Prime Mover and Shaker

Damn.

QUOTE (Prime Mover and Shaker @ May 1 2012, 04:00 PM) I ended up with Section B row U. Not too bad. Stub Hub has Section B Row W for $465.00!!! Is it a fair world in that Stub Hub has about 150 tickets to this show... before the public sale starts!?!?!?

I ended up with Section B row U. Not too bad.

It's all about something called dynamic range. Some parts of an instrument's total sound are much quieter than others. This is very important, and most casual listeners don't know (or particularly care) about this detail. And that is perfectly OK. Here's the thing to remember: an instrument sounds the way it does for many reasons, but one of them has to do with the volume relationship between the quiet and loud portions of the total sound. Your brain takes all of this information and turns it into what you interpret as one instrument. If there wasn't this mixture of different volumes, the instrument would sound very different (and, to many opinions, not as good). This is one of the reasons that cheap keyboards with settings like "flute" don't mimic the intended instruments very well - they haven't captured all of the quiet and louder components that make up a flute sound. OK, that might all sound academic, but here's how it applies to our discussion (I'm going to oversimplify a few things here; audiophiles please don't beat on me): The technology at work here has a maximum volume during recording. If you keep turning everything up, the loudest sounds reach this limit, but the softer sounds can still increase. This means that the difference between the loudest and quietest sounds is now smaller (this difference is "dynamic range"). By making the dynamic range (the difference in sound volumes) smaller, you are changing the way the instrument is interpreted by the brain. Some folks are more sensitive to this than others. Also, your brain doesn't want to have too many of these components of the instrument at the same volume. Remember that there is a limit to how loud things can be as they are recorded. If the recording level is too high, then several of the instrument's sounds components are now at the same level. It's rather like being screamed at by many voices all at once. An example: Let's suppose a natural flute sound is composed of sounds A, B, C, D, E, and F. A has a natural volume of 10. B has a natural volume of 8. C has a natural volume of 7. D has a natural volume of 4. E has a natural volume of 2. F has a natural volume of 1. You record the flute with technology that can handle a volume up to 12. Playing back, you hear a natural sounding flute. Now record it by turning all of the volumes up by 5. But remember, 12 is the limit of the recording device. A is recorded at 12. B is recorded at 12. C is recorded at 12. D is recorded at 9. E is recorded at 7. F is recorded at 6. This has the advantage of being "louder", so that if you put this track on a party mix CD, it won't sound "weak" compared to the other tracks. However, notice that A, B, and C are now all at the same volume, which is not the case with the original flute. Depending on how sensitive your ears are, you may pick up on that difference, and it may "tire" your ears after a while. Turning the recording volume up further only makes this problem worse. The samples you see above of Prime Mover are akin to the flute being recorded with no added volume. The "brick wall" waveforms are akin to the example where things are turned up by 5. Well, maybe more.

Oh yeah.

Thanks, guys. It's the big 4-0 today.

QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Sep 1 2010, 11:02 AM) QUOTE (Prime Mover and Shaker @ Sep 1 2010, 02:01 PM) QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Sep 1 2010, 10:48 AM) I think we're seeing people who don't know each other very well in real life passing judgment each other as if they did. Not really fair, is it? Yeah, this isn't SOCN! j/k What is this SOCN? I haven't been here very long. Some Obviously Crack-smoking Nerds.

QUOTE (vital signz @ Sep 1 2010, 10:45 AM) It sounds like you are not going to change what you are doing Rushgirl, so THAT ALONE tells me what kind of person you really are. You talk seats like you talk politics.

QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Sep 1 2010, 10:48 AM) I think we're seeing people who don't know each other very well in real life passing judgment each other as if they did. Not really fair, is it? Yeah, this isn't SOCN! j/k

QUOTE (barney_rebel @ Sep 1 2010, 10:19 AM) I squeezed in at Molson Amp in Toronto, and proud of it. I'll never get that close to the band in my life ever again. No one around me gave a shit, and if they did I'd offer them professional photos of the band I just took... problem solved. As a matter of fact, stranger beside me gave me a beer. Dude, you knew who I was. And that wasn't beer - I just didn't want to give up my primo seat to go attend to the call of nature.

FWIW, and I know this doesn't happen all the time - folks can share a seat; I've done this a few times (including Vegas this year). In fact, in Toronto once ('08, I believe), I basically ended up doing this with Rushgirl (who is awesome) and a few others. It wasn't planned, but that's sometimes what happens. In some venues, there is enough room for two folks (one behind the other) in any given row, or sometimes just the front row. So, in Toronto in '08, I alternated between row 1 and row "1.5". Similarly, in Vegas, I saw the show from row "2.5". No one really gets crowded sideways when this happens. ...and, the folks who are in the rows behind you are still the same distance from the stage. Granted, I've only done this twice out of the 15 or so Rush shows I've seen - all the rest were seen from the seat I had on my ticket. I figure that, if you and I both paid for a ticket, and yours says front row, then you have more right to be there than I do, and I'll gladly leave if asked. But, if a friend makes room for me, and it has basically no effect on you, I don't feel too bad about it. If you paid more than face value for front row... well, your decision - that has nothing to do with me.

QUOTE (Rush1 @ Aug 16 2010, 04:31 PM) I agree.... In Vegas, they checked everyone trying to go to the floor, or to the front...no ticket no go... Not everyone at every "checking post". I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get to row 2 (I had purchased row 18). But it was a lark; there were 3 of us walking down there, and we all got checked, at every post, except the one up front, where the other two got checked, but not me.

Porn.

QUOTE (Rushchick10 @ Aug 16 2010, 08:36 PM) Out of the three shows I have seen on this tour, Vegas was definitely the best. But, I might be a little biased... http://01ed31a.netsolhost.com/timemachine/shows/show20/DSC0027.jpg OMG! I almost DIED when I won the Meet & Greet at the Mini-RushCon! Won it by playing a "name that tune" style game. Didn't miss any! See, being a geeky teenager finally paid off! Well deserved, and well played!

QUOTE (toddnbeth @ Aug 15 2010, 09:31 PM) At Vegas last night, security was very tight and I don' think that anyone got in to the first 4 rows who didn't belong (or if they did, they didn't get to stay there long). They were actually counting heads in each row throughout the show. Some venues could really learn a thing or 2 from security at a facility like MGM. I saw them counting heads, but somehow (perhaps due to all the shuffling around my friends and I were doing, 2nd row, extreme right), I was never identified and asked to leave (my tickets were in Row 18, but my freinds were legitimately in row 2).

QUOTE (iluvgeddy05 @ Aug 16 2010, 09:10 AM) QUOTE (Prime Mover and Shaker @ Aug 16 2010, 10:31 AM) I've worked with a friend to simultaneously share a front row seat. In this case, there ends up being an artifical "Row 1.5", with one person standing in front of the other. This usually works well because there is enough room to do so between the rail and the seats. Plus, you're not squeezing anyone this way. But, that's a completely different situation from forcing yourself onto strangers. And, granted, sometimes security will see right through it! How does that work though? Don't ushers check your tickets before getting to your seat and notice one of you is "without ticket"? Yes, in theory, they do. I just got lucky in Vegas. Pure and simple luck - there were three of us, and two had 2nd row tickets. The usher we dealt with checked one ticket, took a cursory glance at the second, and said "you three all together"? We said "Yes", and then he turned his attention to the next group of folks. So, I guess I ended up in row 2.5 in Vegas (1.5 was Toronto 2008). In my experience, you get your ticket checked in Vegas at more points along the way to your seat than at any other venue. And, I legitimatley passed every checkpoint except the last one (where I illegitimately passed). Had this plan not worked, or had anyone complained, I would have gladly enjoyed the show from my original seats (floor, 18th row, not too bad at all). I like being close, but I really don't want to do so at the expense of someone else's enjoyment who has purchased a ticket near where I am trying to be. I'm not a very "ballsy" person this way. During intermission, I clung to my seat, and started to sweat when one of the ushers came over to talk to me. But, we just ended up talking about, of all things, orthotics ( ).

I've worked with a friend to simultaneously share a front row seat. In this case, there ends up being an artifical "Row 1.5", with one person standing in front of the other. This usually works well because there is enough room to do so between the rail and the seats. Plus, you're not squeezing anyone this way. But, that's a completely different situation from forcing yourself onto strangers. And, granted, sometimes security will see right through it!

That show was great! The only one I get to see this tour, so I have no comparisons for referenece, but I thought it was fantastic! It was great to see so many people come out for the con. I was the guy in the Rush t-shirt. Seriously, though, I was the goon updating the scores during the "name that tune" game. The show rocked, and the con rocked!

TRF is hampered, but CP is smashed. I think I'll hang out here! Awesome so far!

TRF is hampered, but CP is smashed. I think I'll hang out here! Awesome so far!

It's worth doing once (especially at face value, like I did). Maybe it's worth $350 for a swag bag and front row... I go back and forth on that. But the sound is better 20 rows back.

QUOTE (EmotionDetector @ Apr 30 2010, 06:05 AM) QUOTE (Prime Mover and Shaker @ Apr 30 2010, 08:59 AM) Weird how no one blames Rush for their role in this. Well, at least not yet in this thread. Well, to be fair, I really don't think Rush has much to do with this, as I've seen TM run auctions for alot of other shows as well. Who all that extra money is going to, I have no idea. But just like ticket prices, I'm not sure that Rush has all that much say in it...but I could be wrong as well. Rush made the decision to let their people set them up to do business through TM. They could have gone all Pearl Jam or Dave Matthews, but they chose not to.

Weird how no one blames Rush for their role in this. Well, at least not yet in this thread. In other news... ...imagine a self-absorbed, obnoxious, Paris Hilton type. Now imagine the opposite. That's Bev. She's incredibly down-to-earth. Trace ROCKS.