Page 93 - Lighting & Sound America (December 2019) Magazine

AUDIO FILE

Abracadabra

By: Phil Ward

When people in theatre refer to consecutive gigs by Muse, in a venue inside a venue is “a whole other mon-
“smoke and mirrors,” they’re not talk- near Nijmegen: One year, the band ster,” as Vier puts it, with no defined
ing about drugs. There is, quite literal- was handed penalties every half an prediction technology yet on the mar-
ly, the 250-year old illusion technique hour; the next, the officials were back- ket to calculate that kind of threat. It
involving the magic lantern and a stage when the show started and can, of course, be monitored—just like
gullible crowd but, metaphorically, all didn’t notice. Nothing to do with any show—but it’s a much blunter
theatrical suspension of disbelief can Soundscape, which wasn’t used; instrument and there’s virtually nothing
be described with the same phrase. everything to do with d&b’s new GSL that can be done at the front of house
Usually, it’s visual, but audio has its system. to address any issues.
moments. An immersive system is always a Anyway, there will be no festivals,
Object-based audio is a trick—as is very distributed system, so it has the no beer drunk in bucolic glades, no
stereo, come to think of it—a bit of potential to help with noise control. lights glowing or video screens flash-
phantom sonics. That makes it rather But it depends on how you deploy it, ing as the sun goes down over a ley
wonderful, but it does boil down to just like a conventional setup. In fact, line, no rites of passage nor rights of
more equipment—to buy, to sell, to the software packages integrate in the workers for pay and conditions, if the
rent, and to bolster with more motors, same way: If you feed an ArrayCalc sound people don’t get it right. Like
more crew, more everything. I’ve heard project, for which you are using walls, licensing has ears.
it described as “an interesting proposi- Soundscape, into the NoizCalc predic- As for ordinary punters, well. Vier
tion” by some in the business of deliv- tion software, you get exactly the tells the story of a social media app in
ering it, where “interesting” can be same type of results that you would if the States that invites audiences to
translated as “potentially lucrative but there was no Soundscape. It could be comment on the sound specifically at
not an easy sell down the line.” In par- a single line array or 64 channels the spot they occupy. Having quoted
ticular, the typical real estate for one worth of clustered speakers: It works block and seat number, a concerned
leading service provider’s immersive in the same way. What this means is member of the production team turns
system is “right where your main light- that there’s no intrinsic advantage to up minutes later with a decibel meter,
ing truss is,” which means bringing deploying immersive sound in terms of an iPhone, and a techy-looking combo
audio to the forefront of production noise control. The improvements you of headphones and comms, nodding
and jumping it to the top of the peck- can make are a function of the quality in agreement with whatever is being
ing order in meetings. of the enclosures and the skill of the remonstrated, and then appears to
Now that would be a neat trick. Nor crew, object-based or not. speak in authority to someone in a
can we continue in the hope that one It’s worth pointing out that NoizCalc position to make adjustments.
assumed beneficial side effect will help is not an active part of mixing a show, Surprisingly often, he reports, the
in this task—namely, noise manage- in the manner of monitoring systems punter is satisfied that something has
ment, which turns out to be a total red such as 10Eazy or SPLTrack. It will been done about the original griev-
herring. “Do not confuse directivity predict issues that are addressed in ance—and done in a most breathtak-
with source orientation,” d&b’s Werner the system design and configuration, ing social-media way—when, in fact, it
“Vier” Bayer told me recently. “If it’s but then a different set of tools takes hasn’t. The entire exchange is a mere
too loud, it’s too loud.” over in order to keep the show on stunt. Smoke and mirrors? Plus ça
This is borne out by a year-on-year track. Furthermore, NoizCalc is only change…
comparison undertaken by Event used for outdoor environments. The
Acoustics in Holland, using annual challenge of audio leaking out from

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • December 2019 • 93