Bruce Jackson- 2005 Innovator award winner
Watch the Video from the 2005 Parnelli Awards honoring Bruce Jackson, the recipient of the Innovator award.
Read More »Bruce Jackson- 2005 Innovator award winner
…I'll Be There?
Dear Anklebiters,
A friend of mine asked if he could rent some equipment for a small gig at a very reduced price. The band he is mixing is very loud, and I am concerned that my monitor rig may become damaged due to excessive sound levels. How can I prevent this?
Thanks,
Vince Simmons, Phoenix, AZ
Jamie: Vince, the obvious answer is to not rent the gear to your friend. However, I am an anklebiter and sworn to give out as much information as I can on any subject that crosses my desk. So, before I take off on one of my typical tangents, I have some questions to ask you. First, how good of a friend is this friend of yours? Because nothing can ruin a friendship faster than one of your buddies blowing up your gear. Second, why a "very reduced" rate? Did you buy your gear at a "very reduced" rate? Are you renting your friend a bunch of crap? In which case, does it really matter if he blows it up? Is your pal getting paid a "very reduced" rate for his work? Third, do you know the band? Have you heard them live? Are they friends of your friend?
Read More »Compare and Contrast
About a week before we put this issue to bed, I had a day full of contrasts. After the usual morning of too-early rising, getting my daughter to school (did I mention that high school in Las Vegas starts at 7 a.m.?) and then making my daily bitch-out phone call to some casino PR guy who was standing in the way of a story, I went down to the Strip. There I met up with Ross Humphrey and the rest of the Blue Man audio crew at their new theatre at the Venetian, which they are set to open right about the time you are reading this. Very cool, very state-of-the-art and very creative. And yes, you'll get to read all about it next month.
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Survey Says…
The 2005/06 FOH subscriber survey has been compiled and I, for one, find it fascinating. About 7% of the magazine's total subscriber base took part in this year's survey, and the results are telling. First of all, let us remember that it is usually difficult to get 100% participation in any survey, and that most surveys are conducted with a cross section of the population. Political surveys usually conduct their fact-finding missions from a supposed cross section of the general population, and then, by using some complicated mathematical formula, the purveyors of the survey are able to understand the needs and wants of the American public. I usually find myself in the minority of each and every one of these political surveys, which means I neither have my finger on the pulse of the nation nor do I hang out with the right people. Despite these personal failings on my part, I–like most of the American public–rely upon these surveys to know where I stand in relation to the rest of the country, and because my views are usually aligned with the minority column of these surveys, it would be most beneficial to me if the survey conductors would publish the names and occupations of these survey participants.
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A Conversation with Bruce Jackson
The PMG (Australia's version of the Federal Communications Commssion) had been driving around in their vans when they triangulated the location of the lawbreakers. Converging on the high school, we don't know what they expected to find, though we know what they didn't expect: 16-year-old "criminal" and future Parnelli Innovator Award honoree Bruce Jackson.
Jackson and some buddies who shared his passion for all things electronic thought it would be fun to build a radio station, and they were broadcasting illegally from the school assembly hall after school. But it got the attention of the authorities because their unusual wizardry led to such a long antenna and strong signal that they were actually broadcasting across all Sydney.
Read More »On The Bleeding Edge
Live sound engineers have been very lucky. We've able to get away with being relatively lazy because the fundamental operation of our tools hasn't changed much in the last 20 years. Sure, there have been developments in speaker and crossover technology, amplifier reliability is greatly improved, microphones are better than ever and consoles provide more 'bang for the buck' than in the past, but that's all 'background' technology. We've been able to lay our hands on an analog console and been able to fl y it without having to work at it–even if it's a console we've never used. Kinda like driving a car. Sometimes the headlight switch is in a different location, but it still functions the same as on that Plymouth Satellite my dad owned when I was a kid.
Read More »Big-Time Sound in a Small-Town Space
Located in the heart of a small Southern town lies a state-of-the-art installation jewel boasting a 7.1 surround system and all the trimmings. The Badon H. Brown Performance Pavilion is nestled within the Aiken Center for the Arts–a nonprofit facility and one of the newest additions to the renovated historic downtown in Aiken, S.C. dB Acoustics & Sound of Gainesville, Ga., coordinated all the audio and video elements, including the acoustical design for the space.
Read More »Faithful Central
While the Los Angeles Lakers may be long gone from the facility, L.A.'s venerable Forum lives on–as home to Faithful Central Bible Church, where Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer serves as the church's senior pastor/teacher. And though the Forum now functions as a house of worship, the venue also serves Southern California as a premiere facility for concerts and related functions.
Recently, Faithful Central staged a major production complete with a 100-voice choir, a 46-piece orchestra and numerous soloists–all of this accompanied by a wide assortment of props, live animals and additional staging support. The event was staged at one end of the Forum, as this enabled the church to accommodate the 16,000-strong crowd and facilitate prop movement through the tunnels.
Read More »Fright of the Bumblebee
We were setting up for a street festival with an average attendance of about 5,000 people, and it was one of those gigs where I was wearing two hats. In addition to providing sound, I was also the fiddle and keyboard player for one of the bands on the bill. Makes for a busy day…
So, two hours before show time, the negative rail in the power supply for our main FOH console (an Allen & Heath GL3000) blew. We called several places trying to get the replacement parts we needed to fix the power supply, with no luck. And we were carrying neither a spare power supply nor a backup 32-channel console. So with an hour to go before show time, we had to pull the 24-channel Mackie board that was running monitors from side stage and set it up at the FOH position.
Read More »Audio at the Alamo
After conquering the Great Wall of China, the producers of the Wonders of the World (WOW) concert video tour have settled in for some domestic scenery before going overseas again (to Russia's Gorky Park) sometime next year. This is good news for the audio pros who enjoy combining historical sightseeing with their work .
The WOW tour is the brainchild of Joyce & Associates partners Rob Joyce, Cary Floyd and Paul "Ringo" George, and is produced by their subsidiary, Doc Brown Entertainment. It is a special series of oneoff events showcasing renowned musical performers with historical backdrops, filmed in high-definition digital video for eventual broadcast and DVD distribution.
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Midas Siena Mixing Console, dbx DriveRack 260 and Production Intercom HD903 Half-Duplex Operation
Midas Siena Mixing Console
By Mark Amundson
Midas does not give the competition a rest when it comes to new console introductions. Just when you thought the Midas Verona was settling in to dominate the sub-$20,000 console market, out comes the Midas Siena to augment the Verona in monitor mixing and dual FOH/mon applications. And Midas had the good sense to leave the great Verona mic pre's and strip EQs alone, and then add a pile of monitor mixer creature comforts into the master section. And those 16 aux sends are plenty for most shows.
Read More »Budget vs. Reality
The last several houses of worship we have done were typical, both in terms of technical requirements and the installation process. There were the minor yet expected frustrations of redesign, product returns and reprogramming of DSPs. There is almost always a point however, when budgets collapse and technical requirements are set aside as more urgent needs like carpets and chairs go into cost overrun mode.
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