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Dirk Durham and Earl Neal

Dirk Durham and Earl Neal

What do live sound and the rodeo have in common? Dirk Durham, Toby Keith's FOH engineer since 2000. "I've had two jobs–running sound and riding bareback horses," says Durham. "A good friend of mine is Ben Johnson, who's a pretty prolific singer/songwriter, and we traveled together–he wrote and I rode bareback horses. After the shows, he'd go in to the local VFWs and Moose Lodges, and they would rent to him and he'd play for the door. And I'd be there to drink beer and chase women, and he'd go, 'If you're going to hang out so much, then start rolling cords,' and I rolled cords, then moved to the monitor desk, and then to Front of House. And I thought, 'This is kind of like rodeoing: I'm traveling a bunch, and really not working more than an hour, and I think I might like doing this!'"

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KA

Debuting in the completely rebuilt 1,951-seat theatre of Las Vegas' MGM Grand Hotel is KÀ, Cirque du Soleil's fifth Las Vegas extravaganza. Created and directed by acclaimed Québécois theatre and film director Robert Lepage, KÀ is one of the largest technical productions ever put together, combining acrobatics, martial arts, puppetry, multimedia, pyrotechnics, an original score and an elaborate sound design by Jonathan Deans. KÀ departs from previous Cirque productions by featuring a strongly defined story with clearly identified characters. Described by Cirque founder and CEO Guy Laliberte as "the most theatrical show we've ever done," KÀ is based on the ancient Egyptian belief in the ka, an invisible spiritual duplicate of the body that accompanies each person through this life and into the next. The tale is told as the saga of separated twins–a boy and a girl–who embark on a journey to fulfill their

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One Dropped Neutral

When on tour with a major rock 'n' roll band promoting a new record, you are sometimes called upon to pull off extraordinary feats of technical wizardry while keeping your own composure, under physically stressful conditions that might make a weaker being weep like a little girl. This is one of those stories. The names have not been changed as to give the parties involved due credit and kudos.

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Carlson and Rat Sound Hit the Road with R.E.M.

How do you do audio justice to a rock legend whose career spans more than 25 years? Well, one of the first and most crucial steps is to surround yourself with people, companies and gear that have proven themselves time and time again. When it came to planning the U.S. leg of R.E.M.'s recently launched 2004/2005 World Tour supporting their latest CD, Around the Sun, this meant handing the ball to FOH engineer Brett Eliason, who in turn joined forces with Seattle-based Carlson Audio Systems to design the

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Crate PSM12P, A-T Pro Series, Furman Series II PL PLUS, Allen & Heath Mix Wizard3, Yorkville M1610

Crate PSM12P Powered Speakers

By Bill Evans

I know they are widely derided by many pros as "speakers on a stick," but I sometimes do the kind of gigs where I use plastic molded and powered enclosures–and unless you are doing exclusively big tours, you probably have as well. I have seen them used everywhere from corporates to small outdoor gigs. A couple years ago, I was at the Playboy Mansion for a press conference about the Playboy Jazz Festival, and the band was being run through a Mackie mixer and a couple of Mackie powered enclosures. I also see a ton of them used as stage monitors. But as we all know, not all powered boxes are cut from the same cloth, so to speak, and sound quality and features can vary radically.

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20/20 Hindsight

Last year is now history. It is clear that the lessons we learn today give us the information we need tomorrow. One great lesson to learn may be that micro-management of your technical ministries is a vision-killing, energy-sucking, exhausting waste of energy.

That is exactly my thought as I look at the piles of technical literature, product reviews and magazines that are neatly stacked in alphabetized unread order in my office. How the heck can we absorb all this knowledge and put it to good use (or discard it)? I truly empathize with the worship leaders, executive pastors and AV technicians who are overwhelmed by the vastness of products and information being tossed their way.

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Crossing Over

Frequency crossover networks have been around since the early days of movie theaters. Today we have active crossover networks besides the legacy passive networks for splitting out bands of audio signal to frequency-specific drivers (speakers). This installment of Theory and Practice will go backwards in history by first discussing crossovers, and working through the basics of passive crossover networks for a two-way speaker system.

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Behind the Masque

The minds behind Masque Sound are transforming a bustling business into a booming empire. The veteran audio company, which has a recording studio in New York and a warehouse facility in Orlando, recently moved its headquarters into a 70,000-square-foot warehouse space in East Rutherford, N.J. Already catering to clients locally and nationally–from The Apprentice season finale in Manhattan to the Queen show in Vegas–the multi-faceted operation has brought all its various disciplines under one roof, from theatrical and broadcast to live sound and industrials.

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Live & Legal Mixing it Up

A little more than a year ago, I wrote about the nascent business of CDs being burned and sold right at the concert venues. It looked as though this would be a new area that would get some early traction–no less than Clear Channel was backing the largest effort.

Last month, I had occasion to write about non-disclosure agreements, which are becoming a fixture in the touring sound business as celebrity outstrips talent and Rolling Stone gets regularly scooped by the Enquirer when it comes to pop star reportage.

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Jon Cearing and Michael Bell

Jon Cearing

Audio Engineer

Highland, IN

[email protected]

Quote: I like being in the hot seat, where the action is.

After trying his hand at almost every part of concert stage production, including lighting and pyro, Jon Cearing ended up in audio production in 1980, and he's been there ever since. He's been the system operator and/or head electrician at various venues and sound

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