I'm not sure what. My wife and I went to an open air Shakespeare performance at a venue along the Hudson River (Boscobel). The performances, conducted under a large tent in a space that seats approximately 500 people, had sound support in the form of multiple, relatively small, professional-grade active speakers, no bigger than a conventional 'bookshelf' type, mounted high on the lighting scaffolding- perhaps there were a dozen of these speakers pointed at odd angles say 30 or so feet above the dirt 'floor' in a horseshoe curve (not a fully closed circle).
The music and vocal parts, all pre-recorded except for one solo part, were contemporary in nature (that artistic juxtaposition of Shakespeare done 'out of period'). The sound was just incredible for what it was- the piano sounded like real pianos do- warm, deep, slightly percussive and wide ranging, the massed vocals were clear and open. This, from something off what appeared to be a sound reinforcement board of the type you'd see in professional auditoria. Not an SET amp or fancy cable in sight! I was trying to figure out why it sounded so good, for 'non-high end' stuff- usually sound reinforcement for music leaves much to be desired: first, the open air quality of the tent, in addition to the big height; the juxtaposition of the speakers in a horseshoe, mounted high up; the relatively simple program material, not complex, piano, strings, voices, but not full orchestra and not overloading the 'room' (as alot of rock concert sound does).
I think I learned something from this, but I'm still trying to figure it out....
The music and vocal parts, all pre-recorded except for one solo part, were contemporary in nature (that artistic juxtaposition of Shakespeare done 'out of period'). The sound was just incredible for what it was- the piano sounded like real pianos do- warm, deep, slightly percussive and wide ranging, the massed vocals were clear and open. This, from something off what appeared to be a sound reinforcement board of the type you'd see in professional auditoria. Not an SET amp or fancy cable in sight! I was trying to figure out why it sounded so good, for 'non-high end' stuff- usually sound reinforcement for music leaves much to be desired: first, the open air quality of the tent, in addition to the big height; the juxtaposition of the speakers in a horseshoe, mounted high up; the relatively simple program material, not complex, piano, strings, voices, but not full orchestra and not overloading the 'room' (as alot of rock concert sound does).
I think I learned something from this, but I'm still trying to figure it out....