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‘Tis the Season

If you are a regular reader of “Sound Sanctuary” then you have probably read my holiday primers before. If this is the first time, I will give you the outline. Whether you mix at one house of worship or a number of them, the holiday season can offer more challenges than any other time of the year. Each season, I put together a list of my advice, my rules and anything else I have learned during the previous year. It is my hope that this information will help you navigate (in a sane manner) though the holiday season.

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Illustration by Andy Au

Creative Accounting

Three guys are traveling together, and they stop at a hotel to spend the night. To save money, they decide to rent only one room, and they ask the hotel clerk what the price of the room is for the night. Upon learning that the room is $30 for the night, they each chip in $10 and head for the room.

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Black Friday for Unlicensed Wireless

There are many "pro-sumers" still using old 700 MHz wireless microphones even though it's been illegal for 18 months. Their attitude is: "If my mics still work, who's going to come along and stop me?" Like using Propofol for a sleep aid, it's fine until someone gets hurt. New 700 MHz services haven't activated many places, and when they are, they won't immediately affect every TV channel. But when they hit, 700 MHz mics will be "squashed like a bug," as Shure's Tim Vear says. And fined like a rock star.

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Show Report: 131st AES Convention

The Audio Engineering Society met Oct. 21-23 at New York City's I.M. Pei-designed Javits Center for the 131st AES Convention. Though MTA construction proved an eyesore, if not an inconvenience, it will extend the #7 IRT Flushing Line, providing Grand Central and Times Square commuters subway access to Javits, by 2012.

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Broadway Design: The Book of Mormon

Broadway musical The Book of Mormon was conceived in 2003 while South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were meeting with friend and producer Scott Rudin (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut) in Manhattan. Noting the similarity between Team America's marionettes and Avenue Q's puppets, Rudin suggested they see Robert Lopez' Broadway musical. Afterwards they discovered a shared interest in both musical theater and Mormonism. After years of collaboration and workshops, they went straight to Broadway, with rehearsals and previews each lasting less than a month before opening March 24 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on 49th Street.

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