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You Want Structure?

A colleague of mine has recently discovered the joys of mixing Front of House without the compulsory addition of a 31-band graphic equalizer across his main left and right output, and is now espousing his newfound technique as though it were a revolutionary breakthrough in live sound reinforcement. While (in theory) it is true that the sound is better without this extra piece of outboard gear, the idea is neither revolutionary nor new, and for all of those who find this approach intriguing, may I suggest that you not unscrew the equalizer from your rack just yet?

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Pab Boothroyd

How many times have you encountered a lead singer with an attitude? Like he consistently comes to work with the right attitude each day, excels at his job and seems to have a sense of just being a regular guy on and off the stage? Well, that's Paul McCartney, the guy Pablo Boothroyd mixes for each night.

Pab will tell you it is business as usual to record each sound check and each show for every stop on a Paul McCartney tour. This time, the job also entailed sending two songs live, as they happened, to a couple of astronauts for a morning wake-up call in space. A Paul McCartney tour also usually results in a live CD and a tour DVD, as well as some goodies used for Internet content. When it comes to the art of the concert tour and everything that surrounds it, and I mean everything, Paul McCartney is simply one of the best to work for out there and he just keeps on doing it better and better. Pab and I each pulled up a road case and sat down for a look-see at the Front of House position used on the 11-week Paul McCartney US tour.

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Rick's Cabaret NYC

It's September 21, 2005, and Tim Hannum finds himself among the more than 500 patrons at the opening of one of the most anticipated adult entertainment spots (or "gentlemen's clubs") in Manhattan. Located in the former Paradise Club spot, the building alone cost $7.6 million, plus another $3 million to make it pole-worthy, and it's in the desirable spot between Madison Square Garden and the Empire State Building. It's the 10th club opened by Rick's, a publicly-traded company.

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What's It All About?

Don't you just hate it when I use this limited amount of space to wax philosophical instead of writing about something cool like gear or new tech? I can hear the groans already. "Oh crap, here he goes again. Can he please just get to the f'ing point? Forget it, maybe I'll just turn to the FOH Interview or the Road Tests."

Sorry, but this is what happens when I actually have a little time to think. A bunch of stuff has gone down in the past couple of months that may seem unrelated, but–at least in my twisted mind–adds up to an important point.

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A Branded Business

Viewers of Rock Star: INXS, the reality show that sought to find a new lead singer for the vocally-decapitated Australian rock band, were getting a little more reality than they might have bargained for. Or a little less.

On the other hand, John Gott had carved out a great niche for himself and should be the envy of every FOH mixer over the age of 30: After mixing live sound for artists including Pat Benatar and the Talking Heads in the 1970s, he combined a technical gift with an entrepreneur's eye to create a few new live sound and lighting products, one of which eventually became SLS Loudspeakers.

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SPL Computation

One of the things that still aggravates me are questions about loudness that are formatted like; "How many ampli- fier watts per person are needed for a rock 'n' roll show?" And the oft-repeated, "How many speakers do I need for a room of this size?" While the innocent are allowed to ask such questions, I find it disconcerting to hear experienced sound people asking the very same questions. This Theory & Practice column shall attempt to cover the basics on estimating the Sound Pressure Levels provided and–the reverse–to estimate the amount of gear need to achieve a desired SPL.

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What's That Stomping Sound?

One of the most unusual theatre events you'll ever experience is Stomp, a percussion-driven ensemble piece with a great sense of fun and playfulness that has been delighting audiences in Manhattan's East Village for nearly 12 years. During the various acts, eight performers play all manner of objects as instruments– brooms, tubes, lighters, candy boxes, metal objects, poles, pipes, customized percussion kits, even their own bodies. They toss in everything, including four kitchen sinks.

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The Latest and Greatest

Dear Anklebiters,

I operate a sound company that is currently healthy and making money. My concern, however, is that sound reinforcement technology is moving too fast to keep up with. How can I compete in this rapidly changing market?

Thanks,

Pete Hampton, Spokane, WA

Jamie: Pete, the first thing to remember is: You do not need to have every new toy and gizmo in your arsenal to be competitive. You already have a clientele, and the fact that you are making money tells me that you are satisfying your clients. Right? But is it a good idea to keep up on tech and equipment trends, and of course, the latest and greatest innovations out there. Look, dude, you're already reading FOH. Need I say more? Paul, what do you think?

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The Rats Go to "Mousetown" to Explore Lampyland

Why in the heck would Soundies go to LDI? Hellooooo? "Lighting Dimension International," oh boy! Come on, sound people, let's go listen to the lights! You must be joking. After the fifth person asked me, I began to wonder a bit and decided to do some research. Well, actually, I just walked over and asked Jon Rat what the deal was. Turns out that unlike the "real" audio trade shows, these Lampies came up with the idea of setting up a round robin of full-blown sound systems on actual stages all pointed to a central area. Over the course of three hours, you can hear each of the six stages do a 30-minute presentation showing why they are the magic solution to all that is sound.

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Star-Studded Parnelli Honors Industry's Best

"Welcome to the 5th Annual Parnelli Awards," said PLSN and FOH publisher and Parnelli Award dinner host Terry Lowe. And thus began LDI/ETS convention's most anticipated event. Held this year at the beautiful Rosen Centre, the industry's legends, stars, up-and-comers and likely a few ne'er-do-wells came to honor this year's top performers in 18 categories. Additionally, highlights included bestowing achievement awards on Patrick Stansfield and Bruce Jackson.

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Non-Fatal Sound Defense

While riding the train one day in November, I came across an item reported by the News Wire Service and, tucked away in the New York Daily News. The headline over the following article read: "Ship's hi-tech noise turned away pirates."

MIAMI-The crew of a luxury cruise ship used a military-style sonic weapon that blasts beams of ear-splitting noise to ward off a shocking attack over the weekend by a gang of pirates off Africa, the Seabourn Cruise Line revealed yesterday.

The ship, the Seabourn Spirit, had a Long Range Acoustic Device installed to defend itself, said Bruce Good, a company spokesman. The Spirit was 100 miles off Somalia when pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns as they tried to get on board.

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