LITITZ, Pa. – Clair Brothers Showco has purchased and taken delivery of two Midas XL8 Live Performance Systems. The Midas flagship joins Clair Brothers’ extensive XL4 and Heritage 3000 rental inventory, which continue to be used daily on major touring productions, both across America and throughout the world.
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PUYALLUP, Wash. – Experience Church recently overhauled their main sanctuary with a total McCauley solution built on the IN.LINE installation line array technology. Senior Pastor Dennis Cummins and Media Music Pastor Dave Richards researched their decision extensively, visiting worship technology conferences and participating in several demos from a range of manufacturers before making the decision to work with McCauley Sound.
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Baja California, MEXICO – Prog rockers of the world unite each year in Baja California for the BAJA PROG festival. For the second year running, NEXO systems were provided for the main stage, pleasing the many international sound engineers attending the event.
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LONDON – Björk’s current world tour uses some of the most cutting edge on-stage technology out there. Björk’s band includes Damian Taylor whose rig resembles the bridge of the Starship Enterprise and includes a Yamaha Tenori-on, which is displayed on large plasma screens to the wide-eyed crowds during the track “Who Is It?.” “Björk felt it would be cool to feature the gear,” says Damian, “ to make it part of the stage set rather than using abstract pre-recorded visuals and projections.”
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NILES, IL — Shure Incorporated announced that a three-member team from the Music Department at Texas State University is this year's Grand Prize Winner of the fourth annual “Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition.” The three-student team of Joel Cowen, Adam Brisbin and Jordan Lott, with Faculty Advisor Mark Erickson, won this year's Shure contest with an original composition by Graham Wilkinson and the Underground Township entitled “Let It Go.”
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It has become the standard thing, but it was only about a decade ago that the case that held crossovers, EQ, system level compressors and delay and was known as a drive rack got combined into one digital beast and shrunk into a couple of rack spaces.
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BUSINESS
Who: Patrick Quilter, chairman and senior amplifier designer of QSC Audio Products.
What: Manufacturer of pro audio products.
Where: Costa Mesa, Calif.
When: Founded in July 1968 “on a very small scale and got serious” around 1973.
First gig: “We provided a PA system for a dingy cellar nightclub near the Golden Bear, a prestigious dive in Huntington Beach, Calif. It turned out to be an ‘unpaid gig,’ and due to our naiveté about purchase contracts and collateral, they even got to keep the PA system.”
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When we rail on the importance of “gain structure,” what we are really aiming for is less noise or “hiss” and a louder signal. In other words, we are trying to optimize signal-to-noise ratio that is typically expressed in decibels. Having discussed some basics on gain structure previously in this column, I want to recap a bit and move forward.
Read More »As many of you know, I work in both the worship sound world and in the secular sound world. I am always looking for ways to improve my abilities as a technician and mixer in both of these worlds. And, of course, at the same time earn more money. Very often, the subjects that I discuss in this forum can be mirrored in the secular sound arena. My most recent income stream has been through renting gear to churches and worship events. As a rule, I always bring a few mics, stands, direct boxes and cables to any of my house-of-worship gigs. Being prepared for just about any eventuality has always seemed to be a good motto and, by the way, I am a former Boy Scout.
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On first impressions, the APB DynaSonics mixing console cosmetics appear 1960’s retro with the tan paint job. However, you have to be blind to not notice the colorful control surface features upon that tan surface. I was able to acquire the APB DynaSonics ProRack-House compact mixing console for this road test review. It boasts a remarkable density of features stuck in a 10-rack space form factor.
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Aphex HeadPod, TC-Helicon VoiceTone Correct and Radial JDX
I have always thought of gear as falling into one of three basic classes. First is the big stuff that soundcos get judged on (i.e., stacks, racks and consoles). Next comes the less pricey, smaller stuff that goes a long way in defining a soundco’s “flavor.” This is stuff like processors, EQ, comps and mic selection. Finally, there are the small “secret weapons” that can sometimes save a gig and fit in your briefcase. Here are three such armaments.
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Making the move from bars to corporates
Bill Robison started the Great Lakes Sound and Lighting empire in the early ‘80s out of a garage, renting PA gear to bar bands. It was a different time, he recalls. “In those days, bar bands wanted sound men and 24-light light shows. What they wanted was relatively elaborate. I started with one band, then [worked with] more bands, and I reached a point where I wanted to get some legitimacy going.”
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