Author: Ace Baker

R-E-S-P-E-C-T   Aretha said it best. You either have it or you don’t and these days I see less and less of it. When I’m not on tour I do a lot of work with local sound companies and as such I do a lot of corporate events. One company I work with has an exclusive contract for all the audio needs in a busy Manhattan event space. This particular space, while beautiful and ideal for events, is an acoustic nightmare. It’s an oval shape comprised of concrete-like walls about 40 feet high with a domed ceiling. The RT60 time in there is about… 60.   So we all know what a typical corporate event comprises. Usually it’s a lectern with a couple of mics on it and perhaps a lav and/or wireless hand-held(s). We also know it can sometimes (ok, almost always) be difficult to get the speaker to observe proper mic technique and project when they are speaking. That, in combination with the acoustics of the room make it difficult to get the speaker’s voice heard. So where does respect fit into all this? Well, it wouldn’t be so hard to get the speaker’s voice to be audible if the attendees weren’t so DAMN LOUD. I’m more and more often shocked at how loud the audience can be when there’s a speaker on stage trying to communicate....

R-E-S-P-E-C-T   Aretha said it best. You either have it or you don’t and these days I see less and less of it. When I’m not on tour I do a lot of work with local sound companies and as such I do a lot of corporate events. One company I work with has an exclusive contract for all the audio needs in a busy Manhattan event space. This particular space, while beautiful and ideal for events, is an acoustic nightmare. It’s an oval shape comprised of concrete-like walls about 40 feet high with a domed ceiling. The RT60 time in there is about… 60.   So we all know what a typical corporate event comprises. Usually it’s a lectern with a couple of mics on it and perhaps a lav and/or wireless hand-held(s). We also know it can sometimes (ok, almost always) be difficult to get the speaker to observe proper mic technique and project when they are speaking. That, in combination with the acoustics of the room make it difficult to get the speaker’s voice heard. So where does respect fit into all this? Well, it wouldn’t be so hard to get the speaker’s voice to be audible if the attendees weren’t so DAMN LOUD. I’m more and more often shocked at how loud the audience can be when there’s a speaker on stage trying to communicate....