January 4th, 2024: We received an inquiry from Micah Stryker, an active TruPulse® rangefinder user and a Front of House Engineer for Mannheim Steamroller, a top-selling Christmas music artist of all time. This instantly sparks our curiosity, leading us to reach out to Stryker.
He happily participates in a Q&A to help us learn more about how TruPulse rangefinders help make life easier for audio engineers and others working in his world of venues, loudspeakers, and live performances.
Mannheim Steamroller puts on incredibly well-reviewed live performances, highlighted for festive fans by annual Christmas tours.
Perhaps best known for their unique and very popular renditions of holiday classics Deck the Halls and Carol of the Bells, Mannheim Steamroller has delighted listeners since their 1975 debut album Fresh Aire. A successful run at applying their original style toward holiday classics helped Mannheim become beloved among the masses and earn their place as a staple in Christmas radio and just about every at-home Christmas collection you might come across.
The group continues to put on incredibly well-reviewed live performances, highlighted for festive fans by their annual Christmas tours. Preparing these live shows for optimal auditory performance is where Stryker steps in, an audio engineer with a TruPulse 360° rangefinder in hand.
As an audio engineer, Stryker uses a TruPulse 360 rangefinder to make sure that each new venue is prepped for an optimal live Mannheim Steamroller auditory experience.
Eager to learn more about how our technology helps Micah Stryker achieve success as a Front of House Engineer for Mannheim Steamroller, we invite him to participate in a quick and casual Q&A.
I first saw some Laser Tech rangefinders being used in the field about 4 or 5 years ago. This happened when I was working with a company in Omaha, NE called Audio Visions. They taught me a lot about speaker deployment and showed me how to use a TruPulse to take the necessary measurements along the way.
My TruPulse rangefinder makes it quick and easy to get the measurements I need in a short amount of time. This is a lifesaver when I’m on tour since there is usually a pretty limited amount of set-up time allowed each morning. I use my 360° rangefinder to get the dimensions of the different listening areas in each venue we visit. My next step is feeding these measurements into our loudspeaker coverage prediction software. This helps me determine the best setup for our sound system according to each venue’s architecture. Getting accurate measurements during this process directly translates to a better listening experience for the audiences that attend our shows.
M. Stryker feeds TruPulse measurements into loudspeaker coverage software while prepping for another live Mannheim Steamroller performance.
One of my favorite features is the values showing a decimal point when the reading is more accurate, and not showing one when it is less accurate. The missing line calculation is another favorite, since it speeds things up a lot for me. It’s very handy when you have to find the inclination angle, height difference, and depth of multiple balconies in a theater, or bowls of seats in an arena. I’m also a big fan of being able to use the side buttons to toggle through the different measurements taken. The long battery life is another favorite feature!
There was, before I came across the rangefinders in the field. These days, the old “how many football fields away is it?” estimation method just doesn’t cut it for me anymore.
I’ve been using them for about three years or so now. Before I got one of my own I was borrowing one.
TruPulse rangefinders help audio engineers like Stryker discover the best placement for equipment in each new venue.
Not a whole lot, but things have definitely sped up for me since using it. There is a lot less time spent walking around all over the place to take measurements, which means more time to focus on finer details, any additional tasks, and so on. Being able to stand in one place and take 90% or so of the necessary measurements is a really cool thing for me.
The 360 compass comes in handy a lot! As mentioned, being able to stay in one place, normally I stand in the middle of the stage, to get dimensions of the listening area is great. So, with the 360, I can get length, width, and height of the whole area all from that one location.
Absolutely. It’s a great solution for someone in my situation. I know plenty of people in this line of work who use them and love it!
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