Patrick Warburton Golf for Kids Jam Session
Sound Co
Precise Corporate Staging
Venue
JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort,
Palm Desert, CA
46th Annual Elmhurst College Jazz Festival
Sound Co
Coakley Sound & TC Furlong Inc.
Venue
Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel
Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, IL
Perspectives and Perception
Just as in real-life, everything in audio seems to revolve around perspectives. For example, you might have the perspective that a new line array, some extra subwoofers or a new console would be an important upgrade to really make a difference in the audio presentation. And you’re probably right. However, your ultimate boss — whether it’s a tour/show promoter, the board of directors at a venue or governing council at a house of worship — may have an entirely different perspective.
Read More »Maroon 5: Mixed for a “Lively” Crowd
Spoiler alert to Kevin Glendinning: You’re about to find out just how loud that screaming is.
“Right from the beginning, there’s this big reveal, and the crowd just starts screaming,” says Maroon 5’s monitor engineer Glendinning. “I haven’t measured it because I don’t want to know how loud it is.”
“It’s 108 dB of screaming — I’ve measured it,” says FOH engineer Jim Ebdon, in a separate interview.
Read More »The Warner Theatre, Washington, DC
The story of Washington DC’s Warner Theatre is one that could be repeated about dozens of theaters around the country that began as classic art deco movie palaces, which in a bygone age, hosted silent films and vaudeville performers. As the years continued, many of these fell to the wayside, yet a fortunate few — like the Warner Theatre — were reborn and restored to reflect their former glory.
Read More »Stereo: Localization, Imaging and Live Sound
Virtually everything about our pro audio world acknowledges the existence of multiple channels of audio and, most commonly, stereo channels (i.e., left and right). Nearly every piece of audio gear provides both stereo inputs and outputs. At concerts, there are almost always left and right speaker arrays. Essentially almost all music playback material is in stereo. This month, let’s take a look how we localize sound, and how that relates to the traditional use of the stereo configuration. We will consider stereo’s advantages, limitations, and place in the pro sound environment. We’ll also discuss how sound technicians can shape their mix to get the best overall results for the majority of the listening audience.
Read More »At 25, Riedel Looks Back – And Ahead
You only turn 25 once, and what Riedel Communications did to mark their quarter century in business was a doozy. The party itself took place at their headquarters in Wuppertal, Germany where 1,400 revelers joined in a celebration that included musical performances, high-wire acts, a robot band (playing heavy metal), outdoor whirlpools and a fire show.
Read More »Top 40 Rules of the Road
It’s been 10 years since PLSN and FRONT of HOUSE first published Bob Higgins’ “Top 40 Rules of the Road.” For those who didn’t frame (or at least laminate) the original Top 40 Rules (July 2003), here’s a second chance. —ed.
Industry veteran Bob Higgins has more than 30 years of experience in the touring industry as a video producer, director, editor, dancer, troublemaker, and problem solver. With the help of contributing minders K. Lipschutz, G. Jones, V. Jarvis, A. Kramer, R. Alvarez, W. Willoughby, and B. Riedling, he’s pieced together the following rules, gleaned from his own early mistakes, mistakes he’s seen along the way (with the shipping records as proof), eyewitness accounts, and road stories too numerous to mention. Please read carefully, you will be tested daily…
Read More »Stanford University Recreates Acoustics of Hagia Sophia at Bing Concert Hall
On Feb. 1, Stanford University’s performing arts presenter Stanford Live hosted a concert by the storied Cappella Romana vocal ensemble of Portland, OR. The ensemble’s name — meaning Roman Chapel — refers to the medieval Greek concept of the Roman oikoumene (inhabited world), which embraced Rome and Western Europe, as well as the Byzantine Empire of Constantinople (“New Rome”) and its Slavic commonwealth centered at Moscow. Recognized for its exploration of Eastern Orthodox vocal music, the ensemble’s performance at Stanford University’s Bing Concert Hall — titled Cappella Romana: From Constantinople to California — combined old-world Byzantine chants with the latest innovations in music technology from Stanford’s “Icons of Sound” project (http://iconsofsound.stanford.edu), to recreate the acoustics of Turkey’s legendary Hagia Sophia.
Read More »Que Audio DA04 and DA12
To prepare for this review, I visited Que Audio’s website and found out some interesting facts about the company and its products. First, Que Audio is owned by the Syncrotech Group, which is an Australian-owned group of professional audio companies that has been operating down under for more 30 years. When I read this info on the Que Audio site, I was quite impressed. Maybe because I happen to love Australia (and not for the shrimp), but also because 30 years is a long time to do anything in Australia, or anywhere else for that matter.
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