OGGY Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 One thing I always struggle with is deciding what size PA should be used for different venues, particularly when it's outside of our "normal" activities. We have been asked to provide a PA for a Blues Brother tribute band in a venue larger than we would normally deal with. The room dimensions are 84m x 20m with a ceiling height of 3.2m. It will be having a 9mx5m stage errected for the event. In "Dinner/Dance" configuration the room has a capacity limit of 600. In terms of what equipment we have available for the date, well that's limited to a pair of Mackie SA1232 and 4 SWA1801. So would in general people be "happy" putting that system in that venue? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Lawrance Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Are you sure you it's 84m x 20m? Thats one long, but thin room! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OGGY Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 Are you sure you it's 84m x 20m? Thats one long, but thin room! That's what they quote on their website, it's decsribed as a "Exhibition Hall" apparently they have the ability to divide it up with those moveable walls. The orgainser has said they've booked the whole venue although they only anticipate 350 - 400 guests. Thanks Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Beech Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 or one wide and short room. which side is the stage? if the stage is the long side you'll not have anyway near the coverage, if on the short side you wont have the room height to balance spl. not that the boxes are really loud enough to do this anyway, look at local hire companies, you may need to hire additional boxes for coverage or delay speakers with processing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Either way, with only a 3.2 meter ceiling height, getting even coverage of the whole room is going to be a pain in the posterior. You will almost certainly need to resort to delayed extra speakers for parts of the room and that's always a fairly unsatisfactory compromise. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risc Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 If its not a gig don't try and make it a gig. Dinner/dance in general doesn't require complete room coverage, as long as the dance floor has good spl. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johndenim Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 If its not a gig don't try and make it a gig.My thought's too Codex. If it is a dinner/dance some of the guests will prefer to sit at the back of the room and chat.The guests wanting to boogie will come to the front anyway. Your cabs should easily fill the dance floor. John Denim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risc Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 I always wish my gigs were bigger, but the world of dinner and dance is a living :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 One problem with treating it as a "dinner and dance only" is that for the inevetable speeches, if setup as above with little regard to coverage over the whole room, your PA may not cut the mustard... and leave the client disappointed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Beech Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 David has hit the nail on the head. For 84 hours of the event you'll potentially have half drunken people wanting to talk about eggs and violin repairs amongst other things to the 400 people there. They'll hold the mic slightly below the back of their right knee and talk to the roof in an unbearably quiet voice. The rest of the audience will be having conversations with each other about the best way to cook a goose and the usual complaints about "we can't hear it over here in the Reading branch of Iceland" will come flooding in. No matter what sort of event it is, you need to have the ability to cover the entire area, there may well be a small system in the venue that you can use as delays for speeches, these may be best turned off during the bands performance, but don't count on it, make sure you find this out first find out whether it works and input configurations. If its a corporate venue they'll probably want to charge you both arms and at least half of one of your legs to use it aswell so check this out. Finally, don't put a quote in until you know exactly what u need to do. If you find out the exact details, you can put a detailed quote in saying we are providing this that and tuther which will do this. If they come on the day wanting more, in as many words tough. Of course, you do your best to help but there is a limit. I get sick and tired of the "can you just" nature of so many clients nowadays, "is it ok if we" "is it possible to" when the event has been organised months in advance, you've quoted, ammended, requoted, done a site visit, sent plans and ideas off, had stage plans back, channel requirements back, confirmed that, signed a contract, and on the day, 5 minutes before the event opens or the show starts, "CAN YOU JUST record it onto here" or, is there any way we can have the walls lit up green, or, this is Jeff, he needs a wireless mic which he wants to use from the nearest train station. I feel better now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risc Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 This thread will be winding its way through my head as I do a blues bros tribute on saturday, now thats ironic :P They are at the severn hall, three counties show grnd 1600 capacity room, audience size unknown.pa. 5-6kw foh4x kf 6502x Sb528 (2x18")4x Lab 10000Q8 Martin Le1200DBX480 control/eqLS9-32If there are any speeches/raffles/award ceremonies or lost children I promise to do my best to make everyone in the room listen :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 With respect, I think some people may have read the word "dinner" and jumped to a conclusion about the structure of the event. I'm perhaps guilty of seeing "Blues Brothers Tribute" and jumping to a different conclusion, namely that there will be a "show" section of the event with a seated audience who need to hear what's happening on stage at "R&B-style" SPLs. Which format is accurate will have a major impact on the PA needs--but, as has been said, even if the music act doesn't need to have perfect coverage, the speeches do. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhilly Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 what's spl ?????????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risc Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 what's spl ?????????? Spl is 'small people limit' where you get the small people in the audience at the front so the larger people at the back still get some treble :D Sound Pressure Level Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revbobuk Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 what's spl ?????????? Spl is 'small people limit' where you get the small people in the audience at the front so the larger people at the back still get some treble :D Sound Pressure Level No - isn't it 'Stoned People Limit', where the number of drunks in the audience is restricted to a certain percentage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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