Members IsildursBane Posted July 6, 2009 Members Share Posted July 6, 2009 Boston's a pretty cool town to begin with, but on Independence Day, there's lots of neat historical stuff going on, as you might expect. So for the last 2 years, we've had different members of my family come visit for the weekend to check things out. IMO, one of the more interesting and unique things that the city does every year is re-enact the reading of the declaration of independence from the balcony of the old state house. The problem is that the PA system they use is about as adequate as the one they had in 1776. For a couple thousand people wrapping around three sides of a building in the middle of downtown Boston, they had a pair of Mackie SRM450's on sticks w/ the horns 7-8' in the air. One aimed downstage, one aimed stage left. I was 50' stage right and despite the crowd being respectful and fairly quiet, I could not make out a single word that was said. Last year was the same thing; though we were in a more advantageous spot, so we could make out some of the words. I'll probably fire off a letter to somebody, but is there really nobody involved with this production who realizes how grossly inadequate that system is? I have fairly low standards for a spoken-word event that last all of about 20 minutes, but this was just embarrassing. -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Square Posted July 6, 2009 Members Share Posted July 6, 2009 Sounds like the low bid got the gig. You should definitely complain. I am sure someone organizing the event knows it is inadequate, but their opinion has been getting shot down. Your complaint will help change that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IsildursBane Posted July 6, 2009 Author Members Share Posted July 6, 2009 Sounds like the low bid got the gig. The two techs tearing stuff down were wearing Boston Event Staff t-shirts (unlike the guys working every other stage this weekend), so I'm wondering if they were city employees using a city-owned system. -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Square Posted July 6, 2009 Members Share Posted July 6, 2009 The two techs tearing stuff down were wearing Boston Event Staff t-shirts (unlike the guys working every other stage this weekend), so I'm wondering if they were city employees using a city-owned system.-Dan. Quite possible, the city brass could be looking at the event like it is just a small speaking event, so no need for big production. However, the crowd requires a larger rig, so let them know about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Real MC Posted July 6, 2009 Members Share Posted July 6, 2009 Don't count on sympathetic ears, public offices put more emphasis on low cost versus quality. They don't care if a pair of SRM450s and a Behringer is deployed. The only way they're going to listen is if the masses complain. And if there is insufficient public funds for a better system, they'll probably can the event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted July 6, 2009 Members Share Posted July 6, 2009 Hard to believe that those speakers wouldn't carry speech for 50 feet. Probably more problems were caused because the presenters were not use to using microphones (or even worse wireless lavs?). Here's a great place to use compressors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Special J Posted July 6, 2009 Members Share Posted July 6, 2009 Hard to believe that those speakers wouldn't carry speech for 50 feet. Probably more problems were caused because the presenters were not use to using microphones (or even worse wireless lavs?). Here's a great place to use compressors. Really? Sounds like a great place to use bigger, better and more speakers to me. Everything that we do that's city or state funded has been cut back or cut out completely. We used to do reinforcement of a band and playback music for the fireworks in Groton for several thousand people. This year, they're doing it with the band's PA. Should be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moody Posted July 6, 2009 Members Share Posted July 6, 2009 Hard to believe that those speakers wouldn't carry speech for 50 feet. Probably more problems were caused because the presenters were not use to using microphones (or even worse wireless lavs?). Here's a great place to use compressors. I agree, that sort of system should be able to carry a lot of speech if it is set up correctly and pointed so that it doesn't induce feedback. Probably the sort of situation where a pair of good microphones with sufficient gain and well set up so that the person on the balcony doesn't have to talk too loudly or be to close to them would be sufficient. Compressors would be good if the people running them knew what they were doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IsildursBane Posted July 7, 2009 Author Members Share Posted July 7, 2009 Hard to believe that those speakers wouldn't carry speech for 50 feet. I was ~110 degrees off axis and the elevation of the speakers didn't even fully clear the top of the crowd. If they'd had a pair of speakers on each corner of the building raised to about 12', it probably would have been adequate. -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted July 7, 2009 Members Share Posted July 7, 2009 I've seen great equipment poorly positioned cause problems before. One King day, the company brought enough equipment and placed it in the bottom of the amphitheater where I did several concerts. 1/3 of the audience couldn't understand what was being said. They gave a discount, but that misses the point. When it's general PA, you want to be able to understand what is being said. No discount fixes that. (And subs don't help at all!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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