Sad That After 5 Years FLO Cant't Get Right - Still 4 Years To GO

[jwillis35]

40 minutes ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

I was close to the press box last night … what the mikes would have picked up was a loud conversation between a father in the row behind me and to my right, to his daughter and boy friend next to me on my left … “Do you see Matt? He’s next to the bongo thing” “Yes,  I see him. Our color guard uniforms are awful this year. There are these stripe things we have to pull over our tights, and no one can get them to work. And we have to push props all over the field, like we have to push them two stripes of the field in eight counts. And the guard is almost all freshmen. We have like only two seniors, including me, so like a bunch of 14 year olds are pushing these really heavy props. I don’t know why he is making us wear those stripe things …” Did I mention this was a very loud conversation? 

This is true and why the mics would have to be 20 feet above the crowd. If you do it correctly and use DIRECTIONAL mics and not omni-directional mics then you can filter out some of the crowd chatter, though you want to pick up some of that. 

I think the other thing is that people sitting near the mics would be told about their placement and to be quiet during the performance other than clapping and cheering. But ultimately this is too difficult to control. I think the best you can do is just make them aware of it. But mic technology is good enough these days to capture more of what is coming from the field. 

I feel bad you had to listen to that crap last night. Sheesh...

Edited August 11, 2021 by jwillis35

[pbeau]

1 hour ago, jwillis35 said:

Good insight, and this is kind of what I figured. I think Flo needs to stop using those 6 direct inputs from the corps' mixing boards. That is a mistake. They are just pulling in things like mallets, synths, effects, voice, solos and other pit instruments into the direct mix, yet their field mics will also pull in those sounds.

They need to move the field mics off of the track and into the stands. They just have to figure out the best way to do this depending on the stadium. Some stadiums have places on the outside of the press box area where mics can be placed, and although you deal with audience noise, frankly you want to get some of that because you want to hear how the crowd is reacting to the corps. If the mics are placed high enough above the crowd then you should get the FULL sound coming from the field.  Ideally you want to record the sound that is being produced from about 25 yards away from the field and about 30 feet up. This way if the drum corps on the field has balances issues or the pit is way too loud, well that is not Flo's fault. Flo is just recording what everyone else is hearing from about 30 rows up and 20 to 30 yards away from the field. 

Using 6 direct output to input connections with the corps' mixers means that the folks for Flo literally have to sound check on the fly for every corps. You can do it, but you need someone who understands balances, compression, limiters, and pan placement. 

You need to apply for a sound engineer job at Flo!!

[Terri Schehr]

49 minutes ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

I was close to the press box last night … what the mikes would have picked up was a loud conversation between a father in the row behind me and to my right, to his daughter and boy friend next to me on my left … “Do you see Matt? He’s next to the bongo thing” “Yes,  I see him. Our color guard uniforms are awful this year. There are these stripe things we have to pull over our tights, and no one can get them to work. And we have to push props all over the field, like we have to push them two stripes of the field in eight counts. And the guard is almost all freshmen. We have like only two seniors, including me, so like a bunch of 14 year olds are pushing these really heavy props. I don’t know why he is making us wear those stripe things …” Did I mention this was a very loud conversation? 

Sounds like every ####### show I’ve been to in the last ten years.  Shut. Up.  No. One. Cares. 

[Jurassic Lancer]

2 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:

Sounds like every ####### show I’ve been to in the last ten years.  Shut. Up.  No. One. Cares. 

“So the stripe things are made out of this material.” Holds up iPhone so Dad (and I) can see. Dad leans over my shoulder. He is wearing Axe body spray. To myself: “The word you are looking for is ‘Spandex.’”

Edited August 11, 2021 by Jurassic Lancer

[cixelsyd]

14 hours ago, rjohn76 said:

One of the contractors that's worked for Flo this season shared a little insight on FB into some of the audio issues this season.

First, as many would expect, Flo is hiring subcontractors that are not familiar with the marching arts activity.  They know how to set up mics and mix the incoming audio, but they legit don't fully understand what the final output should ideally sound like.  That's not an excuse, just a reality of the situation.

That should never happen.  

Live music and live sports events are two radically different applications.  Without experienced oversight or advance training, you cannot send a sports crew into a music event (or vice versa) and expect them to magically get it right.  If subcontracting to strangers is the only way FloMarching can cover this many shows, we would all be better off if they covered less shows and covered them well.

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Second, the audio setup that they're using will take up to 6 direct outputs from the corps board.  Flo is at the mercy of what the corps send them via those 6 outputs.  It takes several shows to get that ironed out.  With it being an abbreviated season, there's less opportunities to get it right and fine tune things.  And again, this process is dependent on the audio engineers having a better understanding of what the final output should sound like.

That should never happen.

Sound boards have outputs for individual channels, and outputs for the overall mix.  The corps sound board operator has been working on balance daily all through tour, while the FloMarching crew person may be witnessing the corps for the first time live.  Why would we ask someone to balance six unfamiliar channels on the fly, when the balanced stereo mix is already available?

Quote

Last, this person did suggest reaching out to Flo and be specific that they hire audio engineers that know/understand the activity.

Or get the engineers who worked Little Rock and Marion to provide guidance to the other teams.  Those two events had far better sound than the others.

[Swamptihs]

There is probably very little subscriptions for DCI and even less for the company that does DCA. They are not going to put out a high quality product. Simple economics. 

This box5 company prolly only have 2 or 3 viewers. Flo has maybe a few thousand at best. 

[KVG_DC]

1 hour ago, Terri Schehr said:

Sounds like every ####### show I’ve been to in the last ten years.  Shut. Up.  No. One. Cares. 

[screams wildly for every rifle catch]

[JimF-LowBari]

2 hours ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

I was close to the press box last night … what the mikes would have picked up was a loud conversation between a father in the row behind me and to my right, to his daughter and boy friend next to me on my left … “Do you see Matt? He’s next to the bongo thing” “Yes,  I see him. Our color guard uniforms are awful this year. There are these stripe things we have to pull over our tights, and no one can get them to work. And we have to push props all over the field, like we have to push them two stripes of the field in eight counts. And the guard is almost all freshmen. We have like only two seniors, including me, so like a bunch of 14 year olds are pushing these really heavy props. I don’t know why he is making us wear those stripe things …” Did I mention this was a very loud conversation? 

Had that going on years back during a show at DCA prelims at Allentown. What shut them up was someone (between corps) couple rows away yell “hey no one gives a (crap) about what Sally told Dave, ya wanna talk leave”. And yeas Sally and Dave’s conversation was a large part of what was heard

[Terri Schehr]

44 minutes ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

You mean section 339 isn’t the blast zone? 😂 And I am pretty sure if you were yakking during a show, Jim, you, or I would have no problem telling you to stfu. 

I had to stop Jim from throwing someone over the railing because they asked us for our tickets for our seats when we asked them to move when we returned from a break.  

[KVG_DC]

6 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

I had to stop Jim from throwing someone over the railing because they asked us for our tickets for our seats when we asked them to move when we returned from a break.  

Just go with the, "Ok, I'm gonna count to three then sit in my seat. It's up to you if you move or not."