied room D > 0,50

D > 0,50
Relationship first reflections ERR, empty or occupied room 2 ≤ ERR ≤ 6
STI / RASTI, occupied room STI/RASTI ≥ 0,65

 

ENCLOSURE DESING REVERBERATION   (s)
Cinema 0.4 s

.4 s
Classroom 0.6 s
Theater and Music  autoamplified 1.0 s
Symphonic 2.2 s
Churches 3.0 s

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) Request for drawings of the design to be designed. At this point it is recommended to have measurements of the place by means of a scouting to the enclosure; Plans must be requested in AutoCAD, both in 3D, 2D, plant, and court views, in order to carry out a thorough analysis. Likewise, we must remember that this design will be carried out in practice, so we must not forget to ask ourselves different questions that allow us to determine the adequate scope of the project: what is expected from this sound reinforcement design by the applicant? Is there any possible visual obstruction? Is there a limitation regarding the weight of the equipment? Is it an open or closed space? At a subjective level, what is being sought or what is expected? What kind of system is requested: the linear arrangement or conventional system? All this aimed at determining the adequate scope of the project.

4) Coverage analysis. Different design techniques will be applied and tested, supported by a prediction software, such as MAPPXT, which is used to measure and quantify parameters. At this point we must be able to solve problems of interaction between speakers, selection of adequate sound pressure level, analysis of frequency response and phase at different points of the enclosure, vertical, horizontal coverage, location of speakers, angle of inclination and weight of loudspeakers, distribution of signals for an adequate adjustment of the system looking for a homogenous coverage in all listeners alike. Likewise, we must apply reference parameters or existing standards according to the type of application; for example: in cinemas with ATMOS playback format there are regulations by Dolby that offer specifications to be met regarding sound pressure level, on-screen speakers, speaker position, sound pressure levels in the low-frequency area, among others. In sports venues, there are regulations that FIFA offers as a guide to design. Likewise, the analysis of what kind of systems will be needed based on the speaker coverage needs must be carried out: main system, front system, balcony system, delay system, lateral system, low-frequency system, system multi-channel 5.1, 7.1, to mention a few. At the end of this analysis, a design memory is generated.

 

5) Assembly supervision. Once the previous stage is finished, the most important thing that should be considered and we must not forget is that this design will be carried out in practice, so we must ensure that the design is carried out as it was proposed. At that time we must have the right tools to monitor such assemblies, such as inclinometer, laser, tape measures and mounting memory.

Gabriella Galán Mendicuti studied audio studies as a telecommunications engineer with a specialization in audio and video at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. She has been involved in professional audio for last 12 years with a special emphasis on sound reinforcement design. She currently works at Meyer Sound Mexico as a Design Services Specialist Tech Support for Mexico and Latin America. She has participated in various sound reinforcement designs of the most important venues in various countries, such as theaters, churches, live shows, special events, and venues.

 

How to Communicate About Audio With Non-Audio People

The language we use to do to do our jobs spans across a lot of areas (audio, acoustics, electronics, technology, psychoacoustics, music, film, and more). Our clients, on the other hand, may not have much language to convey what they want. The mix notes I get may be as broad as, “I don’t like that” or “something doesn’t feel right.” My job is to fix it and deliver a product they are happy with but how do you do that without language?

Everyone has preferences for sound even if they don’t have the language to convey it. It takes time to uncover these preferences, and that’s part of our job. It’s like a painting where you can see the outline of what to paint but don’t know what color palette to use. Some people like bright colors and others prefer pastels. Some people know their favorite colors right away, and others want to see you paint a bit then have you change it (and maybe change it again). It takes some trial and error to discover their “color palette,” but once you know it, you can make choices that will likely be in their taste (or at least close enough to have a discussion about it).

In music, this is knowing that the drummer will want less vocals in the monitor before they ask. It’s knowing that the lead singer wants a slap delay on her voice on the album. In post, it’s knowing that a producer wants to hear every footstep or doesn’t like a particular cymbal the composer used in the score. Having this knowledge of someone’s taste builds trust because it lets them know that you understand what they want. It’s what gets you re-hired and over time establishes you as “the” engineer or mixer for that person (or group).

Finding these preferences takes investigation. Our job, in that sense, is like a doctor and a patient. For a doctor, there’s a lot of questions about symptoms, recent health, etc. because the patient doesn’t have the same expertise. The approach is the same here with a mix note: “Are the guitars loud enough for you? Is it something about the dialog bothering you? When you say it doesn’t feel right, is it a balance issue or a timing issue?”

Sometimes the message can get conveyed without using proper language. For example, non-audio people may use the word “echo” to mean reverb. One common note is something is “too loud” or “too soft.” But, the problem might be something else (is it perceived as too loud because it’s bright? Is it too exposed vs. too loud?). With notes, you have to ask yourself: does this need to be taken literally or is it an observation that might be pointing to another issue?

For example, a producer I work with likes to give me a sound design note: “Play around with it.” Does that mean he likes what’s already there but wants more? Or, does he want something totally different? I’ve learned that’s his way of saying “I don’t know what I want or like yet.” I sometimes do more than one version including one out of his normal taste (a different “color palette,” so to speak). I find that helps him define what he likes (or doesn’t) by hearing two contrasting ideas.

You can adapt to a client’s strengths, too. A filmmaker I work with doesn’t know audio well, but he’s very good at conveying moods. We talk about the moods of the film and specific scenes, and I interpret that into audio. He might give a note like, “I want to feel the car wreck.” I know what that means (in audio terms) is he wants a lot of detail in the sound design, and the car crash should be at the forefront of the mix.

Talking about moods is a useful technique with musicians, too. Should it be intimate, polished, rough around the edges, massive, etc.? Do they like clean studio recordings or does it make them uncomfortable? Should it feel like a private living room performance, a rowdy bar or a stadium? You obviously won’t be adding bar patrons to a music mix but knowing that will influence the approach to the mix from vocal treatments to EQs, balances, reverbs, and effects.

Where this gets tricky is when people use words that aren’t audio words at all. Sometimes we can translate or offer other words. “When you say it sounds too ‘shiny’ do you mean it sounds bright or shrill? Or too clean and you want it more gritty?” If someone is struggling to convey what they want, they might be able to think of an example from somewhere else (an album, movie, or Youtube video). It might be totally unrelated, but it can help figure out what they’re asking for.

The most effective way to be a good communicator with clients is to have a diverse audio language yourself. It’s a great skill to talk about audio using words not related to audio. You can make an exercise of this by asking, “what words could I use to explain what I hear?” Walking on leaves could be crispy, crunchy, and noisy but it also could be like Pop Rocks, crinkling paper, or eating cereal. So, the next time a client asks you about the “gaggle of Girl Scouts”** in the mix, you’ll have a better idea what they’re talking about.

(**This was a real note I got from a client. The sound was actually a pan flute.)

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