The Final Event...

Etude 33...

I guess I'll remember this title as the FINAL EVENT that I'll possibly ever do as a member of NJ PA. It's true that I stepped down like a few days ago, but that doesn't stop my love for technical stuff and trying to learn more about the really cool systems that are all around us.

Anyway, some background on the event first:

Etude 33 is a last-minute request from National Junior College Symphonic Band. Basically, we did a recording for them when they had their anianime concert, and because of that (and their unwillingness to pay Victoria Concert Hall a large sum of money to do recordings), we were called in to do a recording for them. I responded enthusiastically to this event (although the rest weren't as enthusiastic) and of course I did the event...

Anyway, Nicholas Lim was the only person who responded to my request for help and so the two of us set forth to do the recording and the event. We met in the early morning at 11am in school to pack our equipments. We had to brave the big rain and storm to reach the school gate and we were pretty soaked by the time we reached control.... (dumb side gate). So anyway, we decided to pack a lot of cables just in case we need to drag a huge amount of extensions to be able to position the mic and do the recordings.

We packed a lot of extra stuff in the end, but this is due to the large amount of uncertainty that we had to deal with...

This is the layout of VCH. For the recording, we were planning to position mics at the aisle on the first floor as it would then pick up what "the audience will hear". This ensures the highest quality of recording, or that's what we thought it should provide...

Unfortunately, because of safety issues and the like (people running for their lives in a fire), the mics cannot be placed at the aisle and have to be shifted somewhere else. The suggestion was to place it at the side of the stage and record from there, however, we fear that this will cause only some instruments to be picked up and would result in a very unbalanced sound. We also did not have a super tall mic stand to hang the mic above the conductor so we had to forsake that method...

Our next course of action was to position the mic in this place where the lights are positioned. Sort of like a hole in the wall...

Basically its the 4 black holes in the wall in the picture above. This holes are normally used to position lights to shine on the stage. Anyway, we managed to position the mic there, however our test recording found that there was a lot of echo. This is because a shotgun condenser do not just take in the sound in front of it but also will take in a bit of sound directly behind it. Since the box is closed, the sound echoes inside the box, resulting in a lot of pickup from the shotgun condenser mic as it takes in both from the front and the back...

Because of that, we repositioned the mic again. This time its outside of the box. Although the recording quality is the best here with a drastic reduction in the level of echo, we were not allowed to do that because of safety issue again.

In the end, we shifted our mics yet again to the far end of the concert hall. There's some sort of balcony on the 2nd floor and that's where we position our mic.

Here you can see a picture of the position of the mic stand...
Anyway, we learned some cable laying skills that really made the cable invisible (position the cable and hide it behind the seats, follow the contour of the ground... blah blah blah)

Anyway, after the set up was completed, here is a picture of the lonely corner I was hiding at (nah, I wasn't hiding, I was openly displaying my presence =P )

For the recording, I used one shotgun condenser mic pointed at the stage and recorded using the AUX output on the Allen&Heath PA12 so that I can control the volume level using the faders. The output was fed directly into the audio input jack on my computer and recorded using Audacity. At the same time, the sound was processed using Realtek HD sound effects manager so that acoustic echo is suppressed. This was a measure taken to reduce the effects of echo in VCH.

Victoria Concert Hall is an acoustic hall. Meaning that it does not need mics or sound boosting systems to ensure that the audience can hear everything. What this also means is that the hall itself is extremely echo-y and sounds will bounce all over the place. To a certain extent, it's a very good thing. Firstly because when you send sound through a mixer and speakers and blah blah, there will definitely be a reduction in the quality of the sound because its a mechanical machine. To put it simply, certain frequencies of sound may be affected by the machines and the speakers. However, this makes recording a pain without PRO equipments because you'll have a hard time with all the echo bouncing around....

Also, do take a look at the long dark strip on top of the concert hall. That's the position of several speakers. MCs, unfortunately, are usually not as loud as instruments, therefore they still need mics in the acoustic hall. Thus, the speakers are positioned. Also, I checked their EQ while I was in their control. Their EQ has a drastic reduction in the level of the bass frequency of the mics, showing how much the bass frequency bounce inside VCH.This also means that most of the feeding that occurred is low frequency feeds, and is only brought about by the MCs who are around.

However, I think it's right to commend that their light and sound system is set up correctly. We do not hear any of the irritating buzzing sounds when the lights are being switched on or off. When lights and sound cables overlap each other, the power cable of the lights tend to interfere with the sound cables as a magnetic field is generated when a current flows through a wire. This results in the irritating buzz that we hear a lot in LT 1 and LT 5 to a certain extent.

Victoria concert hall has a very simple lighting set up not meant for rock concerts or large dramas where the lights have to be very accurately positioned and placed. It boasts several spots light that are aimed at various points on the stage, and a really nice full stage PAR flood + wash. But mostly PAR flood.

The spots are positioned such that their main target is the conductor's usual position and the left and right side of the stage for the usual MCs.
The PAR flood is what I like about victoria concert hall as a venue for large concerts. It provides ample lighting for the orchestra , bathing them in a soothing white light, while at the same time not compromising the performers ability to look at their script.

The control box at victoria concert hall is also well positioned, giving it a nice look at the whole stage and the whole hall in general. This allows it good control to anything that might happen. However, it does not need to be positioned in the crowd as most of the sound is not controlled from control but from the natural acoustic of the place.

Victoria concert hall also has nice house lights. The house lights can be dimmed to whatever intensity that is required and has a nice starry effect on the ceiling.
Overall, victoria concert hall has a simple but adequate lighting system for the events that it runs.


I think its fitting for me to end my NJ PA journey, with a journey to Victoria Concert Hall and taking a look at the wonderous system there as well as setting up my own recording system. Looking back, I started not knowing anything at all and was learning everything from the most basic. From the mixer, to the lighting board, to computer lightings, to the systems of various other venues all over Singapore and to a certain extent, around the world. I believe through all these experiences, I have learned many stuff that the seniors never taught to us (speakers can be joined together etc.) There are many different PA systems all over Singapore, and I strive to understand each and at the same time, learn something new from it (=

Going back to the event, its quite an enjoyable event, with band doing their utmost best at performing. I like to thank them for the splendid night spent there.
Oh... and...Me and my equipments (= in the small little corner in Victoria Concert Hall...

A fitting end (=

Discmon