When Clair Bros. Audio acquired Dallas-based Showco back in late 2000, the purchase left three Showco staffers with tons of touring experience searching for a new, clear direction. All signposts led Robin Magruder, Stewart Bennett and Ed Spoto to their friends at Crossroads Audio.
Read More »
Sound designer and composer Elisheba Ittoop is always working to maintain a good balance between various aspects in her life. She balances her theater design career with other sound design work. She balances her work life and her family life. She balances maintaining professional footholds in multiple American cities. Every designer must find their own balance, and Ittoop works every day to constantly adjust hers, taking advantage of her background and skillsets to craft a life that has the right balance for her and responding to changes in her life to adjust her professional activity.
Read More »
“Peabody, set the WABAC machine for the early 1990s”… (cue Scorpions “Wind Of Change”)… Commercial recording studios are thriving. The record industry has not yet had to deal with Napster, and most people think that streaming refers either to a bodily function or a style of fly-fishing. Multitrack tape machines are still king, and analog is living happily alongside digital reel-to-reel tape.
Read More »
This month, FRONT of HOUSE takes a look at some recent installations nightclub sector — in particular, the new sound systems deployed for Hudson Ultra Bar in Hoboken NJ, Hard Rock Live in Las Vegas, the Oxford Social Club in San Diego, the Blue Whale in Los Angeles, Switch in Southampton, U.K. and LOFT in Dushanbe, Tajikistan (pictured here).
Read More »
Diners should sometimes be cautioned against looking into the kitchen of a restaurant they plan to eat in. So it goes with live music shows: the audience comes to be entertained, not edified. There is no need to look behind the proscenium curtains to see how the tour sausage is made. Too bad, since these days there’d be a lot to see, including the category of playback systems for live tracks and effects, and people to operate those systems. The expanding dominance of pop divas and divos has only accelerated the need for complex backing tracks in the live mix, as has the demand to have the recording-studio experience recreated live on stage for every show.
Read More »
Bring on the revolution! Ideal for install or portable applications, here’s a snapshot look at some digital consoles capable of 24 or more channels, while having a fairly compact footprint and — at under 60 pounds each — could be moved by an average person. Prices are somewhat variable, depending on options and selected system package configurations, so check before purchasing.
Read More »
New FOH and Monitor Engineer Keep the Party Going
For the Bruno Mars 24K Magic world tour, the purpose is to party.
Read More »
Recently, I was approached by one of the better audio engineers with whom I work, and he was excitedly and earnestly trying to interest me in some Chinese knock-off audio gear. He informed me that he received the information from another reliable and well known engineer who has used the gear and wholeheartedly vouches for the same. He showed me photographs of amps and speakers that appeared to be from top name brand producers that looked just like the real thing. Lab.gruppen amps, L-Acoustics and d&b speaker knock-offs were all on display at a fraction of the cost of the real brand name gear. For a mere seven thousand dollars I could be the proud owner of four brand new L-Acoustics ARC knock-off speakers with Lab.gruppen knock-off power amps and, as everyone knows, this is a deal, considering what the real gear sells for new.
Read More »
…Or, “How I Spent My Summer Vacation”
Don’t get me wrong. Nobody is more addicted to tradeshows than I. After all, what is not to love about being surrounded by racks and stacks of the latest audio technology?
Read More »
