By Marty McCann Copyright 2001  Power shading is something that
many of us have been doing for years. It involves reducing the
sensitivity controls of some of the power amplifiers driving the
loudspeaker components, and is usually done top to bottom and/or
outside to inside.  Power Shading Outside to Inside  For many
years I did the sound at the International Steel Guitar
Convention, a music event that is held in a nice size hotel
ballroom in St. Louis, Missouri. The stage was set up on a long
wall, and the distance to the back wall was about 1/3 shorter
than the needed left to right coverage. Before I began to shade
the levels to the power amps, I would receive complaints that
the lead instruments could not be heard nearly as well in the
seats that were off-axis to the stage (and of course we had
speaker enclosures pointed at those seats).  The problem dealt
with the FOH mix position. The mixer was located in the center
of the room, and the sound coming down what some call "power
alley" included the on-axis