We spend a lot of time listening; in fact, it’s a process that continues during most of our waking hours — unless you happen to be a college student dozing off during a lecture on 17th Century Planar Existentialism, in which case, all bets are off. However, according to research, we also even spend a fair amount of time listening while sleeping. So, unless you put in some hours in a sensory deprivation tank or possibly sleeping in anechoic chambers, listening is a 24/7 thing.
About a month ago, I was researching the article for the January issue of FRONT of HOUSE on Shure products that had made their mark on the sound reinforcement industry during the company’s 90-year history. While doing that, I pulled some files from of my archives on the 1967 debut of the Shure Vocal Master, which was described at the time as the first “portable total sound system.” In truth, it actually was pretty cool for its time, and was quite successful, but what struck a chord in me was the absolute proliferation these had in the house of worship market. And it always amazes me how many times — even in recent years — I could walk into a church somewhere (or a lodge hall or city council chamber, for that matter) and still see those 63-inch silver gray columns in use. The “transistorized” Vocal Master mixer/amps may have long since faded into the sunset, but the transducers live on.
Welcome to 2015. A new year, a new beginning, and perhaps a time to reflect on how to improve, prosper and grow in the coming 12 months. If you’re a live sound pro or soundco, January provides a great chance to relax a bit and recover from the heavy schedule of extra concerts, parties and events that came with the annual December holiday work crunch.
This is supposed to be the season of hope and good cheer, but I’m troubled about certain events related to our industry stemming from NBC’s December 3rd live broadcast “Christmas in Rockefeller Center.” Sure, there are far more pressing developments in the news, ranging from freaky weather to racial tensions to the general state of the world. However, as live entertainment is our world, it bears discussion, as this could have some serious ramifications about the future of live performance.
Having just come back from the Los Angeles AES and PLASA London expos (and getting ready to head off to the LDI show and the Parnelli Awards), I can surely empathize with all the “living out of a suitcase” road warriors out there. And a few days back home gives me a little time to catch up on actually putting out the magazine and reflect on where the industry’s headed.
Way, way back a long time ago, the world was a whole lot different, when bands wore suits to studio sessions and recording engineers walked around in white lab coats. During this era — and for a couple decades thereafter — studio engineers were seen as the real smart guys, and live engineers were regarded as a step or two above roadie status. Of course, there was probably a certain element of truth to that notion, especially when a live “console” often consisted of a bunch of cascaded 5-input Altec 1567A’s that fed power amps wired to a couple stacks of Altec A-7 Voice of the Theatre cabinets. And if you had a rig like that, some paisley pants and a fringed leather jacket, you were ready to rock!
A couple of weeks ago, I dropped by to visit Ray Benson’s western swing band, Asleep at the Wheel, along with the crew, who were performing at the Bankhead Theatre in Livermore, CA, about a half-hour away from where I live. It’s no megatour — far from that — but I was genuinely excited about seeing the show (see “Production Profile,” Sept. 2014, page 48). I haven’t seen Asleep at the Wheel in a couple of years, and I also wanted to have a chance to check out the venue that’s just 30 miles outside the San Francisco Bay Area.
We are all in a business that revolves around gear, meaning a lot of techno stuff. But while most of our attention is focused on the technology, features and specs of gizmos and items involving electron flow and acoustics, there are other facets of the business that are often equally important — yet frequently overlooked. Just as essential to the equipment side is the people side and the service side.
Most of us are, by nature, really nice people. When there’s a noble cause or need, we’re all too glad to chip in. Truthfully, there are a lot of important, meaningful charitable causes out there who could well use our services, and since most of them are non-profits, well it would be nice if we could just donate some of our time, staff, trucks and gear to the cause.
There’s a movement going on in New Orleans, where many of the city’s crown jewel venues have sprung back to life after surviving the horror and carnage that was hurricane Katrina and then enduring the economic disaster that followed in her wake. And this aftermath was devastating to this city that thrives on tourism, where the damage to many of the Crescent City’s music venues left outsiders wondering whether they would ever recover.
It’s hard to believe that in 2014 we’d still be talking about loudness and volume levels, but here we are, and it’s still a major issue on the agenda. We’ve all heard the pros, the cons and the who do you blame — sometimes it’s even us — but a news item I read recently brought us the subject from a new angle.
Okay, I don’t quite get it. It’s April. Up here in San Francisco, it’s pouring rain. Yet the festival season starts in just a couple weeks, with the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival kicking off for two fun (and work) packed weekends from April 11 to 13 and 18 to 20. It might be springtime, but I guess the chances of warm weather are better in the desert/Coachella Valley town of Indio, Calif. than up here in the fog belt.
