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QSC's TouchMix series

QSC TouchMix v3 Firmware Update

QSC’s TouchMix series of small format digital mixers build upon the company’s strengths in the budget friendly, easy to operate live sound market. Having used the TouchMix-16 periodically over the last few years, the mixer’s firmware has come a long way. My friends at Meyer Marketing were gracious enough to loan me both a TouchMix-16 and a TouchMix-30 so I could test out the new features for this review.

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Radiohead has provided fans with a video of its glitch-free performance on Coachella’s second weekend. To view it, go to plsn.me/FOH-Radiohead.

Well Done: Live Sound has Become Remarkably, Incredibly Good

Earlier this year, the chattering classes of the media were talking about Coachella’s cultural significance and its position as a political bellwether, with the festival’s owner, Philip Anschutz, taken to task for supporting groups that appeared to be hostile to LGBT rights. Those accusations prompted vigorous denials from Anschutz, who called the reports “fake news” and issued statements in support of “the rights of all people, without regard to sexual orientation.”

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Hilton Presbyterian Church, Newport News, VA

Spotlight: Houses of Worship

The only constant behind optimizing the sound for a house of worship project is change. Along with the shift from traditional church music to something more akin to a rock concert, church congregations are moving into unorthodox locations, and traditional churches are reaching out with mobile satellite services in gyms and other non-traditional locations. With sound designers and audio integrators scrambling over an obstacle course of potential compromises to the goal of an ideal listening experience for every seat in the house of worship, those manufacturers who can provide gear to meet their “mission impossible” challenges for any space have a decisive advantage.

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The venue, now run by local brewpub company McMenamins, was originally built as a ballroom in 1914.

Crystal Ballroom in Portland, OR: Natural Sound for a Loud Rock Venue

Portland, Oregon’s Crystal Ballroom has enjoyed a storied existence since opening on the eve of World War I as Ringler’s Cotillion Hall. A live music venue since the 1960’s, when artists such as the Grateful Dead, Ike & Tina Turner and Buffalo Springfield performed, the historic building is starting a new chapter with a major audio equipment refresh, courtesy of design, sales and integration company Tone Proper AV, located in nearby Gresham, OR.

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Despite the venue’s size, the stage is large and wide.

Recovery Unplugged

Austin Performance Space Uses Music Therapy for Detox

The Recovery Unplugged Treatment Center uses the power of music to help its patients heal from drug and alcohol addiction. Offering medically supervised detox, residential inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, and sober living, Recovery Unplugged offers a music-based treatment approach that provides patients with access to a well-rounded recovery experience.

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Robert Scovill on tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 2017

Q&A with Robert Scovill

Robert Scovill mostly got off the road a few years back to lend his skills and experience to Avid in developing their emerging line of VENUE digital consoles, most recently the SL6. But the road still calls, and when it’s Tom Petty on the other end, he tends to say “Yes.” He came through my town, St. Louis, and he and the band put on a sonically superb show. Apparently, it was not a fluke. As the 40th Anniversary Tour sees the light at the end of the tunnel, I made this extremely busy engineer (and recipient of multiple Parnelli awards for FOH Engineer of the Year) sit down with me.

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FOH Sept. 2017 Buyers Guide - Power Distros

AC Power Distro Systems

In decades past, the typical sound company power distro setup seen on a gig was a DIY affair. They served their purpose, but with today’s sophisticated audio, backline, video and lighting systems, it pays to make and investment in clean, dependable power. Along with today’s amble selection of quality, reliable products, most of the manufacturers whose products are listed here will be happy to meet your specific needs with a solution that fits your needs. Check out the websites to see the latest offerings.

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Dave Shadoan (front left) wields the ceremonial scissors for the opening of the company’s expansive new warehouse in Escondido, CA. Also present, from left, are Sound Image’s Ralph Wagner (CFO), Rob Mailman (director of production), Mike Sprague (director of touring), Dave Paviol (director of operations, contracting division and NAMM’S Joe Lamond. Absent are Michael Adams, VP of engineering, and Larry Italia, VP of the contracting division.

Sound Image Expands

It’s a beautiful Friday afternoon in August in Escondido, CA, one of the oldest cities in San Diego County, and Dave Shadoan is wandering the main hallway of his new warehouse trying to gather his top lieutenants for the ribbon cutting ceremony. See, he let the day get away from him and now it’s 4:30. “What do you mean Larry [Italia] left? Call him and tell him to come back!” (Turns out Italia was already 30 minutes out headed for home in infamous Southern California traffic; jokes about Photoshopping him in ensue.)

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From Left, FOH Engineer Chris Marsh and System Tech Charlie Albin. 2017 Ed Sheeran World Tour photo by Steve Jennings

Ed Sheeran’s ‘Divide’ World Tour

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is out on his world tour in support of his latest album ÷ (Divide), a title which follows in the footsteps of his previous releases, 2014’s X (Multiply) and 2011’s + (Plus). The albums were released, respectively, in March 2017, June 2014 and Sept. 2011.

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Illustration by Andy Au

Fire, Fury…and Audio

The fiery rhetoric heating up tensions between the U.S. and North Korea is giving new life to old anxieties from the Cold War era, with worst-case scenarios that are more fearsome even than the germs and microbes lying in wait on a shared mic.

‡‡Now that atomic warfare and nuclear explosives have once again become prevalent in both my everyday conversation and my nighttime dreamscape I have felt compelled to go back and reeducate myself in regard to the history and devastation of nuclear testing and warfare.

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