Skip to content

Articles

A Culture of Cheating?

Audio, music, baseball (New York Yankees) and girls are pretty much all I think about and not necessarily in that order. Well, not really girls since I’m married, but something like it. Believe me, I’m not trying to imply that I’m shallow…OK, I’m a superficial scum, so sue me, but they do all go together, although maybe not in this article. So, just for expediency, if I forget about the girls, it leaves audio, music and baseball. That brings to mind the steroid scandal of 2007, and boy does that upset me! Not because of the obvious reasons, such as drug use or that George Mitchell is the director of the Boston Red Sox and not one Red Sox player was named in his report. Nope. The cause of my distress is that the steroid scandal makes me think of politics, technology and ethics, and that gets in the way of my important thoughts about audio, music, baseball and girls (or in my case, my wife). 

Read More »

What Have YOU DONE To CHANGE Someone’s Life Lately?

Don’t know why really, but the coverage in this issue of the recent Led Zeppelin show caused a bit of an “I remember when” kind of nostalgia among most everyone I talked to about it. Love ‘em (me) or hate ‘em (my wife), you could not ignore them. Yes, they were horrendous live at times, but just like the generation of rockers who came up in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s and point to seeing Elvis or The Beatles as their “I wanna play guitar” moment, an awful lot of next-generation players point to Zep as their reason for doing what they do. 

Read More »

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

One of the issues that sound engineers deal with on a daily basis is that of hearing conservation. In the United States, advocates for employee safety such as OSHA  (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, have set very specific guidelines for avoiding hearing loss due to exposure to loud noise. And let’s face it: Many sound engineers work under constant conditions of “loud noise.” Research by such organizations has produced a plethora of data regarding hearing conservation, some of which refer to the amount of time a person can be subjected to loud noise without damaging their hearing.

Read More »

Something Festive in the Air

It used to be that if you wanted a good ol’ roll-in-the-mud with music over a long weekend, you needed to catch a flight to Europe. America, the country that brought you Woodstock and Farm Aid, quickly ceded the title of home of the multi-day music festival to the Old Country.

Read More »

Babysitting the Band

Ken
Hey Brian, one of my steady clients is developing a young act that has some potential.  Problem is, their backing tracks are bad and they don’t know how to use the wireless gear they have purchased or borrowed from me. I get at least one call each day when they are rehearsing to talk them through some fairly basic function. How much do I educate my clients and hold their hands for free? Bear in mind that they are always nice and appreciative.

Read More »

Lab.gruppen/TC Group’s Tim Chapman

BUSINESS

Who: Tim Chapman, head of marketing, Lab.gruppen
 
Where: Kungsbacka, Sweden (just south of Gothenburg).

When founded: Lab.gruppen was founded in 1979; since 2002, it has been part of the TC Group.

What: Creating sound reinforcement products for the professional audio industry — designs and manufacturers power applications and powered loudspeaker management systems.

Read More »

Speaker Cables — You Get What You Pay For

Yeah, we all have a techno-ignorant past that we have to bear, especially when it comes to speaker cables. I remember when speaker cable for the P.A. system was that clear plastic stuff with copper and nickel/copper wires inside that we bought innocently at some retail store. Eventually, we realized that cheap is as cheap does, and better speaker wire leads to a listenable improvement in sound quality. This column is intended to dispel some myths about speaker cabling and to help you think about the right way to choose high-power handling cables.

Read More »

Hired Gun for God

When I think of worship sound, I generally put this end of the biz into two categories. First, there is the owner-operator guy like me, who installs systems in small churches and mixing services during the week or on the weekends. Then there is the large regional or national company that has the resources and ability to install large complex systems into any church or large venue.

Read More »

JTS Microphones

As long as I have been in the sound biz, I have been looking for a better microphone. Not because I have been dissatisfied with the standard models most commonly used, but because I started my career in music as a singer. And, as a singer, I am acutely aware how a mic can color one’s voice. Well, if a microphone can make a voice sound different, then can’t it make an instrument sound different? Of course, the answer is yes and, there-fore, my never-ending quest to find a better (or at least different) microphone.

Read More »

Allen & Heath iLive Digital Mixing System

With the rapid move toward digital mixing in the live arena, it may seem to some that Allen & Heath is late to the party. But keep in mind that this company put out its first digital mixer almost a decade ago — a small-powered rig called the ICON — that is still being used for smaller applications today. The iLive is a huge jump forward and moves A&H firmly into the fray, giving them a fighting chance in the digital mixing market.

Read More »

Like Father, Like Son

When the father-son team of Jaygarick and Joe Stewart decided to go into business together, there was no doubt who was going to get the title of president, Jay jokes. At the same time, the duo wasn’t hung up on titles back then, and they are not now. After all, Dad is Dad.

Read More »

A Thundering Rainbow?

Rainbow Production Services and Thunder Audio Team Up for Dane Cook’s Rough Around the Edges Tour

When I got the call asking me to go out and cover a tour by a
comedian named Dane Cook, I had two reactions. The first was, “Who the hell is Dane Cook.” And the second was, “It’s one guy and a mic. How hard can it be?” I was in for an education on both counts.

Read More »