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Professor Thump

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Metallica Tour - From The Crowd
AMetallicaFloorView.jpg
Credit: Photo courtesy Apogee

The impressive loudspeaker and subwoofer collection - more than 200 strong - to provide true in-the-round coverage on the current Metallica tour. Eight line arrays are Meyer Sound MILO topping smaller MICA modules, surrounding a TM Array made up of with 40 Meyer 700-HP subwoofers. Apogee A/D and D/A converters are on each end of a FiberPlex LightViper fiber optic transport system for an all-digital signal path.

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NIN Monitor Engineer Michael Prowda
NINMonitorEngineer.jpg
Credit: Photos by Jeff Mackay

Monitor Engineer Michael Prowda in his world, using a Digidesign Profile console that provides handy flexibility with snapshot pre-sets and a small footprint. Michael is the audio crew member with the longest NIN tenure. Notice the Custom IEM's.

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NIN Monitor & "Brick Wall" Racks
NINFrontOfHouseRacks.jpg
Credit: Photos by Jeff Mackay

The racks housing the Sennheiser wireless in-ear monitoring system transmitters (left) as well as the Aphex Dominator II “brick wall” limiters inserted before the monitor mixes hit the wireless transmitters. “I’ve got the threshold cranked up on the things because I’m driving my board like you would master something. What’s coming from the board is tickling the Dominators. If I turned those Dominators off, all those radios would be in the red. It also kind of finishes the mix.” - Monitor Engineer Michael Prowda. The stage is pretty much devoid of wedges except for keyboard and drums.

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NIN System Perspective
NINStagePerspective.jpg
Credit: Photos by Jeff Mackay

A view of the house system at a tour stop in Hamilton, Ontario, provided by Firehouse Productions and featuring the new L-Acoustics K1 line array. The K1/Kudo rig being used for the tour is comprised of 12 K1s (14 for larger venues and 10 for smaller) with an accompanying 8 K1SBs flown per side. In addition, 6 SB28s sit at each corner on the floor in front of the stage with an extra pair on each side of downstage center. The SB28s have DV-Doscs seated on top for front fill. Although there was initially talk of a proper cluster for center fill, it was scrapped due to a lack of appropriately located truss

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There are those who claim that Deep Purple was regarded as the "loudest band" in concert. But I would imagine several bands made this claim. I know the the WHO was incredibly loud on stage. Now all they can hear is the ringing in their ears.

I remember that in the early 90's Pink Floyd did a concert with 500 KW stack. Does that ring a bell?

But maybe the most significant contribution to SPL is by Nigel Turfnel from "Spinal Tap" whose Marshall amp "goes to eleven".

Guinness Book of Records shows DP registering 126 db near the stacks. I think it was noted that members of the audience were knocked unconscious. I was one of those during the 1985 Reunion Tour, perhaps it was the Crown Royal though....

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Grateful Dead Wall of Sound Specs
26,400 watts of continuous power via 44 amplifiers
586 JBL loudspeakers (15", 12" and 5")
54 Electrovoice tweeters
75 tons in weight (approximately)

grateful-dead-wall-of-sound-21.jpg

- McIntosh 2300 Power Amplifier and JBL D130 driver

Thsi is the spec from:

http://www.nomadradio.fm/2009/01/the-greatful-deads-wall-of-sound/

I thought they used Altec Compression drivers in that rig. Maybe it was a later gig...

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In the USA - Blue Cheer (San Francisco) was the first to use a wall of Marshalls ( 1967)
http://www.bluecheer.us/archive/bluecheerhistory.htm
cheer01.jpg


Cream
in the UK 1967 - Their management delayed touring USA until they had a
couple hits, but press kits showed their live rigs.
CreamLive.jpg


The Doors play earlier that year with a wall of Acoustic (brand) tower speakers.
Picture8.png





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