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[Rodney Connelly]

I've been to many night clubs and I typically see several speakers hung from the ceiling on the right side, and then I see more speakers on the left pointed towards the ones on the opposite side.  Doesn't this cause cancellation, and comb filtering on the dance floor?  Is this the way sound techs are suppose to install systems in these establishments, because that is what most people see?

[Ivan Beaver]

It really depends on what the purpose of the night club is.  Is it a dance club or a live performance club.  If it is a performance club then this is totally wrong, with the biggest reason being localization.  If it is a dance club then there are 2 main reasons for putting the speakers on either side and aimed in.  1 is to keep as much energy away from the bars and the areas where people actually want to talk, and the other is an envelopment of the dance floor-ie being surround by sound.

Combfiltering takes its greatest effect on the sound when 2 things are present.  The first is the exact same sound must be present at both speakers (only some signals are dead center in a stereo mix) and the level from both speakers is the same.  When both of these conditions are meet (only in a few spaces on the dance floor)does the distance (the time offset causing combfiltering) from the particular speakers in question become a real problem.

The next big issue is who is really listening to the cancellations while dancing?  They are moving around so the combfiltering is always changing and our brain just evens most of it out.  You really hear combiltering when you are standing still or moving slowly-and certainly not while looking at your dance partner (or the other species of interest on the dance floor)

[Randy Pence]

Why are festival PAs that feature almost exclusively djs on the floor still setup for performances?  I do mostly dj stuff with a smattering of live stuff on the dj systems (not correct, but sometimes the option is there to mute the other half for a band), but the festivals i have attended as a guest still had massive FOH systems, when it could seemingly be split up or swapped for different gear to provide correct coverage.

[jeffhtg (Jeff Kenney)]

depends on what type of festivals your talking about.. I have produced many 'larger act' dance festival djs with delay stacks, "4 point sound", round center stages, etc.. dance acts do consist of live pas - most importantly live mics (track acts) which still pretty much require a traditional setup.. the largest festival I have seen in the states - ultra in miami - usually has a line array or two setup (5-7 stages).. It's also hella easier to fly a few lines than it is to setup a massive dance club system for a one-off.

[Randy Pence]

in 2001 and 2 for hte detroit techno festival it was all FOH, dunno who provided, but i think everything was klipsch.

Most raves I attended were jsut stupid large foh turbosound rigs with 20 boxes ground stacked and apcked as tight as possible.  It wasnt until I came to berlin that I gave any respect to turbo gear.  Northeastern US raves really abused the name that much, but the name brought in a lot of hte kids (we've got x amount of turbo boxes).

The one rave I attended here was 2 very tall stacks with a 3rd stack in the back.  I didnt care enough to look who was doing with what, and I still cant figure out why they had 1 stack in the rear (why bother?)

Most german festivals I have seen pics of or friends attended (man, i gotta get involved next year) have just been 2 lines.

I know its easier to jsut fly a couple and be done, but it really does a disservice.  Maybe its that most providers or handlers arent into the music or subculture (especially in the states), but the paying crowd deserves the proper experience.

[jeffhtg (Jeff Kenney)]

It is usually fault of the promoter. These guys come to expect one hell of a deal because the suppliers dont have to deal with 'all that live sh*t'. I have seen ridiculous bids for 50,000 ppl++ festivals (yeah like 3000$ audio).

Also big dance events generally want massively illegal spl levels. Hence the old "pink floyd" wall of sound.

[Jakob Still [Exinferris]]

Ivan Beaver wrote on Sun, 21 August 2005 00:41

The next big issue is who is really listening to the cancellations while dancing?

I would like to say "who hears comb filtering when drunk on the club's dance floor"