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Radiohead’s Green Rainbow

Radiohead’s Green Rainbow

Radiohead in concert

It’s not only the squints who are going green. Audio is getting onboard as well.

How does sound go green? The best it can do is by being efficient. It’s still a fundamental truth that you have to move air to make sound, and moving air takes power. A lot of it. Recently, Radiohead took a new approach to touring that they hope will inspire others in the industry. Throughout their 2008 In Rainbows tour, Radiohead has been keeping an account of the carbon footprint they are creating and comparing it to past tours. This means that even in the realm of sound gear every choice is weighed against the ecological impact that each piece would have. The equipment chosen not only had to sound good — but it also had to be “green.”

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Generators: Size Counts

When forced with the option to use portable generators for live production, there are aspects that most sound engineers do not understand. While install power connections are reasonably lightly loaded for the audio watts provided, the nature of the current demands will vary with the music intensity of the performance and needs to be considered with portable power.

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Putting on the Righteous Squeeze

I have spent the last few months going over the basics of HOW sound systems. All of you have varied levels of proficiency with regard to your sound technician skills; however, going over basic principles is a good thing. Do you ever ask why your priest, pastor, rabbi, etc., has gone over some of the basic tenants of your particular religion more than once? Their purpose is to build a strong foundation for your faith. Well, it’s the same in worship sound. Obviously, not as lofty, but we can agree that a solid foundation to our work (volunteer or not) is a good thing.

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Bringing Discipline to a Motley Mix

Andy Meyer

Andy Meyer on juggling five bands, huge stage volume and a guitar rig that goes down to 30 Hz.

With bands like Mötley Crüe — whose members appear morally opposed to personal monitors and seem determined to prove their continuing viability by being louder than ever — paired with loud upstarts including Buck Cherry and Nikki Sixx’s solo side project on the same bill, one might assume that the biggest challenge of the recent  Crüefest tour would have been dealing with sheer volume. Au contraire says Crüe FOH mixer Andy Meyer. While dealing with huge SPL can be an issue with five bands onstage every night, the biggest challenge is often just having enough time to get everything up and going.

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Rockin’ on the River

The 3,300-seat concert hall was a challenging install, not because it’s on a riverboat but its location above the casino.

The Horseshoe Casino is more than just a riverboat with a $70-million theater install, bringing top echelon acts to The Venue.

The Horseshoe Casino has been rocking for years, since it’s been one of the most popular resort and casino destinations in the Chicago area. Yet, it’s only since The Venue opened earlier this year that the Horseshoe has been rocking, rolling, shaking and shimmying.

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All Time Low Plays Masquerade with Danley Sound Labs

ATLANTA — Up-and-coming pop/punk powerhouse All Time Low have played to packed houses night after night on their nationwide headlining tour. Nowhere did things start out more sketchy, but end more rocking, than a recent performance at Atlanta’s Masquerade. With the help of Danley Sound Labs engineer, Ivan Beaver, the band’s FOH engineer Evan Kirkendall, owner of Harford Sound, located in Abington, Maryland, replaced the Masquerade’s sound system with a stack of Danley loudspeakers and subwoofers, led by eight of Danley’s new full-range SH-46s.

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Hawaiian Manoa Jazz Festival Finds the Groove with Meyer Sound

MANOA, Hawaii — The first annual Manoa Jazz Festival kicked off at the Andrews Outdoor Theatre at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM). Local artists including Noel Okimoto Ohana, the Honolulu Jazz Quartet and headliner Devin Phillips and New Orleans Straight Ahead performed for 1,000 excited onlookers, with sound reinforcement from a Meyer Sound M’elodie line array loudspeaker system provided by Honolulu-based Baus Engineering.
 

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The 8th Annual Parnelli Awards

Alice Cooper served as master of ceremonies.

Parnelli Awards Pay Tribute to the Stars of Live Audio

The 8th Annual Parnelli Awards brought together the legends and up-and-coming talent of the live event industry to honor the companies and people nominated for their outstanding work this year. Held at the Rio Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, the show featured state-of-the-art audio, lighting and video, master of ceremonies Alice Cooper, and in keeping with the Vegas theme, showgirls decked out in flashy costumes to greet the attendees. The attendees paid tribute to audio innovators Roy and Gene Clair, founders of the Clair Bros. (now known as CLAIR) of Lititz, Pa., one of the largest and most successful sound companies in the world; and Dennis Sheehan, longtime tour manager for U2.

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Keeping Busy in a Taxing Time

“It’s the economy stupid,” and despite it all we still carry on with our business albeit on shaky ground. Fortunately, the bulk of the summer touring season ended just before the disastrous reports from Wall Street became headline news — thus leading us to wild speculation regarding what the future might hold in store for the upcoming winter and spring season. 

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