Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Music: The Homecoming Queen

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  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Russell Brown,

    baffled...

    I can’t believe there’s no way of remediating the problem

    maybe some kind of inverse acoustic vases placed in the walls to absorb rather than resonate sound?
    an antiquarian view can be found here

    After all sound is just a pressure wave - so ya put up a C wall - or perhaps a phase diffractor
    the aim is concert pitch not concert tar isn't it?

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Jack Harrison,

    I had a friend who saw Bob Dylan mid 2000 something from side seating,a big show at vector and he said it was a fuzzy distorted mess with painful bass frequencies and a fuzzed out vocal. I said to him, “Now you know how the Free Trade Hall in Manchester audience felt.”

    Seriously the sound physics of that hall need to be rectified. Bad sound sucks.

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • Jack Harrison, in reply to paddy free,

    The future: Personal headphones at arenas then with a choice of 10 mixes or take the risk of a fart in your ears for 2 hours that you paid top dollar for.

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    La Brea ears

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Sacha,

    Elevator pitch?

    La Brea ears

    you're lowering the tone,
    that's the pits...
    ;- )

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Jack Harrison,

    Cu(29) later...

    Personal headphones at arenas

    I heard from a reliable source recently, that concerts these days are largely wireless and can be mixed on an iPhone...

    Sob!
    Who can I pass my immaculate lead coiling skills on to?

    Should help the world Copper shortage though, right?

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Jack Harrison, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Your ears are the skin of one of your 5 senses.

    Music must not burn the ear or your ear potential will diminish prematurely.

    Sound is the fun of it all, not just the eye of cabaret. Go to cabaret, leave rock n roll same air. Disney pop is just the K-popping of American top 40 playlists which we have many of thanks to lame local U.S 50+ boy programmers .

    Respect to Auckland Ella even though she should really be at school this year.

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Jack Harrison,

    Music must not burn the ear or your ear potential will diminish prematurely.

    You might melt the ossicles...

    : - )

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to paddy free,

    You really can’t. [snip] other than architecture/design.

    It is one of the issues that the expense of design is one of the first parts of a budget to be cut in a building like Vector.

    Even so, I wonder whether it might be possible to alleviate some of the worst problems by using noise cancellation speakers around the venue hooked up to some serious computing. As you said it is physics, but it is only physics.

    But the flip side of the question is if you want purity of sound then surely a live performance is the last place you want to be. The live venue gives you the shared experience of the crowd and emotional content but can never give you the pure sound. I guess the aim is to reach a "good enough" standard, which Vector has not.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • paddy free, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    "I heard from a reliable source recently, that concerts these days are largely wireless and can be mixed on an iPhone…"

    After 30 years of playing on stages, it IS one of the wonders of the modern world to have the monitor engineer sidle up beside you and adjust your monitor mix on an iPad while he's hearing what you're hearing...

    piha • Since Dec 2006 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to paddy free,

    After 30 years of playing on stages, it IS one of the wonders of the modern world to have the monitor engineer sidle up beside you and adjust your monitor mix on an iPad while he’s hearing what you’re hearing…

    At the recent Emily Edrosa show at Golden Dawn, a guy was sitting at a back table, mixing the front-of-house on an iPad. I'd never seen it before. So the gear's pretty common, then?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Jack Harrison,

    Your ears are the skin of one of your 5 senses.

    Music must not burn the ear or your ear potential will diminish prematurely.

    I take my earplugs to most gigs these days -- anything I think is going to be loud. I can't emphasise enough how much it enhances my enjoyment of the show. You can get a decent pair for $30.

    Kinda wish I'd remembered them on Saturday night ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • paddy free, in reply to Russell Brown,

    At the recent Emily Edrosa show at Golden Dawn, a guy was sitting at a back table, mixing the front-of-house on an iPad. I’d never seen it before. So the gear’s pretty common, then?

    Wouldn't say it's commonplace yet, but seeing it more and more. $1600 at the Rock Shop gets you a 16 channel mixer (minus the iPad).
    Mackie DL1608
    Not sure I'd want to attempt a live dub mix on one tho! But starting to become a viable solution for some situations.

    piha • Since Dec 2006 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Sacha,

    La Brea ears

    Senator La Brea's dead??

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to paddy free,

    Check out David Byrne’s great TED talk about the relationship between music and the venue it’s performed in.
    http://www.ted.com/talks/david_byrne_how_architecture_helped_music_evolve?language=en

    Very nice, but he’s really hard to watch ;-) Seems very uncomfortable in front of a crowd without music as a shield.

    I agree with him, from a different artform – theatre. I’ve been performing, directing, lighting, etc for 35 years. The first venue I worked in regularly was the old BATS on Kent Tce in Wellington, when it was an amateur society. Great little black box to work in, once you learned its tricks. For 20 years after that, when I read (or wrote) a script, that was where I pictured it, props and set were considered with it in mind, lighting, sound etc. In the early 2000’s, I was part of Stagecraft when we moved from an old Victorian villa in the way of a motorway to a purpose built (also black box) space in Ghuznee St, the Gryphon, and that has since become my “go to” mental theatre space as I know it more intimately. If I read a script, that’s where I first picture it being produced, regardless of where it will actually happen. This can be an issue when you realise the ceiling of the real venue tops out at 2.5 metres (!) as opposed to the 4.5 at the Gryphon or BATS, but you have to have a starting place and be ready to adapt.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • DexterX,

    With the Art that is Lorde the “penetration” the music has achieved is more significant than any NZ Artist I can recall - An example being my 7-year-old daughter is this year beginning to learn the piano and has learnt to play Royal.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Great Herald interview with Randa, who's playing tomorrow in Ak and on 5 Dec inWelli.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

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