European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 22, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Life of the Roadie  Luff to r to 1 a engineered Richardson Monitor Engineer Nhin Fox and sound riggers Mark  Ami Mick sheppord. A sound Engineer Al .1 live show is Tail equivalent of a producer in a studio. As Sudi explained de he likes the sounds the band gives him and makes them larger Han  i admits he s basically " mining the audience by  he sinner net musicians sound better than i hey might actually be. To achieve this lid nit s ,1 mixing , an instrument sol up about 70 to 10u feel in Roll of Ilie stage. Wilh its seemingly millions of billions swim lies incl levers he Tan control the Levels of volume of Hie Singer s voice and  of he instrument boost and Fine Lime the frequencies Anil c Reale special effects. T d works with up to eight different eff its devices a dini1.il delay which creates Echos find repeals two digital reverberate is which  the ethos ,1 stereo re Rimoni or which changes the Pilch of the Singer s voice find can for instance fallen in out pitl out device each for the1 keyboards batting  and Drums before a Lour begins Erl studies the album in this Case ,1  s Hunting High mrs Lou listening to in Repealer Ify taking notes on where special effects Are used. Thin in a two week  period with the hand he practices the i for k. Do sound engineer1, strive to make a live concert sound exactly like the album Thill would be the ultimate said of hut it s physically impossible in fact if Liu  a live show that sounder ust As Slickly produced As the album he would be suspicious. I would i nil to think  lilt sound engineers were using ii prerecorded  he said. A sound Engineer has to reproduce1 the music in ,1 different concert  each night. These varying environments differ immensely from tilt1 acini is if ally perfect recording sturlion. Each  affects Hie sound differently depending on its size and dimensions Actu have in feel Ymir Way in is to a Val s happening in a Hall Nyrl pm a it Iffe is the Frei Kenly  to. Sound checks he said Are really us Loken i lures since they like  in Emily buildings. Three hours inner As the  fills with people the environment changes Tomsk Lely. The room s  rises. Tile if by in pcs thicker and Thi porlies absorb sortie of Llie Szimku was. As Sonn As a show starts de is Hack to  one a no i her problem sound engineers ? is thai  11 shr to depends upon the Niue if to the performers. Vein Kel yourself geared up in reproduce Faith Billy lie i pc Ili sound Cli i is in i a i int e in Eiho on ,1  word ind Ihen the sinner Voes and does  he fancies like he so i l sin  word " i d said. Or one night a Singer i Nihil fun t ule in by More it live on Slage Ihan usual Runny in around anal leaping on of of the speakers or jumping Inlo like audience. Tincu Hal makes ii impossible fur the Singer to keep his pitched has to compensate for the loss on his mixing Board. Despite the hardships sound Enni Peers face to said most studio engineers would t consider ilium cod enough Fot i Tulliu work. In of jul sound engineers ire  regarded As head banking idiots who blow their ears out in the  Monitor engineers have an even Toi Lier time when it comes Loil filling w ill the musicians personalities because said de they have to keep the Artistes Happy that of coi Asp. Depends upon Illier moods. Monitors Are tin Insom meals Sel up on stage Hal allow each musician in hear himself or any other member of the band in order to work together More Eric vey a Singer Roii it need to pm ii his voice against the Irros or a guitarist  need to hear the Drums to get the heat and pulse of the music. A Monitor Engineer stands a the Side of the  Ami taking his rues from the band members either Lowers or raises the volume of the individual monitors. The entire . System the mixing Hoard j2 loudspeakers of amplifiers the monitors effects devices and microphones is rented in 0 51 1,500 per Weed. The system weighs As much As 12 ions and is i Apak of producing 30,000 Watts. The size of the de Kishi Teton gels his sound gear in order. Sandy Imrie works Maze of lighting tables. Concert Hall determines How Mot h Power will be used. The average level of sound that a a Pul Oul during n show is Riboul 110 decibels. Between songs de has measured Decibel Levels up to 124. Often when parents complain about the noise level they la blame me for it said de. But i m nol totally to blame. It s the screaming teen agers who Are louder Ihnn the  he Points out that the loudest volume Ever recorded was not a heavy Metal band nor even a concorde Jet. It was 60,000 screaming schoolgirls Al a hockey match in London s Wembley stadium thai produced 130 do. Let there be Light one of the most creative jobs in Rock n Roll is that of the Light designer Mick Healey is the Man responsible for putting the spotlight on the boys of a a or submerging them in darkness. Mick operates the More Ihan 380 spotlight from a computerized lighting console Hal stands just behind the sound Engineer s mixing Board. The console has Sullons for each color switches Hal activate individual spotlights levers that produce certain lighting effects or release reprogrammed lighting patterns it can store about 100 different shades of colors and up 1o40q lighting scenes. Mick is the show s set designer As Welt. Two months prior to the tour he met with the members of a a in discuss the design of both the stage and the Light show. They decided to keep things simple bul effective rather Ihan having a flashy ornate i. And fantastic special effects the band did t want to get swamped by technology just because they could afford it he said. That would have been a mistake anyway because people would have said they re compensating for never having performed live by using so much technology. By keeping things simple they let the music and the band come through like de the sound Engineer Mick planned his work by listening to the band s album. He decided to use mostly Back lights and floor lights to create a Moody atmosphere and just a few Bright spotlight. Often Only a Silhouette of the individual musicians will appear or they re left in total darkness. As for colors he chose cold colors such As blues and greens for ballads and Bright colors like Whites and yellows for loud rocking tunes. The first thing a Light show should do is enhance the music it should t be in Competition Wilh it Mick said basically it s Down to making the audit Are visually aware of what s happening on slag. Like when pal Waak tar does a guitar Solo the spotlight will be on him and everybody else will be in i of piece  the minimal lighting in a a i s show has gone Over Well Mick said especially Wilh the relatively Young and Ienco. Ii sort of leases them he said. The kids want to see the three Guys brightly lil All the time. When they suddenly disappear in darkness there s always a massive  Mick has three people Hel pm him with the lights Sandy Imrie the Mains Man an electrician by Trade who handles the technical aspects and two lighting Lech Lucians Jude Aflalo and Dave Farmer who assemble the Russ and hoist it to the ceiling. During the show he s in touch via Headset Wilh the roadies who operate the three Yokow spots in the Hall s Balcony which Shine on the members of a a. Tike the . System the lighting equipment is also rented in each continent. The show goes on if All goes Well Al the -4 30 . Sound Check the Maclies have free time until a Hii s show begins at 9 Lime for a Nap of a walk downtown. Dinner is Lui a slag Al 6 ., supplied by a local catering 8 stripes Arigi inf january 21, t9b7