On the Bleeding Edge

Last month we talked about a lot of things in our rapidly changing world of digital audio, one of which was copy protection of audio software. Copy protection has long been a problem for companies that manufacture all sorts of software. Several years ago I had a conversation with a rep at an AES who told me that his company's program had approximately 1,000 registered purchases but an estimated 30 times as many users with illegitimate copies of their program. That's a lot of lost revenue due to cracked code, and it's totally unfair to folks who are trying to stay afloat developing software. If you really like using a program, and you'd like to see its continued support, ante up just as you would for a piece of hardware. Now I'll get off my software-soapbox and get on with it.

With the proliferation of outdoor amphitheatres in recent years, the onus increasingly falls on sound designers to integrate audio systems that are capable of performing in less-than-ideal conditions. In turn, it's up to manufacturers to provide these designers with state-of-theart technology through the development of powerful, controllable and versatile audio components. These advances in technology, combined with the creativity of designers, have led to dramatic improvements in lawn delay systems for amphitheatres, or "sheds."

With so many choices for gear on the market today, it's a wonder that anyone can make heads or tails of it. Cutting through the marketing hype to determine what is really needed for a good audio system can be challenging for professionals, as well as the staff and volunteers at smaller venues like churches or theatres that may not eat, sleep and breathe live sound on a daily basis. FOH sat down to talk with Steve Raslevich, president of Northern Sound & Light (NSL) to get some insight into the market. NSL often gets calls from customers who know what they want after browsing the information on the NSL web site, but still need help interpreting the marketing verbiage using the real world experience of the sales staff.

Maybe it's the fact that, as the owner of a mid-level company, I never get the chance to slow down long enough to get complacent, and instead find myself looking at every aspect of the rig, crew and all the other details that can make or break a gig, examining them over and over again to make sure nothing is missed. Or maybe when you travel with the same act for a while you just naturally get used to a specific way of doing things. Or maybe it's both. Whatever. But I had a gig recently that made me think about what we think about.