Rat Sound, Never Meanin' No Harm
Aug 22, 2005 2:50 PM, by Mix Editors
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Willie Nelson at the world premier of The Dukes of Hazzard at Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Rat Sound, the California-based sound services company that boasts a long association with the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Blink 182 and Ben Harper, is not necessarily the first name that springs to mind when it comes to country music. But when Hollywood recently came calling, the company had an opportunity to supply a large Turbosound Aspect speaker system for an after party and open-air show by country music legend Willie Nelson at the world premier of The Dukes of Hazzard at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
Rat Sound chose the new Turbosound Aspect speaker series for the main system with Rat Sound-designed MicroWedges for stage monitors. The company fielded 18 Turbosound Aspect TA890H mid-high enclosures, plus 18 TA890L bass cabinets powered by Turbosound T25 and T45 power amps for the event, which took place on Hollywood Boulevard in a parking lot adjacent to the famous movie theater. The mixing consoles, at both FOH and monitors, were Yamaha PM5Ds.
FOH engineer Ronnie Kimball, who has manned the console for Bad Religion for many years, recalls his surprise on hearing about the show. "Jon Monson of Rat Sound called to inquire about my availability for a country show. 'Country?' I asked. Jon said, 'Think, Hazzard County Fair.'" And Hazzard County Fair it was, complete with hay bales, the Duke brothers' signature General Lee car, the world's largest grill and about 100 girls serving drinks in their "Daisy Dukes."
In keeping with the 'country' theme, a flatbed, provided by All Access, was used for the live performance area. On each side of the stage Kimball configured the rig as a five by four block, with five TA890L woofers laid horizontally and four more bass boxes stacked at one end to form an L-shape, with the TA890H enclosures stacked four wide by two high on top of the low boxes. "The remaining two TA890H boxes were used as infills, inside the main system, in the vertical position," he explains. "That configuration provided the proper height as well as dispersion necessary to cover the all-VIP event."
With the location surrounded by tall buildings on all sides, says Kimball, the tight dispersion of the Aspect system proved critical. Each Turbosound Aspect cabinet generates a phase-coherent curved wavefront with a 25-degree horizontal by 15-degree vertical dispersion pattern through the use of proprietary multi-waveguide Polyhorn technology. "There was a nice slap-back, so I shored the speaker rig up in the back and had it pointing down into the crowd, the best non-reflective surfaces I could find. It could have been really bad with a wide dispersion, but that box, as tight as it is, allowed me to keep it correctly focused."
Kimball also used the Turbosound Aspect system recently in Sacramento, California for KNCI FM's Country in the Park event featuring Leann Rimes, Colin Raye, Aaron Tippin and Sugarland. "It worked out really well. It was beautifully clear."
Commenting on the departure from punk and hard rock into country music, he says, "I'm trying to bring that aspect (no pun intended) into the Rat Sound shop. I've been doing some of the hardest, fastest music known to man my entire life, so it's nice to do something with some dynamics and room to breathe."
For more information, visit www.turbosound.com and www.sennheiserusa.com.
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