Okey dokey. Settling in with a smile. Last time tour ended, I think Sept of '07, I set out to buckle down and get to business. That I did! but not without a cost. Oh I learned a lot and it was well needed with the economic turmoil and running a small business and all. This time though, the outlook I see around me is a much rosier picture. So this time home I making sure to better balance work with fun. And what could be more fun than building a complex multi-angled custom enclosure from scratch with no drawings, designs or sketches?

The back shell had a bummer of a shallow angle so I put in a tension support

Side wall and front edge

and we have a rough assembly

Router, trim and add in the cut to fit face

Paint it black, make some custom brackets out of aluminum and old K&M mic booms. If you look carefully you can see I drilled and tapped some holes in the boom swivels

The clutch is accessible through the side handles

Add some light and a music stand screws into the boom swivels

And ha! A tiltable music stand inside a wedge to hold set lists and fits perfectly between two Rat S Wedges. And with a little bit of work on making a bracket, it easily converts to a teleprompter wedge.

I started saturday morning and finished sunday eve with a bit of help sunday and still got the shorty softball and soccer games in. Now that was fun!

**** Sound Nerd Speak ****

I want to thank Kevin Young and Jeff Mackay from Live Sound Magazine who came out to the Toronto Blink 182 show and spent the day with me. As y'all may know by now, I have spent quite a bit of time and energy working on new and hopefully usefull subwoofer configurations. Iit was so cool to see that Kevin and Jeff were not only fun to with but they really grasped the gist of what I was working on. If you do not get Live Sound Magazine and are interested, check out page 40 of this link and let me know what ya think:

And another kind of cool smile thing, the EAW MicroWedge's 12 and 15 got 'readers choice' awards on Pro Sound Web

These are things I need to remember when the inevitable life stalls occur.

**** End Sound Nerd Speak ****

And while we are on the subject of smiles, I may as well immerse deeply, because it is always better that way. I recieved this e-note not long ago that literally made my day!

And thank you Stefan for sending the note! I have also recieved quite a few positive responses to the blog and I must say that that is what makes it worthwhile. There are people in my life past and present that have opened various doors of inspiration for me and to know I am passing it on and it is appreciated, rules!

Figuring out a destination and being confident that that is where you truly want to head is the hardest part.

But it it sure seems the the road is full of potholes, obsticles and worst of all is taking a wrong turn.

But when when you see it clearly, it is then easy to recognize especially when you get there

The question are "what speed to travel?" and "how much exposure and what expense am I willing to endure to get there?" Or perhaps "what amount of reckelessness can I get away with?" Either way, at least for me, no worthwhile life adventures come without a bit of bumps and trauma. Annnnnd, it seem I am not alone in this is this perspective. Perhaps out of one upmanship or just pure fearlessnes. A dear companion of mine, much to my fear and concern surfed right toward a huge rock, Closer and closer, I am think noooo, dont do it! Yet the desire to push the limits must have been overwhelming. Finally, I abandoned ship but not my companion, oh no, he heads right for the rock and ouch! That had to hurt!

Everyone, please tell Rat Surf Board to be more careful! He just wont listen to me. Oh wait, Perhaps, like me, he needs to learn the hard way. Speaking of learning the hard way, raise your hand if you think Taco should jump from a 6 foot high bunk bed. ???

Anyone?

That's what I thought. Some ideas are better than others and I am sorry to say that Taco now has a broken leg.

But I must admit, I would not trade the bumps and bruises for boredom. Boredom and death avoid at all costs, life is what is lived in between.

Dave Rat 

It's saturday night and I can feel from somewhere way back when, the residual desire to go out and about and not miss out Outside my window I hear a few muscle car motors and joyous voices of my neighbors revving up to party on this warm evening by the beach. Yet it"s 8 pm and I am laying almost content in bed with a bottle of wine thinking about the significance of saturday nights, well content on catching up on some computing and unraveling a bloggery post. Then it dawns upon me. Tour is nothing than all saturday nights! Everyday for the past 70 days has been a saturday rock show evening with new and old friends. Even the days off were just showless versions of the same. It's all good and this night is closer to a school night for me, hey did I mention that I love surfing?

Thank you Gene for the photo!

Actually surfing is just one of the clear mind adventures I crave. It is all about finding something that requires so much mind focus and energy outlay that the world slips away. Years ago traffic tickets and broken body parts inspired me to give up most motorized versions, though a laid back Harley ride remains an exception. Mixing sound for rock shows, snowboarding, sex with someone I feel a true connection with and designing/building things, all fulfill a version of the 'mental dream pause' that regrounds. Yet it is important to know our limits. For me, I crave thrill and have illusions of invincibility. Big huge owie's have learned me to at least attempt moderation but some things are less malleable, for example; sound limits in venues. The question is, how close can we get without having undesirable outcomes?

I remember one show back when I was mixing Rage Against the Machine 

in a field and the venue told me I had a 98db A weighted limit at mix position. Bummer, especially with Rage. "Who measures, it? How is it measured?" I asked. They introduced me and and I saw the sound meter and met the human. That's the rule? No variation? 98 at mix, period? "yes, no leeway, do not go over or the band will be fined $10,000 per minute over, it is in the contract.". I pondered and looked out at the FOH setup and then asked for 6 stage hands. I had them break down mix position which was at 80 feet and moved it to 175 feet away. They had a full meltdown, but hey, it was in the contract. I was happy. The rules make it fun. I love finding the lines and seeing how far they bend.

So as far as the rules in the sheet above, ouch, they are including low end. Bummer. Getting smarter they are! "Where is the measurement mic?" Oooh on a tower to my right dead on with the main right hang. So, I just turned the right PA hang down 10 db and cranked the left PA and the side hangs up. That actually made thinings worse for noise to the neighbors but hey, I obeyed the rules. Actually everyone was really cool and they ended up letting me push it and in exchange I dropped the level of the right side hang that was the main issue with neighbors. I must admit that I enjoy the challenges. I guess my point is that it is better to embrace and navigate than throw wrenches and point fingers. Our job as soundies is to get the best we can and do the best with what we have. The whole 'bitch and moan' session is annoying at best.When people complain to me, all that comes to mind is that they want attention. Yet when someone complains, the last thing I want to do is give it to them.

But hey, it is easy to get confused. It's harder to find a simple path through complexity, so much that needs to happen, how do we connect it all?

So back in the meandering longevities. Blink at the Hollywood Palladium! The first show I ever saw the was The Clash on London Calling tour. I have done hundreds of gigs there so I know it well. Check this out, full Orgasmatron setup, K1, KUDO side hands and it was pure heaven, so fun!

And this was the closest picture I have to how it felt

But before this we did a a benefit for http://www.tonyhawkfoundation.org/ and it was really cool. Much respect for cool people doing cool things.

Blink played Tony's first benefit 5 years ago at a bowling alley and back again. Oh, look up Ronald Burkle if you are so inspired. Multi billionaire started as a bag boy. Well, he was the one one that donated the Beverly Hills backyard space.

Since today seems to be the day for giving props to cool people, here are a few more things high on my list of cool. Flea, as you may know has a non profit music school to help kids learn music. http://www.silverlakeconservatory.com/ check it out. So all these kids show up with crap instruments as the large manufacturers have lost a bit of track in their focus to meet profit margins, the Walmart basses are just junk. Parents don't know better. Did you ever get one of those bicycles with hard tires and everything rubbed so bike riding was no fun? So Flea is now making inexpensive high quality basses so parents can buy their kids something and playable http://www.fleabass.com/ Every Bass is played before it is sold to be sure it is all good. And, to support the music school there is a Benefit every year called hullaballoo , Ben Harper is playing this year and I go nearly every year and donate my time gear. If you are in in LA it is worth the adventure.

But with every smile come a tear. And though I do well at hiding my sadness as it is often more than I can handle, like skipping stones I try and float over the things that hurt. Losing someone that has been a magic influence for nearly three decades in my life hurts more than I wish to share. If you did not know him, maybe take a look as he is a good heart well missed. Goodbye Brendon Mullen and no single web site shows his depth so I linked a Google search of his name. When I die I want to be remembered with a smile, so I swallow the sad and smile,

And on that note never forget that more than anything, safety first. Always be prepared in case something goes wrong it is wise to have a back up plan, Hence the reason I made sure I was familiar with the medical staff that travels with the Aquabats.

I feel better knowing that if something were to go awry, there are professionals ready and willing to assist.

And finally, Oh, as you may know know, though I do not hate Apple and ATT, I profoundly disagree with extortion and milking of the captives. So therefore I enjoy watching the inevitable dilution of their greedy monopolistic vectors

And feel free to disargee, but please know I practice what I preach. I share info rather that conceal, I network rather than form exclusive alliances and I strive for compatibility rather than the proprietary "must buy from me." And if I did not, you most likely would not be reading these words right now

But hey, if ya like being trapped, more power to ya.

This completes a bottle of wine and un edited bloggery post. Rock On!

Dave Rat

Finding the balance between being content with appreciation and striving to reach the new heights is an ongoing contrast. At least for me I look back and see it has been a cyclical process. I look around and find the things I wish to change, build some dreams and goals and then set out to accomplish them. Focus, hard work and consistency sooner or later finds me arriving where I was headed. The happiness of my new found achievements and surroundings inspires pause and some time to immerse with smiles till it becomes normal and so I look around and find the things I wish to change build some dreams and goals and set out to accomplish them.

Sometimes things work out to where all three become merged into something less volatile and more consistent, and that works too for a while and then over time as I find my life become a homogenous luke warm brown adventure, the cycles start again.

As the symbol to represent each phase became clear I went and got it tattooed to mark it my body so I would never forget. Those three markers are the only tattoos on my body. The first is the Rat on my left forearm which to me represent breaking free from expectations and freedom. Rats are intelligent, industrious, curious, relentless and feared. But not feared for their aggressiveness, but rather because they roam freely outside of the rules. And yet, their motives are simple and pure; to eat, sleep, sex, play and wander. I like that the rat 'weeds out the weak ones.' By that I mean, people that are so uptight or offended by it can not help but scoff and identify themselves and then they steer clear of my world. Next were the four the mechanical Hinge tattoos on my right wrist and elbow. It takes a lot more work to hack a new path than to follow a predictable one. The hinges on my arm are to remind me to work hard like a machine, no matter how tough things get, do not stop until the task is accomplished. A machine feels no pain, needs no sympathy and does not follow the 9 to 5 with breaks and lunch pattern. And finally, the Monkey on my hip and thigh. That was the missing link to happiness. For years I worked hard but failed to take adequate time to smile. Without the monkey it is easy to fall into the martyr/workaholic trap. She represents immersion in the pleasures of my accomplishments and unfolding of dreams realized.

All this comes to mind as this fun celebration adventure starts to wind down to it's last few weeks and I get to switch it up to home world.

Speaking of adventure and home world. On the way from the Bakersfield show to San Diego I jumped on the Production Bus, which pulled off the freeway and dropped myself and Royal, the rigger at Burbank airport at 3:45 am. The town car I had waiting dropped me off in Oxnard at 4:45am and was fast asleep in my own bed by 5. Of course I left my straw hat in the town car.

By 7:15am I had my wetsuit and surfboard in the car and by 7:30 was paddling out. Good morning sunshine!

Breakfast with the surf buddies and made it to Rat in time for our weekly meeting that I had been doing by phone, Since no one knew I was in town, I made the call to do the meeting and walked while on the phone. Ooooh, look what I found in my office!

That rules! Thank you! I did some sound proofing work and and this was thank you gift!

Next stop, go pick the shorties up from school! Oh, how beautiful to see their smiles and pace pick up as the see me. I can not wait to see and hang out with them. They came over did homework and we made dinner together, so fun!

A good night's sleep a cab to the train station and

an easy and beautiful train ride on the Surfliner to San Diego. All Good!

Oh, and thank you Phil for an awesome time in Portland. So fun, so happy!

May as well mix it up and not forget the rock show.

Ohh, check out the PA!

Gigs gigs and more gigs.

Dave Rat

The Scooter

Check this sexy machine out! My favorite tour necessity.

As innocent as it looks, this baby cruises at 17 miles per hour has two 21 cell, 25 volt 5000 mAh NiMh battery packs hidden in the belly, each good for 10 miles on flat ground and the brushless motor offers almost zero rolling resistance, folds up and weighs in a mere 28 pounds! The Xootr EX3. Heck, back before 9/11 I used to ride to the airport from old house and carry it and a backpack on the plane for short trips. Unfortunately I am sad to say these are long discontinued. But if you ever can get your hands on one, you will not regret it.

Like everything though, things break. Especially if they are my things.

The most recent repair was a battery issue where a connection between calls broke. It's a bit of a pain to fix but at $175 bucks a pack, it is well worth the effort. By poking small holes in the shrink wrap I located where the bad connection was. Then cut away the shrink and carefully bend out the cell. The issue is trying to resolder the cell back in without dissembling the whole pack. But, since NiMh cells use the outer can as the negative, there is a workaround. If you solder a thin metal tab to the positive of the cell in the pack then slide the cell you bent out, back place:

You can cut away the shrink wrap and solder the tab to the outside of the can. It is a bit hard to see but if you look carefully, its there.

And back on track! And hey, look what I found!

An honor indeed! Thank you Travis, Mark and Tom for inviting me on this incredible adventure.

My Office!

Ok and on to:

**** Sound Nerd Speak ****

Ok, so one of the wonderful realities of our world as traveling sound humans is that everyday is a new adventure. So now that the Vortex (Orgasmatrons), Slotfire and V-Fire setups are running smooth and predictable, we can now start upping the anti a bit. We learned from Jones Beach shows that the Diagonal Vortex was effective for venues that require a narrower coverage. Remember that Vortex was designed to cover up to 135 degrees off axis but in a field or shed that is too wide. So rotating them 45 degrees does well for narrower coverage patterns.

But as anyone who has toured knows, we have to deal with a wide variety of setup spaces, restrictions and issues. So here are a few more setup variations for y'all to ponder.

Vortex two dimensional control. Offers rejection behind the subs and on stage. Needs space around them. Offers very wide coverage. Steerable. Occupies an 8 by 8 footprint.

Slotfire single dimension control. Coverage is symmetrical in front and behind. Works best when against a wall to block rear energy. Steerable width. Offers rejection center stage and somewhat behind. Controllable front compression alters sub tuning/tonality. Requires 13 by 4 footprint.

V-Fire single dimension control. Coverage is focused forward and reduced behind. Does nor require a rear wall. Steerable width. Offers rejection center stage and somewhat behind. The V is less than optimum and slightly downgrades the tonality. Requires 13 by 4 footprint.

But what to do in this venue in Birmingham? We had a fairly open space. The barrier to the right in the photo is audience side and just a blow through scrim. Unfortunately there was not enough room for a vortex without jamming up monitor world . Plus the vortex would have to be diagonal to be aimed right and there was no way. So here is a

Smooshed Vortex setup.

The math works well and coverage should be good with excellent rejection behind and on stage. But wait? Really? Am I going to point a 3 stack of double 18"s at our monitor guy?

Well, it made me nervous enough that we setup one side with the middle speakers pointing toward the audience but the math was not a good.

and the other side as the calculations told me would be superior

And we fired it up and sure enough, we spun the other side and ran with double 18"s pointed right at a happy Steve!

And how about one more setup that may com in handy and is super easy. This is basically the setup we used at coachella and works on the same principle as the Slotfire

**** End Sound Nerd Speak ****

Two of these belong to me!

And off to watch Fall Out Boy!

Dave Rat

So for the past week or so, I have not been doing so hot and hence my bloggery silence. Neck moved wrong and arm went numb followed by crazy painful muscles in my shoulders and arms plaguing my every movement and sleepless nights.

4 Chiropractors, first Chris in San Fran who came out and stayed for the show. Even rocked a third adjustment in the tour bus after the gig.

Then Regan Jung in Irvine who I went to two days in a row

And I found a Chiro in Albuquerque on a sunday!

And though the pain reduced from extreme to tolerable, still not sleeping.

Massages helped as well.

X-rays and a finally a doctor visit that left me with a bag full full of drugs.

Not much into taking pain killers and such but oh if only I could sleep! Hence my bloggery absence as no position was compatible with computing. Ahh, but today I finally am doing well again and have good stretch and home made traction system that is working great. So happy to feel lack of exhaustion and pain! Sooo, Ha! game back on and sorry about the vanish!

So far this tour I have left my Pointy Hat and 'HLBM' shirt in a hotel in Indiana,

my Black Felt Cowboy Hat and shades in a car in Kansas,

my replacement Black Straw Cowboy Hat and new shades in a town car in Oxnard

and my Black Felt Cowboy hat again in a runner car in Dallas! I have been reunited with two of the three via Fedex,

the third awaits me back home and got the felt hat back a second time in Florida. As much as I mourn the loss of each cherished item, the heartwarming offset of refinding and arranging a successful return, more than balances. I am no slouch when it comes to separating myself from my belongings and have developed quite the skill at retrieval of the ones that matter. But playing lost and found is not all that I am good at as I am extremely well versed at breaking things as well. Cell phones, cameras and laptops are so easy to destroy that I won't even bother tying to list the multitudes of successful destructions.

Sound systems, cars and other material items are also no match for my skills, but perhaps one of things I am best a breaking is my own humanly self. So today as I am finally in the upswing of healing from relapses of yet another old injury flaring up, I thought I might share a brief run down of some of the top Drat bash contenders. Now as far as humanly injuries that skateboarders, machinists and competitive motor sport humans receive, I realize all mine add up to barely a scratch, but hey, I am just sound guy! So in no particular order of time:

1) Left hand thumb - While sound proofing a rehearsal space in the Sun Valley Rat Shop, standing on the top rung of a step ladder firing 2 1/2 inch staples overhead with a pneumatic staple gun, I found my thumb somehow became firmly attached to the 2x4 ceiling. Alone, hand overhead, unable to dismount the ladder I had no option but to pause for a ponder. Hmmm the possible results of dropping the safety-bypassed staplgun, knowing my luck would leave me with a second staple through my body. Aha! I lowered the gun via air hose and proceeded to use my other now free hand to pry thumb and staple from the ceiling which was no easy feat. Wandering around the shop I found pliers useless and it was not till I located a small pair of Vice Grips and firmly clipped them onto the thump piercing staple that I felt I could pull the ting out. So I pull and the thumb just bends so I used a speaker box to stop my thumb from moving and pulled the staple out from. my thumb bone. I then went on to finish sound proofing.

2) Right Hand pointer finger - Sun Valley Rat Shop, no coffee, living in the Rat Shop and the 6 am 'good morning' is the sound of the table saw. Time to make some Rat Subs! All is going well, I have the plans in my head and while cutting some port supports, I feel a strange vibration in my finger. Ooooh, this cant be good. No pain but the look of a saw blade width 1/2" deep notch in my pointer is a bit disturbing. Toilet paper and gaff tape bandages sure do leak a lot! There are some rat subs somewhere that looked like a slaughterhouse before they got carpeted. That one really hurt, sleeping was a bummer that night. Never did get around to visiting a doc on that one either.

3) Left Elbow - Big Bear, CA Flying down the hill and up the side wall on my snowboard, spinning right in the air I attempt a blind side aerial 270 (I am goofy foot) and lost some traction. Half way through, mid air, elbow meet tree, tree meet elbow. I am not sure how far around the wrong way it went but I instantly became mush ball sliding. I did go to a doc for this one where he put some electrical wires on me, told me to come back 3 times a week, charged the insurance a bunch of cash, sold me some drugs and said the hyper extension was so severe I would never have full extension again. Never went back, spent the next few months painfully sleeping with my arm under me twisted in such a way as to straighten it out and it healed up just fine, full extension and all.

4) Right Shoulder - World Theater Chicago. You ever have those days where everything goes horribly wrong? Ever have three in a row? I had guests, issues back at home that needed dealing with, it's raining, cell batteries dying, cell service issues pressure from all directions and finally, cell gets wet and dies. Got a new cell, but Nextel could not activate outside my home area. Really? Send fedex cell home to activate and send back? So I get a new #. But now I can't check old voicemail because you put my new number on my account. Need to fly to LA to activate? Now completely isolated, no phone #'s no one can reach me and meltdowns in every direction, Rat issues, personal family issues and oh, that's right friends coming to the show. On the 3rd day, I had things under control. Got someone to get a new phone on my old # back home and auto forward to my new #, like a ton of bricks off my back relieved. Everything is a timeless blur and all I know is that tonight I will finally sleep. I take a moment, a celebration of success and hop on my Suzuki DR200SEX (yep, really, that is the model #!) that lived in a road case in the sound truck and off I go. Off I go exactly as I had when I headed into town to deal with phone nightmares earlier. Fourth loading bay down, veer right and down the loading ramp except..... Uh oh! Earlier, how much earlier? Yikes, that was yesterday and we are not where we were yesterday. And instead somehow in the spacetime continuum the ramp has vanisher. Too late and mid turn I find myself flying through the air before the motorcycle slams down on top of me. Laying slow motion in a hospital bed with a Demerol shot in my ass I am told I have a separated shoulder. I ended up bribing the doctor to release me with Peppers shirts just in time to get back and stumble with assistance to the sound board as the band walked on stage. Never miss a gig! But oh boy, was pass out avoidance an pain making a hard show to mix. Thank you Grandpa!

5) Lower Back - Why I was hanging upside down from a wire by my foot is a good question. Why I did not take off my belt pack is a better question. But regardless, when I reached up to free myself and the wire snapped and I landed flat on my back on a concrete slab with a mini-maglite between the floor and my spine, that sent an electric shock through me that I will never forget. Ow ow and super ow! The doc said he can't do much till the swelling is down, it took me damn near 1/2 hour to baby step my way from the bus to the sound board each day. I refused to relinquish my top bus bunk, which was easily another 1/2 hour adventure of pain to escape each morning.

6) Right Foot - They cut the ropes! X Games in Big Bear and they cut the ropes and let

the public on the competition snowboard courses, awesome! A forty feet lip to landing jump and another jump about 25 feet but with more height both following a really cool aggressive 'S' Boardercross course. It took a few runs before I was clearing both jumps with 50-50 and tail grabs, I never did get the big air 360's wired. One more run as I feel myself getting bit worn but I am going to hit them big. Easily cleared the 40 footer and charged the 25. For big jumps I pick out a tree for a marker and go full speed from there, that way I hit the jump at the proper speed. Wait, which tree was the charge marker? Oh no! Looking down watching the landing area fall away while still rising is not a good feeling. Thankfully I did land it and came down full force onto the flatland from maybe 25 or 30 feet up easily 20 feet past the landing. Not so thankfully my knees hit my chest and the hard pack snow gave way sinking my board a foot deep, instantly stopping. That's when front knee hit the front of the board While my foot remained strapped in sideways ripping all the muscles and leaving me hobbling around for months. For the next two snowboard seasons I had to ride switch stance.

7) Face #1 - Exuberant I bolted out the front door full speed leaping off the 3 steps and headed out to meet my friends. Lifeless I lay in a pool of blood as mid air the open garage door had not allowed my head to travel at the same speed as the rest of my body laying me out horizontal mid air. Concussion, broken nose and lots o stitches.

8) Face #2 - I almost made it to her house. I was dating a girl named Beverly Hills, with whom I am still friends and it was she and I who came up with the name Rat Sound one morning while watching my pet snake feed on a rat. Anyway, just a block away and a wrong turn found my exhausted delirious self breaking the windshield of my Datsun B210 with my face as I collided with a parked Mercedes. I remember my eyebrows were still in the windshield. Broken nose, lots of stitches, whiplash and I was pulling glass from my forehead for months afterwards. My car was totaled.

9) Face #3 - C- Street , Huge day surfing, third session and double overhead plus waves saw my longest ride ever, adrenaline rush and thrill and I go to get out of the water and from behind a wave barrels up and pitches me face down into the gravel. Ha, Broken nose and more stitches, the surfboard was fine.

Cool cool, enough of that. Hey, say hey to Arne and his daughter! I met him when I was 17 years old and working at Mattel toys fixing those little football games.

Well, he was in a band called the Alcoholics (http://ratsound.com/tours/early/flyers/index.htm for more old flyers)

And I did my very first recording ever on a Teac 4 track of his band. I also met Tom Hodder at the same place I did the recording. Tom is the one who taught me to build speaker cabinets. So cool how certain people are instrumental in altering the direction my life takes! One of the best parts about touring is finding those old friends and meeting new ones.

Enough for now. Off to enjoy beautiful Birmingham Alabama. Hey, I was born in this state, my people!

Dave Rat