Live music is the new record business. And Live Nation is the new Warner Brothers. Live sound has now become the lifeblood of the music industry, but what makes this shift unusual is that it has taken place during unprecedented economic strife.
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Thousands of San Francisco Bay Area locals spent the last weekend in August at Golden Gate Park relaxing on a bench beside Spreckels Lake, playing golf at the Golden Gate Municipal Golf Course or visiting the Steinhart Aquarium. Thousands more strolled through the gates at the second Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival to see any of the 68 or so musical acts that played throughout the weekend.
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I’ve been fortunate to be able to work with Stan Miller for almost 40 years. Every performer knows that the show’s production staff off stage is as crucial to a great presentation as the people on stage. My production organization has always been top flight and Stanley stands at the top of that esteemed list.
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He’s worked for John Denver, Johnny Cash and Stevie Wonder. He built the wall of speakers for Pink Floyd’s The Wall concerts. He provided sound for Bob Dylan when he performed at Zeppelin Field in Nuremberg, Germany. He’s also been called on by the likes of the Pope and the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
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Say what you will about the tired adage “everything’s bigger in Texas,” but there’s at least one man in the Lone Star State who has made it his life’s passion to keep it fresh. That man? Jerry Jones, the main brain (and wallet) behind the Dallas Cowboys. Those who work for him, or around him, call him “The Owner.” Football fans have other, sometimes colorful, names for him.
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The wireless thing has been an issue for a couple of years, and it has still not totally shaken out legally, but the live event audio world can count on a couple of things. A) When it comes to competing with the likes of Microsoft and Google we are going to lose, and, B) it will probably get worse before it gets better.
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This month we look at Mackie’s latest generation of powered loudspeakers, the HD series. Specifically, the HD1531 (there is also a HD1521). Mackie has been producing powered loudspeakers for more than a decade now. So I would expect these new speakers to be an improvement over past models, or less expensive, or both.
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(Editor’s Note: This Road Test is in a little different format than what we usually run, but it is not your typical Road Test either. We got this because one of our FOH/PAS loyalists knew the guys on tour with the band Saliva and they were using the board and he got a chance to play with it in a real gig situation. Forcing it into our “standard” format just seemed to suck the life out of it. Open your mind… Oh and if you want to HEAR it, Mical has posted a video of a song from a Saliva show on ProAudioSpace.com.)
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As we muddle through the next few years, we are going to see a lot of anniversaries. We are 40 years out from the Summer of Love and the real beginnings of the rock sound business. And some companies are trumpeting their pedigrees from their various rooftops, while others just get up, load the truck and continue to do what they’ve done for decades. We’ll lump Scorpio Sound of West Bridgewater, Mass. in with the latter category, even though their pedigree is worth trumpeting.
Read More »Last month we talked about knowing your sound system, understanding the signal flow and how the system components interact with each other. Once you have wrapped your head (and ears) around how sound travels through your system, you will find that troubleshooting the various components of that system becomes a relatively easy endeavor.
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Being a weekend warrior for the last 15 years has generated many crazy stories, but this one tops them all. The itinerary I received from the production company stated “six piece band, company party, 13th floor of the … hotel, sound check @ 6:00 p.m.” My wife of 27 years and I carry a one-ton rig in a utility trailer that I pull with my day-to-day AV install company truck. We pull up to the hotel at 2:30 p.m. and begin questioning the staff as to where to load in.
Read More »One of the more difficult facets of live sound is managing soundchecks. Most musicians will moan about how they don’t want to be bothered with a sound check, and in the next breath they’ll complain that their monitor mixes weren’t perfect at the start of the show.
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