Daytona Bikeweek 2010
The annual spring motorcycle rally in Daytona Beach Florida is underway. This year the event started on February 26th and runs through March 6/7th. I am mixing sound in the Full Moon Saloon on Main Street in Daytona. Main Street is the traditional center for the rally and is a must visit for the rally crowd.
The Full Moon has a house PA system. It is a good club system and covers the room without any problem. The room has just been redone and the stage rebuilt. The previous stage was a corner stage but the new stage is on the short wall and that is much better from a production standpoint. It has introduced one production problem though. There are exposed rafters and beams in the venue. The main speakers are flown and are between the beams and the ceiling. This means that the horns are reflected back to stage from close range and has resulted in some feedback problems. The horns are a bit hotter than I would normally run them as well. It took me longer than I would have liked to figure out the exact problem and make the necessary changes to deal with the problems.
I elected to take my SAC system into the venue for the event. Primarily this is because the SAC system is my preferred mixing environment. The house board is a small Yahama with limited features and the house mix location is left over from the old corner stage and is poorly positioned for the new club layout. The floor in the mix booth is also very resonate so that the low end in the booth bares little resemblance to reality in the room. With the SAC Remote operating over a WiFi connection I can mix from anyplace in the room (crowd permitting).
Mixing by remote control in this situation, as well as many other possible situations, is a great benefit. A sound man needs to be able to hear the overall sound from the stage and PA in order to do a good job. Monitoring a mix by headphones tells you what is in the mix but not what is in the room. Club sound is a combination of the stage sound and the PA sound. One reinforces sounds in the mains to maintain a proper balance in the room. Having the capability to hear exactly what is going on in the room is a great advantage. Being able to do this without taking up valuable real estate in a club has been impossible in the past. The SAC system enables this to become a reality.
Tags: Live Club Sound, Mixing Sound by Remote Control, SAC Remote, SAC System