Lee Scratch Perry Remake - Unit 34

The 3rd track we are creating is a reggae dub track. We will be using instruments and emulating effect used by Lee Scratch Perry on his track Blackboard Jungle Dub. This track was produced in a era before DAWs, digital Synthesisers & Plugins. This means all the instruments are real and any effects applied are from outboard effects units. 

18/05/18;

Today we began choosing instruments to use and created a starting point for the track. Although we are going record live instruments for most of the track we created a template of what we wanted it to sound like using guitar, bass, flute & drum samples/VSTs.

For the bass we wanted to emphasis the first beat of every bar so we kept it simple on the first

For the drums we used the 'One Drop Rhythm' style of playing. This gives our track the rhythm associated with the style of music we're recreating. We are going to replace the drums with live drums at a later point.

Off beat guitar chords play throughout the track and add a rhythmic element to it. We added these offbeat guitars to show the live guitarist how to play it.

Health & Safety at Live Events

In this post I will give an overview of the health & safety procedures that happen at live events.

When planning for a live event you have to identify any risks and work on reducing them. To do this you have to do a risk assessment. 

By composing a table such as this one risks can be categorised by Likelihood and consequence. People tend to start by reducing the yellow section first and then working on the others as appropriate for the event. A stage collapse would be considered catastrophic and a liquid spillage would be considered negotiable. 

Live shows are split into 2 sections. The load in/load out & the performance. The risk assessments for these will be different. During the load in & load out Hazards will be things such as objects falling from hight and moving vehicles inside the venue where as during the performance they will be things like drunken related injuries and liquid spillages.

Anyone working on the show has to be provided with appropriate . HSE suggests the the average shouldn't exceed 107dB and the peak shouldn't exceed 140dB. They also suggest 'Where practical, the audience should not be allowed within 3m of any loudspeaker'(1). 

In all when planning for a live event you have to remember each event will have different health and safety requirements based on the audience profile, genre of music, size of the venue and many other variables. While it can seem like a tedious thing taking proper health and safety percussions can save you and others from injury.

1 - http://www.hse.gov.uk/event-safety/noise.htm
Chart from - http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=Risk_Assessment_and_Mitigation

Mono Vs Stereo mixing & sound on stage

When it comes to live sound mixing in stereo isn't very effective. As hard panning will result in people who aren't in the stereo sweet spot not being able to hear instruments/vocals on the panned opposite to the side they're listening from. With mono mixing everything is central and it should sound even no matter where you're listening from. However a lot of engineers use panning but very minimally pushing them no further than 10 & 2 O'clock. 

Information collected from https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=33413

Power

https://www.soundonsound.com//sound-advice/power-electrical-safety-stage

Critical Distance

In live sound the critical distance refers to the point at which sound reflecting from around the room begins to overpower the direct sound from the FOH speakers. This is shown in the diagram below. 

https://www.astralsound.com/speaker-position.htm

At this point you would add another set of 'delay speakers' to re-enforce the sound to this part of the venue. Because the direct sound from the FOH can still be heard at a low level the audience will hear the sound from the 'delay speakers' and then milliseconds later the sound from the FOH speakers. To get rid of this delay you work out how long it takes for sound to travel from the FOH speakers to your critical distance. Then applying a delay to the 'Delay Speakers' will mean they produce could just as the sound from the FOH reaches the critical distance. 

This technique is mostly used is larger venues but could also be used in smaller venues that aren't purpose built for music.

Info on critical distance from http://education.lenardaudio.com/en/04_acoustics_2.html

Positioning Monitors

Stage wedges are angled speakers used give musicians individual mixes on stage. These are usually very directional so if placed correctly are only feeding the ear of the musician and make it easier to control feedback. They are great for small to medium size venues but the larger the stage and the more movement of the musicians the more monitors you will need.

Side fills are large speakers placed at either side of the stage and feed all musicians one mix. These add to stage noise and can create more problems in the way of feedback. Musicians can't have individual mixes.

In ear monitoring removes any worry of monitor feed back and musicians can hear the mix they want to hear perfectly so are great for large venues. However they isolate musicians from each other and the audience. They also reduce the volume on stage.

information collected from https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/stage-monitoring-monitor-mixing