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January 2018

Chris Conley at FOH

Mixing Los Lonely Boys

Appropriating the advertising slogan of a well-known insurance company, front of house engineer Chris Conley knows a thing or two, because he’ s seen a thing or two. Conley caught his first break in the late ‘80s while working security at a music club in Detroit, where he was born and raised. One night, just hours before all-girl L.A. grunge-rockers L7 were due to play, the house engineer, Conley’ s longtime friend, received a call.

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Damian Marley onstage. Photo by Evan Wollenberg

Jamrock Reggae Cruise

Cruise Production, 3G and Jonas Provide Audio for a High-Seas Adventure

For the fourth year in a row, Cruise Production teamed up with 3G Productions and Jonas Productions for the Welcome to Jamrock Cruise, a five day reggae festival on the high seas. More than 4,000 fans packed the sold-out Independence of the Seas to enjoy performances by such reggae luminaries as Damian and Stephen Marley, Luciano, Freddie McGregor, Cocoa Tea and Tarrus Riley. In all, more than 40 artists and DJs kept the party (and the audio crew) going nonstop with live performances, DJ sets and a reggae sound clash DJ battle. The cruise set sail from Fort Lauderdale on November 13 with stops in Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

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Imagine Dragons 'Evolve' World Tour, photo by Todd Kaplan

Imagine Dragons ‘Evolve’ World Tour

Imagine Dragons, which has gone from playing basements and dive bars to touring major arenas on multiple continents within a few short years, embarked on the Evolve world tour, their biggest yet, in support of their June 2017 release of the album by the same name, After the extensive opening trek across North America in late 2017, the tour has found the Las Vegas-based foursome performing 35 dates across three additional continents in 2018, starting with Malaysia’s Malawati Stadium on Jan. 6 and continuing with more shows in Asia, Europe, South America and back to Europe through Aug. 31, 2018.

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George Petersen, Editor of FOH Magazine

The New NAMM

The 2018 NAMM Show returns — as usual — to the Anaheim Convention Center this month, from January 25 to 28. That part is perhaps familiar, but this time around, it’s going to be a whole new NAMM event. Often phrases like “new and improved” are simply misused marketing tools to denote fewer crackers in a slightly smaller, “more convenient” box. However, this is hardly the case with NAMM 2018, which truly will be expanded, and actually improved with additional exhibit space, more educational opportunities and an expanded focus on the pro audio, lighting, sound reinforcement and event production community.

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Understanding Unity Gain: Waves H-Comp screenshot

Understanding Unity Gain

The concept of unity gain is deceptively simple: when the output level from a device is equal to the input to that device, you have achieved unity gain. It’s like a high level of Audio Zen, only better. When we say “device,” we can be referring to a hardware device or a plug-in — the concept applies equally in the analog and digital domains. The problem is that most “devices” are intended to mangle audio in some way or another, and that’s where simplicity goes out the window. Let’s look at a few examples.

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In Memoriam

The Passing of Two Masters

Somehow, 2017 brought the loss of so many legendary and influential musicians. Among those taken from us were South African guitarist/vocalist/writer/producer, Ray Phiri, and Cameroon’s celebrated guitarist/writer/arranger, Vincent Nguini. It was my immense honor and distinct artistic pleasure to have worked literally hundreds of shows with these gentlemen while both were members of Paul Simon’s touring band. Ray joined the aggregation for the 1987-89 Graceland tours after co-arranging and co-producing much of the landmark, scene-changing Graceland album. Vincent joined the tour in 1990 after collaborating heavily on what may be Paul Simon’s most intricate and luxuriant musical endeavor, The Rhythm of the Saints.

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