Rodeo Sound System

J

Jimmy Hardin

Junior
Jan 29, 2013
314
0
16
I recently done a county fair and one of their events was a rodeo and I used my PA gear, and I really dont think it gets out their like we need it to be. but on the other hand , when they would say something like give a round of applause for so and so , then the audience would clap. of course a PA sound system (I dont think) was designed for a rodeo. I am thinking that i should get some of those weatherproof horns like on a Paging system, Any suggestions?

My Gear was this,

2 15 in. Cgm speakers (Eminence loaded)
2 Peavey 15 In.PV series Speakers
1 Mackie 1400 I Power Amp
1 Samson F800 Power Amp
one small yamaha mixer
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

The poor grammar, rambling structure, incorrect punctuation, lack of capitalization and generally vague tone. The question is obscured by gibberish.

As to the question of the advisability for using weatherproof horns for a rodeo, I'd say that if horns work for the bulls and steers, they should be good enough for you as well.
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

Dick Rees said:
The poor grammar, rambling structure, incorrect punctuation, lack of capitalization and generally vague tone. The question is obscured by gibberish.

As to the question of the advisability for using weatherproof horns for a rodeo, I'd say that if horns work for the bulls and steers, they should be good enough for you as well.
Click to expand...

LOL The Horns aint for me, LOL I am talking about P.A. Paging horns not bull Horns.
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

Jimmy Hardin said:
I recently done a county fair and one of their events was a rodeo and I used my PA gear, and I really dont think it gets out their like we need it to be. but on the other hand , when they would say something like give a round of applause for so and so , then the audience would clap. of course a PA sound system (I dont think) was designed for a rodeo. I am thinking that i should get some of those weatherproof horns like on a Paging system, Any suggestions?

My Gear was this,

2 15 in. Cgm speakers (Eminence loaded)
2 Peavey 15 In.PV series Speakers
1 Mackie 1400 I Power Amp
1 Samson F800 Power Amp
one small yamaha mixer
Click to expand...
Lets start with the obvious.

We have NO idea what the venue looks like-how the system is deployed or if there is any processing (it doesn't look like any) is on the system.

Generally the worse thing you can do with audio is to "add more speakers".

It all depends on what you are trying to do with the system and the result you are trying to achieve.

So without more information-the answer is "who knows?".

I have never seen a system "designed for a rodeo", but rather a system designed for a specific venue and need and budget.
 
Hey Dick,

I prefer good grammar as much as the next guy, or perhaps more, but there's no rule that every post has to abide by the elements of style. I understood what the OP was trying to ask perfectly well, and he asked perfectly kindly. I appreciate a little gruffness around here, but this gentleman seems like the very person we all would like to help as contributors to The World Of Audio Knowledge.

Dick Rees said:
The poor grammar, rambling structure, incorrect punctuation, lack of capitalization and generally vague tone. The question is obscured by gibberish.

As to the question of the advisability for using weatherproof horns for a rodeo, I'd say that if horns work for the bulls and steers, they should be good enough for you as well.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

OK then how about we give him an answer in reference to the question about those big weather proof horns? Yes - those big old fashioned metal weather proof horns would probably work much better for what you were doing than the typical music store type of products that you were using. (I'm surprised that the rodeo area didn't have a system in place already.) However - I wouldn't bother investing in those old metal type horns because they're more for permanent installations - big - heavy - and not much good for other stuff. If you were to go into the rodeo announcement PA biz you could scour EBay and find a couple of those big old dinosaur horns and find a way to get them up high so people could hear them and let-er rip but if you only do this kind of thing every now and then it probably wouldn't be worth the effort.
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

Jimmy Hardin said:
I recently done a county fair and one of their events was a rodeo and I used my PA gear, and I really dont think it gets out their like we need it to be. but on the other hand , when they would say something like give a round of applause for so and so , then the audience would clap. of course a PA sound system (I dont think) was designed for a rodeo. I am thinking that i should get some of those weatherproof horns like on a Paging system, Any suggestions?

My Gear was this,

2 15 in. Cgm speakers (Eminence loaded)
2 Peavey 15 In.PV series Speakers
1 Mackie 1400 I Power Amp
1 Samson F800 Power Amp
one small yamaha mixer
Click to expand...

The modern way of doing this is with weatherproof full-range speakers, such as the Community R series or the Atlas Stadium Horn series or the like. Height is your friend, don't plan on covering much more than about 300' before wind takes it away. Time coherency is important - have the sound radiate from a single point, or use delay and placement to simulate a single point if possible.
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

Bennett Prescott said:
Hey Dick,

I prefer good grammar as much as the next guy, or perhaps more, but there's no rule that every post has to abide by the elements of style. I understood what the OP was trying to ask perfectly well, and he asked perfectly kindly. I appreciate a little gruffness around here, but this gentleman seems like the very person we all would like to help as contributors to The World Of Audio Knowledge.
Click to expand...

Awww, I was just lamenting the departure of Andy P. from the scene. Who would not be well served by improving their language skills?
 
Last edited:
Re: Rodeo Sound System

Gene Hardage said:
OK then how about we give him an answer in reference to the question about those big weather proof horns? Yes - those big old fashioned metal weather proof horns would probably work much better for what you were doing than the typical music store type of products that you were using. (I'm surprised that the rodeo area didn't have a system in place already.) However - I wouldn't bother investing in those old metal type horns because they're more for permanent installations - big - heavy - and not much good for other stuff. If you were to go into the rodeo announcement PA biz you could scour EBay and find a couple of those big old dinosaur horns and find a way to get them up high so people could hear them and let-er rip but if you only do this kind of thing every now and then it probably wouldn't be worth the effort.
Click to expand...



Gene , Thats just what i am looking for. something that would carry the sound, we have a small area for rodeo's and one one side of the arena is where the sound is at and on the other side straight across from it is where the crowd is at, It is so loud there where we are at but you can't hardly hear on the other side of the area where the crowd is at with out clipping the system. I am just wanting to know if we got some of those things where would we be able to buy them new at? This event only happens once a year, I don't know if they have rodeo's other than ours all the time or not.
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

Jimmy Hardin said:
Gene , Thats just what i am looking for. something that would carry the sound, we have a small area for rodeo's and one one side of the arena is where the sound is at and on the other side straight across from it is where the crowd is at, It is so loud there where we are at but you can't hardly hear on the other side of the area where the crowd is at with out clipping the system. I am just wanting to know if we got some of those things where would we be able to buy them new at? This event only happens once a year, I don't know if they have rodeo's other than ours all the time or not.
Click to expand...

Well I'm way out of my league here so all I can tell you is that those big round Atlas horns carry the voice better than the typical carpet covered box you can buy at a music store. That's why you still see them at old high school football fields - because they work. Then things get tricky 'cause some of those install systems are 70 volt transformer driven or whatever they call it and then there's the issue of keeping the low frequencies from blowing your drivers. Call a local install company and ask advice and maybe they will sell you what you need and tell you how to set it all up the right way - or better yet reach a little deeper in your pocket and get them to install them for you. They are not like using regular speakers - although people have used them that way. My buddy Greg used to have one for his guitar amp and you could hear him ANYWHERE even when the other players had huge Marshall stacks. I think they still make those things new.

Again - it may not be cost effective to invest in these things for just a handful of dates per year.
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

Jimmy Hardin said:
Gene , Thats just what i am looking for. something that would carry the sound, we have a small area for rodeo's and one one side of the arena is where the sound is at and on the other side straight across from it is where the crowd is at, It is so loud there where we are at but you can't hardly hear on the other side of the area where the crowd is at with out clipping the system. I am just wanting to know if we got some of those things where would we be able to buy them new at? This event only happens once a year, I don't know if they have rodeo's other than ours all the time or not.
Click to expand...
A hint-move the speakers closer to the people
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

Jimmy Hardin said:
I have thought about that , but i am not really sure there are Outlets on that side or not so i can plug my amps up but I will check on it though.
Click to expand...
They make these things called "extension cords" or longer speaker cables.

So as I asked earlier-you are looking for a solution-yet we have no idea how things are actually setup. Obviously the speakers are not near the people-but WHERE? You HAVE to properly define the question if you want a workable solution-and we do not anything about the layout-where you can put speakers etc. There are A LOT of variables missing in this whole "problem", of which without knowing-there is no way to come up with a solution.

So right away you are blaming the speakers and looking for other solutions-yet the most practical one is easily done.

For a voice only type of system-I have no problem running speaker cables a couple of hundred feet. And have done it in performance systems as well-when there was no other choice and the results were just fine.

Yes there is the "proper" way and then there is "I bet nobody could tell the difference anyway"-even though it can be measured-how much of the difference does it really make.
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

I've been to several regional rodeos, and they've all been set up the same. The announcer's booth is across the arena from the grandstand above the bull pens (real bull pens). The main PA speakers are set up next to the announcer's booth because it's pretty much in the center of the event. There's stuff going on all around, and everyone needs to hear the announcer so they know what events are happening at that moment.

The only rodeo I've been to where there were auxiliary speakers in the stands was the Pendleton Round-Up, but that's the largest rodeo in this area.

I went to one last month where the PA was a Line O' Eons. Seriously, there must have been 8 or 10 of them winged out on either side of the announcer's booth - just lined up on planks. Surprisingly it actually worked rather well. We could easily hear the announcing team in the grandstand, and they could get away with running music during lulls in the action that was at least passable for filler music.

The music was mostly AC/DC. What happened to country music in a rodeo?
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

Bill Hornibrook said:
I've been to several regional rodeos, and they've all been set up the same. The announcer's booth is across the arena from the grandstand above the bull pens (real bull pens). The main PA speakers are set up next to the announcer's booth because it's pretty much in the center of the event. There's stuff going on all around, and everyone needs to hear the announcer so they know what events are happening at that moment.

The only rodeo I've been to where there were auxiliary speakers in the stands was the Pendleton Round-Up, but that's the largest rodeo in this area.

I went to one last month where the PA was a Line O' Eons. Seriously, there must have been 8 or 10 of them winged out on either side of the announcer's booth - just lined up on planks. Surprisingly it actually worked rather well. We could easily hear the announcing team in the grandstand, and they could get away with running music during lulls in the action that was at least passable for filler music.

The music was mostly AC/DC. What happened to country music in a rodeo?
Click to expand...
As usual-it depends.

I used to do a lot of Mexican rodeos in which I would bring a concert sound system and bands would play all the time while the bull riding was going on. The announcer would make announcements as needed.

It was pretty weird-but all were pretty much the same.
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

I installed a system several years ago in an arena that has rodeos,demo derbies,monster trucks and motocross among other things.I installed a 70 volt system.As Ivan said,put the speakers where the people are.I installed them under the roofs in the seating areas facing the audience.I'm using a Bogen GS 150 with Atlas horns.When they play music through it, it sounds like you would expect,but for announcing,it works well cutting through the noise of the demo derby's,monster trucks and motorcycles.
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

I will take some photo's of the arena an show them on here so yall can tell what i am talking about. sorry for lack of info.
 
Re: Rodeo Sound System

Randy Gartner said:
I installed a system several years ago in an arena that has rodeos,demo derbies,monster trucks and motocross among other things.I installed a 70 volt system.As Ivan said,put the speakers where the people are.I installed them under the roofs in the seating areas facing the audience.I'm using a Bogen GS 150 with Atlas horns.When they play music through it, it sounds like you would expect,but for announcing,it works well cutting through the noise of the demo derby's,monster trucks and motorcycles.
Click to expand...
And if you used the same system-with the speakers much further away-then you would not have gotten the same results and the equipment would be to blame.

It is not always the gear-but rather how it is used that makes the BIG difference.

Most sound system "failures" are blamed on gear-yet the REAL reason for the failure is the fact that the guy "designing or doing it" does not understand basic audio theory.

Audio 101 is a class that MOST people in the industry need to take. But they won't-because they "think" they know it all. WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And yes-I admit-I used to be one of those. But once you start to learn what is really going on-it all starts to make sense and becomes much easier.

But until then people will be looking for the "magic bullet" that will fix all their issues-except the one BIG issue between the ears----------------
 
Top Bottom