Sound reinforcement is a specific type of sound system.

There are many different types of sound

systems, so we'll talk a little bit about what makes live sound unique and sound reinforcement
unique. And we will also take a look at a signal flow diagram. So we haven't really gotten into into
the good stuff yet. The meat and potatoes of live sound, you know it later on in this series, we will
cover mixing technique and you know, logistics and approaches to live sound too. Be successful and
create a good mix and be able to direct people and and and get a good microphone. Test out of
them. Sometimes the performers can can be difficult to work with and to try to get a good sound
check can be challenging, so we'll talk about all that stuff later and. Me too, and in setting levels and
all that, all that good stuff that's coming later. But right now, in these first few videos I wanna lay
down a good foundation of knowledge so that you guys can feel comfortable mixing and really
understand the systems that you are running. If you happen to be an operator of a live sound
system. So anyway. To recap what we've gone over so far in the first video, the introduction we
talked about using your ears, listening, understanding, music, and I gave out some recommended
reading in the second and third video, we talked about some lingo and jargon and some terms that
you should know. And by no means is this a comprehensive list. It's just to get you started to give
you something to chew on. We will be adding to this terms library as we go throughout this video. So
we will be constantly learning new things, learning new terms as as it becomes applicable in this
video series and in the fourth video. We learned about three common analog audio signal types.
Now, why is it important to know the difference between these and love audio signal types? How do
they fit into the picture of live sound? How do they fit into the big picture of live sound and what is
sound reinforcement? so that's what we have going on in this video right now so 
 
 
 
And then converting it back into acoustic energy. So that is just the basic premise of of sound
reinforcement and live sound. So let's take a look at a little diagram I put together to better explain
this and hopefully tie everything together. So we've covered the analog audio. Signal types and you'll
see them in this diagram right here. But basically, as I just pointed out, you've got low level acoustic
energy in a room. And you are capturing that energy with an input transducer. Converting that to
electrical energy. You are then manipulating the electrical energy. Ring through signal processing
through mixing through amplification. And then you are finally converting back to acoustic energy,
but to a higher level acoustic energy. And that is basically what makes a live sound system. Or a
sound reinforcement system unique to some of these other systems that you might find in a car or in
a classroom or in a home theater or or or, or a paging system in airport. Although that does have
some element of live sound to it, it's it's just slightly different. Set up. So why is it important to know
the difference between these analog audio signal types? Well, as you can see, the signal starts out
coming from the microphone as a low level microphone signal, and the mixer is designed to accept
that signal. The mixer then outputs line level signal that the amplifier is designed to accept, and
finally the amplifier outputs speaker level signal that a speaker is designed to accept. So that's that's
kind of how these signal types fit into the big picture of live sound. That's why it's very important to
know the difference, because you cannot just take a microphone and plug it into a power amplifier
and you cannot take a power amplifier and plug it into a mixer. We need to match the signal types
according to how the gear is designed, right?  
 
 
A sound reinforcement system is the combination of microphones, signal processors, amplifiers and
loud speakers and speaker cabinets. That makes live or prerecorded sounds louder and may also
distribute those sounds to a larger or more distant audience in some situations. A sound
reinforcement system is also used to enhance or alter the sound of the sources on the stage,
typically by using electronic effects as opposed to simply amplifying the sources and altered a sound
reinforcement system for a rock concert in a stadium may be very complex, including hundreds of
microphones. Complex live sound mixing and signal processing systems. 10s of thousands of watts of
amplifier power and multiple loudspeaker arrays, all overseen by a team of audio engineers and
technicians. On the other hand, a sound reinforcement system can be as simple as a small public
address. Pennsylvania. System consisting of, for example, a single microphone connected to a 100
Watt amplified loudspeaker for a singer guitarist playing in a small coffeehouse. In both cases, these
systems reinforce sound to make it louder or distributed to a wider audience. Some audio engineers
and others in the professional audio industry disagree over whether these audio systems should be.
And buildings and institutions in some regions or markets, the distinction between the two terms is
important, though the terms are considered interchangeable in many professional circles. A typical
sound reinforcement system consists of input transducers, for example, microphones which
converts sound energy, such as the person singing or talking. Or the sound of an instrument into an
electric signal. Signal processors which alter the signal characteristics, for example, equalizers that
adjust the base and treble compressors that reduce signal peaks, etc. Amplifiers which add power to
the signal so that the signal can drive the loudspeaker without otherwise changing its content. As
output transducers for example, loud speakers and speaker cabinets which converts the signal back
into sound energy, the sound heard by the audience and the performers. These primary parts
involve varying amounts of individual components to achieve the desired goal of reinforcing and
clarifying the sound to the audience. Performers or other individuals sound reinforcement in a large
format system typically involves a signal path that starts with the signal inputs, which may be
instrument pickups on an electric guitar, electric bass, or a microphone transducer that a vocalist is
singing into, or a microphone placed in front of an instrument. Or guitar amplifier. These signal
inputs are plugged into the input jacks. Emphasis multi core cable, often called a snake. The snake
then notes the signals of all of the inputs to either one or two mixing consoles in a coffeehouse or a
small nightclub. That snake maybe only routed to a single mixing console, which audio engineer will
use to adjust the sound and body on the on stage. Vocals and instruments that the audience here
through the main speakers. And adjust the volume of the monitor speakers that are aimed at the
performers. Little large size performing venues, typically around the onstage signals to two mixing
consoles. The front of the house foe or main mix, which is sent to the speaker, is facing the audience
and the monitor mix, which is often a second mixer at the side of the stage. In these cases, at least
two audio engineers are required, one to do the full main mix and one to do the monitor mix. Once
the signal arrives via the snake cable at a channel on the mixing console, this signal can be adjusted
in many ways by the sound engineer. A signal can be equalized. For example, by adjusting the bass
or treble of the sound compressed to avoid unwanted signal peaks or panned that is sent to the left
or right speakers before being routed to an output bus, the signal may also be routed into an
external effects processor such as the reverb effect, which outputs the wet. Infected version of the
signal, which is typically mixed in varying amounts with the dry effect free signal. Many electronic
effects units are used in sound reinforcement systems, including digital delay and reverb. Some
concerts use pitch correction effects, for example auto tune. Which electronically correct any out of
tune singing once the audio engineer has made all the adjustments to a signal, for example, the lead
vocalist singing through a microphone such as equalization, adding effects and so on. The signal is
then electronically routed to a section of the mixing console known as bus. Also called the Mix group
subgroup or simply Group A group of signals may be routed through an additional bus before being
sent to the main bus to allow the engineer to control the levels of several related signals at once. For
example, all of the different microphones for a drum set might be sent to their own bus so that the
volume of the entire drum set sound can be controlled with a single fader or a pair of faders, rather
than the audio engineer having to adjust all of the different drums and cymbals mic volumes a bus
can often be processed just like an individual input channel. Allowing the engineer to process a
whole group of signals at once, once again using the drum kit example, the use of bus processing can
enable the sound engineer to run all of the drum kit through an audio compressor effect to reduce
unwanted signal peaks rather than having to round all of the ten or more mic signals on the drum kit
individually. The mix of all the different signals and channels, for example, mikes for lead vocals,
backup vocals, saxophone and drum kit, and signals for bass guitar, keyboards, or mikes in front of
the bass guitar and keyboard speaker cabinets to the stereo master faders on the console. Mixing
consoles also have additional sense, also referred to as Oxy Sorrows ends and abbreviation for Aux
send on each input channel, so that a different mix can be created and sent elsewhere for another
purpose. One usage for row sends is to create a mix of the vocal and instrument signals for the
monitor mix. This is was he on stage singers and musicians here from their monitor speakers or an
ear monitors. Another you Savannah send is to select varying amounts of certain channels via the
OH send knobs on each channel and then route these signals to and effects processor. A common
example of the second use of oh senses to send all of the. Vocal signals from a rock band through a
reverb effect. Well, reverb is usually added to vocals in the main mix. It is not usually added to
electric bass and other rhythm section instruments. The next step in the signal path generally
depends on the size of the system in place. In smaller systems the main outputs are often sent to an
additional equalizer. Or directly to empower ample fire with one or more loud speakers, typically 21
on each side of his stage in smaller venues, or a large number in big venues that are connected to
that amplifier in large format systems, the signal is typically first routed through an equalizer, then to
a crossover. I crossover splits the signal into multiple frequency bands, with each band being sent to
separate amplifiers and speaker enclosures for low, middle, and high frequency signals. Low
frequency signals are sent to amplifiers and then to subwoofer's and middle and high frequency
sounds are typically sent to amplifiers. Which power full range? Speaker cabinets using a crossover
to separate the sound into low, middle and high frequencies can lead to a cleaner, clearer sound.
See by amplification, then routing all of the frequencies through a single folding speaker system.
Nevertheless, many small values still use a single full range. speaker