Las Vegas Shooting Shows That Even Best Practices Can’t Make Events Completely Safe
The real-life nightmare that unfolded during the closing performance by headliner Jason Aldean at the Route 91 Harvest Festival defied just about every best-practices precaution that could have been deployed to keep the performers, crew and 22,000 concert attendees safe.
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Summer is winding down at the St. Louis shed (today called Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, which old timers still call Riverport, its original moniker). Brad Paisley picked this spot to end another successful summer tour, and he, the band and the crew are all in an especially good mood.
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“Are we there yet? No! Are we there yet? No! Are we there yet? No!” It’s the iconic call and response between bored children and their parents as they travel for long tiresome hours in an automobile. It was a scene played out on a daily basis between back seats and front seats everywhere and perfectly parodied in such cartoons as The Simpsons and the Shrek movie. While this is an amusing bit (made all the more funny if one ever experienced the situation up-close), it unfortunately is less than humorous as the experience is unfolding in real-time.
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Just before you dive into that turkey this year, be thankful you got through the entire festival and outdoor touring season without a weather-related fatality. Compare that with the experiences of the last decade or so, particularly 2011, considered the annus horribilis of the industry’s history, when the stage structure at the Indiana State Fair collapsed in high winds, killing seven people and injuring 58 others.
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Entitled “Maximum Audio,” the 143rd Audio Engineering Society Convention returned to New York City from Oct. 18-21. FRONT of HOUSE’s “Sound Sanctuary” contributor, Vince Lepore, was able to attend, along with thousands of fellow audio engineers who flocked to the Javits Center in Manhattan to demo the latest audio products and take part in an extensive education program. Here’s his report.
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There is no shortage of signs that fall has arrived. The kids/grandkids are back in school (finally) and in many areas, trees are undergoing their annual transformation of colors with a dazzling display of autumn foliage. However, for the true pro audio aficionado, the REAL sign of fall is the Audio Engineering Society’s yearly U.S. convention.
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The New Owners of the FCC’s Auctioned Frequencies Aren’t Waiting Until 2020; The Time to Switch is Now
Earlier this year — April 13, to be precise — the FCC triggered a 39-month phase-in period for their one-time reallocation of what is commonly referred to as the 600MHz band of wireless spectrum by publishing their Channel Reallocation Public Notice (CRPN). Users of wireless devices, it seemed, had until 2020 before they would need to finally phase out their use of gear in the no-longer-legal 600MHz frequencies.
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Sound Cos
Brown Note Productions, Special Event Services
Venue
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Morrison, CO
Tom Gibbons’ Disruptive Sound Design for Broadway’s 1984
Some plays apply sound design to enhance the performances onstage, to add sonic color to the world being depicted, and perhaps to take us into an alternate state of mind. Tom Gibbon’s jackhammer sound design for 1984 on Broadway does all of those things while also making audiences feel discombobulated and keep them attuned to the grim near future world being depicted. Co-directed by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan, this mind-bending stage adaptation of the famous George Orwell novel has resonated with people in these tumultuous times, perhaps so much so that often times people walk out of the show during its climactic torture and reprogramming scenes.
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Churches are in the unique and difficult position of providing sound reinforcement for multi-use facilities. Our campus hosts a diverse array of events each week, ranging from contemporary worship, conferences, outside fundraisers and even large dinners. One of the challenges that we face is the constant need for “just two wireless mics and computer audio.” Sound familiar? How do you take a large line array driven by an advanced digital audio console and make it usable for these small events? Answer: Pay an audio engineer for every little event. These types of events cost the church money and run the tech team into the ground with a million little one-off gigs.
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Sound Designer Matt Otto and A1 Curt Miller Talk NYMF
A welcome home for adventurous and off-the-wall productions, the New York Musical Festival (NYMF) challenges even the heartiest sound designers and live engineers. The month-long off-Broadway extravaganza celebrated its 14th year this past July with a solid assortment of musicals, workshops and classes within two main venues: Theatre Row and Playwright Horizons, both located on West 42nd Street.
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The topic of headphones for live engineers discussed in this column last month has generated a more detailed thought process in which I began to chronicle the various tasks accomplished each day at FOH using a set of headphones. It seems somehow ironic that at each show, I perform my work on a huge arena or stadium line array sound system, but I still spend much of my time behind the console inside the private world of my headphones. I then expanded those thoughts by touching on other current tools used for particular tasks that often come up daily.
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