Dave Rat (born 1962 as David Levine) is the founder of Rat Sound Systems Inc. and Sound Tools LLC, a sound system designer, sound consultant and live

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

for many well-known artists such as the

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

(with whom he worked with from February 1991 to January 2017),

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...

The Offspring The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guita ...

, and

Blink 182 Blink-182 (stylized as blink-182) is an American rock band formed in Poway, California in 1992. Their current lineup consists of bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though their sound has ...

. Dave Rat writes articles for various professional sound magazines and has been asked to speak at sound conventions and events such as AES. He has designed speakers and sound equipment such as the MicroWedge, which is manufactured by

Eastern Acoustic Works Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) is an American manufacturer of mainly professional audio reinforcement tools, such as loudspeaker systems and processors. From 1978-1988 it was located at 59 Fountain Street in Framingham, Massachusetts, and subsequent ...

and is now a familiar monitor wedge on many worldwide tours. Dave Rat wrote a column for ''Live Sound International'' magazine entitled, "Rat Tales" in the November 2006 issue and another in the May 2007 issue. On May 22, 2006 Dave Rat started a blog entitled "Roadies In The Midst" on the Rat Sound Systems Inc. website chronicling his experiences as

Front of House In the performing arts, front of house (FOH) is the part of a performance venue that is open to the public. In theatres and live music venues, it consists of the auditorium and foyers, as opposed to the stage and backstage areas. In a theatre, t ...

sound engineer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their

Stadium Arcadium ''Stadium Arcadium'' is the ninth studio album by American rock music, rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was a double-album released on May 5, 2006, on Warner Bros. Records. It produced five singles: "Dani California", "Tell Me Baby", "Snow (He ...

tour. At the time he had acted as their Front of House (FOH) engineer for the past 19 years. The tour ended in August 2007. However, Dave continues to post entries discussing the adjustment back to normal life. He went back out as Front of House engineer for the Blink 182 Reunion Tour and likewise chronicled his exploits on that long-running arena and amphitheater tour in 2009. On May 15, 2011, Dave announced through his Twitter page that rehearsals were underway for the upcoming Red Hot Chili Peppers tour, which was expected to last two years. In December 2005 Dave innovated a unique sound system design based on two side-by-side speaker systems that he called The Double Hung PA. The outer stereo speakers reproduced guitar, bass, toms and cymbals and the inner speakers reproduced vocals, kick and snare. Since no single instrument or vocal was sent to both systems, comb filtering and interference issues were avoided while system clarity was increased. The Red Hot Chili Peppers toured with the Double Hung System for the duration of their Stadium Arcadium tour. In July 2008, the Brazil-based sound company Gabisom implemented the side-by-side PA concept for the

Rock in Rio ''Rock in Rio'' is a recurring music festival originating in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Nine incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, ...

festival in Portugal and in 2009 Pennsylvania based sound company, Clair Brothers, provided touring artists U2 with an in-the-round stadium sized sound system, based on the same double hung PA concept. In 2009 Dave began working on several steerable sub woofer array concepts which he implemented on the Blink 182 reunion tour. The Vortex, Slotfire and V-Fire configurations describe methods of arranging and delaying conventional sub woofers such that low frequency sound bleed onto stage is reduced and horizontal subwoofer coverage to the audience is steerable. Dave worked with

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...

in the Summer of 2011 on their

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

tour. Following that, Rat again worked with the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their 2011-13 ''

I'm with You tour The I'm with You World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by American rock band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers in support of the band's tenth studio album, '' I'm with You''. It marked the band's first tour in four years and first with guitarist Josh K ...

'' and the band's 2013-14 tour that followed. He again worked with them on their 2016-17 ''

The Getaway World Tour The Getaway World Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers that was in support of their eleventh studio album, '' The Getaway'' which was released on June 17, 2016. It marked the first time since June 2014 that the ba ...

''. On January 12, 2017, Rat announced that after nearly 26 years working with the Chili Peppers he would no longer be the sound engineer for the band following their January 21, 2017 show in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Rat said "I truly love Flea, Anthony, Chad, Josh and all my dear and close friends I consider family both on the road now and those that have moved on to other adventures over the years. I am pretty happy to say that I have dedicated significant time documenting touring with the Peppers in journals but also have thousands of amazing photos spanning decades of smiles and challenges." Dave is the holder of two patents, the MicroWedge stage monitor design and the Sound Tools Sniffer/Sender Unit.

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