formats

Wind & scrims!

I just finished installing some speakers for an outdoor venue where the system designer was using Smaart 7, a DPA 4007 & a Lectrosonics TM400 wireless kit. As a side note, the engineer is a Meyer SIM3 owner and user. It had never crossed my mind but sometimes the wind is just going to ruin your measurement process and you may just have to wait for a break in the wind. Right off the bat you can expect your low end measurement response to be totally unusable.

One of the other experiences I had on this install was realizing that scrims are NOT acoustically transparent. Anything between a speaker and the audiences ears is going to effect some portion of the frequency response. If you put a speaker right up against a scrim, there is less reflection than when you move back away from the scrim. Interestingly as you move a speaker away from a scrim, as you move away, the frequency of reflection drops. So if you have to deal with a scrim, you’re best off hugging it. The main arrays for the PA were clusters of Meyer JM1P (4 boxes) which creates a curved array. Obviously even if part of it is up against the scrim, part of it will not be up against a scrim. Unfortunately scrims are a necessary part of some sound installations and so we need to know how to optimize any circumstance.