The great thing about teaching is that it helps you organize thoughts into cohesive ideas. The other day, while I was imparting my vast storehouse of knowledge to some up-and-coming engineers, I mentioned that there are a few different approaches to creating a live mix and that for the most part, barring any real technical faux pas, if a method is found that works, then it’s right.
Read More »By this point in time I must seem to be the guy who insists on flailing the long-since deceased steed, but I have always been one to say what I think. Evidently I don’t think about a lot of different things because I sat down at the computer with the intention of revisiting a subject I have expounded on several times in the past. But instead, I’ll just touch on it and move on.
Read More »When it comes to performing, perseverance is one thing, electrocution a whole ‘nother one.
The recent performance by Prince at the Super Bowl Halftime show raises some very serious questions regarding when an outdoor event has passed the point of “the show must go on” and reached the point of “someone could get hurt here.” We’ve all heard the adage, but at what — and more importantly, whose expense — must the show go on?
Read More »Good Preparation Doesn’t Happen by Accident.
Eric Schilling, a Grammy-winning engineer, live mixer and record producer for artists including Gloria Estefan, Crosby, Stills & Nash, David Bowie, Frank Sinatra, Shakira and others, has also been the music mixer for the Grammy telecast for the past several years. It’s one of the jobs he’s most prized, and that gave him grounding in all three areas he enjoyed: working in recording studios, mixing live sound and mixing high-intensity broadcast events like the Grammys. But he almost didn’t make it for this year’s event.
Read More »[The Anklebiters is one column that I came up with the idea for that has never really been what I wanted it to be. I wanted to model it on Click and Clack from “Car Talk“ on NPR, just a couple of guys talking about the live audio biz. But we never got it right. Until now. Welcome back Brian Cassell (owner of Celebration Productions) and say “Hi” to Ken Rengering (owner of Ken’s Events). Both own small companies with aspirations to become something bigger. If you have a question, ask it. If not, they’ll be here until further notice. Hanging out and talking live audio. — Ed.]
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NEW YORK — ADLIB Audio worked with New York based sound engineer Pete Keppler to supply JBL VerTec on the Nine Inch Nails UK and European tour.
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DALY CITY, CA — Blake Suib, a veteran monitor mix engineer with 25 years of experience, received a call last July to design a live sound system for singer and guitarist John Mayer. Suib specified a the Digidesign VENUE console for the gig.
Read More »Hi, this Mark Amundson, FOHmag technical editor and sometime wizard of knobs. Please feel free to continue this running dialog on my Theory and Practice topics, biz topics, or anything related to the live sound production profession. To kick things off, I am looking for your thoughts on the state of power distro gear used in our profession.
Read More »It would be easy to write NSCA off as a place for straight install guys to get the latest scoop on security systems and outdoor speakers built to look like rocks. Easy, but a mistake. While the show floor itself could have been more active (at times it seemed like green “Exhibitor” badges outnumbered all others combined by a ratio of about three-toone), the educational and training sessions were, by all reports, full, and the demo rooms were humming pretty much continuously. Let’s take a look at what was new starting — in a novel switch from how we usually do things — in the middle of the signal chain.
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LOS ANGELES — Three seasons ago the Hollywood Bowl underwent both a complete rebuild of its band shell and installation of a full L-ACOUSTICS amplifier and loudspeaker system, but understanding that precision sound is a process of continual refinement, the audio crew at the Bowl has made a number of changes over the past season — a process that was initiated by creating a more detailed model of the facility in SOUNDVISION, L-ACOUSTICS' 3D acoustical modeling software.
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OLD LYME, CT — Celtic Woman, an ensemble show celebrating traditional and contemporary Irish music, features vocal and instrumental soloists, musicians, a choir and dancers and is currently on a North American tour with 40 channels of Sennheiser wireless microphones and personal monitors plus dozens of wired Evolution 900 series and Neumann backline and instrument microphones.
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BLOOMFIELD, CT — Bloomfield, Conn's First Baptist Church's sound reinforcement system was never felt to be an ideal complement for its 3,000-seat sanctuary, so the church installed a new sound system featuring a Soundcraft Vi6 digital live sound console at front-of-house paired with an analog 48-channel Soundcraft MH3 running monitors.
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