Skip to content

Speakers Dominate the Conversation These Days

New speakers seem to be on everyone’s mind, such as these attendees at 2014 Prolight+Sound/Musikmesse in Frankfurt.

Speakers Dominate the Conversation These Days

If the first decade of this century was about microphones, this next one seems to be about speakers. Neither trend fits exactly into such a neat chronology, of course; the explosive growth of the boutique microphone category was already underway when Prince was singing about the future of “1999.” But it certainly became fully formed in the aughts, when blinged-out handheld wireless mics became the must-have accessory for the fashion-conscious at the edge of the stage.

Read More »
Compressors – like this Tube-Tech CL 1B – are not very complicated to use, but knowing what threshold/ratio/attack/release settings work best with different sources can be daunting to the novice.

Manic Compression, Part 2

Last month, we visited the nuts and bolts of compression. This time, let’s take a look at compression settings for a few specific instruments. As with many things audio-related, these suggestions should be treated as a starting point for your own techniques.

Read More »
Have soloists keep about four inches back from the vocal mic (such as this DPA d:facto II) for consistently good results.

Teaching Microphone Techniques

Ten years before I got into mixing worship sound and installing church audio systems, I worked as a recording engineer. Now I have been working in the house of worship sound biz for 20 years so, if you do the math that would put me back in 1985 when I was freelancing as an engineer. I learned a lot about audio during that time of my life.

Read More »
Illustration by Andy Au

The Saturation Point

I happen to be a firm believer in a low-input/high-output gain structure. I also realize that there is more than one way to arrive at a final live mix, and that it helps if one is not so intractable as to adhere to only one approach. I’m always interested as to how different engineers approach and set up their mix and, because of this curiosity, I found myself in a conversation with an engineer friend of mine who works in many different situations — from concert to corporate, in venues of varying size and structure.

Read More »
Boulevard Theater, Dresden

Alcons Audio Provides Sound for the Dresden Boulevard Theater

DRESDEN, Germany – After the operator of the Dresden theater Wechselbad der Gefühle (“rollercoaster of emotions”) ceased operations in May 2014, TW.O GmbH, the agency specialized in theater, culture and live marketing from the German Saxon capital, took over the business of the since then known as “Boulevard Theater Dresden”. After a four-month renovation, operations in the listed building started again in September 2014.

Read More »
Waves Tracks Live

Waves’ Tracks Live Now Available

Waves Audio is shipping Tracks Live, a FREE multi-track recording software created to allow live sound engineers capture live performances of all kinds, from the smallest gig to the largest production. Offered for Mac or PC, Tracks Live supports multichannel and master bus recording, so a quick stereo mix recording of a performance is always available instantly. It also features multichannel and stereo-out automatic re-routing, making it simple to toggle back and forth between recording and virtual sound check playback.

Read More »
On The Mountain

Harman Pro Spotlights Emerging Bands With The Wild Honey Pie and On The Mountain

STRATTON MOUNTAIN, VT – The Wild Honey Pie, a Brooklyn-based media and experiences company that produces and records live performances, recently released its latest season of On The Mountain, an original music video series recorded on location at Stratton Mountain in Vermont. With all options available, The Wild Honey Pie recording team chose a HARMAN Soundcraft Si Performer 2 digital audio console and JBL EON portable loudspeakers for extreme sessions.

Read More »
ATH-M50x

Audio-Technica Shipping ATH-M50xDG Pro Headphones Limited-Edition Dark Green Model

STOW, OH— Audio-Technica, a leading innovator in transducer technology for over 50 years, is now shipping the ATH-M50xDG Professional Monitor Headphones, a limited-edition dark green iteration of A-T’s popular ATH-M50x and part of A-T’s remastered M-Series line of headphones. The stylish dark green color of the ATH-M50xDG may be of particular interest to fashion-forward users looking to add a little style to their work.

Read More »
Fred Vogler (seated) and Kevin Wapner at Walt Disney Concert Hall's new DiGiCo SD5 house desk

Walt Disney Concert Hall Adds DiGiCo Consoles

LOS ANGELES – Every year the Los Angeles Philharmonic performs a 15-week series of summer concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, then returns for the rest of the year to Walt Disney Concert Hall. The Hollywood Bowl acquired a pair of DiGiCo SD7 consoles in 2014, and that influenced the decision to equip the Walt Disney Concert Hall with DiGiCo consoles as well. ATK Audiotek provided SD5 and SD10 consoles for FOH and monitors. Pictured here are Fred Vogler and Kevin Wapner at the SD5 house desk.

Read More »