“That’s still too much.”

I dropped the threshold a little more, and realized that the limiter had now almost removed all of FOH’s contribution to the goings-on. That being the case, I muted the mains and told the coordinator that they were only hearing stage-wash at that point.

“Well…I guess that’s okay.”

She wandered away, and I was left standing with my tablet, wondering why people book bands when what they really want is some !@#$%^& bluetooth speaker with a Spotify playlist running through it.

***

Variations of this experience have become common enough for me that I now have this piece of advice for people who want to own a PA: There’s no need to be self-conscious about having a relatively compact setup. A couple of basically decent tops and essentially workable subs is plenty of FOH in a vast number of situations, and may in fact be capable of rather more output than what’s really desired.

I’m increasingly convinced that bands are often booked almost purely for the mystique and visual splash of people making music in a room, and almost definitely not for the excitement of “big sound.” Very few people want “big sound.” They don’t care about that perfectly sculpted kick drum that whacks them in the chest, or that studio-quality vocal that utilizes everything on your channel strip (plus a modeled Pultec EQ in the FX rack) to have that magic “purr” and “sheen.” They especially don’t care if you have to outrun the band and monitor world to get there, which can make hearing their buddies talk into a difficult project.

What they want is for the band to be there, but essentially ignorable against a conversation until their favorite – or new favorite – tune comes on. Then they get up and dance, and then they want to ignore the band again.

(Side note: I’ve heard people say that a big pile of subwoofer material is what gets people engaged and dancing. Horsefeathers. I’ve mixed plenty of shows where we had no LF cabinets at all, and people were in love with the band. Emotions are what do the trick – songs, that is – not the ability to rearrange furniture with a test-tone generator and an attitude.)

I do also think that this is all less true in festival and concert situations, but not entirely untrue. I have this nagging notion that, with the exception of EDM fans, most folks simply don’t conceive of the aural rockshow aesthetic in the way that many audio craftspersons and musicians do. That is, if they don’t necessarily get “the big sound,” they’re okay with it. It’s not so central to the experience that it has to be there, or their ticket purchase was worthless.

Obviously, there are exceptions. I’m not saying there aren’t. Some events are indeed booked around having impressive, in-your-face audio production.

And, of course, there are shows produced around having “big sound” as an artistic choice, and that’s a whole other thing. The Pink Floyd tribute I’m involved in is meant to have the biggest production possible. In certain ways, it’s an excuse to do big production as an artistic end in itself. The show is specifically built NOT to function as background information, which means Pigs Over The Horizon is awful at being an “event band.”

…but amazing at being a concert where the music is its own centerpiece.

***

Like with other areas in modern life, I have a strong sense of the middle being hollowed out. It used to be that, at all points, the “next step” in production was to double your capabilities. Now, though, I don’t feel that doubling the performance of my equipment would get me much of anything. It’s probably more like a 4X multiplier, or even more.

For example, a traditional, next-step upgrade for me would be to move to an all JBL PRX system. It would cost about $15000 USD to make that move, just looking at the hardware and ignoring the ancillaries for deployment.

What would that get me, though? Aside from bragging rights, not much. What I have on hand will do a mini-festival (like what’s pictured above) just fine, in terms of coverage and SPL. Incrementally improved performance won’t appreciably increase either my quality of life or the quality of life of the audiences that come to the shows I do, and the extra capacity is wasted on all the other gigs where Gallivan Center coverage and volume is the opposite of what’s desired. Even for the bigger events I get called on to provide equipment at, nobody has ever hired me because I could hit an SPL target or bring “Brand X” to the location. No – I was hired because somebody liked my work as an audio human and recommended me.

To actually get into something resembling rock-show territory at a place like the Gallivan, I’d need to be willing to hazard about $30k on arrayable loudspeakers and subwoofers, enough for main deployments and delays. Again, that’s not taking into account ancillaries like power distribution, flying equipment, a bigger cargo vehicle, etc, etc, etc.

Plus, I’d have to compete with all the established names that people are comfortable calling, but anyway…

***

Where we seem to be at is that truly midgrade systems (in the classic sense) are almost all excess capacity to satisfy our rock-show dreams, dreams that a lot of folks booking bands just don’t share. What might have qualified as legitimate expansions in the past now have a questionable business case. In terms of getting more work or serving our customers better, many possible moves are now essentially lateral.

For myself, I might do some shuffling to get more of my various bits and pieces of PA to match up. I might even consider some expansion in order to make myself happier as an operator. Even so, my personal dream is much more downscale than it was when I was younger. Having a huge pile of noisemakers is now something that I recognize as NOT being a pre-punched ticket to success.

If I have the opportunity to get more toys without a big risk being involved, I’ll consider it.

But I will recognize it as being mostly an artistic and personal decision, rather than a business strategy.