Why does the sound production at concert events matter?

The sound quality as experienced by the audience is the most crucial aspect of live performance production, even if it's a club, theater, arena, or stadium. The technological advancements in sound reinforcement and the ability of audio engineers to analyze and enhance performance spaces are directly responsible for the live audio that we are familiar with today. The sound reinforcement system and the sound technicians who utilize the mixing board to take various performance input signals, modify their levels, and distribute them to speakers complete the atmosphere of the performance space. The audience's perception of the sound quality is the most important component. The live audio we are accustomed to is directly a result of technological developments in sound reinforcement and the capacity of audio engineers to assess and improve performance settings.

The History of Live Music Events

Composed music performances and their surroundings have changed over the years. Originally, churches and religious celebrations were the exclusive domain for musical creations. Ancient Greece and Rome placed a high value on live musical performances as direct literary allusions to music and its significance in ancient culture date from this era.

Churches became the first places to hear music during the Middle Ages as religion spread over the Western world. Additionally, instruments like the organ were added to religious ceremonies. Composers such as Mozart and Beethoven performed in ballrooms and the parlors of European aristocrats in the 17th and 18th centuries. By organizing the first known public performance for which admission was charged at his London residence in 1672, violinist John Banister went one step further. If they paid one shilling, the audience had the opportunity to request the song Banister played.

As opera gained popularity, the wealthy built expansive music halls with acoustics in mind. In 1637, Venice opened the first public opera house in history, establishing dedicated music venues for the first time. Before jazz emerged in the late 1800s and early 1900s, classical music was the most well-known and popular genre for centuries. Jazz and blues were performed and danced to in bars all around the United States during the 1900s. The 1950s saw the rise of rock 'n' roll, which greatly increased demand for live performances. Over the ensuing decades, the live concert concept developed further, leading to the current standard, where live concerts are the most widely consumed forms of entertainment worldwide. Structures and technology that could accommodate thousands of fans were now required.

Live Sounds Becomes Elevated

The adage "necessity is the mother of invention" is true in many respects of the sound systems of today. A sound system that could transmit the sound to every person in the venue was necessary for a performance in front of thousands of supporters. That called for innovations such as the amplifier, loudspeaker, and microphone. It also reaffirmed how crucial acoustics are in performance spaces. Prior to the invention of amplified sound, live music venues were made to produce less attenuation, which allowed the sound to travel farther and be heard by more people. The first examples of such locations are Roman amphitheaters.

Three basic characteristics are present in all sound systems:

1. a mechanism for converting sound waves into electrical signals

2. a method for raising the electrical signal's amplitude, or volume

3. a way to transform the electrical signal back into vibrations of sound

The Microphone

In 1875, David Edward Hughes created the first modern microphone. Because Hughes believed his invention was the audio equivalent of a microscope—a tool that magnifies tiny sounds—he called it the microphone. Because he thought his invention was a gift to humanity, he decided not to get a patent on it. Alexander Graham Bell utilized a more sophisticated design when he patented the first telephone a year later. All contemporary microphones are still built on the same physical principles that he employed to make the original one.

The Speaker

Although sound vibrations could now be converted into electrical energy thanks to the creation of the microphone, it wasn't until 1898 that Oliver Lodge created the first moving-coil loudspeaker, which allowed sound vibrations to be converted back into electrical signals. An electrical signal is sent to a magnet that is encircled by a moving coil that is fastened to a cone. The electrical voltage causes the cone to oscillate, producing vibrations that produce sound. All loudspeakers made now still use Lodge's basic design.

The Amplifier

The advent of the amplifier was necessary to make sounds audible across long distances. Lee DeForest created the first apparatus that could amplify an electrical signal in 1906. Throughout the 20th century, his invention—known as the vacuum tube or valve amplifier—was widely employed to enhance electrical signals in televisions, radios, telephones, and early computers.

The Invention of The PA System

To determine how far a human voice might be projected, Edwin Pridham and Peter Jensen set up a laboratory in the 1910s and experimented with integrating a microphone, amplifier, and loudspeaker. In 1915, they demonstrated their system at San Francisco's annual Christmas concert, where guest singers performed Christmas carols for an audience of 100,000 people. They called their company Magnavox, which is Latin for "Great Voice." This concert, which was the first public music performance to be amplified, was a huge success and brought in new sound businesses to help the expanding radio, telecommunications, and film industries.

Sound systems were widely used for live concert production by the 1930s. DeForest's vacuum tube was superseded by the transistor in the late 1940s, enabling producers to create amplifiers with more power and lower costs. A new musical genre emerged because of musicians pushing the boundaries of amplifiers with electric guitars. The Beatles' first stadium performance in 1965 demonstrated that the sound equipment at the time was insufficient for stadium performances. The audience could hardly hear their music because the amplifiers and column speakers were inadequate for the event. It also brought attention to another problem. The stadium was so noisy that the band was unable to hear themselves playing.

Mixing Boards and Monitors

Separate from the amplifiers, the live mixing console or sound board was created. The usage of the front-of-house mixing position, which allowed them to hear the music mix as the audience did, was a consequence of its innovation. It was typical practice to mix the sound from the side of the stage prior to that invention. Bill Hanley, who designed the Woodstock sound system, built specialized speaker enclosures that rested on the stage floor at a 45-degree angle so that bands could hear their own music. Individual band members' speakers were mixed using mixing consoles, which might be dedicated or equipped with monitor outputs. Even now, a lot of people still utilize these stage monitor wedge speakers.

The first wireless in-ear monitoring (IEM) system to be sold commercially was created by Garwood Communications. Wireless IEM systems not only fixed problems with stage volume but also allowed artists to roam about huge stages and still hear their monitor mix without being restricted to one spot like a wedge monitor. Digital audio mixers were also introduced in the same year. Digital mixers were quickly embraced by concert sound production businesses due to their numerous advantages over analog mixers.

The Future of Sound Systems

By utilizing a third dimension, spatial audio gives listeners a sense of the precise placement of sound sources from all directions. One of the audio formats that enables musicians to combine their music in three dimensions is Dolby Atmos. The entertainment experience is altered when live concert sound is produced using 3-dimensional audio. By enabling sounds to emanate from all directions, it makes live concerts more immersive. Artists can incorporate additional instruments, vocal harmonies, and other components without the arrangement becoming cluttered thanks to spatial audio. A more dynamic and active arrangement can be produced by allowing sounds to travel across the listener's mental space.

There are still not many locations using spatial audio. The Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas is one of several of them. There are others in New York, Inglewood, and San Francisco. The Sphere in Las Vegas is the most recent and well-known. The world's largest concert-grade audio system, Sphere Immersive Sound, was created especially for the distinct curving interior of Sphere. The system revolutionizes the way audio is presented in large-scale venues by utilizing HOLOPLOT's cutting-edge 3D Audio-Beamforming and Wave Field Synthesis technologies.

Additionally, Sphere Immersive Sound makes use of HOLOPLOT's special Wave Field Synthesis features, a spatial audio rendering method that makes use of virtual acoustic settings. The loudspeaker's placement has historically been the perceived source of a sound in conventional audio technology. Sound designers can use Wave Field Synthesis to generate a virtual point of origin that can be positioned in a precise spatial location. This makes it possible to direct audio to the listener so that, despite the source's distance, it appears close. For instance, an audience member may hear a whisper that sounds like someone speaking right into their ear.

With the rise of different musical genres and the demand for bigger venues to accommodate the thousands of fans who want to see their favorite performers, venues and live event production audio have changed. Sound systems that can deliver high-quality sound to people who are seated a considerable distance away from the stage are necessary. Contact Celebrity Talent International to help you with your sound production needs when you book talent with us.