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Keeping the Faith

Keeping the Faith

Eighth Day and Wigwam Provide the Punch for George Michael’s U.S. Swan Song.

It’s been nearly two decades since British pop superstar George Michael — known as much for his bad boy reputation as his chart-topping hits — toured U.S. arenas. From his start in the 1980s pop group Wham! to his illustrious solo career, hits like “Careless Whisper,” “Faith” and “Father Figure” catapulted him into a certified pop culture icon and sex symbol. After a five-year absence from the music scene, Michael returned to the stage in 2006 with an 80-show European tour. He stepped it up the following year with the “25 Live Stadium Tour 2007,” which featured less tour dates but larger venues including Wembley Stadium in London. To coincide with his retrospective greatest hits album, Twenty Five, released this year, Michael announced the North American segment of his “25 Live” tour — his first U.S. tour in 17 years — which he also claims to be his last. For all these reasons, Michael’s fans were pumped with high expectations for a flawless-sounding show.

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New Gear

AKG D7 Dynamic Vocal Microphone

AKG Acoustics introduces the D7 vocal microphone for live sound applications. AKG`s newest dynamic microphone features a humbucking coil that reduces electrical interference and stage feedback. The D7 also features an integrated high-pass filter that cuts out low frequencies, eliminates handling noise and provides audio clarity. The D7 delivers high-end sonic performance with its new Laminated Varimotion diaphragm. This design allows the diaphragm to be fine-tuned without extra tuning resonators. The D7 response evokes the subtle, open sound of a condenser microphone, while maintaining the rugged reliability of a dynamic microphone. The D7 comes complete with a carrying case, mounting clamp and replacement windscreen. Two additional models are also available: the D7-S, which features an on/off switch; and the D7-WL1 microphone capsule for use with AKG wireless systems. www.akg.com

 

 

 

 

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From the Stage to the Sanctuary

David Lawler and Craig Doubet put their touring chops into HOW installs.

Putting a system together for a tour is one thing. All the equipment has to be flexible enough to consistently work in acoustically challenging rooms; it has to go up and down easily and deliver quality audio. This challenge, for some, is daunting, especially with the pressure of thousands of expectant fans who surround the FOH position nightly.

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This is This

I caress the smooth spool of solder as I wait in anticipation for the soldering gun to heat up. I strip the rubber from my cable just enough to give myself a workable amount of copper, and with heated iron in hand, I touch the tip to the end of the solder melting just enough to coat the end of the cable. I repeat the process over my solder point and leave a perfect shining spot where I then touch the end of my cable and hold for a moment before I release the iron. A thin line of smoke wafts up and tickles my nostrils with its delicate fragrance. Ah, I love the smell of solder in the morning.

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Hitting the Road with Boston, Styx and Slamhammer

Take two big rock bands from the 1970s, make them co-headliners, let them loose on the summer shed circuit and pray for ticket sales and no rain. Boston is your typical “make it sound like the records” kind of show, with the studio engineer bribed into going out on tour to preserve the essence of leader Tom Scholz and bandmates. Then take road veterans like Styx, who do yearly tours with 150 to 200 gigs per year for the last 10 years and has done the co-headline thing with everyone from Journey to Peter Frampton, but also tours with their studio guy at FOH.

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Here’s a Nod to the Unsung

So, it’s a Friday late afternoon and I am trying like hell to get access to the Journey/Heart/Cheap Trick show in town. I figured we already had interviews with the crews for Boston and Styx in the can and we could do a real classic rock extravaganza. But, of course, me being me, I was trying to do this at about 4:30 p.m. on show day. A couple of friends in the biz with ties to a couple of the acts tried mightily (a big tip of the hat to Dave Shadoan and Greg DeTogne), but it was just too late to make it happen.

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Correct Yourself

Since studios have been moving into less acoustic-friendly spaces (e.g. spare bedrooms that quite frankly have no business hosting a music production system), the need for some means of compensating for poor acoustics has materialized. Studio monitor manufacturers have responded by developing various types of room correction technology. At the most basic level, room correction analyzes the frequency response of a room/loudspeaker combination and produces compensatory equalization.

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Come Together

Have you noticed the music in your elevator getting better lately? Installed sound, in general, has taken leaps forward in terms of quality and management in the last few years. At the InfoComm show in June, the purveyors of installed sound systems gave plenty of praise to the live sound sector for raising the sonic bar across the board. They cited how the enhanced emphasis on touring in the music business has raised expectations of consumers for better audio in all aspects of their lives.

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Trials and Tribulations

Oh, into the summer I go, alone, as apparently my writing partner is MIA. Join me as I relate the exciting trials and tribulations of a true anklebiter. And let me know some of your experiences so I can pass them on to other catfish in the sound engineering pond.
 

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Google Ups the Ante in White Space Debate

WASHINGTON — Google has upped the ante in the white space debate with the launch of a new public campaign and Web site, “Free the Airwaves,” advocating for the deregulation of white space between broadcast TV channels. The FCC continues its field tests; however, the technological problems continue to go unresolved — All tests up to this point have failed. Click here to read about a recent test.

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