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My Fair Lady broke box office records at the Sydney Opera House during its Sept-Nov 2016 run. Production photo by Jeff Busby

My Fair Lady

Australia-Based Production Gets an Audio Makeover

On the occasion of its 60th anniversary, GFO and Opera Australia recruited the original Eliza Doolittle, Dame Julie Andrews, to direct a production of My Fair Lady beneath the sails of the Sydney Opera House. This landmark production, which opened Sept. 6 and ran through Nov. 5, 2016, featured sets, costumes and lighting based on the original 1956 design, with a few more up-to-date touches, like seamless revolving stages and automated lighting. It also sold more tickets than any other production staged at the iconic venue. In 2017, a touring version of the production will be staged in Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia along with Sydney’s Capitol Theatre.

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San Francisco’s newest venue, The Armory, officially opened on New Year’s Eve.

San Francisco Armory

At over 100 years old, the former National Guard Armory is one of San Francisco’s most distinctive buildings. Designed to convey the impression of a heavily armored and forbidding Moorish fortress, the massive structure features four octagonal towers, rough clinker brick exterior walls and narrow rectangular lancet windows. Now listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the building measures 192,300 square feet and includes the administration building (84,700 square feet), basement (68,000 square feet) and Drill Court (39,000 square feet).

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Boise rockers Ripchain lay down some serious shred on the Knitting Factory Concert House stage. Photo by Katarzyna Cepek

Seven Recent Nightclub Projects

The nightclub biz is booming. And there are plenty of reasons why. No matter where you go in the world, people like to go out for a few drinks, perhaps a bite to eat and some social interaction — particularly when it’s accompanied with great music. And in any successful nightclub installation, great sound is an essential part of creating just the right ambience and feel, whether in an intimate lounge, disco, supper club or live band venues playing rock, pop, country or R&B. With that in mind, we decided to look in on seven recent club installations, each presenting their own set of needs and challenges, yet all that found success through the combination of a skilled, experienced integrator applying just the right audio system to meet the needs of that particular application.

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FOH Jan 2017 Buyers Guide - Road Cases

Road Cases

If sound is your business, then you’re aware that “stuff” happens. And when gear is moved, it is occasionally subject to rough handling. Here, a good case can make the difference between a show going on or being cancelled. Today, there are hundreds of companies building transport cases and we’ve presented a selection of them. Note that many companies also provide custom foam cutting and most have case templates for common equipment, so a “custom” design for your piece of gear may be fairly simple. And if you want custom colors or graphics, many companies can accommodate your request.

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RME Fireface UFX+ Audio Interface

RME Fireface UFX+ Audio Interface

German pro audio manufacturer RME is no stranger to users seeking no-compromise digital audio interface products for studios, broadcasters — and recently — into an increasingly growing number of live production applications. The company was launched 21 years ago with the DAM1 (Digital Audio Monitor) and a PCI recording card and continues leading the industry, constantly improving and expanding the scope of its product range.

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Carvin Audio TRx3810A VELA Vertical Array

Carvin Audio TRx3810A VELA Vertical Array

Mention the phrase “line array” and images of VerTec and V-DOSC systems usually spring to mind. But in terms of line array technology, systems with narrow vertical dispersion modules aren’t the only game in town. In fact, lately there has been a surge of interest in high-performance vertical column array systems.

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WCBS produced the event at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

A Show Grows in Brooklyn

After literally shivering my way through the National Christmas Tree Lighting in Washington DC, I jumped into a rental car on the following morning and headed up I-83 North toward Lititz, PA. My final destination was the headquarters of Clair Global. Once there, I would spend two quick days in the shop prepping for an upcoming show at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. This holiday event was produced by CBS Radio and featured individual performances by Sarah McLachlan, Jimmy Buffett and James Taylor.

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Miami’s Ultra Music Festival is among those EDM-themed events under scrutiny in recent years. Photo by Raveguy23

Cymbals and Symbols: Music Censorship and Beyond

Music festivals and the cities that host them have long had a fractious relationship, going all the way back to the original Woodstock in 1969. Los Angeles, Miami and New York have all put the brakes on EDM-themed music events in recent years, with drugs and drug-related deaths as the main point of contention. In other cases, some festivals’ own success have been their downfall.

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A comparison of the current TV frequency allocations (upper bands) and a possible repacking scenario (lower bands), where seven TV stations go off the air and four others are relocated. Illustration courtesy Joe Ciaudelli

Cleaner Air for Wireless Users

More Changes Afoot in the FCC’s Frequency Allocation Program

Back in 2008, when the FCC auctioned the 700 MHz portion of the UHF band (698 to 806 MHz), the audio industry took a huge hit on our ability to use wireless devices. Operation of wireless mics was prohibited in the 700 MHz region, a part of the UHF spectrum we had come to rely upon quite a bit. Vacating that space has put tremendous pressure on manufacturers to push wireless audio technology at an accelerated rate, and they certainly have responded with developments in alternate frequency bands, digital wireless technology and even re-examining the VHF band, which we had all but abandoned long ago.

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The DPA d:vote 4099P piano miking system — with its magnetic mounts — offer a versatile palette of placement options.

Piano Miking

Miking and mixing piano is one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of mixing audio at a house of worship. Over the decade that I’ve been working in churches, I’ve experimented with numerous different techniques for capturing the piano and ultimately placing it into my mixes.

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Illustration by Andy Au

Opinions

“Well, opinions are like a**holes. Everybody has one,” is a quote by Harry Callahan in the 1988 movie The Dead Pool. Another version of this quote is, “Well, opinions are like a**holes. Everybody has one and most of them stink,” and lastly the best selling author Simone Elkeles embellished the quote to read: “Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one, but they think each others’ stink.” While there are a few more versions of the same quote, I have opted to leave them out, since none of them serve to enlighten us any further than the snarky gems previously stated.

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