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Brian Ruggles, longtime FOH engineer for Billy Joel. Photo by Steve Jennings

Mixing the Piano Man

Brian Ruggles’ Scenes from a Lifetime with Billy Joel

Billy Joel is a Long Islander, from the tips of his ivory-tickling fingers down to his sustain-pedaling right foot, and likes to surround himself with similars. So our story begins with a young Brian Ruggles kicking around those same stomping grounds in the late 1960s. The two grew up in neighboring towns, though “I was more middle class compared to Billy, who, as he puts it, was lower middle class,” Ruggles says. As Joel was cycling through several bands, so was Ruggles who, although a drummer and guitarist, was principally a lead vocalist.

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Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco

Hot New Theater/PAC Projects

“The show must go on” still rings true every day in thousands of theaters and performing arts centers worldwide. However, these days, savvy facility directors realize the importance of a great sound system, especially as audiences — accustomed to hearing high-performance audio systems in live concerts and local bijous — are putting demands on facilities to provide a first-class performance experience, where intelligibility and musicality are just as important as rock ‘n’ roll SPL’s. With than in mind, we present this look at some recent installation projects — both new and upgrades — that reflect the current state of the art in venues both large and small.

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Interior view of the Benedict Music Tent

Aspen Music Festival

Mention the phrase “music festivals,” and the images that usually come to mind are packed, hot, dusty outdoor venues with multiple overlapping stages blasting rock, country, pop, hip-hop, EDM and so on — or perhaps even the mud pits of the original Woodstock. The throbbing bass from such events can easily carry for miles.

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Response variance as an omnidirectional mic is rotated in 45° steps.

Using Measurement Microphones

Sometimes, Placement is Everything

Some of the most common questions I’m asked when teaching the Smaart measurement software classes for Rational Acoustics concern microphone placement. Among these are: “Where do I put my mic to get a useful measurement,” “does the position/aim of the mic matter,” and “how many measurement positions do I need?” When you think about it, it’s an interesting proposition to assume we can make a useful measurement of complex electro-acoustical systems loaded into a performance space having a volume in the thousands of cubic meters and have the result somehow summed up at tiny microphone capsule points in space.

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Fundamentals of Conductivity

Fundamentals of Conductivity

When studying engineering in university, the first few terms learned are similar for everyone — regardless of their eventual specialization into a different type of engineering. In the same way, there are certain topics that are elemental building blocks everyone in the audio and event production industry should be familiar with. At present we’ll look at conductivity, the electronic lifeblood behind our industry. Without electricity, and conductors to direct it, there would be no professional audio!

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Services at Gwinnett Church feature concert-quality production values.

In Praise of Digital AV Solutions

“The Theater” at Gwinnett Church Benefits from Speaker Steering Technologies and High Channel Count Consoles

North Point Ministries (NPM) was founded in 1995 with the vision of creating non-denominational churches with an attractive environment that would appeal to those who do not regularly attend church. Obviously, this plan has worked. Since its inception, NPM has grown from one church to six in the metro Atlanta area and has developed a global network of more than 30 strategic partner churches.

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Lectrosonics SSM Super Slight Micro

Lectrosonics SSM Super Slight Micro

Lectrosonics, long a staple of the broadcast, film and theater industries, has introduced the SSM (Super Slight Micro) UHF beltpack transmitter. To say this thing is small is an understatement. It measures 2.52 by 1.48 by 0.57 inches and weighs only 2.3 ounces. And even referring to this a beltpack transmitter is somewhat of a misnomer, as it could easily be placed in hats, costumes or a performer’s wig. It’s the ideal solution in many film and theater applications — essentially, wherever you need to conceal that you are wearing a transmitter.

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The main KLANG:fabrik processor, front view

KLANG:fabrik – The Future of In-Ear Monitoring?

KLANG Technologies is small, up-and-coming company located in Aachen, Germany. I’ve spent the last month with its flagship product, the KLANG:fabrik, which is described on its website as “3D In-Ear Monitoring.” My first exposure to KLANG actually came by way of one of my students, who showed me the Fabrik online. At the time, I checked out KLANG’s website and watched one of their videos. I have to admit that when I first heard the term “3D In-Ear Monitoring,” it struck me as a clever marketing phrase, and I quickly dismissed the Fabrik as all hype. In retrospect, having now used the Fabrik for myself, I don’t think I really understood it at the time. Fabrik truly is one of those products that you have to hear to believe.

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James Taylor runs a quick sound check before the show, using his customary single IEM in left ear and stage wedge on his right side. Photo by David Morgan

Small, Intimate and Totally Special

Last week, I was in downtown Los Angeles, for the significantly downsized James Taylor tour, for his appearance at the Grammy Museum’s 200-seat Clive Davis Theater. This particular event represented a sharp contrast to the concert that had immediately preceded it. Our final stop on this summer’s tour had been a spectacular outdoor show for 35,000 adoring fans at Boston’s Fenway Park. However, as special as the evening at Fenway was for the thousands who attended that show, this Grammy Museum performance, in a space that felt slightly larger than a living room, was also truly memorable.

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A huge turnout of audio pros is expected for this month’s AES Convention at New York City’s Javits Center.

AES Show Returns with its Live Focus

Last year, at the AES Show in Los Angeles, sound reinforcement took center stage for the first time. Literally. A stage was set up in the Los Angeles Convention Center, and a wide array of manufacturers hung their gear from the rigging. We’ll likely see that again this year at the Javits Center in New York City, when the AES Show arrives there October 29 to November 1 with the Live Sound Expo intact and apparently bigger than before.

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Fig. 1 - Three important markers in defining dynamic range: noise floor, operating level and clipping.

Dynamic Range: Can of Worms, Anyone?

Someone recently asked me to explain dynamic range. Answering this question reminded me of a quote attributed to Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart regarding obscenity: “I know it when I see it.” In describing dynamic range, I can substitute the word “hear” for “see.” Nevertheless, my editor here at FOH would undoubtedly prefer a more concrete explanation.

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