In the heart of New York City's Times Square, one of the world's largest crossroads of talent, a new jewel has emerged that is destined to become an integral part of the neighborhood's famed history. Exceeding the expectations for sound reinforcement set by the numerous legendary venues in the immediate vicinity, Nokia Theatre features a fully functional, rider-friendly sound system designed and installed by Clair Brothers Systems.
Read More »It's really wonderful how the quality of sound reinforcement gear has progressed over the past few years. Last week, I mixed a show at the House of Blues in Atlantic City where the installed system is based around a JBL VerTec rig with enough horsepower to blow-dry your sister's hair, a 56-input Yamaha PM5000 console and some serious processing at FOH, a Midas monitor desk and Clair Brothers stage wedges. The house crew was great, both in terms of their technical ability and their hospitality.
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I was mixing FOH for a ballet. Just as the first act started, someone backstage decided that the power amp on the rear speakers didn't need to be plugged in. So I cranked up the mains to compensate, and rushed backstage to troubleshoot. When I got back, I cranked them up to match the front. Before I knew it, I was up at 95 to 100dBs, and some old creep behind the console got up and asked me why it was so loud, so I told him what was going on. He said he'd leave if I didn't turn it down. So, I ever so slowly started to turn it down, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him leave. I didn't think much more would come of it.
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We always seem to learn the most about a show and the people behind it when we get to spend some time just hanging out beforehand. The way a certain trick or piece of gear is described can tell you a lot about the people driving the rig. In the case of Dirk Durham and Earl Neal with Toby Keith, they seem to vacillate between merely pleased and downright giddy as they show this intrepid reporter around the stage.
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Audio-Technica ATH-PRO700 SV Headphones
By Rob Orlinick
Last week, I was given the task of dubbing some appropriate walk-in music for some upcoming shows (don't ask!). After setting up a dubbing station, I grabbed a set of headphones that were sitting out in the office.
On the first disc was some old Motown stuff. When I slipped on the cans, there were parts in the arrangement I had never noticed before in the thousand or so times I heard the number–a secondary rhythm guitar part, percussion fills–that caused me to stop and listen to the entire track! The next disc was a 1970s R&B compilation. The same thing happened–details in the music came out. Reverb tails on the vocals, harmonics on the strings and more. I asked the company owner what the deal was with these headphones. When he told me they were here for evaluation, I immediately volunteered.
Read More »I recently had a quite civil discussion regarding the benefits (or not) of powered vs. unpowered speakers. With the quality, dependability and light weight of amps these days, there are some definitely positive factors to consider when debating this issue. There is no way I could cover the whole debate here, so here are just a few things to think about:
Can You Fix It?
As an installer, we always consider field repair, troubleshooting and possible future upgrade.
Read More »Of all the mail that I receive, the subject of power distribution seems to bring the most pleas for more info. I have plenty of stories of arcs and sparks, but thankfully, few have emanated from my handiwork. I will tell you a secret: I have been deathly afraid of medium voltage (120, 240 volts) ever since I was a kid; and I think that my healthy perspective has helped me from being overconfident. But my parents do remind me that I, as a toddler, did stick my hands into a few uncovered outlet boxes; received a shock, ran crying back to my parents and repeated my curiosity a few more times that day. And you wonder why I am an electrical engineer today?
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One of the most dynamic theatre experiences in New York is Drumstruck. If you liked Stomp, you'll certainly enjoy this show, which features a South African troupe that plays drums, sings and educates the audience about their musical legacy and heritage. But there's a twist: Every audience member gets a hand drum to play along during many sequences. It's fun for attendees, but undoubtedly a challenge for live engineer Kevin Brubaker, not to mention sound designer Tom Morse, who helped Brubaker land his first gigs in New York.
Read More »A couple of years ago, I wrote about an emerging trend that would have CDs of live concerts burned and ready for distribution just as the last notes were ringing from the stage. Three companies were vying to get this concept off the ground–a couple of indies and Clear Channel.
Today, Clear Channel is out of the concert business. Its entertainment holdings, ranging from Ozzfest to Jason Giambi's supermarket-opening appearances, are now part of Live Nation, a publicly-traded spin-off venture. It also inherited Clear Channel's CD-burning venture, Instant Live, which has been used on a slew of shows in the last year, including Hall and Oates, O.A.R., Black Crowes, Big Head Todd and the Monsters and The Cult.
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Jeremy Dubois
FOH/MON Engineer
Freelancer
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Quote: "What opening act?"
Services Provided: FOH/MON/system tech
Clients: Monitor engineer for Roberta Flack and events including the Dalai Lama and NARM award shows. System tech for Garbage's Bleed Like Me North American tour.
Read More »Dear Anklebiters,
When you are mixing monitors for musicians (regardless of whether you mix them from a dedicated monitor desk or from FOH), isn't it really up to the engineer to decide what the musicians should hear in their on stage monitor mixes?
Thanks,
Clayton Bennett
Lincoln, NE
Brian Cassell: While it is physically up to the engineer to make the adjustments, I don't think it's really up to him or her to decide what should or shouldn't be in a musician's monitor mix. An engineer really needs to communicate clearly with the musicians to know what they need to hear. And from my experience, the musicians are the only ones who really know what they need to hear. After all, they are the ones who need to stay in tempo and stay in pitch with the other performers onstage. Now, an experienced engineer may have a rough idea of what each musician may need to hear in their monitors, but I find this to be no more than a good starting point.
Read More »Change is, once again, in the air. There has been so much happening in the past month or so, and so many things in flux that I am finding it impossible to put it into any kind of coherative narrative (I know, that should be coherent, but it just sounds so much cooler the other way…), so I think the best approach this time is just to throw out a bunch of bullet-point ideas and see what makes sense in the end.
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