In the past ten years, the audio industry has witnessed an explosion of multi-track recording software that has become more affordable and accessible to the average audio practitioner. During this same time period, a number of companies have introduced recording software aimed directly at sound reinforcement engineers.
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The rumors had been circulating for months, but on the cusp of last month’s NAB and Musikmesse / Prolight + Sound shows, Avid made the first public showing of its new flagship Avid VENUE | S6L, a large-format live consoles with a touch-based interface Ethernet AVB, Dante, MADI and Thunderbolt support, Pro Tools integration, industry-standard plug-ins, over 300 total processing channels and a new Stage 64 I/O rack with high performance preamps and versatile input/output options.
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While the title of this column is “On the Digital Edge,” there are times when everyone needs to jump away from the edge and relax a bit. Days off while on tour provide this necessary refuge. This precious time is often reserved for sleeping, doing laundry, hitting the hotel gym or doing the little things that help one privately recharge during a 24-hour respite from show day pressures. However, while on tour in Europe, the opportunity to experience many beautiful places and art masterpieces on our days off is, by far, the more attractive choice.
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Years ago, when I was still getting on buses and planes to play music instead of write about it, I happened to mention to Allan Pepper (my manager at the time, and owner of the much-missed Bottom Line club in New York) that a lot of people I knew were getting married right around then. I remember myself saying something to the effect of, “Seems like this is the year for marriages.” To which Allan, after waiting the standard two-beat Jewish pre-punch line comedy interval, replied, “Wait ten years — it’ll seem like the year everyone’s getting divorced.”
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Converting a band from stage wedges to in-ear or “personal” monitors can be a beautiful thing, yielding better front-of-house and monitor mixes, more enjoyable performances and quite possibly, hearing conservation. Unfortunately, some musicians are so unwilling to change their habits that you might have an easier time converting them to a different religion! Here’s how to present the idea in a way that ensures a positive experience for everyone involved.
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I’m a technology fanatic. I love checking out A/V technologies. Looking at pictures of huge line arrays and big lighting rigs is a favorite pastime. I’m sure many of you would agree. Some co-workers make fun of me for constantly reading equipment manuals, and I’m sure my wife also has a few opinions on the topic.
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One of the more enjoyable aspects of my job is when manufacturers of audio gear come and demonstrate their products for me. In a business that is forever upgrading, it’s important for a rental house to be aware of the products that are viable and trending, and it is also imperative to the survival of a business such as this to maintain a roster of equipment that bands, engineers and promoters are requesting. Considering the expense of maintaining new and updated gear, it’s also necessary for a provider to understand the marketplace for which they are providing equipment.
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For anyone who’s never attended, the Musikmesse / Prolight + Sound exposition, held in Frankfurt, Germany from April 15 to 18, 2015, is a huge affair — sort of like a combined NAMM / AES / InfoComm / LDI, with ten exhibition halls of pro audio and music instruments spread out across the ginormous Messe Frankfurt expo complex and attracting 108,000 visitors. Product launches in pro audio tend run in cycles and right now, new sound reinforcement consoles and loudspeakers grabbed the headlines at the show, reflecting the overall health and continuing strength of the live market over studio products and other segments of the biz.
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Audio people tend to be a nerdy bunch. Last month on March 14, we all celebrated “Pi Day.” In case you missed the hoopla, it’s that rare occurrence on the third month on the 14th day of the 15th year of a century at 9:26 am, or 3/14/15 9:26. This was as all nerdy types (myself included) took a few seconds away from Facebook to celebrate stardate 3.1415926 — equating to a mathematical constant we all learned in calculating the circumference (2π r) or area (π r2) of a circle. Easy enough.
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