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Dave Matthews Band 2015 European Tour

Dave Matthews Band 2015 European tour photo by Rene Huemer. Pro Media UltraSound worked with Denmark-based Victory Tour Production to provide the Meyer Sound LEO-M speaker system.

Dave Matthews Band 2015 European Tour

Going strong for nearly a quarter century (the group marks its 25th anniversary in 2016) the ever-inventive Dave Matthews Band has long been innovative — in terms of onstage performance, studio work and with the close relationship it maintains with its fans. Not only has the group encouraged non-commercial taping of its shows by audience members to share, but also offers a growing series of Live Trax recordings of performances, which is currently at #36, this most recent release featuring a 2015 summer U.S. tour stop recorded at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in Elkhorn, WI.

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A Pocket Guide to Energy

A Pocket Guide to Energy

Energy is integral to every aspect of life, including professional audio. Energy also has a swirling tornado of political, economic, and environmental considerations that kick up quite a cloud of confusion when trying to make sense of how to think about this important topic. For this month’s column, I have the ambitious goal of conveying an engineer’s perspective on the myriad details surrounding the production and use of energy. My hope is that, by touching broadly on a number of different disciplines, FRONT of HOUSE readers will gain a clearer perspective about the big picture surrounding the present and future of energy.

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The Reach system can be used singly or in pairs.

Mackie Reach

Mackie has long been an innovator in speaker technology. At NAMM 2015, Mackie debuted its FreePlay “Personal P.A.” system, a grab-and-go rig with an 8-inch woofer and two 1-inch compression drivers, 150 watts of amplification, onboard digital mixing with DSP, Bluetooth connectivity for music streaming and/or remote tablet/smartphone control and more. Now Mackie ups the ante with “Reach,” which expands its Personal P.A. line with a higher powered, more flexible speaker/mixer combination.

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FOH Holiday Gift Ideas

10 Great Holiday Gift Ideas for the FOH Reader

Audio professionals are not easy people to buy gifts for. If they’ve hung out in the right circles, they probably have all the Mini Maglites, Velcro cable wraps and Swiss Army knives (in every configuration) they’ll ever need. With that in mind, here are some essential — and highly useful — items any sound reinforcement pro would appreciate. Simply tear out this page, use that Sharpie on your lanyard to circle what you want and leave this lying around where the right person can find it. So in no particular order, we present the official 2015 FRONT of HOUSE gift selections for the well-accessorized sound tech — whether yourself or someone on your crew.

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Top view of the control surface for Avid's VENUE S6L console

Avid S6L Console: First Impressions

In early October, I took a drive up the coast from my home in Ventura County, CA to the Avid facility in Mountain View, CA. This Bay Area location houses the production headquarters for Avid’s newest live console project, the eagerly awaited S6L. I had arranged a meeting with Sheldon Radford, director of product management (Consoles & Control Surfaces), who would guide me through a one-on-one tour of the new S6L console hardware and software. Sheldon has been my primary contact with Avid (Digidesign) since 2006. In his care, I have benefitted immensely from Avid’s unprecedented customer service. I was extremely thankful for this latest offer of hospitality and welcomed this unique opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience with the new S6L platform.

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Bataclan Theatre, Paris

Paris is Burning

Those who work in office buildings never looked at them the same way after Sept. 11, 2001. Now, that same psychological phenomenon will inflict itself on those who toil in music venues. The coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris saw the highest death toll at Le Bataclan Theatre, where ISIS-inspired gunmen killed 89 and wounded over 200 people there for an Eagles of Death Metal concert.

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Speakers intended for near-field applications (such as these 8-inch coaxial L-Acoustics 108P's) can be ideal in certain close-in applications.

Up Front and Personal: Using Front Fill Speakers

In the July 2012 FRONT of HOUSE, we talked about using various types of fill speakers such as front fill, under-balcony and out fill speakers to augment the main P.A. system in a room. This month, we’ll discuss front fill mixing in detail so you can have an idea regarding what sources go into the front fill, how to route it and when you may need it. In short, a front fill is a speaker or small array of speakers designed to provide sound for the front few rows of a venue.

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The tech team at St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Orlando, FL. The auther is third from left.

Training (and Retaining) Volunteers

The single most difficult part of being a church technical director is recruiting, training, and retaining volunteers. The technical part is easy, and if I could hire paid people to fill all of the different roles and responsibilities, the job would be a breeze. The church environment has changed dramatically over the past 10 years, and paid technical staff is more the rule than the exception. Nevertheless, from the largest church to the smallest church, volunteers are still a big part of what we do.

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Illustration by Andy Au

Sex Does Not Sell!

It’s official; Sex does not sell!

To be more precise, naked girls in Playboy magazine do not sell, which is why in the upcoming year the people in charge of the monthly journal are changing their 63 year-old format from naked women to scantily clad women.

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After the attacks, the Eiffel Tower lit up in a defiant red, white and blue.

Terror in Paris: The Aftermath

PARIS — In what became a real-life Friday the Thirteenth, coordinated terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015 at the Bataclan theater (a popular Parisian music venue), and also at a local stadium claimed the lives of 129 innocent people — including the band’s merchandise manager and the venue’s lighting tech. Another 350 were wounded with nearly 100 in critical condition, so the death toll could rise in the days to come. Meanwhile, major stadium concert cancellations by U2 and the Foo Fighters followed in its wake. The incidents mark the worst terror attacks in French history.

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SAE Audio TXQ Series Power Amplifiers

SAE Audio TXQ Series Power Amplifiers

SAE Audio’s TXQ power amplifiers are new 4-channel versions of the company’s TX series amplifiers, introduced earlier. Sharing many of the same features as the TX series of amps, the new TXQ series is designed to serve as the best solution for sound reinforcement applications requiring a multichannel amplifier with a mid output power density and good sound on an affordable budget.

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