Why Music Festivals Sound Better Than Ever | WIRED

Did you know that a simple speaker completely transformed modern music festivals? A vertical line array is a loudspeaker system that stacks speakers on top of each other so that sound is more evenly distributed on a horizontal plane. To learn more about line array, WIRED spoke with sound engineer Dave Rat. Dave, who has provided audio for Coachella since 2001, breaks down exactly how these speakers work, and why modern music festivals sound so much better than they used to.


Director: Efrat Kashai
Director of Photography: Ricardo Pomares
Editor: Richard Trammell
Expert: Dave Rat

Producer: Efrat Kashai
Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producer: Brandon White
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Production Coordinator: Kevin Balash

Camera Operator: Shay Eberle-Gunst
Audio: Will Miller
Production Assistant: Phillip Arliss

Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward


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[jopo]

Sound systems and speakers really get this guy amped up.

[tonylancer]

Dave Rat is the *THE* man to talk regarding live sound and PA systems, really great depth of knowledge.

[ImYourBias]

As a studio engineer, live has always astounded me. The entire experience is on the line and they get blamed for every little thing no matter how it occurs. And you don’t praise them when nothing bad happens because you don’t think about it til there’s a problem. I love these people. It’s a whole different world with so much at stake and they have all my respect. I haven’t wanted to try it even a bit after the gigs I was made to do in school lol. And this man in particular is such a legend. I love hearing his passion and knowledge on the subject.

[Baedda]

I don't want the sound systems to be invisible. I love the look when you walk in a festival ground and see all those mighty line arrays 😍 gives me goosebumps every time

[SiggiTh]

I love being educated by people that not only know their field, but their passion for it ignites my interest in such a way that I end up watching the whole video - sometimes more than once. This guy is one of those people! :)

[Mnguyen]

Amazing, now I will look at those speakers all day at the festivals lol

[realSethMeyers]

Dave Rat is one of my role models. He's also extremely accessible and will frequently answer questions. He's an amazing resource.

[jasonjohnson]

I love when people speak passionately about their craft or job!

[dodgeman]

System design is one of those fields that you don't even realise is a thing until you pull back the curtain and realise the insane amount of physics and math it takes for something you stand and watch a show and take for granted

[Humanprx]

Coachella sounded amazing basically anywhere I went on the festival grounds. I was amazed at how deep and otherworldy the bass could sound, it was honestly better than any headphones i've ever worn in my life

[anoobis_]

Coachella 2023 was the first live music/concert I've seen in a while since the tribute to Chester with Linkin Park, and I was so surprised how good everything and everyone sounded.

[Shockedbywater]

1:19 I want to thank you for the seemingly small point you made about going 'if you were moving up and down you would hear the problems' that really cleared things up for me. Sometimes it the little things that make a big difference. This was an interesting video.

[TinoSchulz]

There are so many sound engineers on youtube that try to explain line array and the effect that comes with it. But Dave Rat is just a true hero. The way he explains it, even a 5 y/o could understand it. And even me, 32 years old, who experiences quite a lot of PA-setups as a mobile sound engineer, i'm always amazed on his profession and lessons.
I also love his videos that he does in his workshop / garage. He goes deep into a topic, and it just never gets boring

[mfbfreak]

Remember, if you go to a gig and you like what you hear, you can always give the PA guy a compliment!
I still remember Portishead at Lowlands. That was the clearest sounding, most perfectly adjusted PA i've heard in my entire life.

[chrisburn]

Another interesting property of the line array that's relevant to festivals is that because the wavefronts spread roughly cylindrically rather than spherically the sound intensity drops by only 3dB for each doubling of distance rather than 6dB for a point source. Which explains why they can sound so much louder far away. Traffic on a busy road also has this property which is why it's so fricking annoying for local residents.

[DaveKnepper]

Good stuff! Dave is a legend and always willing to break down difficult concepts for those who want to learn.

[Billy_bSLAYER]

Been following Dave's advice and knowledge for years! Rock On✌

[jdaddyaz]

Dave living the dream! Imagine being able to be mentored by him. Bet you he's got some great stories, and equally great insights about sound design. Keep doing your thing Dave!

[malleureuse]

A bit nerdy but one thing that wasn't mentioned is that a point source has a 6dB drop of volume per doubling of the distance (inverse square law) whereas a line source (aka line-array) has a 3dB drop per doubling of the distance. A point source spreads its energy in a spherical manner, and a line source in a cylindrical manner, meaning less loss of energy over distance. This is what Dave referred to when he felt the speakers where so close yet so far away.

Now, this is theoretical and no line-array achieves this to 100%. It's also dependent on wavelengths vs the length of the line-array - the lower frequencies acts more like a point source in comparison to the higher.

[mikalaybourn]

It's always fascinating hearing people talk about something they're really passionate about! Great job explaining, Dave!