FOH at Large

One of the more enjoyable aspects of my job is when manufacturers of audio gear come and demonstrate their products for me. In a business that is forever upgrading, it’s important for a rental house to be aware of the products that are viable and trending, and it is also imperative to the survival of a business such as this to maintain a roster of equipment that bands, engineers and promoters are requesting. Considering the expense of maintaining new and updated gear, it’s also necessary for a provider to understand the marketplace for which they are providing equipment.

I enjoy engaging people in conversation and hearing different points of view regarding a wide variety of topics. I take pleasure in hearing about a person’s life, their problems and their issues as well as talking about baseball, music, girls, audio, cars, guitars, home ownership, politics, books, movies and the world at large — though not necessarily in that order.

I happen to be a firm believer in a low-input/high-output gain structure. I also realize that there is more than one way to arrive at a final live mix, and that it helps if one is not so intractable as to adhere to only one approach. I’m always interested as to how different engineers approach and set up their mix and, because of this curiosity, I found myself in a conversation with an engineer friend of mine who works in many different situations — from concert to corporate, in venues of varying size and structure.

One late night as I was channel surfing through myriad old movies, series reruns and infomercials, I stumbled upon Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 last film Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. As a Kubrick fan, I saw the movie when it first came out, but I remembered leaving the theater less than impressed and a bit confused in regard to the plot. Realizing that sleep was beyond my grasp and wanting to see if a 15-year time span would endow me with more insight,

These days, it seems, time moves faster than it did in previous years. While I haven’t yet backed up this theorem with any scientific evidence, I’m sure that many folks would agree that the speed of light has sped up. Now, the distinction between me receiving a Nobel Prize (or being called a kook) for this brilliant theory is evidence. To be sure, this type of solid confirmation can be an obstacle, but it’s merely a small impediment I am working to overcome.

Starting at an early age, we all recognize the importance of the company we keep. Maybe these alliances we make stem from a primal xenophobic survival tactic or quite possibly it’s just human nature to affiliate ourselves with like-minded individuals. However, by junior high school, it seems we have already chosen sides and — though it often seems our choices are hormonally and psychologically predisposed — perhaps it’s merely circumstance that creates these bonds. Athletes hang with other athletes, the smart kids finding comfort with their own get labeled “geeks,” and the “in” crowd looks down on the social misfit crew.

In a recent 60 Minutes interview, President Obama admitted that the U.S. intelligence community had underestimated “ISIS” and what was taking place in Syria while — at the same time — overestimating the Iraqi army’s capability to combat the threat. A shocking admission but, then again, over- and under-estimations have shaped history for thousands of years, and sometimes it is not just a lack of foresight that attributes to a poor judgment call or policy. Official procedure, monetary concerns, various alliances and hubris are a few talking points that might lead to a poor assessment of any given situation.

Reading the daily paper is not only dispiriting, but also seems to be an exercise in futility. Watching the news on television is arrantly dismal, and made worse due to the overwhelmingly insipid magazine-style reporting and filler commentary by a surfeit of the so-called experts. The news is depressing enough without a slew of vapid analysts trying to make sense of the rampant senselessness and lunacy of man’s inhumanity to man as well as logically trying to explain the inexplicable enigmas that plague us on a daily basis. The mysteries I refer to are oddities such as the story of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, the economy and, of course, our foreign policy, to name a few.

Getting new gear is always an exciting proposition and — regardless of the equipment or its application — it’s always a thrill to open the box, take out the equipment, fire it up and make it work. Undoubtedly, in one way or another, this piece of gear will augment your audio system, upgrade your inventory and, all in all, be a great addition to your ever-expanding and always evolving business — whatever that might be. If your purchase is new and improved and gives you a more contemporary sound, look and feel, then the investment makes sense, as pro audio is a competitive market that constantly demands the new, improved and contemporary.

Years ago, I played in a “Top 40” band that traveled from hotel to hotel amusing a drunken clientele with very good covers of the popular tunes of the day. To stay current with the newest tunes and thus ensuring our income, we would read Billboard magazine and learn the most up-to-date tunes as they entered the charts. Most tunes that finally topped the charts usually started out in a lower position and worked their way up. Some tunes moved up the charts quicker than others while others dropped off the charts without ever climbing very high.

Just recently, I completed reading Keith Richards’ 2010 memoir, Life, which I found to be a great read. I was fascinated because I grew up listening to the Rolling Stones. And in the book, Keith gives a personal touch to all the 50 years of rumors, innuendos and tales that have floated around the business regarding himself, the band and the colorful associated cast of characters who managed to find their way into the ongoing narrative.

As audio engineers, we work in a business that is driven by passion and emotion. While audio engineers — in a perfect world — should have a zeal for their work, many required operations that are performed are devoid of such animated fervor. Flying a speaker array, setting frequencies for wireless units, running cables, patching a stage and ringing out a speaker system are a few of the things that come to mind that do not require a great or enthusiastic commitment on behalf of the engineer.