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NAMM CEO Joe Lamond and Parnelli Executive Producer Terry Lowe

The Parnelli Awards Move to NAMM

Strategic Alliance to Benefit All Sides of Music and Live Entertainment

As announced last month, NAMM is expanding their January Anaheim trade show to further include the live event production industry, and a big part of that strategy is bringing the Parnelli Awards to it. One factor making this possible is Anaheim Convention Center’s 200,000 square foot expansion, which will allow pro audio, lighting, staging, video, and all related manufacturers to have space available to them to exhibit at an international trade show that already pulls in over 100,000 professional registrants.

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Photos by Joan Marcus

Elevating the Pit: Mick Potter’s Sound Design for ‘Sunset Boulevard’

Onstage, no one inhabits Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard role of tragic movie icon Norma Desmond quite like Glenn Close, and the acclaimed actor has returned to the character that earned her a Tony Award back in 1995. While the current Broadway revival (which runs at the Palace Theatre until June 25) has a set worthy of Desmond’s deluded sense of grandeur about her lost career, it can be both epic and intimate. This concept was echoed by Mick Potter’s sound design, which is an integral part of the storytelling. In fact, the staging of the show dictated much of how the miking works.

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The Yamaha TF Rack, shown here atop the optional TIO1608 stagebox.

Yamaha TF Rack Digital Console

Two years ago, I reviewed the then-new Yamaha TF3 (FRONT of HOUSE, June 2015). I enjoyed the console and I saw Yamaha had a winner on its hands, but there was still some work to be done on the firmware. Fast-forward almost two years, and much has advanced with the TF consoles and with Yamaha digital consoles in general.

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Ashly digiMix24 Live Digital Console

Ashly digiMix24 Live Digital Console

Ashly Audio has a long history building reliable analog mixing and outboard equipment for the professional live sound and installation markets. While the company carries a considerable legacy of analog expertise, Ashly is no newcomer to digital gear; its Ashly Protea DSP processors are world renowned for delivering top-notch sound and seamless integration with control technologies that users can easily navigate.

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The author’s improvised home laboratory.

Off-Time Projects

So far, 2017 has been an interesting year. In just the first three months, my touring schedule has taken me to New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. We’ve encountered a variety of P.A. systems and used three different console types at FOH. The Australian shows were mixed at FOH on a DiGiCo SD5; the shows in New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Brazil were mixed on DiGiCo SD7s; and the shows in Argentina and Chile mixed on Avid VENUE Profiles.

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Large-venue shows (such as this Kenny Chesney stadium tour stop) and festivals all provide opportunities for freelancing crew members.

Finding Gigs: The Online Approach

How do you find work? Boring. Ba-da-boom. No, seriously… it’s easy to fall into the sense that what live-sound mixers do is incredibly unique. After all, at the apex of the profession, they’re responsible for making the music industry’s top artists sound as good as possible every moment on stage while at the same time being responsible for making sure the 16-year-old girl in the 35th row of section D gets every bit of value and pleasure out of the $105 earned from babysitting that she spent on that ticket. Further down the food chain, the glamour may diminish somewhat, but not the responsibility — every Friday night has a story, and whoever is mixing sound is in charge of its soundtrack.

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Many churches have made the move from wedge monitors to in-ear monitoring. Pictured here, the First Assembly Church in Raleigh, NC.

Tips for a Great IEM Transition

Over the past decade, many churches have transitioned from monitor wedges to in-ear monitors. The cost of in-ear monitoring has come down dramatically for wired IEM systems, wireless systems and the ear buds themselves. Nevertheless, there are certainly still churches out there that haven’t taken the plunge and are still trying to navigate the benefits and challenges of moving away from wedges. While in-ear monitors aren’t for everyone, they often solve many of the traditional problems that we have with monitor wedges.

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Illustration by Andy Au

Economics 101

Much like everybody else on the planet, I have recently been distracted by the daily news and non-news reports regarding the present administration. Since the inauguration, new shocking and head-scratching revelations have been brought to light on a daily basis, thereby making our collective reality seem like an episode of the television shows, House of Cards, Veep and Homeland all rolled into one. While it is amusing and entertaining to watch the heroes and heroines of these shows melt down and self-destruct due to their self-serving attitudes, the comedy and irony of these scripts is lost when translated into our real-life experience.

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