Challenges The venue caused some acoustic problems. The venue is surrounded by bare brick castle ruins (see figure forty-four) and as stated in previous diary entries, bare brick is very reflective. This caused an audible echo throughout the venue which impeded the sound quality. There is not much that can be done in venues such as these which adds to the challenge presented by outdoor venues. However, by locating some of the frequencies that were reflecting more than others and cutting them on the EQ, directing the speakers inwards so they were not pointing directly towards the brick and with the help of a full audience absorbing a lot of the sound we managed to reduce the reflections so they were not too distracting. Achieving the sound With it being a classical orchestra, it was already known that all the segments of the instruments needed to be clear and concise. It would not matter as much if it was in a reverberant setting as orchestras often play in large halls that are designed to be reverberant to give the music more body, making it sound somewhat more impressive. This helps the orchestra to sound fuller and provide a greater experience for the audience. Conclusion When doing outdoor events, using the best quality equipment that is available is integral otherwise producing a clear sound may be unachievable no matter how talented the engineer is. The sound engineer has to combine all the skills discussed within the previous diary entries. These skills include placing the PA correctly to ensure all the audience can hear the music clearly, using technology such as wave capture in order to ensure the delay and timings are correct so the sound is not distorted, communicating with musicians, talking each musicians through the microphones and always asking permission before placing a microphone on their instrument as they are incredibly expensive and often treasured by the player as well as using their musical skills in order to produce a sound that allows each section to be heard and sound natural. Essentially, the audience should not really acknowledge they are listening to the instruments through electronic amplification but that they are hearing the source of the sound. Therefore the role of the sound engineer is integral to ensure that the audience are enjoying the performance as much as possible.
Challenges The venue caused some acoustic problems. The venue is surrounded by bare brick castle ruins (see figure forty-four) and as stated in previous diary entries, bare brick is very reflective. This caused an audible echo throughout the venue which impeded the sound quality. There is not much that can be done in venues such as these which adds to the challenge presented by outdoor venues. However, by locating some of the frequencies that were reflecting more than others and cutting them on the EQ, directing the speakers inwards so they were not pointing directly towards the brick and with the help of a full audience absorbing a lot of the sound we managed to reduce the reflections so they were not too distracting. Achieving the sound With it being a classical orchestra, it was already known that all the segments of the instruments needed to be clear and concise. It would not matter as much if it was in a reverberant setting as orchestras often play in large halls that are designed to be reverberant to give the music more body, making it sound somewhat more impressive. This helps the orchestra to sound fuller and provide a greater experience for the audience. Conclusion When doing outdoor events, using the best quality equipment that is available is integral otherwise producing a clear sound may be unachievable no matter how talented the engineer is. The sound engineer has to combine all the skills discussed within the previous diary entries. These skills include placing the PA correctly to ensure all the audience can hear the music clearly, using technology such as wave capture in order to ensure the delay and timings are correct so the sound is not distorted, communicating with musicians, talking each musicians through the microphones and always asking permission before placing a microphone on their instrument as they are incredibly expensive and often treasured by the player as well as using their musical skills in order to produce a sound that allows each section to be heard and sound natural. Essentially, the audience should not really acknowledge they are listening to the instruments through electronic amplification but that they are hearing the source of the sound. Therefore the role of the sound engineer is integral to ensure that the audience are enjoying the performance as much as possible.
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