What is that SOUND? High School Auditorium Arrays

Last year I had to deliver wireless microphones to a local high school for their upcoming musical production. In the past they had some issues filling the entire auditorium with consistent sound and getting enough volume without feeding back. A few times I had provided them with speakers to use as front fills but this year they rented equipment to try in their space because they were going to renovate and wanted to see if the line arrays that would be installed with the new system would work properly. In addition to that, they rented lights as well.

The company they rented from came in and set everything up a few days before I arrived with the microphones. When I got to the auditorium, I immediately noticed the large box truss that was flown from the ceiling above the area in front of the stage. It hung just in front of the first row of seats and was where they had rigged many of the lights that they rented including some intelligent lights they used for effects.

I asked about the line arrays and was told they were hung in place of the old cabinets; in the coves in the wall on either side of the stage. The old speakers were typical 15" full range speakers that were installed into the wall and covered with a black thin material to match the walls and remain invisible to the audience. This is what the space looked like.

When I heard the news about the line arrays I was shocked. I couldn't believe that a professional company would have done this. I was told that the technician who installed the line arrays had done calculations with his computer program and determined that this setup would work well. I told the high school diector and the crew that this would never work and that their system now is worse than before and that a major change to this setup needed to take place in order to get the best sound possible. Keep in mind that we are using omni-directional body mics and that was something that the sound company would have known when they brought in their equipment. But rehearsal would need to go on anyway so the actors were mic'd up and on went the show.

It was painfully obvious throughout the rest of the day that my prediction had come true. So at the end of the day, we made the change necessary to give us the best sound possible and the show was a success.

What was the issue that was created with the new equipment and what do you think would be the change that we made to solve the problem? Go to our website to submit your evaluation. Click here if you need to download the picture of the stadium for a better view. Post any comments or questions that you may have, or email me. You never know, I may be feeling generous that day and offer some helpful advice. Good luck and have fun. We look forward to seeing your submissions!