{mosimage}The Community M12 stage monitor has been redesigned. In response to customer feedback, Community has improved the M12 with rubber pocket grip handles for portability, and a larger, easier-to-access connector base. The ergonomically designed stage monitors feature recessed handles designed to simplify lifting and carrying by both handles or just one.
I was out on a local gig a few weeks ago and things were going south fast. You know the kind of gig — about 1,000 bands with little to zero changeover time and production managers showing up with stage plots and input lists that have no resemblance at all to the one you were sent when the show was advanced a month ago.
Made-to-order case company introduces “FlyWeight” cases.
The case brought back into A&S the other day was old — 22 years old. But it was hardly the historic artifact you might think.
The band that had been using it all that time had no interest in letting it go, rather, they just wanted some of the interior foam replaced. That’s not exceptional in the experience of A&S Case Company, but rather typical. “There are cases being actively used out there that were made when the company was first formed in 1976,” says Bill Waskey. “They may have had a caster replaced, and, of course, they look a bit worn but they are still very serviceable.”
In previous columns, we discussed speaker processor operation and how to phase/time match mid-range drivers to high-frequency drivers. And we went through the various crossover filters for differing size high-frequency throats and diaphragms. But this time, I want to focus on frequency response adjustment of high-frequency drivers, as it is crucial to the quality of the sound system.
I realize the title of this month’s piece is not all that witty. In fact, it simply states what I will be discussing. I don’t need to tell you the importance of our ears. Without them we can’t do our jobs as house-of-worship techs, or any sound mixing job for that matter. Nonetheless, the question that comes to mind to me, and hopefully to you, is where can we go to get good ear training? I have no idea. So, this month I will tell you my beliefs and experiences in training ears.
Just when you think the pro-audio microphone market is well in hand by the big brands in the industry, up springs a viable contender with a lot going for it. Not only does Bob Heil’s Heil Sound enterprise offer some great professional microphones, but Bob does it with equal parts flair and engineering expertise. While the big brands have world-class product design facilities and worldwide manufacturing, Heil Sound does the same with a small staff located in the St. Louis metro area.
If you need a brute of an amplifier for subwoofer duty, but you are limited on funds, consider the Crown XLS 5000 your salvation. Yeah, your salvation comes in three rack spaces and 62 pounds, but wimpy was not specified.
The Crown XLS amplifiers are bare basics, made-in-China power amplifiers, but good old Elkhart, Ind. engineering is what makes this series worth a look. The front panel is simple with two detented level controls with clip/signal/fault LED indicators for amplifier operational status. Then there is the pushbutton power on/off switch. And with three rack spaces, plenty of cooling air inlets are available.
Written by David John Farinella Photos by Rob Vanier
Sound meets service in the Great White North.
Real estate moguls are not the only ones who succeed by reciting the redundant maxim of location, location, location. Just ask Peter Hendrickson, who opened a production company on the far eastern shore of Canada in 1984. How far on the eastern shore? Well, far enough that there was a time when his company, Tour Tech East, was tapped to help with an Iron Maiden show because the band’s boat, which had set sail from Germany, couldn’t dock due to extreme Atlantic Ocean weather.
For 25 years now, Wheel of Fortune has spun its way into American homes, making itself a dinnertime ritual for millions of viewers. Taking to the road in this, its silver anniversary season, the No. 1 syndicated series setup shop at Chicago's Navy Pier to tape three weeks of shows.
Whether witnessed live in the cavernous confines of Navy Pier's Festival Hall with thousands of other fans, or on a small TV in your mom's kitchen, Wheel of Fortune is a medley of sound that oftentimes transcends its sights. The ratcheting rumble of the wheel itself rivets our attention, of course, while the dulcet tone of a correct consonant lends added inspiration to the lovely Vanna White's estimated 720 handclaps per episode. Announcer Charlie O'Donnell's voice is unmistakable, and the promising chant of “Big money! Big money!” could even lure a self-denying ascetic like the Dali Lama into a moment of prize-winning consciousness.
Let’s start by getting the obvious out of the way. With NSCA folding their trade show into InfoComm there is now really only one install show of real interest to the FOH crowd (CEDIA doesn’t count). And there were a number of marketing-type references to that fact including a big sign outside touting the “One Show.”
Now I have made it pretty clear for a long time now just how much I “enjoy” trade shows. So you would think I would be doing some version of the Happy Dance that there is one less show to go to this year. But it ain’t quite that simple. It is all about timing. First, the timing sucked because Summer NAMM moved back to Nashville and had to move to June to do so, which meant that it overlapped by a day with InfoComm. That meant almost zero presence for audio companies in Nashville and, say what you may about musician-oriented events, but musicians grow up to be sound guys, and it’s important to learn ‘em right while they are still learnable.
I had helped a friend do a little work on his father’s home, and in the process, injured my hand. I didn’t think too much about it, and figured I simply jammed or possibly broke a finger. Weeks passed by and the finger didn’t hurt any longer, however, the tips of the ring and middle fingers didn’t work properly, not to mention a nice-size lump was growing on my palm.
Scott "Scoobie" Scherban and Drew Consalvo are making it happen for "the most rock 'n' roll of rock 'n' roll bands."
On an unusually beautiful summer night (for St. Louis), there’s a special concert at the brand new Busch Stadium: The Black Crowes are opening for the Dave Matthews Band. More than a concert, it’s an audition of sorts: It’s the one and only concert in the new stadium, and if the powers that be don’t feel it goes well, they’ll never be another. Consequently, the city’s royalty comes out to see a stage set up against the centerfield wall and over 100,000 interlocking plastic sheets that protect the precious grass.
Signature Audio completes major sound renovation at Ball State’s Emens Auditorium
When the phone rang in October, Sam Walton had no idea that the opportunity of a lifetime was just a short conversation away.
Walton is the senior manager of Signature Audio Systems — a professional audio services company out of Wixom, Mich. In the five years of the company’s existence, he never expected a call that would not only change the face of Signature Audio, but lead to one of the biggest installs of 2007.
Services Provided: Tour management, production management, engineers, stage managers, backline
Personal Info: My name is Grover Washington, III. I grew up in the touring business. I've been a tour manager, production manager, stage manager, carpenter, FOH engineer, monitor engineer and backline tech. My father was Grover Washington, Jr., so I've been around the touring business for over 30+years. I was taught and mentored by the best engineers in the business, Marty Garcia and Craig Melvin Sheppard.
I have devoted quite a bit of this column space to the virtues, struggles and wages of the audio labor force. I am still convinced that the best equipment is only as good as the people using it. That said, I believe that free enterprise and competition make for good business. Audio, lighting and staging companies make their money not on labor, but on the equipment itself, and therefore, equipment-based companies assume the responsibility of placing a fair market value on each piece of gear that goes out the door.
A long time ago in a non-descript office far, far away, your intrepid FOH leader dude was the editor of a local weekly newspaper. It is where I cut my journalistic teeth and built the foundation for a fabulous career in magazine publishing. I have fond memories of the people and the stories we broke and the awards we snatched from larger and better-funded news organizations.
Over the past few years in the pages of FOH, we’ve had more than a passing discussion of digital recording technology. We examined the in-creased demand for live recordings (December 2006), the nature of digital data delivery (January 2007), and the use of optical technology for digi-tal audio transfer (September 2007). In fall of 2006, FOH reviewed the Sony PCM-D1 Linear PCM Recorder, a hand-held stereo digital recorder with a built in XY pair of condenser microphones intended for location recording. The PCM-D1 has the ability to capture linear 16- or 24-bit audio at sample rates from 22.05 kHz to 96 kHz into nonvolatile RAM. Using its 4 GB internal RAM, recording times range from 2 to 13 hours, depend-ing upon sample rate and bit depth, and recording time can be expanded by adding a Memory Stick. You can connect the PCM-D1 to your com-puter via USB, and it shows up on your desktop as a storage device. Note that the words “hard drive” are not mentioned anywhere in a discussion of the PCM-D1.
”Boutique” microphones have become the new talismans of audio in a scaled-down digital universe. People don’t look at the console first like they used to when entering a recording studio. Today, they want to look in the mic cabinet. Increasingly, however, they’re starting to look in the road case, too. The number of ribbon and high-end condenser microphones showing up on stage is on the rise, suggesting that some boutique manufacturers, facing an increasingly crowded group of companies selling to a studio market with a narrowing top end, are looking to the live sound market for growth and branding opportunities.
;)
;)
;){kind=small}
;){kind=small}
;)
;){kind=small}
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
