MAY KAUNTING KARAPATAN NA AKONG MAGPUNA AT MAGPINTAS

My last essay contained pet peeves about small-event PA systems. This follow-up features my first experience of actually setting up and running a PA system. It was my tennis club’s Christmas party, with about 70 or so people attending. The venue was my village clubhouse, a 30m x 30m x 5m room with a mix of concrete, glass, wood, and fabric surfaces. 

My aging knees and back necessitated packing up and loading all the gear into my car the day before to avoid fatigue, soreness, and injury. The party was scheduled for 6pm. I arrived to set up at 1:30pm together with the caterer and decorations group. The tennis club ballboys were already there, and helped me carry the gear from the car to the room. First task was to put down equipment where they would sit. Speakers in front of the small stage and dance floor, and control equipment in the back. This was followed by laying down cables and wires between equipment. While I had more than enough signal cables, I didn’t have enough AC extension cords to plug in everything. One 40m #12 royal cord reel, one 10m #14 reel, and a couple of 5m #16 extensions was not enough. I needed to borrow one more 10m #16 extension from the venue electrician. Next time I’ll have to get a couple for 10m extensions to avoid having to borrow anything. 

The entire system was composed of three parts. First was control center. It pivots around my 20-year old Behringer Eurorack MX 802A mixer. Not the quietest, but it gets the job done. My small rack has four units bolted in. It starts with a pair of Sennheiser EW300 G4 wireless receivers I got during the pandemic for online teaching. Under that is a DBX 266xs compressor, also acquired for online teaching because the audio snob in me felt the Zoom compressor wasn’t good enough. Next is a Behringer DEQ2496 digital signal processor. This has among other things, a real time analyzer, graphic and parametric eq’s, and a host of other processing goodies. I  got this recently at a closeout sale for its Auto-EQ system, which sends pink noise to the speakers, measures it, then automatically adjusts the graphic equalizer to achieve flat frequency response. While this is a standard practice for large sound reinforcement systems, I have yet to encounter this in a small party setup. A Behringer CX-2310 active crossover sits unused in the bottom of the rack because I got it for an earlier incarnation of my setup. For effects, I used my Alesis Microverb II which date back with me to the 1980s. The music source was my old MacBook Pro. Finally, a 5G wireless internet modem was there to provide online access to Spotify playlists and YouTube music. 

The second part was on stage. This begins with a pair of Shure Beta57a mics with Sennheiser SKP100 plug-on transmitters. I chose these out of my mic collection because it has a nice clear top end, and controlled proximity effect. I also put together a karaoke podium made up of an online iPad connected to a YouTube karaoke channel and an OnStage DB-2150 usb direct injection box. This was for karaoke singers, and dancers to wanted to follow YouTube choreography. 

The third part were speakers. I chose a pair of Mackie Thump210 active speakers for two reasons. 1) The larger and more powerful 12” version from this same model line sounded a bit muddy. 2) It was just below the weight limit that I could carry, given my aging knees and back. With everything plugged into AC, the system powered up without problems. I then ran the RTA-AutoEQ on the DSP to even out the frequency response, and did a minor touch up with parametric EQ to taste. 

One of the main issues I’ve had with other PA systems is that they are often too loud. To ascertain what my system was really putting out, I used a sound level meter at the controller position in the back of the room to constantly measure loudness. And to make sure it stayed within sane levels, I set the program compressor to stay below a 90dBc ceiling. At certain points of the program, the partygoers got quite loud while cheering, jeering, and laughing. It was tempting to increase the loudness just to remain above the crowd noise. But I resisted because I thought  it might just result in endless escalation. So I stayed within my preset loudness ceiling, anyway these were merely momentary outbursts which returned to normal crowd levels quickly, and both MC and music levels remained audible and were not drowned out for long. 

I ran into only two problems. First involved the MC. She complained she could not hear herself, and began shouting into the mic. This was understandable because the “stage” area was behind the speakers, and I didn’t have stage monitors. I set it up this way to avoid feedback. But it turns out the system was rather forgiving for two main reasons. First, my mics were supercardioids, which have a relatively narrow polar pattern and reject anything that’s not right smack in front of it. Second, the speakers were set about 2 meters high, which it higher than anyone in the party. So I identified a zone where she could roam in between and slightly ahead, but not directly in front of the speakers. Problem solved. The second problem was with the reverb unit that was to be used for one number only. I had it on a pre-fader send and an efx return in the mixer. It was very tricky finding the point where one could hear the effect but below feedback. And when I inadvertently left it on after that number, a persistent hum lingered. It took about half a minute (which is an eternity when something like this happens) for me to spot the problem. I don’t know if the problem was in the way the reverb was hooked up,  or set up, or whether the unit itself is malfunctioning. Whatever, I’ll have to experiment with this at home to find a permanent solution. 

The formal program ended at 11pm, and although some people stayed to chill and drink, I started packing up shortly after. A number of members kept coming to me asking them if they could help, but packing up involves its own set of skills and procedures. So I just thanked them  and said I’d call when everything was ready for carrying to my car. One member though is a photo/video supplier, and he more or less knew the process. His help cut disassembly time in half. With everything packed into their bags and cases, the ballboys helped carry stuff back to the car. I was tired and sleepy when I got home, and put off unloading everything for the next day. 

Going forward, I have absolutely no plans of making this a career or business. My knees and back can't take it, and I have no desire to deal with fussy clients. This will strictly be for family and close friends, and only if they will provide roadies. I wanted to prove to myself that clean, clear PA system sound is attainable with the right equipment, approach, and technique. One gig does not make me an expert. But at the very least, as they say in Filipino, may kaunting karapatan na akong magpuna at magpintas. 

BASTA TUMUNOG: Small PA System Nightmares

I’m not an expert in PA systems, having dwelt more in the seclusion of recording studios. But I’ve read a lot and observed masters at work enough to know when things are not going right. In my experience, some of the worst sound systems I’ve heard are in small parties and school programs. I avoid complaining so as not to offend the hosts/organizers, but I have my limits. So here are three examples of the type of nightmares I’ve had to put up with this past year. 

At a Christmas party of about 70 people, one of the attendees  volunteered his sound system. He is apparently a hardcore karaoke enthusiast, and he brought stuff accumulated over the years. The system was composed of a local all-in-one karaoke mixer/amp/effects unit, unbalanced RCA and 1/4” plugs all around, 2-way karaoke speakers with dead tweeters, one home subwoofer, and a pair of fake Sennheiser E-series mics. There was a lack of high frequencies from the start, and the hosts ended up having to shout into the mics just to be understood. The sound became progressively more distorted as the night wore on, no doubt because the poor underpowered amp’s descent into thermal distress. Placement of components was limited because of short cables. Mixing position was on the improvised stage facing the audience, so the operator could not hear the front-of-house. The party was fun in spite of the “ngongo” sound system though. Apparently nobody cared except me. But who was I to complain? The owner is one of the nicest people I know, and the party got it for free. 

A few weeks ago, I attended a small program in school, and while the school-owned equipment was decent, the way it was set up was weird. Two 2-way karaoke speakers about the size of a pair of bookshelf home speakers, placed side by side with the podium on the floor. What were they thinking? Was the audience composed of ants? On top of the speakers was a small karaoke mixer/amp, with the front panel controls facing the audience. Every time levels had to be adjusted, the operator had to kneel in front of the audience to twiddle with dials. The coup de grace was the four-channel no-name wireless mic receiver, placed on top of the amplifier, most probably blocking all the ventilation holes of the amplifier, and with all its LED displays brightly facing the audience. But I did not intervene no matter how senseless it all seemed, because I was just part of the audience and not an organizer. Again, no one else seemed to care except my wife and I. All of this was a pity because the speeches and musical intermission number were wonderful and meaningful. 

Lastly, I always cringe during kid’s birthday parties in fast-food restaurants. These are usually held in relatively small rooms with a capacity of about 50 people, in which a oldskool karaoke machine used to suffice. But in a recent party of a grand-nephew, the house system was composed of Raon counterfeit components, with speakers big enough to fill a conference hall. The restaurant had no technician, so the system is was turned on by one of the crew members. At first the system was so loud that one of my grand-nephews left the room weeping. His parents asked that the crew put the volume down. But even with the loudness reduced, the sound was so distorted that the child stayed out, and I ended up sitting as far away and as off-axis from the speakers as possible. In Filipino culture, noise is an indication of celebration. The noisier, the more fun people are having. This is fine if all the sound were person-made voices. But a sound system distorting badly is a different story. This is evident during party parlor games. The host ends up raising the loudness of the sound system to stay above the screaming and yelling of the partygoers. Thank heavens these parties only last a couple of hours before people are herded out to make way for the next one. 

I would call all three basta tumunog systems. The first involves an enthusiast whose equipment has serious limits which cannot cope with the demands of a sustained public event in anything bigger than a living room. The second involves a venue with slightly better equipment, but is set up by people who simply don’t know any better, and/or don’t take the trouble to learn. The third subscribes to the idea that noise is a sign of celebration, and those working the venue need it to project an image of a place where fun reigns.

Professionals actually have a better term for PA systems. They call it sound reinforcement. My computer defines reinforcement as "strengthen or support (an object or substance), especially with additional material"*. I interpret to mean the original sound is strengthened so the audience/attendees can hear what's going on clearly. But instead of clarifying the proceedings, small-event PA systems usually either fail miserably at intelligibility, and/or bludgeon people’s senses with extreme loudness and distortion. I’m not the first, and most probably won’t be the last to complain about this. I guess I’ll just have to figure out an inoffensive way of telling whoever operates sound systems that their sound sucks. That, or find a way to make a teachable moment out of it.

*Apple Dictionary Version 2.3.0 (294)

PLAYING DRUMS FOR THE UPCS

I’ve played drums for the UP Cherubim and Seraphim for almost fifty years. In the past, the “band” for their pop songs included all acoustic instruments: an acoustic piano, upright acoustic bass, acoustic drums, and occasionally an acoustic guitar. All these were played with no sound reinforcement, which was fine since most of the venues they performed in were medium-sized recital halls and auditoria. But recent circumstances have forced a shift to electric instruments. Firstly, it’s almost impossible to find a venue on campus with a decent acoustic piano. And unless it’s the CCP or a real “classical” concert hall, off-campus venues are no better off. So we've been increasingly forced to use electronic keyboards. Second, most good young pop musicians use electric basses and guitars, and are quite adept in navigating the complexities not only the analog side of their equipment, but the digital side as well. Third, most pop music nowadays is electric/electronic anyway, so going electric/electronic has made the wider variety of sounds in pop music available to the band.

But the drums was another story. On the one hand, I could have chosen to use my recently acquired e-drum kit. It’s very easy to control the loudness of e-drums. All it takes is pressing/twisting the volume control. This is important because children’s voices are rather vulnerable without multi-mic, megawatt sound reinforcement, something the Cherubim does not use or have access to. Also, like their keyboard or guitar counterparts, e-drums also have a boatload of sounds available at the touch of a button. On the other hand, while much of RECORDED popular music uses electronic/sampled/virtual drums, acoustic drum kits are still ubiquitous for LIVE popular music. First, in unamplified situations, acoustic drums have a much wider dynamic range, greater articulation and nuance, and more timbral complexity than e-drums. Also, because a drum kit is composed of so many fascinating parts, it simply looks cool on stage and naturally attracts more curiosity.

So for this Saturday’s concert, I chose to play an un-amplified acoustic kit. While I still maintain the original Pearl Thunderking drum set acquired for playing in the Cherubim back in 1975 (albeit with countless modifications and upgrades), tonight’s “franken-kit” is composed of my newer collection of small drums and quiet cymbals. 

I’ve always had fun playing pops drums for the UPCS. Playing with the current electrified and youthful band promises to make it even more fun.

Pearl Midtown bass drum 16”, 

Pearl CMS-1410 “Competition” marching snare/floortom 14"

Pearl Decade Maple tom 10”

Pearl Omar Hakim Signature snare 13”

K Zildjian Flat Ride 20”

A Zildjian Thin Crash 16”

A Zildjian Splash 12”

Sabian AA Mini China 12”

Zildjian EFX #1 10” hihat bottom

A Zildjian Armand Splash 10” hihat top

Stagg DH Mini-China 8”