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The SIP crew, from left - Dan Devisser, Sammy Skalbeck, Matt Dominguez, Shannon Stewart, Christian Chambers and Austin Lanning

Stewart Independent Production

Shannon Stewart and Dan DeVisser joined forces at an early age. Both loved concerts, especially with favorite bands. But more than that, great sound spoke to them. And the source of that sound? Gear.
Now, their company, Stewart Independent Production (SIP) is celebrating more than 25 years as an independent production company. They’ve created experienced, pro concert touring team that designs, builds, manages and supports concerts in Saugatuck, MI, but mostly in areas beyond.

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Katy Perry tour photo by Steve Jennings

Katy Perry – ‘Witness’ the Tour

In early February 2018, Katy Perry was finishing up the North America segment of her Witness: The Tour trek, which kicked off Sept. 19, 2017 at Montreal’s Bell Centre. This marked the completion of the first portion of this nearly year-long, seven-leg world tour, which is slated to wrap up in New Zealand on August 21, 2018. We caught up with the audio team to talk about the tour before they headed off for another 47 dates, which include Brazil, Japan, Germany, the UK and more, ending with six dates in Oceania. Mixing the tour at FOH is Toby Francis; Paul Jump is the FOH systems tech; and Dave Rupsch is handling monitors. Clair Global is the sound company supporting the production.

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Fig. 1 - L-Acoustics X8 coaxial loudspeakers' predicted coverage. Yellow area is the main choir loft listening plane.

Monitoring for Choirs

One of the most challenging aspects of our traditional worship and special events is monitoring for the choir. Below are some suggestions for getting the most out of your choir monitors. My church has been coasting along on an old and inadequate set of loudspeakers for the past decade and we make it work, so it’s not impossible by any means.

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The Earthworks SV33

Bringing a Studio Mic to the Stage

About 10 years ago, I started exploring Earthworks’ complete microphone product line in greater detail. The live sound industry has long relied on the company’s excellent precision measurement mics, but I was only marginally acquainted with its widely acclaimed series of small diaphragm omnidirectional studio mics. And I was completely uninformed about Earthworks’ products designed the live sound market. At that time, there was an increasing word-of-mouth buzz within the live sound community regarding a new family of Earthworks products suited for live sound applications. I was especially interested in the new drum mics that received great user reviews. This marked the beginning of a relationship with Earthworks that has remained beneficial and strong for the past decade.

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The piano is one instrument where either large or small-diaphragm mics can be used, depending on the desired sound. Photo courtesy Sennheiser

Mics: Does Size Really Matter?

Anyone reading FRONT of HOUSE is probably familiar with a variety of microphone designs using moving coil, ribbon or condenser capsules. I often joke that having a lot of mics is like having a lot of crayons: you don’t want the eight-pack, you want the super-variety pack with 152 colors and the sharpener built into the box. You never know when you’ll need that ever-so-subtle shade of color. If only mics were as inexpensive as crayons…

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Illustration by Andy Au

Good Old Days

It is now seven days into the New Year of 2018, and outside my window, the sun is shining down its warm rays and bringing the temperature up from an earlier 1 degree to a robust 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Michael Wolff’s deeply troubling book, Fire and Fury, is dominating the news with damaging insights, backpedaling insiders and denials from a staunch staff. Meanwhile, the nuclear button size has become a talking point between the United States and North Korea. The stock market is at an all-time high. Regulations imposed upon big business have been revoked. The televised, internet and periodical news is fighting to prove itself trustworthy while talking back directly to the POTUS has become commonplace when he tweets out his own headlines.

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