1320 Chapter 34
approach the design of this type of system is to design a
vocal system with response from about 80 Hz to about
8 kHz and add supertweeters and subwoofers for the
very low and very high frequencies. The subwoofers
and supertweeters can be considered special effects for
this type of system.
34.6.1.9 Stage Monitor Systems
Stage monitors are as important as the house loudspeak-
ers for an entertainment sound system for the simple
reason that they aid the entertainers and thus help
encourage a better performance.
Stage monitor loudspeakers must be unobtrusive yet
high performance. One way to accomplish this is to
keep the low frequencies out of the stage-monitoring
system so that enclosure size can be minimized.
Another way is to place full-range stage monitors on the
sides of the stage and limited-range monitors at the
performer locations.
Whenever possible, treat the stage monitor system as
a completely separate system. Split microphone lines on
stage, and send one signal to the house mixer and
another to a separate monitor mixer. Use a splitter trans-
former if possible so that grounding isolation can be
maintained. Mix, equalize, and power the monitors sepa-
rately, with the monitor mixer somewhere in the vicinity
of the performers, perhaps at one side of the stage so that
the operator can hear the results of mixing actions.
Multiple outputs are needed and useful on a monitor
mixing system, since each performer may want his or her
own mix. For this reason, several manufacturers offer
mixers specially designed for the task of monitor mixing.
Equalization of a monitor mixing system is primarily
for the purpose of avoiding feedback. Thus, multiband
parametric and notch-type filters may be superior to the
more common graphic equalizers.
Newer wireless in-the-ear monitoring systems have
become a popular alternative to stage monitor loud-
speakers. These systems, which operate on wireless
microphone frequencies, allow each performer to
receive a custom monitor mix and eliminate the need
for monitor loudspeakers on the stage.
34.6.1.10 The Entertainment System as a Musical
Instrument
Consider that many of the individual instruments used
in modern music cannot exist apart from their electron-
ics and loudspeakers. Add a sound system with multiple
loudspeakers and, most likely, multiple phasing prob-
lems. Close mic the vocals to pick up breath noises not
heard in normal conversation. Choose a microphone
with lots of proximity effect so that performers can
change the quality of their voices by the way they hold
the mic. Close mic even the acoustic musical instru-
ments so that feedback can be avoided but so that nor-
mal acoustic mixing of the complex acoustic sources in
a musical instrument is eliminated. Mix the signals in a
way that has little in common with the acoustic mixing
that comes from the geographic layout of an orchestra.
Add artificial equalization, reverberation, recorded seg-
ments, purposeful harmonic distortion, and other special
effects. The result, when the sound system operator is as
good an artist as the stage performers, is popular music!
And, again, that popular music could not exist without
the electronics, including the sound system. Finally,
more and more, the sound system used in entertainment
bears little resemblance to and cannot rightfully be
called a sound reinforcement system. It certainly rein-
forces, but it also enhances, and, to a very great extent,
it creates. Thus, there is ample justification for consider-
ing the entertainment sound system to be a musical
instrument in its own right.
The significance of this, for traditional sound system
designers, is that many of the rules of good sound
system design can, and in fact, must, be modified for the
design of an entertainment sound system. Perhaps more
significant, a very well-designed and operated entertain-
ment sound system can be extremely effective in
performing its design goal, that of helping a group of
artists to entertain an audience. A nontechnical member
of that audience may believe that the particular type of
sound system would be the answer to some sound rein-
forcement problem at a local facility. Technical and
nontechnical people, then, should understand that the
entertainment sound system is, in actuality, a musical
instrument, designed for modern popular music, and
only for that purpose. Place the same system in another
facility and use it for reinforcement of speech or clas-
sical music, and it may be entirely unsuitable.34.6.2 Systems for Religious FacilitiesThe primary challenges in designing a sound system for
a religious facility are the user interface (many users
will be volunteers who are unfamiliar with sound sys-
tem operation), the aesthetic design (most religious
facilities will want the loudspeakers hidden), and the
acoustic environment (many religious facilities are, like
the typical cathedral. highly reverberant).