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Mind Games

Mind Games

In previous Theory and Practice installments, I have gone over many lists of things to do while setting up for the show, but it's a whole new game once the show starts. From the sound check, you should have your performance mix roughed in, or at least your usual fader starting locations for vocals and the various instrument inputs. And once the performance is started, all your senses are required. This means a lot more than the standard "no alcohol consumption" bromide. (Repeat after me class: "It robs you of your high-frequency hearing temporarily.") "All senses required" means a mind emptied of all non-performance issues as the show starts. See the board, be the board. Or, if you prefer, get your Jedi on.

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Keith Rubinstein Weathers Slava's Snowshow

I guarantee that you've never seen anything like Slava's Snowshow. It will transform your perception of clowns in the way that Cirque Du Soleil has reinvented our idea of the circus. The two-act show features a yellow clown and his green companions wandering the stage, improvising various gags and parodying many famous movie or theatre clichés, from two people lost at sea to two lovers parting at a train station. And they do so in brilliant and unconventional ways. The costumes are wild, the set pieces are surreal, and the climactic "blizzard" that engulfs the audience has to be experienced to be believed. Make sure you stay during the intermission, too, as the clowns come down from the stage to wreak havoc and play around with the audience.

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Remote Considers the Options

We've been on a roll lately in discussing how digital technology is changing the business models for the live sound industry. Few aspects of music have escaped unscathed, and live recordings are no exception.

The onetime "ne plus ultra" of the live LP, Frampton Comes Alive, has transitioned from milestone to artifact. In the RIAA's list of alltime top-100 albums, only one, Garth Brooks' Double Live, made the top ten, one of the few on the entire list. Steady declines in the number of conventional (I'm using that word for a reason) live recordings were countered to a degree by the explosive growth of music on DVD; from 2000 to 2004 the category grew by double and even triple digits annually. However, 2005 was a watershed year that saw the sector cool off and decline by 4%.

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New Mixer Launches

DALY CITY, CA — Digidesign has announced the new Digidesign Mbox 2 Mini, a USB-powered Pro Tools LE system. The Mini is the newest and smallest member of the Mbox 2 family.

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Mobile Switches Switchers

BOCA RATON, FL — Mobile Studios, developers of fly pack systems, have selected FOR-A's HVS-500HS HANABI 1 M/E HD switcher for the company's new mobile production console. The MS7HD is a portable live production system capable of multi-camera shooting, targeted for use by corporations, houses of worship, universities, sporting event producers, government video producers and independent production companies.

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Black and Peas Play Back Nine

FARMINGDALE, PA — Sponsored by 84 Lumber, the 84 Lumber Classic is a PGA event held at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort's Mystic Rock golf course, and this year's Classic featured back-to-back concerts with Clint Black and the Black Eyed Peas, with a movable stage and audio system provided by Satin Sound Systems of Hermitage, Penn.

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Sound System Demos in Quebec

MONTREAL, QUEBEC — The Midas XL8 live performance system was demonstrated in a series of sessions held in Montreal during the last week of October. Midas representatives Richard Ferriday, Jim Pfitzinger, Mitch Mortenson and Mick Whelan were on hand to introduce the XL8 system to attendees.

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Pilgrims Descend on Berlin

BERLIN — Preparations for the "Stadtkirchenfest" in Berlin, an ecumenical gathering of more than 170 Christian and Orthodox groups and communities, as well as welfare organizations and action groups, were in the hands of the Berlin-Brandenburg Ecumenical Council, in cooperation with the Diocesan Council of the Archdiocese of Berlin. To handle the technical side of the festival, the Council called in Clemens Müller, freelance production manager and sound engineer.

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The Invisible Crowd Cheers

FLOWERY BRANCH, GA — To recreate the noisy game day conditions of the Georgia Dome at their training headquarters in Georgia, the Atlanta Falcons have used a Danley Sound Labs speaker system comprised of SH-50 and TH-115 subwoofer units.

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CMA Awards Rock Nashville

STOW, OH — Audio-Technica took part in the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards by providing vocal and instrument microphones for the annual awards show. The 40th Annual CMA Awards aired live for the first time in 5.1-channel surround sound on Monday, November 6th from Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center and featured over 200 hard-wired and wireless Audio-Technica microphones.

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Hybrids Ain't Just Cars Anymore

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL — Link has announced the CVS LKSPKAL 12/3 U2A2, a new line of self-powered speaker cable that includes a 12/3 double-shielded power cable, two AES individually jacketed and shielded pairs and two color coded UTP Ethernet lines, featuring Link's cross-spacer (Cat6 style) construction. These cables are designed for self-powered loudspeaker systems that incorporate Cat5 control and/or signal connectivity.

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