This month we look at Mackie’s latest generation of powered loudspeakers, the HD series. Specifically, the HD1531 (there is also a HD1521). Mackie has been producing powered loudspeakers for more than a decade now. So I would expect these new speakers to be an improvement over past models, or less expensive, or both.
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(Editor’s Note: This Road Test is in a little different format than what we usually run, but it is not your typical Road Test either. We got this because one of our FOH/PAS loyalists knew the guys on tour with the band Saliva and they were using the board and he got a chance to play with it in a real gig situation. Forcing it into our “standard” format just seemed to suck the life out of it. Open your mind… Oh and if you want to HEAR it, Mical has posted a video of a song from a Saliva show on ProAudioSpace.com.)
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As we muddle through the next few years, we are going to see a lot of anniversaries. We are 40 years out from the Summer of Love and the real beginnings of the rock sound business. And some companies are trumpeting their pedigrees from their various rooftops, while others just get up, load the truck and continue to do what they’ve done for decades. We’ll lump Scorpio Sound of West Bridgewater, Mass. in with the latter category, even though their pedigree is worth trumpeting.
Read More »Last month we talked about knowing your sound system, understanding the signal flow and how the system components interact with each other. Once you have wrapped your head (and ears) around how sound travels through your system, you will find that troubleshooting the various components of that system becomes a relatively easy endeavor.
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Being a weekend warrior for the last 15 years has generated many crazy stories, but this one tops them all. The itinerary I received from the production company stated “six piece band, company party, 13th floor of the … hotel, sound check @ 6:00 p.m.” My wife of 27 years and I carry a one-ton rig in a utility trailer that I pull with my day-to-day AV install company truck. We pull up to the hotel at 2:30 p.m. and begin questioning the staff as to where to load in.
Read More »One of the more difficult facets of live sound is managing soundchecks. Most musicians will moan about how they don’t want to be bothered with a sound check, and in the next breath they’ll complain that their monitor mixes weren’t perfect at the start of the show.
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Mark Amundson had a gift for making technical details understandable to newbies without ever making the vets feel like they were being talked down to. His untimely death has left us with two holes to fill —one in our hearts, as we lost not only a writer but a dear friend, and another in the pages of FOH. Mark knew as well as anyone in this business that the show must go on, and we are just beginning the process of trying to find someone both willing and able to fill Mark’s very large shoes. For the next few issues, in a sort of tribute, we will re-run some of Mark’s own favorite columns. This one first appeared in FOH, Nov. 2007—ed.
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While cold jelly and custard may be every nineteenth century orphan’s dream of escape from gruel, this verse is precisely the reason hospitality riders were written into contracts. Being on the road itself is a grueling affair, and for the most part, there is not a large variety of highway food to choose from as the bus travels from town to town. Even airports, while offering a bit more variety in their dining experience, can only provide a limited fare.
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BRUSSELS — Square Brussels, a new event space, recently purchased Studer Vista 5 and Vista 5 SR consoles as part of the sound reinforcement system for its auditorium. Belgium-based company Play installed the consoles, which were purchased through Studer’s Belgian representative, HeynenNV.
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Stage Research’s RF Guru is a tool for finding the optimum combination of wireless microphone frequencies to be used at a venue and alleviate intermod (i.e., interference) problems. It calculates based on existing microphones, area TV stations, user-entered known bad frequencies and mic data from nearby neighboring venues.
Read More »SPOKANE, WA — Meyer Sound recently began shipping the self-powered JM-1P arrayable loudspeaker. One of the first shipments of these point source systems went to Eugene, Ore.-based Relles Sound, Inc., and the gear was quickly deployed for two recent music events.
Read More »SYRACUSE, NY — USITT will again be giving its Awards for Young Designers & Technicians in the Performing Arts, including the Robert E. Cohen Sound Achievement Award, based on a review of portfolios and letters of nomination from current USITT members.
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