Having just come back from the Los Angeles AES and PLASA London expos (and getting ready to head off to the LDI show and the Parnelli Awards), I can surely empathize with all the “living out of a suitcase” road warriors out there. And a few days back home gives me a little time to catch up on actually putting out the magazine and reflect on where the industry’s headed.
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On Aug. 3, 2014, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers kicked off its Hypnotic Eye tour in support of the group’s new studio album of the same title. The tour was a mix of mostly arena dates, with a few festival appearances, along with a number of outdoor performances, including legendary venues such as the scenic Red Rocks and The Gorge amphitheaters and Boston’s Fenway Park. The two-and-a-half-month tour concluded with two dates at the revamped (and reborn) L.A. Forum in mid-October.
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Pearl Jam rolled into town one October night in St. Louis and filled a hockey arena with remarkable clear sound for a sold-out crowd wanting it old school, and getting it. Like all Pearl Jam tours, while the visual elements are pitch-perfect, lighting and sets aren’t overpowering to the point of distraction. This was all about the music, kicked through an L-Acoustics K1 speaker system supplied by Rat Sound who has been working with PJ for 20 years.
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On a cold Dec. 31st at 5 p.m. in 1997, Bob Goldstein stepped off the streets of Times Square, went to his hotel room and told his wife Vivian he was finished as a sound man. He had taken on an impossible assignment, one that others had turned down. And one who did told the Times Square Business Improvement District fella that “there’s a crazy guy in Baltimore that might be able to do it.” Goldstein had agreed to put sound in the square for New Year’s Eve — something that had never been done. There could be no support structures, no wires, no generators, no testing and adjusting and… well, another 146 restrictions.
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Over the past few years, more and more manufacturers have been offering pre-packaged bundles or kits of microphones selected specifically for drum miking. These range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, but all offer a grab-and-go package that offers an easy solution with individual transducers matched for the job at hand.
To download a PDF of the Nov. 2014 FRONT of HOUSE Buyers Guide on Drum Mic Kits, CLICK HERE.
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Back at the NAMM show in 2012, Mackie kicked off a not-too-quiet revolution with its DL1608 iPad-enabled digital live mixer, which had 16 mic/line inputs and eight outputs (six aux sends plus L/R master outs) and a $999 street price. With its touch screen control; full-on snapshot automation/recall; onboard dynamics and 4-band parametric EQ’s; 31-band output graphic EQ’s; onboard reverb and tap delay; and wireless iPad control, the DL1608 was cool.
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