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Lorne Grabe “Souled” Out In St. Louis with Jill Scott

From theatrical to R&B to church revival, Jill Scott’s show has a little bit of everything

With Masque Sound providing the audio, Jill Scott’s audience heard every malleable murmur and every vociferous vocalization equally – and with great delight. The sell-out show was a powerhouse of great music and showmanship. Scott is far from what all too often passes for a pop star these days: She’s a woman of experience, talent and effectively and sincerely connects with the audience.

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Winnipeg’s Hottest Nightclub Will Make You Blush…

IET takes on a rider-friendly install on a budget

When it comes to a mecca for the hottest nightlife, Winnipeg probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind. But with the debut of Blush Ultraclub, its reputation is quickly changing. The sexy and sophisticated nightclub, which holds up to 1,000 patrons in its 19,000-square-foot space, is the result of the city’s downtown revitalization program and a multimillion-dollar renovation. The venue had been vacant for the past 10 years and its renaissance serves as the center of the downtown’s west end transformation. Its ideal location across from the MTS Centre attracts a crowd of clientele after concerts and sporting events. As part of Blush’s massive inception, Integrated Entertainment Technologies (IET) was awarded the project to install a new sound system that could provide smooth transitions between the club’s live entertainment and DJ-mixed dance music.

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How To Create An Industry

It is my experience as an observer of human nature that our temperament is never quite satisfied with what we have or what we easily acquire. While this is not an overly profound observation or one that will get me into the philosopher’s hall of fame, it is, nonetheless, a reoccurring theme in my life personally and professionally. For example, as much as I desire to give my children everything, it has been one of my lessons that they will have more appreciation for the things they receive if they are required to work for them.

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Unity Through Diversity

A friend of mine has a T-shirt that reads, “People say I have ADD, but they just don’t understand. Oh, look! A chicken!” It has become a kind of shorthand in my very nonlinear-thinking family. Kind of a warning that someone is about to go off in a seemingly totally unrelated direction. Now it only seems unrelated. Truth is that if you sit down and really analyze the situation, it is something like this: Something the other person said reminded me of something else, which reminded me that I had forgotten to do something I was supposed to do, which made me think of this thing I need to tell the other person. We used to just sound nuts. Now one of us will say, “there’s a chicken.” And the rest of us know we are about to go nonlinear.

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It’s a Console! It’s a Speedboat! It’s Both!

DiGiCo recently announced a new digital console, the SD7. This is not “just another digital console.” To understand why the introduction of the SD7 is significant, we have to first recognize that DiGiCo’s previous desks — the D5 Live, D1 Live, DS-00 and CS D5 — are already extremely advanced digital mixing systems. The D5 Live 56 boasts a 96-channel work surface split into sections of eight channels, each with an LCD touch screen. A companion DiGiRack stage interface includes 56 A/D and eight D/A converters, while a second DiGiRack resides next to the console and provides 56 external I/Os for inserts, effect returns, etc. Snapshot recall, MADI I/O and Opticore I/O are also furnished, making it easy for the D5 Live to support live multitrack recording.

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It Was A Good Year: Live Nation

Live Nation’s annual report came out earlier this year and from the looks of it, Madonna done good. The world’s largest live concert producer increased its revenues by 12.8 percent to $4.2 billion, a year-over-year increase of $473.3 million. Live Nation’s adjusted OIBDAN (operating income before depreciation and amortization, non-cash compensation expense) was $180.9 million, an increase of 15.9 percent, as a result of improved results in North American and international music and global theatre tours and productions. Operating income was $82.1 million, an increase of $49 million, or 148.0 percent.

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Word of Mouth

Brian
Well, Ken, we both know that there’s plenty of work coming up this time of year with all the festivals and fairs going on. It seems that every little town has some kind of festival each summer. Do you have any strategy to go after that kind of work? I mean, how do you even find out who is on the planning committee for the town’s annual strawberry festival?

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Distro Taps

I am going to flirt with disaster and show the licensed and unlicensed electricians/sound persons the basics of tapping feeder wires into venue switch boxes and subpanels. Those of you who do not have a professional license can at least understand what is happening, and what could happen if done incorrectly. So, if you think your ego trumps your unlicensed status, I want you to thoroughly understand people could die (including yourself), if done incorrectly.

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Too Much God?

As I sit here writing this piece, it occurs to me that I really should be writing an article like this prior to the holiday onslaught. By the time you read this it will be spring and most of us will be looking forward to the busy summer season. But it wasn’t until this past Christmas/Hanukkah season that I had the types of experiences I will be sharing with you here.

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QSC GX5 Power Amplifier

When I first heard that QSC was going to offer a “low cost” audio power amplifier, my first instinct was how much lower from the RMX models could they go? Then they mentioned that they will adopt the new PLX2 cosmetics and limit the recommended load impedance to 4-ohms and up, and a “great idea” light bulb lit up in my head. And when QSC management said the amplifier would suit MI users and “oldsters” like me, I knew something good was afoot.

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