By Joel Francis
The Daily Record
The Missouri Mavericks hockey team has only been playing for two seasons, so there aren’t a lot of championship banners hanging above their home rink at the Independence Events Center. But doesn’t mean the rafters are empty.
Scores of black sound baffles drape from the ceiling and dozens more hang perpendicularly around the seating perimeter. They’re all part of the design to make the arena’s music sound better.
“Before this place was even built, engineers mapped the space,” said Paul Fray, chief engineer for the Events Center. “They mapped every frequency using a 3D computer program so they’d know how each frequency would react in the room.”
Based on those findings, strategically placed ceiling baffles were hung and wood-fiber panels were placed along the walls at the back of the seating level. When Fray pops Sting’s greatest hits into the arena’s sound system the playback is crisp and clear, as if it is being played in a giant living room.
“This is the best-sounding arena I’ve been in,” said Fray, a four-decade veteran of the Kansas City concert scene. “The overhead speakers are aimed at specific seating areas, then we have clusters of subs (subwoofers) at each end.”
When the Events Center hosts concerts, the act brings their own sound engineer and equipment. Their sound system is run through a separate power transformer devoted solely to audio equipment. This, Fray said, eliminates the hum that often arises when the transformer is shared with the lighting rigs.
“A guy from the Zac Brown Band crew told me we had more power available for them here than when he worked on the crew for the Bon Jovi show at Giants Stadium,” Fray said.
Fray said when he mixes he tries to visualize the sound as a 3D image, with the vocals in front and the guitars, bass and drums filling out the space behind. When an instrument solo occurs he moves that to the front of the mix.
“A lot of the time, when there’s a problem with the sound it’s how the front-of-house engineer is mixing,” Fray said. “In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s I saw a lot of shows at Memorial Hall and they sounded good when you didn’t try to overpower the room. When I saw Velvet Revolver there a few years ago it was the worst sound I’d ever heard. You couldn’t pick out any of the instruments.”
A well-engineered room offers more forgiveness to the sound crew.
“All of the front-of-house guys have been very pleased with the arena,” Fray said. “Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie were here a while back and they were very happy with the venue. They thought it was a nice place to play.”
That’s good news for music fans on a couple levels. Not only will they be able to better enjoy the show while it happens, but it means there’s a good chance the performers will come back and fans will be able to live the moment all over again.
Keep reading:
Review: Goo Goo Dolls at the Independence Events Center
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