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Phase Linear and Pink Floyd
- Thread starter laatsch55
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Cheers
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PF liked lots of power from the beginning... 
Fish too?
[...]
It was May 15th 1971 at CRYSTAL PALACE GARDEN PARTY.
The Floyd started with Atom Heart Mother and used a Quadraphonic sound system, with speakers positioned at various points in the grounds, so the audience was treated to good sound.
The Crystal Palace Garden Party gig has a somewhat tragic anecdote. There in the standing pool of murky water were inumerable and quite happy schools of generally healthy fish, swimming their tranquil little lives away in perfect solitude. Now if you are the least bit upset by the mention of dead fish, turn away now. With that warning, the wrath of death has so far overlooked Pink Floyd concerts, save for a few hundred or so not so lucky cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates at Crystal Palace. For the concert, special amplification and speaker systems were constructed by Charlie Watkins of WEM PA, the venerable British electronics firm, who also designed the enormous sound system so prominently seen in Live At Pompeii. The concert was indeed splendid, everyone enjoyed themselves, and the sound was overwhelmingly perfect. Only one very smelly problem surfaced as Charlie described: "Due to the reflective surface of the pond in front of the stage, there was a great gain in sound velocity." As a result, the Floyd's fearsome arsenal of sound equipment pummeled the pond's inhabitants delicate nervous systems with such insurmountable and persistent blows, that the fish succumbed to the sonic assault by going into a permanent state of psychedelic trauma. For the next morning, several hundred not-so-fresh fish were found floating motionless on the pond's otherwise inviting surface.
Another version of the same story was told by the venue photographer Robert Ellis:
The finale of the concert featured orange smoke bombs , fireworks and a giant rubber octopus which shared the pool with the bolder audience members. One sour note. All the fish in the pond snuffed it. The reason the fish died at Crystal Palace was because the floyd set off smoke flares under water while trying to inflate the octopus which would not inflate because of damage from the many people who splashed around in it earlier. Stirring up the bottom of the pond did nothing to help the health of the fish either. It also killed off the water lilies!!
Regardless what was the cause, the Floyd were presented a bill for the dead fish.
[...]
Fish too?[...]
It was May 15th 1971 at CRYSTAL PALACE GARDEN PARTY.
The Floyd started with Atom Heart Mother and used a Quadraphonic sound system, with speakers positioned at various points in the grounds, so the audience was treated to good sound.
The Crystal Palace Garden Party gig has a somewhat tragic anecdote. There in the standing pool of murky water were inumerable and quite happy schools of generally healthy fish, swimming their tranquil little lives away in perfect solitude. Now if you are the least bit upset by the mention of dead fish, turn away now. With that warning, the wrath of death has so far overlooked Pink Floyd concerts, save for a few hundred or so not so lucky cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates at Crystal Palace. For the concert, special amplification and speaker systems were constructed by Charlie Watkins of WEM PA, the venerable British electronics firm, who also designed the enormous sound system so prominently seen in Live At Pompeii. The concert was indeed splendid, everyone enjoyed themselves, and the sound was overwhelmingly perfect. Only one very smelly problem surfaced as Charlie described: "Due to the reflective surface of the pond in front of the stage, there was a great gain in sound velocity." As a result, the Floyd's fearsome arsenal of sound equipment pummeled the pond's inhabitants delicate nervous systems with such insurmountable and persistent blows, that the fish succumbed to the sonic assault by going into a permanent state of psychedelic trauma. For the next morning, several hundred not-so-fresh fish were found floating motionless on the pond's otherwise inviting surface.
Another version of the same story was told by the venue photographer Robert Ellis:
The finale of the concert featured orange smoke bombs , fireworks and a giant rubber octopus which shared the pool with the bolder audience members. One sour note. All the fish in the pond snuffed it. The reason the fish died at Crystal Palace was because the floyd set off smoke flares under water while trying to inflate the octopus which would not inflate because of damage from the many people who splashed around in it earlier. Stirring up the bottom of the pond did nothing to help the health of the fish either. It also killed off the water lilies!!
Regardless what was the cause, the Floyd were presented a bill for the dead fish.
[...]
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the Evil Mr. Pig...
[…] We got it right most of the time, sometimes he came too close. Only once did it really come unstuck, The Evil Mr Pig….
We were at an indoor Arena in the States, don't know where, maybe one of you could tell me, on cue Mr Pig slowly inflated and began to appear above the PA, the roar went up from the audience, the band, lost in their music, and doing their thing, oblivious to it all, We all realised at the same time, like collective telepathy, this bloody Zeppelin, 40 odd foot and several tons of grunt, was heading strait for the stack, about a metre too low!
The PA (powered by 16 bridged Phase Linear 400-watt per channel MkIII stereo amplifiers per single speaker tower, 8 speaker towers) stood a good 15 odd metres off the ground, the gap between stage and audience was less than 3metres, that's a lot of very injured people, there was a frantic scramble up the stacks, myself and three others, as we reached the top we turned and there was the Pig, just coming straight at us, staring us right in the eye and screaming.....No time to think...
The whole show ran to a click track, all keyed to the band, they couldn't slow him down, he had to do his thing and get back in his box on cue, show biz right.As his great rubbery frame crashed in to us, we just hung on, and with one arm each started shoveling the chin and neck, then the shoulders over the top, it was working, but wait, his nose which had lights in it, was stuck on the top row of Horns, the PA stack had slots, male and female, to hold it up in stable fashion, which was good, but now the whole stack was literally being pulled over by the winches, the lean was getting really close to the point of no return, and from the ground I'm sure it looked scary, but we were on the bloody top, being smothered by this Pig, no time to think, in fact just numb, if truth be told, we just kept pushing at this blubber that was all over us, then like some sort of magic trick, the nose burst free, the two front legs dragged themselves over the top, the whole thing reared up and threw it self forward , the back legs came at us and just brushed over us, we watched as his fat bum mooned us in contempt, like some mad, hit-run driver, He was out, out to get ya!
The PA rocked like a house of cards, but stayed together, the crowd went nuts, the colour drained back in to the faces of the band, and my fellow twats and I, got the big ovation from the crowd as we climbed down, shaken and very stirred. We headed straight for the stash and chopped out a big one and washed it down with a scotch. Looking out from the scrim that stretched over a steel frame, and hid the back line, from the audience's view, we watched as the Pig was slowly turned round, that was the chance for the winch crew to run the motors on the cables and tighten them, Mr Pig was back on his lead.
A thumbs up from Mr Gilmour, and the grin on Nick Masons face went from ear to ear, it remained a talking point for weeks, Roger Waters suggested we do it every night, but then, at times he could be more evil and menacing than the pig! It was never allowed to happen again, all good fun, but too close, The Pig was developing a Personality, he was evil. As the tour went on, through Europe, and then to the States, He grew more evil, and unpredictable. […]
source: Confessions Of A Pink Floyd Roadie; Chris Cockram. He had the good fortune to be on the Pink Floyd road crew on the highly acclaimed Animals Tour in 1977 and PF facebook
[…] We got it right most of the time, sometimes he came too close. Only once did it really come unstuck, The Evil Mr Pig….
We were at an indoor Arena in the States, don't know where, maybe one of you could tell me, on cue Mr Pig slowly inflated and began to appear above the PA, the roar went up from the audience, the band, lost in their music, and doing their thing, oblivious to it all, We all realised at the same time, like collective telepathy, this bloody Zeppelin, 40 odd foot and several tons of grunt, was heading strait for the stack, about a metre too low!
The PA (powered by 16 bridged Phase Linear 400-watt per channel MkIII stereo amplifiers per single speaker tower, 8 speaker towers) stood a good 15 odd metres off the ground, the gap between stage and audience was less than 3metres, that's a lot of very injured people, there was a frantic scramble up the stacks, myself and three others, as we reached the top we turned and there was the Pig, just coming straight at us, staring us right in the eye and screaming.....No time to think...
The whole show ran to a click track, all keyed to the band, they couldn't slow him down, he had to do his thing and get back in his box on cue, show biz right.As his great rubbery frame crashed in to us, we just hung on, and with one arm each started shoveling the chin and neck, then the shoulders over the top, it was working, but wait, his nose which had lights in it, was stuck on the top row of Horns, the PA stack had slots, male and female, to hold it up in stable fashion, which was good, but now the whole stack was literally being pulled over by the winches, the lean was getting really close to the point of no return, and from the ground I'm sure it looked scary, but we were on the bloody top, being smothered by this Pig, no time to think, in fact just numb, if truth be told, we just kept pushing at this blubber that was all over us, then like some sort of magic trick, the nose burst free, the two front legs dragged themselves over the top, the whole thing reared up and threw it self forward , the back legs came at us and just brushed over us, we watched as his fat bum mooned us in contempt, like some mad, hit-run driver, He was out, out to get ya!
The PA rocked like a house of cards, but stayed together, the crowd went nuts, the colour drained back in to the faces of the band, and my fellow twats and I, got the big ovation from the crowd as we climbed down, shaken and very stirred. We headed straight for the stash and chopped out a big one and washed it down with a scotch. Looking out from the scrim that stretched over a steel frame, and hid the back line, from the audience's view, we watched as the Pig was slowly turned round, that was the chance for the winch crew to run the motors on the cables and tighten them, Mr Pig was back on his lead.
A thumbs up from Mr Gilmour, and the grin on Nick Masons face went from ear to ear, it remained a talking point for weeks, Roger Waters suggested we do it every night, but then, at times he could be more evil and menacing than the pig! It was never allowed to happen again, all good fun, but too close, The Pig was developing a Personality, he was evil. As the tour went on, through Europe, and then to the States, He grew more evil, and unpredictable. […]
source: Confessions Of A Pink Floyd Roadie; Chris Cockram. He had the good fortune to be on the Pink Floyd road crew on the highly acclaimed Animals Tour in 1977 and PF facebook
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-> [video=youtube;1enfo8zn3_g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1enfo8zn3_g[/video]
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"In The Flesh" tour 1977 - 'energy sources'...
[...]
The Phase Linear 400 and 700 amps used by the Floyd since the early '70s were re-racked at the end of 1974 by Bill Kelsey and Peter Watts, who had replaced the Phase Linear front panels with new engraved signs which read "Pink Floyd Power Amp". In preparation for the "In The Flesh" tour, the band purchased the new and more powerful Phase Linear Dual 500s, and Nigel Taylor supervised their custom racking inside a Brit Row-built 19-inch cube-shaped chassis. Each chassis, which housed two amplifiers, was designed to enable simple disconnection of wiring for servicing on a workbench.
[...]
From Nick's collection, on the wall facing the pig, is a lovely black and silver poster advertising the Switzerland concert, which is accompanied by backstage passes, more posters, more Phil Taylor snaps, a tour itinerary, a broken snare drum skin, which Nick has written the US venues (and concert number) on, and the rider for the shows. The rider is the list of requirements for the band and crew - and makes interesting reading, especially as the food and drink page is shown, and their demands include:
2 bottles of Southern Comfort
2 bottles of Scotch Whisky
2 bottles of Tequila
4 bottles of Vodka
2 bottles of Dom Perignon
3 bottles of Beaujolais (bottled in France) [interesting clarification!]
1 bottle of five star Brandy
Beer
Soft drinks
Cold buffet for 40 people
A fascinating insight into their imbibing habits during the 1977 tour.
[...]
source: http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/interstellar-exhibition/indepth-illustrated-review-of-exhibition.html
[...]
The Phase Linear 400 and 700 amps used by the Floyd since the early '70s were re-racked at the end of 1974 by Bill Kelsey and Peter Watts, who had replaced the Phase Linear front panels with new engraved signs which read "Pink Floyd Power Amp". In preparation for the "In The Flesh" tour, the band purchased the new and more powerful Phase Linear Dual 500s, and Nigel Taylor supervised their custom racking inside a Brit Row-built 19-inch cube-shaped chassis. Each chassis, which housed two amplifiers, was designed to enable simple disconnection of wiring for servicing on a workbench.
[...]
From Nick's collection, on the wall facing the pig, is a lovely black and silver poster advertising the Switzerland concert, which is accompanied by backstage passes, more posters, more Phil Taylor snaps, a tour itinerary, a broken snare drum skin, which Nick has written the US venues (and concert number) on, and the rider for the shows. The rider is the list of requirements for the band and crew - and makes interesting reading, especially as the food and drink page is shown, and their demands include:
2 bottles of Southern Comfort
2 bottles of Scotch Whisky
2 bottles of Tequila
4 bottles of Vodka
2 bottles of Dom Perignon
3 bottles of Beaujolais (bottled in France) [interesting clarification!]
1 bottle of five star Brandy
Beer
Soft drinks
Cold buffet for 40 people
A fascinating insight into their imbibing habits during the 1977 tour.
[...]
source: http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/interstellar-exhibition/indepth-illustrated-review-of-exhibition.html
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A single WOPL represents almost the power of the whole gig from late '60...
Some more words on WEM PA...:
[...] Between the era of cinema sound and the big festival stacks produced by Dave Martin, Bill Kelsey and Tony Andrews, Charlie Watkins’ WEM ruled supreme. In fact, it’s arguable that anyone with the good fortune to have been either an active musician or sound technician in the 1960s and 1970s will at some point have worked with equipment designed and manufactured by Watkins. To many, he is the ‘Father of British PA’.
Synonymous with the tape-driven Copicat echo device that lent a new dimension to guitarists and singers, his master/slave PA systems that fuelled many of the first genuine festivals, and equipment such as the WEM Audiomaster mixer, Charlie Watkins’ journey began in the Merchant Navy during the World War II, where he learned to play the accordion — still his greatest passion. Upon discharge, he turned semi-pro and in the years that followed, his entrepreneurial spirit saw him running a record shop in Tooting Market with brother Reg, sell accordions and guitars, and make his first moves into designing amplifiers. By the mid-to-late ’50s, Watkins had introduced the Westminster, Clubman and V-fronted Dominator guitar amps to his range, as well as the first version of the best-selling Copicat.
Re-branding his business as WEM (Watkins Electric Music) in 1963, Watkins’ most significant development of the ‘Swinging Decade’ came in 1966-67 when his new master/slave PA systems made it possible for the era’s big acts to achieve power ratings of at least 1kW, and (from a sonic perspective) finally make outdoor pop credible.
While brothers Reg and Syd concentrated on the growing range of WEM instruments (the Watkins Rapier was a fine, cost-effective alternative to the more expensive Fender Strat), Charlie became more deeply involved in taking his PA products to a higher level. As was evident from the cover of their 1969 semi-live double album Ummagumma, and indeed in scenes from their Live At Pompeii movie, Pink Floyd fully embraced Watkins’ PA technology during the late ’60s and early ’70s.
As Watkins himself once observed: “When The Who came up with 1000W, the Floyd — who were the apple of my eye — wanted 2000W. It went a bit mad.â€
When the Rolling Stones played their famous free concert in Hyde Park in July 1969 and required what amounted to a huge system for the time, Watkins had to borrow back equipment he had sold to other groups. “I didn’t have many columns, but I wanted to put 1500W up. I borrowed some from T-Rex. They all chipped in — that’s what we used to do. It was quite a family; if anyone had a big gig, they’d all pool their gear.â€
A survivor of the proto-era of touring was legendary wireman John Thompson who had commenced working with WEM back in the ’60s. The company’s de facto column speakers, with their four Goodman or Celestion 8†twin coaxial devices, powered by the WEM PA100 main amplifier and SL100 slave, were to appear on every festival stage at that time.
It was at National Jazz & Blues Festival slot in Windsor, in August 1967, that Fleetwood Mac made their first live appearance, powered, thanks to Watkins, by the arrival of 1kW of PA amplification. It was a bitter-sweet experience for the system’s inventor who, as a result of the stunned neighbourhood, ended up being arrested for disturbing the peace!
“At this time, Charlie was using Goodmans 12†Axiom 301s, with a parasitic centre cone, loaded into the WEM columns, and when you consider the basic engineering of four identical full-range speakers in a line array, this is now quite fashionable. The box was naturally completely time-aligned.â€
Possibly the most legendary WEM-driven event in rock history was the Fiery Creations-organised 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, which featured The Who, Free, The Doors, Jethro Tull, Donovan, Family, Joni Mitchell, The Moody Blues, Sly & The Family Stone and, in what was to be his final UK appearance, headliner Jimi Hendrix.
This landmark festival saw the WEM PA and ‘Festival Stack’ systems augmented by Watkins’ newly designed parabolic focusable reflector. Despite only being powered by a single Goodmans R101 10†10W driver, it could send 1kHz-3kHz for a distance of five miles in reasonable weather conditions.
“Kelsey and Morris were bringing out their massive horn bins. Crown were eclipsing my little slave so I gracefully bowed out of the festival scene knowing that I’d seen and been in on the best. And soon Phase Linear appeared and changed the PA power levels for good.â€
The list of engineers and technicians who cite Watkins as a major influence include Roger Lindsay. He says: “Charlie was a bit like a godfather. He would come out to gigs and no one would know. He doubled the PA for me — from 300W to 700W — and would take no money for it.â€
Likewise, Pete Hughes, formerly a full-time member of Canegreen, adds: “A lot of people still talk about WEM columns, and how great they were. The WEM column had elements of th line array system and, of course, we use line array nowadays. Charlie had the right idea.â€
source: http://www.wemwatkins.co.uk
Some more words on WEM PA...:
[...] Between the era of cinema sound and the big festival stacks produced by Dave Martin, Bill Kelsey and Tony Andrews, Charlie Watkins’ WEM ruled supreme. In fact, it’s arguable that anyone with the good fortune to have been either an active musician or sound technician in the 1960s and 1970s will at some point have worked with equipment designed and manufactured by Watkins. To many, he is the ‘Father of British PA’.
Synonymous with the tape-driven Copicat echo device that lent a new dimension to guitarists and singers, his master/slave PA systems that fuelled many of the first genuine festivals, and equipment such as the WEM Audiomaster mixer, Charlie Watkins’ journey began in the Merchant Navy during the World War II, where he learned to play the accordion — still his greatest passion. Upon discharge, he turned semi-pro and in the years that followed, his entrepreneurial spirit saw him running a record shop in Tooting Market with brother Reg, sell accordions and guitars, and make his first moves into designing amplifiers. By the mid-to-late ’50s, Watkins had introduced the Westminster, Clubman and V-fronted Dominator guitar amps to his range, as well as the first version of the best-selling Copicat.
Re-branding his business as WEM (Watkins Electric Music) in 1963, Watkins’ most significant development of the ‘Swinging Decade’ came in 1966-67 when his new master/slave PA systems made it possible for the era’s big acts to achieve power ratings of at least 1kW, and (from a sonic perspective) finally make outdoor pop credible.
While brothers Reg and Syd concentrated on the growing range of WEM instruments (the Watkins Rapier was a fine, cost-effective alternative to the more expensive Fender Strat), Charlie became more deeply involved in taking his PA products to a higher level. As was evident from the cover of their 1969 semi-live double album Ummagumma, and indeed in scenes from their Live At Pompeii movie, Pink Floyd fully embraced Watkins’ PA technology during the late ’60s and early ’70s.
As Watkins himself once observed: “When The Who came up with 1000W, the Floyd — who were the apple of my eye — wanted 2000W. It went a bit mad.â€
When the Rolling Stones played their famous free concert in Hyde Park in July 1969 and required what amounted to a huge system for the time, Watkins had to borrow back equipment he had sold to other groups. “I didn’t have many columns, but I wanted to put 1500W up. I borrowed some from T-Rex. They all chipped in — that’s what we used to do. It was quite a family; if anyone had a big gig, they’d all pool their gear.â€
A survivor of the proto-era of touring was legendary wireman John Thompson who had commenced working with WEM back in the ’60s. The company’s de facto column speakers, with their four Goodman or Celestion 8†twin coaxial devices, powered by the WEM PA100 main amplifier and SL100 slave, were to appear on every festival stage at that time.
It was at National Jazz & Blues Festival slot in Windsor, in August 1967, that Fleetwood Mac made their first live appearance, powered, thanks to Watkins, by the arrival of 1kW of PA amplification. It was a bitter-sweet experience for the system’s inventor who, as a result of the stunned neighbourhood, ended up being arrested for disturbing the peace!
“At this time, Charlie was using Goodmans 12†Axiom 301s, with a parasitic centre cone, loaded into the WEM columns, and when you consider the basic engineering of four identical full-range speakers in a line array, this is now quite fashionable. The box was naturally completely time-aligned.â€
Possibly the most legendary WEM-driven event in rock history was the Fiery Creations-organised 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, which featured The Who, Free, The Doors, Jethro Tull, Donovan, Family, Joni Mitchell, The Moody Blues, Sly & The Family Stone and, in what was to be his final UK appearance, headliner Jimi Hendrix.
This landmark festival saw the WEM PA and ‘Festival Stack’ systems augmented by Watkins’ newly designed parabolic focusable reflector. Despite only being powered by a single Goodmans R101 10†10W driver, it could send 1kHz-3kHz for a distance of five miles in reasonable weather conditions.
“Kelsey and Morris were bringing out their massive horn bins. Crown were eclipsing my little slave so I gracefully bowed out of the festival scene knowing that I’d seen and been in on the best. And soon Phase Linear appeared and changed the PA power levels for good.â€
The list of engineers and technicians who cite Watkins as a major influence include Roger Lindsay. He says: “Charlie was a bit like a godfather. He would come out to gigs and no one would know. He doubled the PA for me — from 300W to 700W — and would take no money for it.â€
Likewise, Pete Hughes, formerly a full-time member of Canegreen, adds: “A lot of people still talk about WEM columns, and how great they were. The WEM column had elements of th line array system and, of course, we use line array nowadays. Charlie had the right idea.â€
source: http://www.wemwatkins.co.uk
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From WEM to Phase Linear amps...
Peter Watts (road manager) - May 1973 - interviewed by Frank Torker
[...]
Q: What is the structure of their sound system?
Peter Watts: On stage Rick's keyboards and stack, Dave's guitar stack, Nick's drums and Roger's bass gear. At this moment they just use that as a sort of on stage sound which is all carefully miked; and we've got a P.A. and a mixing console which we have in the audience, and also a quadrophonic set up around the house...
Q: Is the quad directly connected to the Floyd?
Peter Watts: The quad system is in addition to the P.A. and is set up behind the stage, at the back of the hall and to the right and left, so the people sitting in the centre round about the mixer get a quadrophonic picture of the sound, like for the tape effects. Also on the mixer you can punch in, say Dave's guitar solo into quad, and pan it around on a joystick and send it round and round the hall - like when Roger does that scream in "Careful With That Axe" you can sort of fade it into quad and have it bombard you from all sides.
Q: Is the P.A. a specific set of equipment?
Peter Watts: Our P.A. isn't something you can just go in a shop and say "I wanna buy a P.A., John" and come out with that. Our P.A. has developed with the Floyd the way their music's developed. It's just basically amplifiers, speakers, horn units and high pressure units that we all put together - what I'm trying to do is reproduce the sound that you get at home with a good hi-fi system in the hall, right, with the mixer so you can have complete control of the sound they're making on stage...
The mikes, which are standard, on stage, they all come up a multicore cable to the mixer and that piece of equipment is specially made for the Floyd - they said what was needed; we had an ordinary mixer but after a few years I chopped it all up and rebuilt it.
Q: What is the P.A.'s amplification? (Shows me a photo.)
Peter Watts: That's half the amplifiers we use on the P.A. - that's 6 Phase Linear 700s, right, an electronic cross over, and a compressor and we use all that each side of the stage to drive the main P.A. At the mixer we use 4 Phase Linear 400s and 2 Phase Linear 700s to drive the quad system.
Q: What about their personal stacks?
Peter Watts: Dave plays through a couple of Hi Watt 100s that drive an ordinary traditional 4x12 speaker which is essentially just a 'monitor' for him on stage, although in fact Dave plays very loud. His main power comes through the P.A. as it does for the others. Roger has 2x100 Hi Watt amps driving 2 bass reflex speakers the same as in P.A. and two high frequency horn units on the top. All Rick's keyboards go through another mixer which he also sends through the P.A., or through his Leslies. Nick doesn't have a monitor because he plays loud enough for himself and the others to hear.
Q: And the mixer?
Peter Watts: Sound travels up the multicore cable plugged into the back of the mixer and it comes up on a fader like in a recording studio, and you can equalize the sound that comes through the microphones and make it treble, bass or whatever; you can also have echo, and control the volume through the P.A. i.e. you do all the instruments on different faders - like Nick's drum kit, there are ten different mikes and you set the drum balance and send the whole thing through another fader, and the vocals are the same, another sub group. In effect you've got someone sitting in front of this giant stereo just doing a mix of the band live.
The guy who does it is the guy who did their last album - instead of doing it bit by bit as in a studio he does it "live".
Q: What speakers do you have for the P.A.?
Peter Watts: On each side we are using nine bass bins for reproducing any bass sound between forty cycles to about eight hundred. Then we've got thirty horn units both sides some of which are mid range and some are higher range. I've put these units together using a number of makes - Electrovoice equipment (bass range), JBL equipment (treble range), Vitavox equipment (mid range) - they're just brand components which I've used and put together for what I think is the best hi-fi.
Q: So,the sound travels from...
Peter Watts: All the mikes pick up the signal and send it down the multicore on a balanced line to be amplified by the mixer which is like a giant pre-amp - then you send it out on faders down another multicore which is a stage return which then goes to an electronic cross over unit which splits the signal three ways and sends it to the brass section of amplifiers, and the treble section and the mid range section of amplifiers. From the amplifiers they go three ways right to the bass units,the treble units and the mid range units. It's all split up and goes to the different sections.
Q: This for every single bit of sound put out by the band and from tapes?
Peter Watts: Yeah!
Q: Is that why it's so clear?
Peter Watts: Well...yes...but it's just part of a lot of things put together over the years...trying to get all parts better, trying, in effect to get a studio effect in a hall!
Later on two further points were made clear:
source: http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/other...er-watts-road-manager-may-1973-source-un.html
Peter Watts (road manager) - May 1973 - interviewed by Frank Torker
[...]
Q: What is the structure of their sound system?
Peter Watts: On stage Rick's keyboards and stack, Dave's guitar stack, Nick's drums and Roger's bass gear. At this moment they just use that as a sort of on stage sound which is all carefully miked; and we've got a P.A. and a mixing console which we have in the audience, and also a quadrophonic set up around the house...
Q: Is the quad directly connected to the Floyd?
Peter Watts: The quad system is in addition to the P.A. and is set up behind the stage, at the back of the hall and to the right and left, so the people sitting in the centre round about the mixer get a quadrophonic picture of the sound, like for the tape effects. Also on the mixer you can punch in, say Dave's guitar solo into quad, and pan it around on a joystick and send it round and round the hall - like when Roger does that scream in "Careful With That Axe" you can sort of fade it into quad and have it bombard you from all sides.
Q: Is the P.A. a specific set of equipment?
Peter Watts: Our P.A. isn't something you can just go in a shop and say "I wanna buy a P.A., John" and come out with that. Our P.A. has developed with the Floyd the way their music's developed. It's just basically amplifiers, speakers, horn units and high pressure units that we all put together - what I'm trying to do is reproduce the sound that you get at home with a good hi-fi system in the hall, right, with the mixer so you can have complete control of the sound they're making on stage...
The mikes, which are standard, on stage, they all come up a multicore cable to the mixer and that piece of equipment is specially made for the Floyd - they said what was needed; we had an ordinary mixer but after a few years I chopped it all up and rebuilt it.
Q: What is the P.A.'s amplification? (Shows me a photo.)
Peter Watts: That's half the amplifiers we use on the P.A. - that's 6 Phase Linear 700s, right, an electronic cross over, and a compressor and we use all that each side of the stage to drive the main P.A. At the mixer we use 4 Phase Linear 400s and 2 Phase Linear 700s to drive the quad system.
Q: What about their personal stacks?
Peter Watts: Dave plays through a couple of Hi Watt 100s that drive an ordinary traditional 4x12 speaker which is essentially just a 'monitor' for him on stage, although in fact Dave plays very loud. His main power comes through the P.A. as it does for the others. Roger has 2x100 Hi Watt amps driving 2 bass reflex speakers the same as in P.A. and two high frequency horn units on the top. All Rick's keyboards go through another mixer which he also sends through the P.A., or through his Leslies. Nick doesn't have a monitor because he plays loud enough for himself and the others to hear.
Q: And the mixer?
Peter Watts: Sound travels up the multicore cable plugged into the back of the mixer and it comes up on a fader like in a recording studio, and you can equalize the sound that comes through the microphones and make it treble, bass or whatever; you can also have echo, and control the volume through the P.A. i.e. you do all the instruments on different faders - like Nick's drum kit, there are ten different mikes and you set the drum balance and send the whole thing through another fader, and the vocals are the same, another sub group. In effect you've got someone sitting in front of this giant stereo just doing a mix of the band live.
The guy who does it is the guy who did their last album - instead of doing it bit by bit as in a studio he does it "live".
Q: What speakers do you have for the P.A.?
Peter Watts: On each side we are using nine bass bins for reproducing any bass sound between forty cycles to about eight hundred. Then we've got thirty horn units both sides some of which are mid range and some are higher range. I've put these units together using a number of makes - Electrovoice equipment (bass range), JBL equipment (treble range), Vitavox equipment (mid range) - they're just brand components which I've used and put together for what I think is the best hi-fi.
Q: So,the sound travels from...
Peter Watts: All the mikes pick up the signal and send it down the multicore on a balanced line to be amplified by the mixer which is like a giant pre-amp - then you send it out on faders down another multicore which is a stage return which then goes to an electronic cross over unit which splits the signal three ways and sends it to the brass section of amplifiers, and the treble section and the mid range section of amplifiers. From the amplifiers they go three ways right to the bass units,the treble units and the mid range units. It's all split up and goes to the different sections.
Q: This for every single bit of sound put out by the band and from tapes?
Peter Watts: Yeah!
Q: Is that why it's so clear?
Peter Watts: Well...yes...but it's just part of a lot of things put together over the years...trying to get all parts better, trying, in effect to get a studio effect in a hall!
Later on two further points were made clear:
- The cross over system ensures that the right sound (bass, treble or mid range goes to the right speaker. Thus each speaker is used efficiently and does not try to reproduce sounds for which it is not specifically equipped.
- The nearer you are to the maximum noise output the more you are likely to distort (just try turning your amp or player full on). The Floyd have enough amplification not to have to 'overload' their speakers even at their loudest.
source: http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/other...er-watts-road-manager-may-1973-source-un.html
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2012
- Messages
- 419
- Location
- Poland, Warsaw (Central Europe)
- Tagline
- I love BIG amplifiers!
The 1980/81 Wall concert performances and Phase Linears
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop, stop, stop the film! We've decided the best thing would be is to put this fire we have up here out!" These were Roger Waters' impassioned words as he froze the premier Wall show at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Ashes falling from above were not just another special effect, instead the curtains were smoldering from the battery of fireworks punctuating the opening of "In The Flesh".
As the fire crew doused the flames, the most ambitious spectacle ever staged in rock music sat frozen. After the fire was extinguished and nerves calmed, the show resumed. The film was restarted as David shuffled to his cues, Roger egged the crowd back into their wide-eyed enthusiasm and the band cranked back into "Empty Spaces". Showbiz Pink Floyd style...
[…]
The mechanics of putting on The Wall were staggering. Set designers Mark Fisher and Jonathan Park were responsible for the engineering and logistics of the project. Besides the construction of a 160 foot by 35 foot prison, there were three 35mm film projectors synchronizing images, an ultra-refined surround-sound system,Pink Floyd The Wall live in concerttape machines with music and sound effects (four to play and one to record), Midas mixing consoles with 116 input channels and rack upon rack of signal processing and special effects units requiring six engineers to operate. Floyd sound aces James Guthrie and Chris Thomas headed the sound production team.
Banks of Phase Linear and Altec amplification hooked to each speaker position provided 106dB of absolutely clean sound. There were puppets, dirigibles and props to control, two hydraulic lighting cranes, as well as hydraulic lifts for The Wall builders and two seperate stage set-ups, for in front of the wall and behind it complete with monitors and lighting rigs.
Onstage, supplementing the Floyd, were four backup singers and four additional musicians starring as the surrogate band. Each musician had a full compliment of instruments and amplifiers with effects units as well as their own monitors feeding the music, tapes and click-tracks.
Pink Floyd The Wall live in concertAn eighty man crew acted on cue to keep the performances in sync, as most performances clocked right in near two hours. Each venue had mobile offices and a crew canteen moved in to provide nurishment on-site. David was musical director with a stack of music and sound effect cues while Roger, armed with a wireless microphone, was in character as Pink. All of this in more controlled and smaller venues as Roger liked it. The Floyd and their crew managed to turn over 100 tons of equipment into rock theatre far surpassing even their own past achievements.
[…]
The show was presented in February 1980 seven times at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, five times at the Nassau Coliseum in New York, and then shown five times at London's Earls Court in August 1980. In February 1981, eight times at Westfalenhalle in Germany and five more times in June at Earls Court that year, for a total of 30 performances. The later dates were specifically held to allow filming of the concert. Due to the sheer mass of equipment and logistics, this was the entire Wall Tour.
source: http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/the-wall/the-1980-81-wall-concert-performances-in-detail.html
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop, stop, stop the film! We've decided the best thing would be is to put this fire we have up here out!" These were Roger Waters' impassioned words as he froze the premier Wall show at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Ashes falling from above were not just another special effect, instead the curtains were smoldering from the battery of fireworks punctuating the opening of "In The Flesh".
As the fire crew doused the flames, the most ambitious spectacle ever staged in rock music sat frozen. After the fire was extinguished and nerves calmed, the show resumed. The film was restarted as David shuffled to his cues, Roger egged the crowd back into their wide-eyed enthusiasm and the band cranked back into "Empty Spaces". Showbiz Pink Floyd style...
[…]
The mechanics of putting on The Wall were staggering. Set designers Mark Fisher and Jonathan Park were responsible for the engineering and logistics of the project. Besides the construction of a 160 foot by 35 foot prison, there were three 35mm film projectors synchronizing images, an ultra-refined surround-sound system,Pink Floyd The Wall live in concerttape machines with music and sound effects (four to play and one to record), Midas mixing consoles with 116 input channels and rack upon rack of signal processing and special effects units requiring six engineers to operate. Floyd sound aces James Guthrie and Chris Thomas headed the sound production team.
Banks of Phase Linear and Altec amplification hooked to each speaker position provided 106dB of absolutely clean sound. There were puppets, dirigibles and props to control, two hydraulic lighting cranes, as well as hydraulic lifts for The Wall builders and two seperate stage set-ups, for in front of the wall and behind it complete with monitors and lighting rigs.
Onstage, supplementing the Floyd, were four backup singers and four additional musicians starring as the surrogate band. Each musician had a full compliment of instruments and amplifiers with effects units as well as their own monitors feeding the music, tapes and click-tracks.
Pink Floyd The Wall live in concertAn eighty man crew acted on cue to keep the performances in sync, as most performances clocked right in near two hours. Each venue had mobile offices and a crew canteen moved in to provide nurishment on-site. David was musical director with a stack of music and sound effect cues while Roger, armed with a wireless microphone, was in character as Pink. All of this in more controlled and smaller venues as Roger liked it. The Floyd and their crew managed to turn over 100 tons of equipment into rock theatre far surpassing even their own past achievements.
[…]
The show was presented in February 1980 seven times at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, five times at the Nassau Coliseum in New York, and then shown five times at London's Earls Court in August 1980. In February 1981, eight times at Westfalenhalle in Germany and five more times in June at Earls Court that year, for a total of 30 performances. The later dates were specifically held to allow filming of the concert. Due to the sheer mass of equipment and logistics, this was the entire Wall Tour.
source: http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/the-wall/the-1980-81-wall-concert-performances-in-detail.html
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- Victim of the record bug since age five
I own The Endless river vinyl and the only thing that frustrated me is that fact that the last track has "essing/sibilance" even on my very capable Audio Technica AT440MLa cartridge 
- Joined
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Re: Endless River Vinyl
Maybe the RIAA curve wasn't adjusted properly for that track, and too much went into the vinyl causing that sibilance, even still for a $50 package it should NOT do that. Quality control should be a bit more tight on vinyl pressings sometimes. The OM30 is a great cart/stylus so that tells me its the vinyl itself.
Maybe the RIAA curve wasn't adjusted properly for that track, and too much went into the vinyl causing that sibilance, even still for a $50 package it should NOT do that. Quality control should be a bit more tight on vinyl pressings sometimes. The OM30 is a great cart/stylus so that tells me its the vinyl itself.
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2014
- Messages
- 3,478
- Location
- Gaston, SC
- Tagline
- Victim of the record bug since age five
I downloaded the digital version for comparison, and the sssss is only slight- somewhat there, but not objectionable. I wonder about the opinions of those who have the CD version- maybe the sssss is a little on the bright side?
Regardless of cause or reason, it's real obvious on the LP.
Reading notes regarding the Beatles "Let It Be" reissue, there was a LOT of care taken to avoid the splattering "s". You'd think that other companies would be well aware of things like this, especially with the resurgence of vinyl.
Regardless of cause or reason, it's real obvious on the LP.
Reading notes regarding the Beatles "Let It Be" reissue, there was a LOT of care taken to avoid the splattering "s". You'd think that other companies would be well aware of things like this, especially with the resurgence of vinyl.
- Joined
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- Gillette, Wyo.
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- Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
- Joined
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Upon reading of the sibilance issue on vinyl of "The Endless River" I played the CD tonight and went straight to the last track "Louder Than Words." I admit, it does sound like Gilmour's voice had the treble sensitivity increased. And I can hear at the beginning and the odd ending of words with "S" there was that tendency for some essing. First example was @ about 1:24 min. into the song with lyrics that sounded: "Sis thing we do." You know, I really didn't play the last track on my CD much because it was already being played on the radio.
Nando.
Nando.
