KISSIMMEE, FL — For any sound crew, outdoor music programs are tough enough, as they require extra care to avoid wind, condensation and the unavoidable issue of something being dropped at the most inopportune time—usually when changing the setups between the opening and main acts. But Ted Morgan, pictured here, and his crew were able to run the show smoothly, and his gear, including products from Lectrosonics, survived some serious abuse. Part of an outreach program designed to get the area’s youth involved in positive activities, the Word Out Festival Battle of the Bands saw 15 bands from Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina compete for top honors. Orlando, Fla.-based Total Entertainment Productions provided live sound reinforcement for the event, and to help streamline the process of rotating the 15 competing acts in timely fashion, Lectrosonics wireless equipment was placed into service, as Ted Morgan, the firm’s owner and FOH engineer explained.
“To help expedite changeovers, the musicians simply carried their guitars and basses onto the stage and plugged into the existing amps that were supplied, while the drum sets were rotated twice during the event,” Morgan said. “We equipped the guitarists and bassists with Lectrosonics UM400a UHF beltpack transmitters with MI39ARA cables and, for the vocalists, we used Lectrosonics UT400 handheld microphone transmitters with the VMS Super Cardioid capsules. We used 10 UT400s and four UM400as for the event, so we were able to prep one act while another was performing. On the receiving end, we had three Lectrosonics Venue Series receiver systems—each fully stocked with the company’s VRT modules for a total of 18 channels. Since we required only 14 channels for this event, the Venue system provided us with four backup channels for safe measure.”
Morgan noted the advantages of Lectrosonics’ Digital Hybrid Wireless technology. “The Lectrosonics equipment has the most natural, musical sound quality I’ve ever encountered in wireless equipment. Equally important, the gear is really easy to set up when it comes to locating open frequencies. With a single press of a button, the SmartTune feature finds an open frequency. During setup, we had all fourteen channels set up and ready in a matter of less than fifteen minutes. Some of my crew is a bit inexperienced when it comes to wireless mics, so the ease of use that the Lectrosonics gear provides went a long way.”
Morgan also credited Lectrosonics’ build quality. “Lectrosonics gear is built like a tank,” he said, “and we really benefited from that quality on this project. At one point, the lead vocalist for Naked Snake did a stage dive into the frenzied crowd. He ended up losing his UT400 and we were unable to retrieve it until about four songs later, so when he got back on stage, we handed him a backup unit. At the end of the set, we were able to retrieve the mic, which had been buried in the dirt. We took it back on stage, cleaned it up with Windex and paper towels and placed it back into service on the next set. When he dropped the mic, we assumed it was a lost cause. We were all shocked to discover that it still worked perfectly.”
Also, Morgan added, “a vocalist for another band climbed the truss during his performance and dropped the mic onto the stage from roughly fifteen feet up. When he came down off the truss, he picked up the mic and continued using it. Other than a minor cosmetic ding, it kept working as if nothing happened.”
Looking back on the Word Out Festival Battle of the Bands, Morgan offered this closing thought. “Thanks in large part to the Lectrosonics gear, this gig went really well. Lectrosonics builds wonderful equipment that sounds great, is easy to use, and is built to take abuse. I really wasn’t certain how it would hold up under the conditions we had for this event, but it performed flawlessly.”
For more information, please visit www.totalentertainmentpro.com.
