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K-array Rocks San Diego Jazz Festival

San Diego Jazz Festival 2015

K-array Rocks San Diego Jazz Festival

CARLSBAD, CA — Building on the long history of providing quality smooth jazz in the San Diego area, the San Diego Jazz Festival is a “must-attend” event for R&B and smooth jazz starved fans in “America’s Finest City.” The three-day festival took place over Memorial Day weekend – a perfect time to enjoy great weather and award-winning music. This year’s event featured the premiere live concert appearance in California of the new K-array KH8/KS8 thin array rig, selected by Phoenix-based On Cue Systems.

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FRONT of HOUSE editor George Petersen

Ideas and Innovations

It’s hard to believe, but the 2015 Parnelli Awards season is almost upon us. So far, FRONT of HOUSE readers have already stepped up to select the finalists vying for the top regional sound company honor — the Hometown Hero Award. These include DBS Audio (Coatesville, PA), Mid-Coast Sound (Nashville), Clearwing Productions (Milwaukee), Spider Ranch Productions (South San Francisco), Onstage Systems (Dallas) and Toronto’s Sound Art. Congratulations to all!

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Back row view of setup for John Mellencamp show at Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall and the Apollo Theater: A Tale of Two Systems

John Mellencamp may hail from beyond the outskirts of Bloomington, Indiana, but he has nothing against a big town. His 80-date Plain Spoken tour, which ran from Jan. 21 to Aug. 4, 2015 in support of his late 2014 album release, included performances at two Big Apple icons: Carnegie Hall (April 20), the epitome of classical musical achievement, and the Apollo Theater (April 23), long synonymous with uptown funk.

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FOH buyers guide on Handheld Condenser Microphones

Handheld Condenser Microphones

Dynamic microphones have been the standard in vocal performance mics for decades. However, if you’re looking for extended bandwidth and fast transient response in a handheld, a condenser mic is just the ticket.

To download a PDF of the FRONT of HOUSE August 2015 Buyers Guide, CLICK HERE

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Fig 1: Cross section of a modern compression driver — in this case, a JBL 475ND used in its high-end consumer K2 system, but essentially similar to the pro 2450H model.

Performance, Precision and Money: Compression Drivers Exposed

While big subwoofers tend to get the attention of both sound companies and audiences, the compression driver keeps its intricacies hidden from view, as shown in Fig. 1. This month, we’ll tease out some of the components within compression drivers and help explain why these small devices are every bit as complex — and often more expensive — than their booming big brothers. Along the way, we’ll talk a little bit about how the way something is made influences the cost of production.

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Left to right: Rainer Blanck, Peter Rieck, Martin Ucik and Pascal Miguet

Inside Sommer Cable

A Rare Look Inside This Leading Industry Supplier

Founded in 1999, Sommer Cable is an innovative designer and manufacturer of high-end audio, video and data cables, connectors, assemblies and electronics. Based in Germany’s Black Forest region, the company recently opened its U.S. branch in Santa Rosa, CA, headed by German/American citizen and 35-year industry veteran Martin Ucik.

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The Lion King recently opened a new production in Mexico City. All Photos Courtesy OCESA

Rebuilding ‘The Lion King’

Disney’s The Lion King musical has been enchanting audiences on Broadway for nearly 18 years, and its massive success has spun off tours and productions around the globe. Despite it being a well-oiled entertainment machine, transferring the show into other venues and other countries reveals challenges — like dealing with the capabilities of each new location. Some theatres can easily handle the requirements of the production while others are in markets with less of an emphasis on live theatre.

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CAD Audio’s CAD Live D89 (left) and D90, with grilles on and off.

CAD Live D89 and D90 Microphones

CAD Audio has a long heritage in microphones. Its parent company, Astatic, began in 1931 as a supplier of crystal mics for radio applications, along with phonograph cartridges and recording heads, and many years later expanded into the commercial audio/installation market. Even today, many of Astatic’s vintage crystal mic models are still in use and prized by harmonica players.

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Acoustic instruments, percussion, cymbals and hi-hat are ideal sources for the M60 FET

Telefunken M60 FET: Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphones

It’s hard not to like Telefunken Elektroakustik. The U.S.-based company began years ago out of founder Toni Fishman’s love of wonderfully crafted European microphones. He was frustrated by a lack of replacement parts for classic mics, stemming from a vintage Telefunken ELA M 251 he owned, where the plastic ring for the polar pattern switch broke after decades of service, leaving the mic useless for want of a molded plastic part.

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The Borgata Casino in Atlantic City

One of Those Days

Today, I am enjoying a Sunday off in a hotel room outside of Youngstown, Ohio. As I write this article, the NASCAR race from Pocono Raceway is just getting underway. My laundry is now done. After finding the nearby Starbucks, I then enjoyed a leisurely lunch on the bus in the hotel parking lot. Sounds idyllic enough, doesn’t it? Actually, today is only notable when viewed in contrast to yesterday’s workday at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. However, before discussing yesterday’s events, I need to skip backward in time one more day.

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The Band Perry performs at Nashville’s LP Field during the 2015 CMA Music Festival

Nashville’s Big Weekend: A Whole Lotta Audio Goin’ On

The population of Nashville swelled by over 100,000 people one week in June. Hoteliers, restaurateurs and others watched happily as people poured in for the perfect live-event storm of the week-long CMA Music Festival, which sprawled across numerous stages with massive NFL stadium LP Field as its locus; the Bonnaroo festival, which took place in Manchester, about 60 miles to the south but had the Nashville airport as its main funnel; and finally a visit by the Rolling Stones to LP Field days after the CMA shows concluded. But what really shined was how well the city’s storied touring infrastructure handled what would have been a huge load even in New York or Los Angeles.

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