Skip to content

Preparing for Festivals and One-Offs, Part 2

St Kitts Music Festival

Preparing for Festivals and One-Offs, Part 2

Last month, I wrote about working with James Taylor at a one-off outdoor event in Greenwich, CT. At this show, I was able to use my normal Avid VENUE console system with existing show files modified for this particular event. The PA system, the monitor system and the microphone complement were not our accustomed touring gear, but being able to initiate our work from a familiar console platform with saved individual song snapshots gave both me and monitor engineer Dave Staub an advantageous starting point. The Greenwich show and the two subsequent one-off shows in this short run went extremely well.

Read More »
Spacebar

Spacebar Puts the Show in Your Pocket

You want to stay within the comfortably familiar confines of pro audio. Burrow into Gearslutz. Hang out in ProAudioSpace. But the reality is that you’re going to have to spend as much time on Amazon as on Sweetwater, and in Best Buy and the Apple Store as in GC Pro. It’s inevitable, because the confluence of pro and consumer is far from over. The live sound business is still somewhat protected from the economic tumult that the studio side of the industry has experienced — you still need racks and stacks to move the kind of air that live sound requires, not just near-field monitors and a laptop.

Read More »
One solution for grand piano miking is Earthworks’ PianoMic system, which has a removable mounting bar that incorporates two wide-range condenser capsules on goosenecks for versatile placement. It can be used with the lid open or closed.

Miking Piano

My first experience miking a piano was about two decades ago. The Sunday school teacher at my church decided she wanted her first and second graders to perform in the “big church.” So, five volunteers carried a vintage Kimball upright piano into the main sanctuary and placed it in front of the platform. I had one rehearsal with the teacher and her children’s choir. During that rehearsal, I simply opened the top of the Kimball and positioned a Shure SM57 microphone (on a mic stand) slightly inside the piano at the middle of the harp. To my surprise and joy, it sounded pretty authentic.

Read More »
Illustration by Andy Au

And Why, Exactly, is That My Problem?

Every time I answer the phone for an audio call, it’s another adventure in problem solving and — for the most part — I do enjoy the challenge of solving the logistical difficulties of any given event. The concert events in real theatres or sheds usually entail the standard fare of negotiating load in/load out times, labor calls, required gear, bus/truck parking and feeder and snake runs.

Read More »
Boiling Springs with Bose RoomMartch

South Carolina Church Upgrades with Bose RoomMatch Gear

BOILING SPRINGS, SC – The First Baptist Church here recently upgrade its 1,100-seat sanctuary’s sound system with Bose RoomMatch gear.  Systems designer Jim Deal, who utilized Bose Modeler Sound System Software, specified Bose RoomMatch RM5505, RM5510, RM7010, RM9010, RM12040 and RM12060 speakers along with RMS215 subwoofers and six PowerMatch PM8500N amplifiers to power the system. MusiCraft Sound & Video helped with the installation.

Read More »
P!NK Takes Off With Sennheiser

Pink Tours with Aerial Feats, Sennheiser Solution

MELBOURNE, Australia – P!NK’s 140-date The Truth About Love arena tour is impressing audiences around the world with the artist’s aerial acrobatics along with her voice. The stunts posed a challenge to monitor engineer, Horst Hartmann, who worked with Sennheiser on a solution that includes a SKM 2000 mic with a MD 9235 head along with a custom-made in-ear with an integrated microphone.

Read More »
MAPMPRExpansion

Middle Atlantic Products Expands MPR Series

Middle Atlantic Products added three new options to its MPR Series Modular Power Raceway Systems: a 30 Amp controlled raceway module and two options for Neutrik powerCON connectors. The new additions promise to meet changing power distribution requirements for AV systems.

Read More »
Monster Jam 2013 Path of Destruction Tour logo

MetLife Stadium Crew Uses Shure Axient to Crush RF Challenges for Monster Truck Event

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — As important as it was to provide flawless audio support for a recent televised Monster Jam truck event held at MetLife Stadium here recently, stadium A1 Michael Ward also used the event as the first big test for a Shure Axient wireless system, which is being considered for use when the stadium hosts Super Bowl XLVIII in Feb. 2014. “The wireless performance was flawless,” Ward confirmed.

Read More »