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Strike Over, Shows on Broadway Resume
ThE NEws MagazinE For LivE Sound
DECEMBER 2007 Vol. 6 No. 3
Parnelli Awards Gala Huge Success
NEW YORK — Late Wednesday, Nov. 28, IATSE Local One, which represents Broadway
stagehands, and the League of American Theaters, whose members own the majority of
Broadway theatres, came to an agreement for a new contract governing stagehand labor
on Broadway. Both sides declared the contract a success, with important gains for both the
stagehands and producers. The contract has not been released yet and still needs to be
ratified by the Union membership before
it can be officially adopted, but all signs
point to that happening. All shows were
Not Just Another
up and running for curtain on the eveTribute Band
ning of Thursday, Nov. 29.
Coming in to negotiations, the producers were seeking to make massive
changes to the contract terms that govern how many stagehands need to be
hired during the load-in process, which
the producers have repeatedly termed
“lengthy,” and govern work rules during the run of the show, in which the
producers have accused the union of
continued on page 6
“featherbedding.”
No, we haven’t turned into a lampie
magazine, but the tribute band Think
Floyd has been garnering praise and
working at a level most original bands
never reach — they opened for Roger
Waters, yes, that Roger Waters. So,
when we interviewed their FOH mixer
(over the strenuous objections of Trip
Khalif, who doesn’t believe any Floyd
mixer should ever speak to the press
— it’s a joke, Trip! A joke, for goodness’
sake!), we figured they deserved a shot
on the cover. To find out what it’s like to
live-mix entire Floyd albums, including
the panning, effects and theatrics, turn
to page 14.
Shure Files Complaint Against
Chinese Counterfeiters
ORLANDO, FL — There’s a reason Tony Bennett is smiling — his mixer Tom Young just won the
2007 Parnelli Award for FOH Mixer of the Year. But he wasn’t the only backstage hero honored at the
Parnelli Awards gala on Friday, Nov. 16, at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando, Fla. The hundreds in attendance constituted a Who’s Who of players in the live event industry, and they all rose to their feet in
honor of Lifetime Achievement award winner Gerry Stickells and Audio Innovator award winner Bob
Heil. More stars paid their respects to their crews, too, with members of Velvet Revolver, the Steve
Miller Band, Queen and Jimi Hendrix’s band offering their kudos via video. For the story on the awards
and a full list of winners, check out page 18.
Bridge School Benefit Demands Big Sound for Acoustic Show
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA — Hosted by Neil Young, the annual Bridge School Benefit concerts are unique in
one important respect: no backline amplifiers are allowed on stage. As in previous years, organizers of this
ultimate unplugged concert series held at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., turned to
Hayward-based Sound On Stage for an L-ACOUSTICS loudspeaker system to reinforce the acoustic sets of
an eclectic lineup of artists including Metallica, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tom Waits fronting the Kronos Quartet, John
continued on page 7
Mayer and, of course, Neil Young.
NILES, IL — Earlier this year, Shure
Incorporated worked closely with Chinese customs to seize a large quantity of
counterfeit Shure microphones that were
destined for Indonesia. The investigation
by Shure revealed that the Shen Qiao
Xing Trading Company, which is based in
Shenzhen City, was exporting this large
shipment of counterfeit microphones.
Subsequently, Shure filed a civil complaint
for trademark infringement in the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court against
the exporter; judgment is pending.
“This is an industry-wide problem…
not just a Shure problem, that we simply
will not tolerate,” said Sandy LaMantia,
president and CEO of Shure. “For our part,
we are committed to fighting it so that our
customers are confident every time they
purchase a product bearing the Shure
name.”
Shure has also been successfully
conducting similar operations in Europe,
South America, the Middle East, Africa and
the United States.
“We encourage our customers to only
purchase our products from authorized
Shure dealers, whether they’re making an
in-store purchase or buying from an online seller,” added LaMantia.
24
26
31
Cool Tools
Our annual gallery of cool audio tools
for your holiday wish list.
Road Tests
BBE serves up its new BBE DS24 speaker
processor, and we take a look at the
Sensaphonics 3DAA Personal Monitors.
Theory and Practice
This month, we sound off on gates.
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DECEMBER
2007, Vol. 6.3
FOH Interview
Feature
Features
18 Parnelli Awards Coverage
31 Theory & Practice
24 Cool Tools
32 The Biz
The 7th Annual Parnelli Awards celebrate
the best in our industry.
14
Go to the wall with Think Floyd and find out what it’s
like to mix sound for rock legends — well, sort of.
We put together a holiday wish list of musthave gear — perfect for hanging on the
refrigerator for a subtle hint.
26 Road Tests
We get up close and personal with
Sensaphonics 3DAA Personal Monitors
and BBE’s DS 24 Speaker Processor.
30 Regional Slants
This month, we take you to the gates of hell,
I mean audio.
Extended stay artists = ka-ching! The impact
of Manilow and Dion on the concert biz.
33 Anklebiters
When it comes to your business, it’s all about
location, location, location.
36 FOH-At-Large
Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll — we get real
about life on the road.
North Carolina’s SE Systems went from good
ol’ boys to the big time.
Installations
Departments
32 Vital Stats
What is hip? Hear Technologies.
Nate Duran Photography
Columns
28 Bleeding Edge
We said we’d shush about wireless audio
technology. Well, we lied.
31 Sound Sanctuary
20
How to employ a godly tech for house of
worship installs.
2 Feedback
4 Editor’s Note
5 News
8 International News
9 New Gear
11 On the Move
12 Showtime
33 In the Trenches
Oaks Christian High School’s football team kicks butt
— so does the school’s new sound system.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU
We would like to take this opportunity to recognize the generous sponsors
PRODUCTION
SPONSORS
GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS
who made the Seventh Annual Parnelli Awards such a special event. We couldn’t have done it without you!
All Staging
Unlimited
Ariel Rigging
HIGH-DEFINITION TELEVISION
Editor’s Note
By BillEvans
Mixing with the
Wrong Appendage
Publisher
Terry Lowe
[email protected]
Editor
Bill Evans
[email protected]
Managing Editor
Geri Jeter
[email protected]
Associate Editor
Breanne George
[email protected]
L
ast weekend — post turkey/triptophan-induced stupor — I had
the absolute pleasure of going
to a Tony Bennett show here in Las Vegas that was mixed by recent Parnelli
award winner Tom Young. After the
show, he took us backstage to meet
the boss (not something I generally
go for, but it was not like it was some
wannabe kiddie celeb. Tony Bennett is
a f*&%ing legend) and then, cigar and
diet coke in hand at the bar, my wife
and I hung out with Tom and just shot
the shit for a good hour or so.
We talked about gear and gigs
and the biz and family and a bunch
of other stuff, but one thing he said
in passing really struck a chord. Talking about great musicians and how
they make our jobs as mixers easier,
more fun and more fulfilling he said,
“Being an accompanist is an art.” And
he is so right. There are a lot of really great musicians out there, but
relatively few who can follow a singer
and bring something beautiful to the
table without getting in the way. You
have to do more than hear the singer,
you must listen. Hearing you do with
your ears. Listening requires using
your mind and soul.
It may have stuck with me because
of two other recent events. One was
the presentation of the Parnelli Audio
Innovator award to Bob Heil, an absolute pioneer in the world of live audio,
who attributes his success to the fact
that he is a good listener and who has
been quoted for years as saying that
“Hearing is a physical process. Listening is a mental process.”
It drove home the fact that everyone I really respect in this business
knows how to listen. That includes musicians, engineers, company owners
and, hell, even those lowly lampies.
In contrast was another recent
event where a number of sound systems from different manufacturers
were set up in the same location and
demos were conducted in a kind of
round-robin format. I had heard every
system out there except one in other
settings, so I had some idea of what to
expect. But what I expected was not
what I got. What I got, unfortunately,
was one big, loud, muddy mess.
Systems that I like a lot sounded
marginal. Systems that I merely like
sounded just plain bad. What was the
problem? Not only were most of the
engineers — with perhaps one exception — not listening (that process that
requires the use of the mind and soul),
I don’t even think they were hearing.
Hearing requires the use of the ears,
and as best as I can tell, most of them
were hearing — and mixing — with
another body part that lies south of
the waistline.
Does a demo really need to be
pushed to 110 dB? How much bass
is enough for a freaking blues band?
When the whole parking lot starts to
hum, is that enough? When a system
that costs more than many people
spend on a home reminds you of that
asswipe in the car with the tinted windows and bling wheels that pulls up
next to you at the stoplight and shakes
YOUR entire car with the bass from HIS
system, is that a good thing?
I know some of us, especially those
of the male persuasion, can get pretty
uber-competitive, and everyone there
wanted to show what their system
could do. But this event turned into
one messy “mine’s bigger than yours”
throwdown. And the winner is?
No one.
Technical Editor
Mark Amundson
[email protected]
Contributing Writers
Jerry Cobb, Brian Cassell,
Dan Daley, Jamie Rio,
Steve LaCerra, Nort Johnson,
David John Farinella,
Ted Leamy, Baker Lee,
Bryan Reesman, Tony Mah
Photographer
Steve Jennings
Art Director
Garret Petrov
[email protected]
Production Manager
Linda Evans
[email protected]
Graphic Designers
Crystal Franklin
[email protected]
David Alan
[email protected]
Web Master
Josh Harris
[email protected]
National Sales Manager
Dan Hernandez
[email protected]
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Gregory Gallardo
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William Hamilton Vanyo
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Front Of House (ISSN 1549-831X) Volume 6 Number
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DECEMBER 2007
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News
Audio Praised at Festival of Lights
The stage and rig for the Festival of Lights
TORONTO — ACS Productions Sound and
Lighting Inc. of Ontario, Canada, recently deployed its new M.LINE compact line array rig
for Toronto’s version of the worldwide Senhora de Luz (or Lady of Lights) festival.
Working with local provider 5 Star Productions, the two companies teamed up for
the four-day event. Steve Ferreira of 5 Star
Productions said it was his first experience
with the ACS M.LINE rig. “We’ve been doing
this celebration about eight years,” he says.
“What’s great is that it’s free to the public and
goes on for about four days. St. Matthews
Church throws the event for the parish every
year, but this is the first year we decided to
use a line array system to reach all in attendance.”
He continues, “I contacted Carlos Costa at
ACS, and he helped me put together the right
rig for the festival. Our event coordinators
were beyond impressed with the results of
the show and have confidently booked next
year’s festival with the same setup.”
Costa provided 5 Star Productions with a
total of 18 M.LINE cells for the show. With nine
boxes per side, Ferreira was working with 14
M90s and four M120s. “I also supplied Steve a
Midas Verona 36-channel console, with a DBX
482 drive rack and Crown 3600s to power the
whole system. It was truly amazing to see
how such a small box could cover an outdoor
event so well,” says Costa.
A major part of the decision to purchase
the M.LINE Array was the short amount of time
it takes to set up. “Not only does it sound phenomenal,” Costa explains, “but you can’t beat
the price, you can’t beat the rigging and you
definitely can’t beat the quality for the price.
Period. As soon as the stage was set up, it took
about 15 minutes to fly the whole array for this
event. I can’t do that with any other rig. It was
absolutely mind blowing on how little time
was spent in getting this ready for the show.”
Liberato “Lee” Correia, sound engineer and
event photographer for ACS, has been contacted by surrounding production companies
regarding the system. “It’s interesting, other
people in the industry have contacted us to
talk about how well the concert was dialed in
and how great all the gigs have sounded since
we’ve been using this line array system for production. After the Lady of Lights, the M.LINE
really started generating a lot of interest.”
Bull Durham Blues
Festival Jams Out
DURHAM, NC — Presented by the St.
Joseph’s Historic Foundation Inc., the 20th
annual Bull Durham Blues Festival was held at
the historic Durham Athletic Park in downtown
Durham and featured a lineup of blues and
R&B legends, including Buddy Guy, Booker T. &
The MGs, Percy Sledge, Shemekiah Copeland,
Big Bill Morganfield (Muddy Waters’ son), Betty
Pride and a host of North Carolina blues artists.
According to Raleigh Music Brokerage’s
Cooper Cannady, a longtime audio provider for
the festival, “The weather was excellent, and on
Friday night, they set a record for attendance
with 12,800 people filling the entire park. The
night before, they had an excellent tribute
show at another venue celebrating the 20th
year of the festival, which honored Piedmont
and Carolina blues legends John Dee Holman,
Joe Thompson and the late Etta Baker.”
Asked about the audio challenges for this
year’s blues and roots music get-together,
Cannady describes one significant change:
“We had been talking to the client about
reconsidering everything, a new look, new
stage, everything. After a course of three years,
we finally got them into a mobile stage, which
tightened up the sightlines, gave us more
room and brought the visual focus into the
stage. And with that stage, we could fly line
arrays without having them look obtrusive. It
gave us a nice clean look, with excellent access, and the company we used for the mobile
stage, Main Stage, did a terrific job.”
To provide maximum audio quality and
coverage from the front to the back of the
crowd, RMB flew nine Martin Audio W8LC
compact line arrays.
As Cooper explains, “We really needed coverage from 15 feet in front of the stage at the
barricade lip to 400 feet back, and we didn’t
even need to go that far because we wanted to
keep it enclosed in the park. Nine W8LCs gave
us a very comfortable level, and everywhere
you walked, the coverage was absolutely seamless. It really sounded exceptional, all the way to
400 feet back within the park without any of the
concert sound going into the neighborhood,
which was important. The nice part was that the
sound stayed on the field and all the seats.”
In addition to six Martin Audio W8S subs
a side, LE700 biamped wedges and S18 drum
subs, the sound system consisted of Yamaha
M7CL consoles for front of house and monitoring, Lab.gruppen and Chevin Research amps,
BSS Minidrives and a microphone complement that included Shure UHF wireless with
Beta 87 capsules, Shure Beyer, Sennheiser,
Crown and AKG.
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2007 DECEMBER
News
Tent Theatres Upgrade Permanent Sound
A band performs inside the Cape Cod Melody Tent.
COHASSET and HYANNIS, MA — The
South Shore Music Circus and its sister
venue, the Cape Cod Melody Tent, stand
tall as the last two continuously operating
in-the-round tent theatres in the U.S. Meyer
Sound M’elodie ultracompact high-power
curvilinear array loudspeakers were recently installed at both historic venues.
“These tents might be the hardest rooms
in the country in which to achieve quality
sound,” says Dave Wentling, production manager for the South Shore
Music Circus. “You’re working in
the round, in a reflective vinyl tent.
There’s a cement floor and 2,300 hard
parabolic curves — the seat backs
— aimed right back at the stage during sound check. Part of my job is to
help engineers deal with these challenges, and it was frustrating until we
acquired the new M’elodie system.
In-the-round live concerts are a
relatively new concept, originating
with 360-degree venues built for theatrical productions. Ever since English
progressive rock group Yes held the
first in-the-round concert in the mid
1970s, sound designers and engineers
such as Lars Brogaard and Francois
Desjardin have worked through significant acoustical challenges to evolve
this concept into a working success.
Now, a number of high-profile
artists, including Rod Stewart, Celine
Dion and comedian Dane Cook, have
all performed in-the-round using
Meyer Sound equipment.
“For years, I’ve recommended six shortthrow line arrays, preferably positioned in a
circle around the stage, to give us uniform
coverage and allow alternating left-right-left
feeds for stereo imaging,” says Wentling. This
year, Wentling got his wish after teaming
up with Bill Blaine, head of the new WHB
Concert Production in Hampstead, N.H., to
determine potential loudspeaker solutions.
After visiting Meyer Sound factory in
Berkeley, Calif., and consulting with its Design Services team, Wentling was convinced
that the M’elodie systems, combined with
Meyer Sound’s innovative digital audio processing, would provide the power and clarity
needed for the historic music tents.
WHB installed both systems before the
opening of the 2007 summer season. “It’s the
best thing that has ever happened to this
venue,” says Wentling. “It gives us smooth
transitions for seamless coverage, which is
something we’d never seen the likes of in
here before.
Wentling used Meyer Sound’s MAPP
Online Pro acoustical prediction program
to determine proper positioning of the
six M’elodie arrays. A Galileo loudspeaker
management system splits the signal, feeding each six-cabinet array into three zones:
three cabinets to cover the rear of the venue,
two to cover the middle and one cabinet for
downfill. Wentling also sets delays in Galileo
to obtain a cardioid coverage pattern from
four flown 600-HP compact high-power
subwoofers.
“The main challenge in both venues was creating good, uniform sound
throughout the tent, and also containing
the sound, the bass in particular, so as not
to disturb the neighbors,” says Blaine. “The
Meyer system allows us to successfully attain both of those goals.
Wentling is pleased to see an end to
the venues’ ongoing sonic difficulties.
“We had constant problems with sound
washing back on stage and creating feedback,” he says. “Now that the vertical
coverage is so tight and uniform, the
feedback problems are gone. And that’s
even with the bottom M’elodie pointed
almost straight down at the first row,
which we do because there’s no room
for fill on the stage lip.
The air absorption compensation filtering provided by the Galileo system has also
proved valuable to Wentling when switching from an afternoon sound check to an
evening show in the non-air-conditioned
South Shore Music Circus. “It’s hot and humid in the room for sound check, but
both temperature and humidity go way
down for the evening shows,” he says. “The
Galileo allows me to re-equalize the room
to compensate for those changes.”
Audio systems for both tents are largely limited to the Meyer Sound “stacks and
racks,” as most acts tour with their own FOH
gear. For those that do not, WHB Concert
Production provides two Yamaha PM5D consoles that shuttle between the two venues
for FOH and monitor duties.
Established in 1950, South Shore Playhouse Associates (of which both “tents” are
part) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to encouraging and supporting arts,
cultural and educational organizations
throughout the communities of the South
Shore and Cape Cod. Since its inception,
the association has donated more than
$2 million to arts education programs in the
region.
Strike Over, Shows on Broadway Resume
continued from cover
By some estimates, the producers were
looking for a 38% cut in jobs and wages.
Furthermore, although the producers
seemed shocked that the Union would
strike, they had been quietly building up
a $20 million defense fund by directing to
the fund a few cents from each ticket sold.
It takes a long time to build up $20 million a
few pennies at a time. The producers’ requested
cuts, combined with their combative attitude
toward negotiations (accusing the union of
“featherbedding” means corruption at worst,
and laziness at best), and a public misinformation campaign (at least one paper disparagingly
— and erroneously — reported that the average stagehand salary was $150,000, due to info
from producers) led the Union to believe it was
DECEMBER 2007
under attack, and the only way to protect its
members was to strike. So, on Nov. 10, it did, for
the first time in its 121-year history.
In a statement released on Nov. 11,
James J. Claffey Jr., the president of Local
One, apologized for the disruption of the
theatre schedule, but stated, “Broadway is a
billion dollar a year industry and has never
been more profitable than now. Cuts in our
jobs and wages will never result in a cut in
ticket prices to benefit the public, but only
in an increase in the profits for producers.
Unlike the producers, we are not fighting
for our second or third homes; we are fighting to keep the one that we have. We ask for
your understanding in our efforts to defend
ourselves and protect our families.”
To cut to the heart of the dispute, it helps
to take a closer look at what divided the Union
and the League as negotiations broke down:
the load-in period and work rules during the
run of a show.
The League has called the load-in period
“lengthy” and wishes to reduce the number
of stagehands called. While it’s hard to get
exact numbers on approximately how long a
load-in and tech period goes (specific numbers change on a show-to-show basis, and I
couldn’t get a response from the League or
the Union — plus, it doesn’t seem as if anyone else tracks it), talking with stagehands
and designers who have worked on Broadway, you would be hard-pressed to find a
load-in period that lasted longer than four
weeks. I spoke to some people involved with
a current prominent Broadway show, and
they estimated that the load-in and tech for
that show lasted approximately six weeks.
That’s six weeks to load a 20-ton lift into a
theatre that’s over 100 years old, build the set
on it, figure out how to fly the actors in and
out, program all the automation and cues for
the moving set pieces, lights, sound, etc., and
then rehearse with live actors to make sure
it all works — in six weeks. The load-in itself
was approximately four weeks. That show had
been playing on Broadway for one year when
the strike hit — 52 weeks. Which means the
load-in period is already less than 8% of the
time the show has spent making money. As
it continues to run, that number will only get
smaller. So exactly how is that “lengthy”?
Granted, this show was special. This
show was a hit and had an open-ended run
available to it. The load-in for limited-run
shows will be a greater percentage of time
— but the Union has already shown its flexibility in working with these types of shows
www.fohonline.com
in its dealings with something like Dr. Seuss’
How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Musical!
— where the Union made changes to the
contract to allow more shows so the producers could recoup.
But what if the show’s a flop, like say, High
Fidelity, which played earlier this year for approximately one week? Well, why should the
Broadway stagehands take measures to reduce
the producers’ risk, if the producers are not
willing to share the rewards of that risk? By trying to change the work rules, producers were
trying to cut the Union in two ways: by reducing the pay on the in, and reducing — in the
long run — the pay when a show is successful.
The Union fought to make sure its members
weren’t put at risk financially or health-wise, by
ensuring that the proper — safe — amount of
crew was on hand at all times.
Everyone benefits when a show is successful — when the marquees are lit along
Broadway. But the producers came in to
the negotiations attempting to convince
the Union to accept a deal that would put
an undue assumption of risk on the stagehands (both in terms of safety due to lack
of a proper crew and less money to support
themselves) without a willingness to share
any of the rewards (cutting pay for stagehands) when a show was successful. Furthermore, they had planned this for years
and knew exactly what they were asking
the Union to give up.
Now that it’s over, we can be happy that
both sides feel an equitable contract has been
reached, but during negotiations, both sides
have claimed it wasn’t about the money, it was
about respect and fairness — but when you
look at what the producers were trying to do
with the money, it’s easy to see why the Union
didn’t feel much respect.
News
Loreena McKennitt Tours with an Ancient Muse
Clive Alcock at FOH
BUENA PARK, CA — Singer/composer
Loreena McKennitt embarked on a North
American tour in support of her latest studio recording An Ancient Muse and recent DVD/CD release Nights from the Alhambra. In turn, her tour
is supported by Allstar Show Industries, which
has office locations in Western Canada: Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Clive Alcock,
one of three directors of the company, mixes
front of house for the tour with audio support
by a Yamaha PM5D-RH connected to the new
DSP5D Expander via a Yamaha DCU5D. Two
PM5D-RH consoles are used for monitors with
an Aviom interface card in one of the PM5Ds.
With nine musicians on stage, plus McKennitt delivering around 70 source channels
to front of house and monitors, Alcock says he
strives for the clearest and best sound possible.
All the consoles and the Yamaha DSP5D are running at 96 kHz. Having specified digital consoles
since around 1998, when Allstar determined
digital consoles were viable for live mixing, Alcock says his experience with digital dates back
to a Yamaha 02R. He’s been mixing on a Yamaha
PM5D-RH for about six years and has used the
Yamaha DM1000, DM2000 and PM1D, as well as
consoles from other manufacturers.
“A very important thing for me is that the
console can be run at 96 kHz,” says Alcock.
“To my ear, there is a significant difference in
audio quality between 48 kHz and 96 kHz, so
I always run Yamaha PM5Ds at 96 kHz. I also
think it is the deciding factor between the
PM5D and the other professional digital mixing consoles that are out in the market. The
difference is particularly noticeable when
mixing a lot of channels. The current tour
input list is based around 72 inputs, which
means two consoles at front of house and
two monitor consoles on stage. Typically, we
do theatre shows, and every seat that is not
used for front of house equipment is potential revenue for the show.”
“The Yamaha PM5D-DSP5D system sounds
even, clear and very neutral, which works well
for me because there is an amazing array of
sounds that come off the stage,” Alcock adds.
“If the system sounds colored, then it compromises the individual tonalities of many of the
instruments and makes the mix a lot cloudier.”
The tour uses a Meyer P.A. with Milo cabs
for front end and CQ2 and M1D for down and
front fill, respectively. The downstage monitors are Meyer UM1 and UPA speakers; most
of the backline musicians use ear monitors
controlled by Aviom personal mixing stations. Microphones include Neumann KSM105s, AKG C-535 and C-2000s, Shure Beta 98,
Beta 91 and Beta 57, along with Audio Technica PRO-35R and PRO-37R.
Modest Mouse Boasts About Mics
“I put the small Heil mics on the
toms of one kit, and love them,” Raboin says. “They have a softness to
them that is really pleasing to the ear.
Those mounts are fantastic, and with
a few turns of the screwdriver, they
stay in place quite nicely. Of course,
the other drummer asked why he
doesn’t get the cool new mics, so I
found myself adding more Heil mics
to the drums. I also use the Heil PR
30s on the guitar rigs.”
continued from cover
Sound On Stage has provided P.A. systems and
engineers for nearly every production of the
event over the decades and has for the past several years specified L-ACOUSTICS products as the
P.A. of choice.
“We are a huge fan of L-ACOUSTICS line source
array, side-fill and stage monitoring systems,” says
SOS General Manager George Edwards, who acted as FOH second engineer during the acoustic
concerts. “We flew ten V-DOSC and four dV-SUB
cabinets per side, with an additional four SB218
subwoofers ground-stacked and four ARCS cabinets flown per side as side-fills.” Four more ARCS
cabinets were provided per side, arrayed horizontally on the stage floor as in/outside fills. “We
also used 10 115XT HiQ bi-amplified coaxial stage
monitors,” Edwards adds.
Sound On Stage’s GM cites five reasons why
he’s such a huge fan of L-ACOUSTICS’ designs.
“First, the V-DOSC and ARCS systems offer outstanding intelligibility; I can rely upon them to
provide exceptional fidelity throughout the performance space,” he says. “Second, they are also
very coherent, producing even sound coverage
across a wide area; third, they are steerable and
focused, allowing us to put sound only where we
need to; and, fourth, they are very powerful and
capable of throwing sound to the far audience
sections. Finally, they are flexible; we can use
our L-ACOUSTICS rigs on everything from jazz to
hard rock. These systems aren’t pigeonholed;
they handle a lot of gigs for us. We were very
pleased with the results at the recent Bridge
School Benefit concerts. Neil Young congratulated us on the sound performance and told us
that it went flawlessly.”
SOS Chief Engineer Dennis Deem adds that
the company regularly supplies sound systems to
Shoreline Amphitheatre, which seats up to 25,000
patrons. “With a lot of open mics onstage during
the recent Bridge School Benefit, we needed an
uncluttered P.A. that was very directional. The ARCS
cabinets we arrayed on the side were particularly
appropriate, because of their tight coverage patterns. Despite the fact that the rehearsals and sound
checks took place in an empty amphitheatre — and
one that features a lot of reverberant concrete and
plastic seating — the event went very well.”
“L-ACOUSTICS line source arrays always
sound very nice,” says Deem. “These systems
are also extremely flexible and work for all of
our needs. We can run them wide open —
they get very loud — but without ear fatigue;
even at 110 dB levels at the mix position, the
V-DOSC array sounds extremely clean.”
For the 2007 Bridge School Benefit, Sound On
Stage ran more than 150 lines from the stage to
three separate FOH consoles and 45 lines back to
the three stage consoles for monitoring. Young’s
recording truck, parked backstage, also recorded
the concert for archiving and Apple iTunes downloads via another console and Pro Tools setup.
Proceeds from the concert each year
benefit the Bridge School, an education
program dedicated to ensuring that children
with severe speech and physical impairments
achieve full participation in their communities
through the use of augmentative and alternative means of communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT) applications. More information on the program and annual concert
can be found at www.bridgeschool.org.
Bridge School Benefit Demands Big Sound for Acoustic Show
FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, IL — Modest Mouse
has been touring most of the year in support
of the band’s CD, We Were Dead Before the
Ship Even Sank. FOH Mixer Jason Raboin and
Monitor Engineer Myles Kennedy are using
a gear package from Thunder Audio, based
out of Taylor, Mich., that includes a Digidesign Profile console, combination Meyer
MJF-212s and Nexo Alphas (wedges and side
fills), and a Midas XL250 monitor board. Also,
along at every stop are Heil microphones including PR 30s PR 40s and PR 35s.
International News
Engineers Warm Up to Console at Big Chill Festival
New Young Pony Club plays at The Big Chill Fest.
LEDBURY, ENGLAND —
Dobson Sound Productions supplied the audio
infrastructure for all the
Big Chill festival stages
for the first time this year
and took the opportunity
to make Big Chill all digital for the first time.
Five DiGiCo consoles were deployed, a
D5 at front of house on
the Open Air stage, D5s
at both FOH and monitors on the Castle Stage
and D1s at FOH on the Sanctuary Stage
and in the Big Chill Nights tent.
“As we were providing sound for
all the stages, it made sense to follow
our instincts and go digital throughout,” says Dobson Sound Managing
Director Paul Dobson. “It was a bit of
a step, but it went ver y well.
“ We chose to use the DiGiCo consoles for several reasons, not least of
which is that they sound really good,”
he continues. “ They are also ver y flexible — we already use them on a wide
variety of projects, and Big Chill was
fur ther proof to us that here was an-
other environment in which they excel. Another impor tant thing was that
they are ver y user friendly. The way
they are laid out is fairly conventional
in a lot of ways, so they don’t tend to
phase band engineers who come into
a festival situation and have never
used one before.”
The consoles were controlling
flown d&b P.A. systems on all stages
— J series on the Open Air stage and
a combination of other types, mainly Q
series, on the others. The DiGiCo consoles also minimized the amount of
outboard that was carried.
“Apart from a few channels of valve
compression and Lexicon reverb on the
two biggest stages, all processing was
done using the onboard effects, which
saved both space and time,” says Dobson. “We really got the most of what
we could from them.”
DiGiCo’s Technical Sales Manager
Tim Shaxson was on site for the whole
weekend, and he also brought along
an ADK MADIcorder. “I took it along
at the behest of Jerry Damas and the
Spatial AKA orchestra,” says Shaxson.
“But once people realized it was there,
I recorded a number of other acts, including Red Snapper and Ted Barnes.
Their engineer, Darius Kedros, loved
the concept of recording 56 channels
with one BNC cable.”
Paul Dobson pronounced himself
ver y pleased with the per formance of
the DiGiCo consoles and expects next
year ’s Big Chill to feature a similar
high DiGiCo profile.
“ Weather wise, we had a bit of
ever ything throughout the weekend, and they were absolutely fine,”
Dobson says. “I’d have absolutely no
qualms about using them as festival
consoles again. I can’t see any reason
why we would want to do anything
different nex t year.
Celestion and Group
One Ltd. Celebrate
Ad info:http:// www.plsn.com/instant-info
Ipswich, U.K., — Celestion and Group
One Ltd. are celebrating their 10th anniversary as partners with an impressive
25% year-on-year increase in distribution
sales. Group One has operated as primary distributor of Celestion premium guitar, bass and professional audio speakers
to dealers and retailers in North America
since October 1997. Both companies expect this relationship will continue for
many more years.
Jack Kelly, Group One president, welcomed the news of this significant anniversary. “Celestion is a successful and
high-profile loudspeaker brand,” he says.
“In 1997, Group One felt it could take
the distribution sales to the next level
throughout the U.S. and Canada, and
over the past 10 years have had considerable success doing so.”
Celestion General Manager Nigel
Wood identified the consistency of this
partnership over a 10-year period as a
principal factor contributing to a significant increase in sales.
DECEMBER 2007
www.fohonline.com
New Gear
Aimed squarely at the house of worship and performance venue
install markets, the QSC WideLine WL2082-i Installation Line Array
uses a pair of high-power, neodymium magnet, eight -inch diameter
low-frequency drivers in a two-and-a-half way configuration. Both
woofers produce low frequencies, but only one covers the midrange,
which reportedly results in more uniform directivity in the crossover
region. For high frequencies, a pair of 1.75-inch (voice-coil diameter)
neodymium compression drivers with titanium domes is mounted on
a multiple aperture diffraction waveguide and is designed to provide
140-degree coverage.
The system may be used in bi-amplified or tri-amplified mode. The
low-frequency range of a WL2082-i array will be adequate for speech, voice and many
acoustic music uses. For reinforcement of program material with more demanding
low-frequency content, a companion subwoofer, the WL115-sw, is also available. The
WL115-sw is a 15-inch subwoofer using a fourth order, bandpass enclosure. Tooled
ports with gently rounded terminations inside and out eliminate port turbulence
distortion. Mesh grilles are integrated into the port design to obstruct the entrance of
foreign objects into the enclosure.
Available in black or white, the WL2082-i enclosure is made of high-impact polystyrene with extensive internal ribs to eliminate acoustic losses due to sidewall flex. The
Installation Line Array may be used in outdoor applications where the system is not
directly exposed to the elements. The enclosure material is formulated with UV inhibitors; the grille is made of aluminum and the woofer cones are weather resistant.
QSC Audio • www.qscaudio.com
Soundcraft Adds EtherSound to Vi Series
Zaxcom STA200 Microphone Input Adaptor
It’s one of those things you almost never need, but that
ONE time you need it, it will make life a lot easier. Zaxcom’s
STA200 microphone input adaptor is tailored for use in
dance and theatrical applications and allows you to
transmit multiple audio channels from a single body
pack. The new adaptor expands on the feature set of
Zaxcom’s popular TRX900 wireless microphone transceiver by allowing the production staff to connect two
additional microphones for a total of three microphones
supported by just one unit. The STA200 has two auxiliary microphone connectors
facing downward for mounting on a performer’s tap shoes
during theatrical and dance presentations. The signals from
these two microphones are mixed together for transmission on a discrete channel. A
vocal microphone also is connected to the TRX900 and transmits on a second channel
for a total of three microphones on a single performer. The Zaxcom receiver will output
the two discrete channels, ensuring that the tap shoe audio is completely separate
from the vocal channel. In addition to supporting additional inputs, the STA200 also includes an audio output to support an earpiece. This output is can be used as a click track to keep dancers
in perfect time or to communicate staging instructions directly to the performers.
Zaxcom • www.zaxcom.com
Worx M80i Installation Line Array
Following the development
of the Studer EtherSound interface card, Soundcraft and EtherSound network developer Digigram have announced a similar
interface card for the Soundcraft
Vi4 and Soundcraft Vi6 digital
live sound consoles.
Designed with versions to fit into either the Vi Series Local Rack or Stagebox, the
card will allow up to 128 channels of audio (64 inputs/64 outputs) to be connected to
the rack via a single Cat5 connection. A second Cat5 connection allows daisy chain or
redundant ring topologies, the latter allowing for the network to remain uninterrupted
should a cable be broken. One of the advantages of EtherSound in the live sound domain is its extremely low latency.
Inputs and outputs can be patched internally within the console on its own routing
screens. Digigram’s own control software can be used to route signals between different
EtherSound-enabled devices over a standard Ethernet network.
A member of WorxAudio Technologies’ TrueLine
Series, the new M80i is a two-way, ultra compact line
array loudspeaker system designed for natural sounding
reproduction of speech and music program material. This
new loudspeaker system is designed for a wide variety of
sound reinforcement applications, including corporate/
industrial presentation venues, performance venues and
clubs, houses of worship, theatres and AV production.
It incorporates a medium format, one-inch exit
compression driver coupled to a stabilized proprietary
FlatWave Former (wave shaping device). Dual eight-inch cone transducers coupled
to the (A.I.M.) Acoustic Intergrading Module minimize cone filtering throughout the
entire operating range and are designed to provide a rich, fully balanced sound with a
frequency range that spans from 300 Hz to 18 kHz.
The loudspeaker enclosure is constructed from sturdy multi-ply Baltic Birch and is
heavily braced for cabinet rigidity. Protecting the enclosure is a multi-layered, catalyzed
polyurethane finish — available in black or white — designed to withstand the most
demanding conditions. A 16–gauge, perforated, cloth-backed and powder-coated steel
grill with a high transmission ratio protects the transducer complement.
Soundcraft • www.soundcraft.com
Worx Audio • www.worxaudio.com
QSC Installation Line Array
On the Move
Richard Markus has
accepted the position
of division manager of
the music instrument
division of American
Music & Sound, a California pro audio and
musical
instrument
distributor. Markus will Richard Markus
be responsible for operations of the AM&S/MI division, in addition
to managing the sales and marketing for the
company’s proprietary guitar and bass brand
Jay Turser, the distribution scheme for Hagstrom guitars, Walden Quik Lok instrument
stands and other current and future brands
to be distributed by the division.
Markus was most recently president of
EMD Music Inc. from its inception in November 2002. Prior to that, he was president of
MAPEX USA.
DiGiCo has appointed Marketing Concepts as its new U.S. representative to cover
Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Founded by Bruce Marlin 20 years ago, the
firm focuses on comprehensive customer
support. “When I started the company, the
Southwest already had a lot of rep firms. But
they were all sales-oriented, whereas I wanted one that came from a technical perspective,” says Marlin. “I have been impressed with
the new DiGiCo management and their vision
of the future. I like the direction that the company is going in; it works very well with the
other manufacturers we represent,” he says.
Hosa Technology announces the promotion of Ben Sweeney to the position of operations manager. In his new capacity, Sweeney
will be charged with overseeing Hosa’s internal
systems and processes, which includes development of the company’s Web site and catalog materials. He will also serve as the liaison between
internal departments and third-party providers, including manufacturer’s representatives.
Further, Sweeney will be responsible for implementing data management and warehouse procedures as well as coordinating the company’s
international distributors in the areas of sales and
marketing.
Possessing an extensive background in
the music products and consumer electronics
industries, including positions as sales and
product manager with several prominent
companies, Sweeney brings a wealth of
experience to his new position at Hosa. Most
recently, he was the national retail sales
manager for Sibelius Software of Australia. Prior
to that, he served as national sales manager for
Intelliware Australia.
LMG Inc., a national provider of video, audio and lighting support with offices in Orlando,
Phoenix, and Las Vegas, has hired Scott Sherrer
as sales engineer for the
firm’s system integration
division. Sherrer’s duties
will include developing
new business, maintaining client communication and advising clients
on the optimal equip- Scott Sherrer
ment to meet design and budget needs.
Sherrer previously worked for LMG as an
installation technician from 2000–2003 and has
freelanced for the firm during the last several
years.
He also taught the first “SIM School,” which later
evolved into Meyer Sound’s ongoing education
program. Besides working on Constellation, McCarthy will continue his involvement with Meyer
Sound’s worldwide seminar series.
Meyer Sound announces the appointment of Bob Langlois
to the position of senior
technical support representative. Langlois will
be providing technical
support and design ser- Bob Langlois
vices and will also join
the company’s worldwide education program to
teach seminars on audio concepts and real world
applications. A pro audio veteran with more than
30 years experience, Langlois joins Meyer Sound
from Audio Analysts in Colorado, where he held
the positions of vice president of worship design
and senior project manager. Langlois has designed and managed the sound system installations at some of the best known churches in the
country, including Phoenix First Assembly and
Jubilee Fellowship Church. His career has also included positions with MXR, Whirlwind and other
manufacturers in the audio industry.
Meyer Sound also
announces that audio
system design, analysis and tuning authority Bob McCarthy has
joined the company in
the position of senior
design consultant to
work on the design of Bob McCarthy
Constellation electroacoustic architecture, the
company’s newest technology. McCarthy was
an early employee at Meyer Sound and was instrumental in the development of the company’s
SIM source independent measurement system.
(Left to Right) Robin Slaton, director of Design/Marketing
Jeff Moore, vice president of Sales; CEO Mike Belitz; Chris
Zerbe, director of Sales & Marketing.
Ultimate Support, a designer and
manufacturer of music accessories, announces
additions to its new managerial team: Jeff Moore
as vice president of Sales, Chris Zerbe as director
of Sales and Marketing, and Robin Slaton as
director of Design/Marketing. Collectively, the
trio brings a wealth of experience and expertise
from MI, Pro Audio and consumer soft-case
goods industries.
As VP of Sales, Jeff Moore will manage
Ultimate Support’s three sales markets — U.S.,
International and OEM — as well as oversee
Customer Support. Moore comes to Ultimate
Support after a nine-year tenure at Fender
Musical Instruments Corporation.
In his role as director of Sales and Marketing,
Chris Zerbe’s responsibilities will include the
design, implementation and management
of company sales and rep training programs.
Previously, Zerbe served as western regional
sales manager with Line 6 and as national sales
manager with Event Electronics.
Ultimate Support also welcomes back Robin
Slaton as director of Design/Marketing. During
his original tenure, Slaton designed Ultimate
Support’s popular products including the TS-90
TeleLock Speaker Stands, TS-80 Speaker Stands,
Genesis Guitar Stands, IQ X-Stands and Colorado
Custom Microphone Stands. Over the course
of his career, he has designed products, for
prominent corporations, including HP, Toshiba,
Sony, Hummer, Canon, Apple, Microsoft, SanDisk,
Roland, Creative Labs and T-Mobile.
Congratulations on the Parnelli Award and Thank
You for All of Your Hard Work.
You’re Our ‘Live Sound Engineer’ of the Year
Everyday.
Tony Bennett, Vance Anderson, Paul Langosch,
Gray Sargent, Harold Jones, and Lee Musiker
Dear Tom:
Showtime
Countdown to Kickoff: 100 Days and Counting
Venue
Westgate City Center
Glendale, AZ
CREW
FOH Engineer: Burt West
Monitor Engineer: Phil Reynolds
Systems Engineers: Todd Eldridge, Chad
Anderson
Event Production: Entertainment Solutions, Inc.
Video/Audio: Video West, Inc.
Soundco
Video West, Inc.
GEAR
FOH
Console: Crest Century VX52, Midas
Heritage 3000
Speakers: (4) EAW 695E speaker front fill
cabinets, (16) EAW SB1000 subwoofers, (18)
JBL Vertec 4888 line array
Amps: BSS FDS-366 Omni Drive system
processors, (6) Crown I-T4000s, (14) I-T6000s,
(1) Crown MA3600VZ, 2 Crown MA2400VZ,
Video West Proprietary Phase Coherent DSP
Processing: dbx, Lexicon, Klark Teknik,
Manley, TC Electronics
MON
Console: Yamaha PM5D 48-channel digital
mixing console
Speakers: (3) Apogee AE-12 subwoofers,
(16) EAW SM200 monitors, (2) EAW 695E
speaker side fill cabinets, (7) station in-ear
monitor system
Amps: Crown 4 I-T4000s, (8) I-T6000s,
Crown MA3600VZ, (2) MA2400VZ, BSS
FDS-366 Omni Drive system processors
computer/wireless networked, Video West
Proprietary Phase coherent DSP
Processing: dbx, Lexicon, TC Electronics,
Klark Teknik, Manley
Mics: Beyer, Sennheiser, Shure UHF R-J5
series
Snakes: Whirlwind
Power Distro: Motion Labs custom power
distribution
Soundco
Homecoming Concert: Common & Ben Jelen
ST
Boulevard Pro
Venue
GEAR
St. John’s University
Queens, NY
FOH
Console: Yamaha M7CL-48
Speakers: L-ACOUSTICS dV Dosc line array, dV Subs,
L-ACOUSTICS 218 Subs
Amps: Lab.gruppen Processing: (2) XTA 224
Mics: Sennheiser, Shure UHF-R, Shure RF
Power Distro: Lex Products
CREW
FOH Engineer: Anthony Cioffi
Monitor Engineer: Bob Potanka
Systems Engineer: Harry Shue
Production Manager: Vernon Perrone
ST
MON
Console: Yamaha PM5D
Monitors: L-ACOUSTICS 112P, 115P, Dynacord Cobra-4 line
array sidefill
Amps: L-ACOUSTICS self-powered, Dynacord
Soundco
STS Concert Sound,
TC Furlong
AugustFest
Venue
GEAR
Lake County Fairgrounds
Grayslake, IL
FOH
Console: Yamaha PM5D
Speakers: (16) Meyer Milo 90, (16)
700HP
Amps: Meyer
Processing: Meyer Galileo
Mics: Beyer, AKG, Sennheiser, Shure
Power Distro: Motion Labs
Rigging: CM
Snake Assemblies: Whirlwind
CREW
FOH Engineer: Brad Galvin
Monitor Engineer: Jim Lich
Systems Engineer: Brad Galvin
Systems Techs: Ron Wirth, Brad Galvin
You don’t need to steal a copy of
ST
MON
Consoles: Yamaha PM5D
Speakers: MacPherson, Meyer
Amps: Crown Micro-Tech
Processing: Yamaha PM5D
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12
DECEMBER 2007
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Pepe Aguilar/Joan Sebastian U.S. Tour 2007
ST
Soundco
Atlas Sound
and Lighting
Rigging: (8) 1-ton motor
Breakout Assemblies: (5) ASL 16-ch sub-box, (4) ASL 16-ch sub-box
Snake Assemblies: ASL custom 56-ch 2-way split, ASL custom
40-ch 2-way split
CREW
FOH Engineers: Jean Smit, Ingeniero Tarugo
Monitor Engineers: Miguel Angel Cruz, Andy Schuler
Systems Engineer: Mike Gutierrez
Production Manager: Manny Gutierrez
Systems Tech: Luis Acosta
GEAR
FOH
Console: (2) Yamaha PM5D-RH
Speakers: (12) ASL Dual 18” subwoofer, (6) EAW JF29036, JBL
VerTec VT4889
Amps: (24) Crown I-T8000, (8) Crown MA5002
Processing: (2) dbx Driverack 4800
Power Distro: (2) Nutech 3-phase 200 amp
MON
Consoles: (1) Midas Venice, 320 (2) Yamaha PM5D-RH
Speakers: (2) ASL “W-Bin” sidefill subwoofer, (11) ASL
2-way 15” wedge, (4) ASL 3-way sidefill, (2) ASL “W-Bin” sidefill
subwoofer, (2) Shure PSM700, (18) Shure PSM600HW, (11)
Shure PSM 600HW
Amps: (1) Crest Pro6001, (8) Crest Pro7001, (2) Crest Pro8001
Processing: dbx Driverack 482
Mics: AKG, Sennheiser, Shure
Power Distro: 1 Nutech 3-phase 200 amp
Minnesota State Youth Convention
Venue
GEAR
Taylor Arena
Rochester, MN
Soundco
KPS
FOH
Console: Mackie TT24
Speakers: Community SLS920 w/ATM
Flyware
CREW
Amps: QSC Powerlight
FOH Engineer: Greg Kneprath
Processing: BSS, Community
Monitor Engineer: Brendan Wickstrom
Mics: Audio Technica, Shure
Systems Engineer: Peter Johnson
Production Manager: Steve Kneprath
Systems Techs: Dave Hartman, Tracy Paulson Rigging: CM Lodestar 1-ton
Snake Assemblies: RamTech
ST
MON
Speakers: Agape (wedges), Sennhesier (P.M.)
Amps: QSC
Processing: Shure
Mics: Audio Technica, Shure,
Soundco
ST
The Lady of Lights Festival (Senhora de Luz Festival)
Venue
St. Matthews Church Parking Lot
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
CREW
FOH Engineer: Steve Ferreira, 5 Star Productions
Systems Engineer/Production Manager: Carlos Costa, ACS
FOH Systems Techs: Mark Radu, PA Plus
GEAR
FOH
Console: (1) Midas Verona 32 Channel
Speakers: McCauley Sound M.LINE Series 14 M90 and 4 M120
Amps: (8) Crown MA3600
Processing: (2) dbx driverack 482
ACS Productions
Sound and
Lighting, Inc.
Mics: (2) Shure U4D wireless mic kits
Power Distro: PA Plus 2-phase distro
Rigging: (2) McCauley Sound MB1 Flying Bumper
Breakout Assemblies: (1) PA Plus custom splice
Snake Assemblies: 32-channel radial
MON
Speakers: (2) EAW LA 215
Amps: (1) Crown XTi
Processing: System Architect 1.4
Power Distro: PA Plus 2-phase distro
We Want You!
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Showtime pics, Nightmare stories and In The Trenches stats. Or e-mail [email protected] for more info.
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www.fohonline.com
2007 DECEMBER
13
FOH Interview
Ken Bohannon and Scott Steffen
of Think Floyd USA
Think Floyd USA in concert
Owner of Blizzard Sound & FOH engineer Ken “Bo” Bohannon (L) & Scott “Yeppin” Steffen,
Monitor engineer (R) for Think Floyd USA
By NortJohnson
A
fter spending over 20 years playing in bands in the Chicago area
and the Midwest bar scene, Mitch
Blumfield had a vision. You might even
call it a momentary lapse of reason.
A band he was in was doing a lot of
covers. However, it was their versions of
Pink Floyd songs that were gaining the
most attention with their flock. “There
was a Pink Floyd Show that we threw in
among all the other cover songs that
included Aerosmith, Tom Petty and the
usual cover fare,” says Blumfield. “Pink
Floyd got the most attention.” So, Blumfield did the unthinkable for a single
parent with a young daughter. He quit
his six-figure marketing gig in downtown Chicago, got a home equity loan
and went to work on a dream.
ness for help!” The Project, as Blumfield
likes to refer to it, is always evolving. “We
spend a lot of time rehearsing — not just
the music and vocals — but lighting cues
and sound bites, plus projection scenes
for our custom-made screens.”
The marketing of Think Floyd USA
is the real genius of the band’s success.
They play Pink Floyd albums in their entirety. “One show might be The Wall with
full theatrical effects, including ‘The Wall’
itself, and then the next show could be
Dark Side Of The Moon, says Blumfield.
“We do the albums in their entirety, take
a short 15-minute intermission and then
do another hour or so of the ‘greatest
hits’ so they get the whole ‘Pink Floyd Experience.’” The shows can run over three
hours on some nights.
He quit his six-figure marketing gig in
downtown Chicago, got a home equity
loan and went to work on a dream.
Today, that dream is a reality. He fronts
and manages the largest touring production of Pink Floyd music in the country.
Think Floyd USA is playing theaters normally reserved for the likes of Wilco, Ian
Hunter or Paul Rogers. They also have
cornered the festival market, playing in
front of over 12,000 at Shwag Stock 2007
in Missouri. Milwaukee’s Summerfest, the
largest festival in the world, has seen the
band back three years in a row. In 2007,
their production played before former
Floyd frontman Roger Water’s show!
So, how did Blumfield and his handpicked seasoned professional studio and
session cohorts do it? “A lot of phone
calls and networking,” he said. “In the beginning, I really didn’t understand much
about sound at the level we are at now.
I just started asking people in the busi14
DECEMBER 2007
FOH sat down with Ken “Bo” Bohannon, owner of Blizzard Sound in Wisconsin and FOH engineer for Think Floyd
USA, to find out how he approached
this project.
FOH: How did you come across working
for Think Floyd USA?
KB: The band crossed our stage at
a festival here in Mishicot, Wisc., three
years ago over the 4th of July. We had a
really good show. We’ve been working
together on and off ever since.
The band seems to be playing different and
bigger venues than most tribute acts?
Most of the shows have been a festival sort of date or an amphitheater
date or a theater show. They are a major
touring act and a large production.
What kind of progression have you
seen in their production?
As far as progression and production, they’ve come along quite a way.
They pay a lot of attention to detail,
such as the sound effects they use with
the keyboard patches and the guitar
tones. There’s been a lot of tweaking
along the way trying to recreate the
show — and they do it so well.
I think just dialing in the tones has
progressed, be it the Hammond tone or
the keyboard tone, a synth patch or the
sound effects, including the barking
dog. They’ve really tweaked that stuff
to a pretty refined level.
What is your rig of choice for this
production?
We’re using a Martin Wavefront rig
with WSX subs, W8T and W8Cs. It’s a real
good rig for their show. It’s so smooth
with the top end, and it’s real natural
sounding. It’s got the extended low end
with the WSX — it’s a real bump tool.
We use about eight boxes per side
for subs and about eight boxes for front
of the house. We’ll bump them up if
we need to. Depends on where we’re
at.… It’s mostly ground stack. If there’s
a place to fly them, we fly them. It depends on the size of venue.
What type of FOH console are you using?
A Midas Verona 480 desk — 40
channels.
You have a nice mic selection. What
are you using on the band?
There’s an assortment of mics. Two
mics on the kick: Shure SM91 inside the
drum, with an Audix D6 in the hole. On
the snare top and bottom is the D-1 Audix, and rack toms are Shure Beta 98s.
There’s D6 on the floor tom, and Shure
SM81 run overheads and high hat. We
are also using a vintage Sennheiser
409U, which is perfect on the lead guitar,
and we use the EV RE20 on the bass.
www.fohonline.com
They are using their own personal
monitor rig?
That’s right. The monitor rig they use
is a Crest XRM 12X20 with four Shure
PSM 200s, one Shure PSM 600 and one
Shure PSM 700, along with one Shure E5
ear bud and two E3 ear buds. Then they
have six Westone UM Dual Driver Universal earpieces and dbx 266 compressor/limiters in there..
They have their own monitor mix?
How do you like it?
I think once we got it dialed in, we’ve
got it. It’s real easy; it’s real sweet.
So, what’s there for the monitor guys
to do?
We still have a monitor guy for wedges — they use PMs and wedges. Mitch
(guitarist/lead singer) has two; Tom (lead
guitar) has two. The girls (backup vocals)
have PMs and wedges as well.
I noticed some unusual effects during the
show. How do they get there?
The barking dog and other effects are
on a laptop computer drive. There’s a left
and a right, so it comes up in stereo.
What type of effects do you have to use
with a band like this?
A Yamaha SPX 2000 handles the
vocal reverbs, and there’s a TC D2 for
the tap delays. Some of the stuff goes in
direct — the computer effects are direct
in, and they’ve got a split that comes off.
Some of it goes to the house snake, and
some of it they pick up directly off the
stage.
How do feel about mixing the music of
Pink Floyd?
It’s a lot of fun mixing these guys.
It’s cool to mix some Floyd without mixing Floyd. It’s a lot of fun doing that
show. EQs, effects, with the delays flying
around. You need to get a big verb package, and that’s what we have.
“It’s cool to mix some Floyd without mixing Floyd.” — Ken “Bo” Bohannon
Is it an active mix?
It can be an active mix. There’s a lot
of panning.
We move a lot on some songs where
there’s reverb and delay times. On Mitch’s
vocal, I use a Klark Square One compressor inserted with a gentle 2/1 ratio and
drive a second compressor, a Drawmer
DL241, from an aux send, this one set
with a 12/1 ratio. I hit it pretty hard and
bring that back into another channel.
These two channels are mixed together
with the vocal delays and reverbs all sent
from the heavily compressed channel.
Sometimes Mitch doesn’t sing real loud;
it’s a good technique to get his vocals up
front in the mix.
Anything else that you do?
Running subs off of aux sends on
some shows. Not only does it make for
a cleaner mix, but there are parts of the
show that demand big bottom end on
the keys and sound FX.
What are in the plans for a bigger and
better production?
We’re tossing around the idea of getting a new digital board. We’re looking at
a couple of them: the Yami, the M7CL48.
Depending on how many dates we do,
we might go with the PM5. It depends
on how much preproduction time we
have.
Mitch didn’t know much when he
started out, but he’s been doing it
for three year’s now. What are your
thoughts on that?
He’s picked a lot of people’s brains.
Learned from his experience; learned
from other people’s experience. It’s a
good rule of thumb.
Anything you would like to add to this
interview?
It’s a fun show to mix. It’s a good
show to see.
What about the band as a production
to work with?
They’re good people to work
for… never a hassle, never a temper,
everyone’s laid back and everyone is
a pleasure to work with. Not like some
acts. Here, there’s no temper, no egos.
They’re so nice.
www.fohonline.com
2007 DECEMBER
17
Seventh Annual Parnelli Awards
Toasting the Best of the Live Event Industry
By JacobCoakley
T
he Peabody Hotel in Orlando, Fla., was the site of the 2007 Parnelli Awards, but inside the ceremony ballroom it looked like Hawaii. Large portions of the crowd arrived decked out in
their finest Hawaiian shirts, and FOH Editor Bill Evans abandoned his usual sandals for signature purple Bob Heil custom Converse high-tops. The hundreds in attendance constituted
a Who’s Who of players in the live event industry, and whether they were wearing purple shoes or not, they all rose to their feet in honor of Audio Innovator award winner Bob Heil
and Lifetime Achievement award winner Gerry Stickells.
In addition to honoring Heil, FOH publisher Terry Lowe, editor Bill Evans and industry notables such as Buford Jones, Dave Shadoan and others gave out awards for FOH Mixer of
the Year, Monitor Mixer of the Year, Sound Company of the Year and many others. Veteran tour manager and Chairman of the Parnelli board Patrick Stansfield presented Joe Aldridge of
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), with a check in continued support of a Parnelli scholarship at UNLV for students studying entertainment design and engineering.
A centerpiece of the event was the Audio Innovator award given to audio legend Bob Heil. In his introduction, Sound Image owner and longtime friend of Heil Dave Shadoan spoke
of the lasting effect Heil has had on the live sound field:
“When you’re serious about a career, you want to know its history. I learned about Bob Heil right away, as he wrote the book on live sound — literally, and I still have a dog-eared copy
of it. I’m lucky to have been able to meet and develop a friendship with Bob. If you haven’t had the pleasure yet, when you do, you’ll understand instantly why he’s one of the most wellliked guys in the business.”
The audience let Shadoan know that he wasn’t alone in his appreciation, and even the stars paid their respects, with members of Velvet Revolver and the Steve Miller Band offering
their kudos via video.
It was a night to shine the spotlight on the people who work outside the light, honor the pioneers of our industry and contribute to its success moving forward — and, thanks to the
help of everyone in attendance, the readers who voted and everyone in the industry, we can continue to celebrate everyone who makes the show happen.
And the Awards Went to . . .
Lifetime Achievement Award: Gerry Stickells
Audio Innovator Award: Bob Heil
Lighting Designer of the Year 2007: Patrick Woodroffe
Set/Scenic Designer of the Year 2007: Seth Jackson, with Elizabeth O’Keefe
Lighting Company of the Year 2007: Upstaging
Staging Company of the Year 2007: Mountain Productions
Set Construction Company of the Year 2007: Tait Towers
Video Rental Company of the Year 2007: Nocturne
Rigging Company of the Year 2007: Atlanta Rigging
Hometown Hero Lighting Company of the Year 2007: Theatrical Lighting Systems
Pyro Company of the Year 2007: Strictly FX
FOH Mixer of the Year 2007: Tom Young
Video Director of the Year 2007: Kevin Daniels
Monitor Mixer of the Year 2007: Stuart Delk
Sound Company of the Year 2007: Sound Image
Hometown Hero Sound Company of the Year 2007: Carlson Audio
Production Manager of the Year 2007: Chris Adamson
Tour Manager of the Year 2007: Fitzjoy Hellin
Coach Company of the Year 2007: Four Seasons Leasing
Trucking Company of the Year 2007: Road Show
Freight Forwarding Company of the Year 2007: Rock-It Cargo
The 2007 Parnellis were made possible by Timeless Communications and its sponsors. Charter Sponsors: All Access Staging and Production, Apollo Design, Brown United and Martin
Professional. Gold Sponsors: Nocturne Productions, Pixel Range, Precise Corporate Staging & Dedicated Staging, Rock-It-Cargo, Sound Image and Syncrolite. Silver Sponsors: Littlelite
and TMB. Production Sponsors: Aerial Rigging, ASI Productions, All Staging Unlimited, Paradise Sound & Lights, Production Resource Group and Technilux.
Dave Shadoan of Sound Image was all smiles as he
accepted the award for Sound Company of the Year.
Mark Carlson of Carlson Audio accepting the award for
Hometown Hero Audio Company of the Year.
Bob Heil spoke from his heart — into one of his
trademark mics — during his acceptance of the Audio
Innovator Award.
18
DECEMBER 2007
Tom Young, longtime mixer for Tony Bennett,
won the award for FOH Mixer of the Year.
www.fohonline.com
Installations
Production and Sports Get
Equal Billing at Oaks Christian
By DavidJohnFarinella
F
or a number of years, the name Oaks
Christian has evoked exclamations
from sports fans across Southern
California and beyond. That will happen
when your teams dominate the local sports
scene, your football team wins the California state championship and your starting
quarterback goes to Notre Dame.
Last August, locals who had just seen the
new 30,000-square-foot Bedrosian Pavilion,
which includes one of the most technologically advanced performing arts centers and
media production facilities in the area, uttered the name Oaks Christian in awe. Sports
fans were especially pleased because the performing arts center doubles as a gymnasium
and will be used for the school’s basketball
and volleyball teams. That these two venues
are housed in the same two-story building on
a 15,000-square-foot plot is equally amazing.
The Design
INST
The Bedrosian Pavilion was opened after
two years of thought, design and construction, reports Oaks Christian Vice President
of Business Operations/CFO Paul Oberhaus.
“We had the need for some gym space, and
we always had the dream of building a performing arts center,” he says. “We started
thinking about finding a way of combining
them without sacrificing in either area, because it was going to be very expensive to
build just a standalone performing arts center. So, we came up with this concept of making it multipurpose, but with really high-end
performing arts and not compromising.”
Not compromising, indeed, considering the two-story facility boasts a stunning
assortment of hardware and software to
make any live performance come off without a technical hitch. The first floor includes
classrooms dedicated to performing arts and
theatre technology applications, including
dance, choir and band rooms, a black box/
green room, digital piano music lab and a media studio stocked with Digidesign Pro Tools
and Apple Final Cut Pro. The second floor is
the theatre and gym multipurpose room.
The budget for the entire project was
$16 million and came from donations from
Oaks Christian board member John Bedrosian and a number of donors who gave
$1 million or more.
The center was designed by the architectural firm NTD Stichler Architects and
built by Matt Construction. Kip Kibler of
Kip Kibler Construction Management Services was brought in during the facility’s
preconstruction to manage the performing arts side of the facility. In turn, Kibler
brought in a handful of companies to help
with the theatrical lighting and staging as
well as the acoustic treatment in the building. Oaks Christian and Matt Construction
tapped Edwards Technologies Inc. in Los
Angeles, Calif., for the audio installation.
Construction
INST
According to Ravi Shankar, ETI vice
president of operations, this project was
broken down into five distinct phases. The
company handled all the cabling and patch
panels in the first phase, outfitted the multipurpose and control rooms and the media
studio during the second and third phases
and then set up the classrooms during the
fourth. The fifth, uncompleted, phase is the
purchase of five High-Def cameras.
The cabling of the Bedrosian, reports
ETI Chief Engineer Roger Goodman, was
handled with great care. “Because of the
ever growing speed of networking and
HD, we have to handle cable differently,
and a lot of A/V companies are probably
not even aware of that,” he says. “It’s only
starting to get to become an issue because
we’re dealing now with a lot of data transfer, and when you deal with bandwidths
of two gigs and above, you’d be very surprised at what will cause unbelievable
amount of problems.” Included on that list,
he explains, is the fact that digital cable
cannot be tied down because any loop in
a cable causes a notch, which over a long
distance, will cause a loss of signal.
David Alexander, who serves as Oak
Christian’s technical director/facility manager, points out there is very little copper
going from the stage to the booth. “It’s all
Ethernet,” he reports. “They decided to not
go with much wireless because they could
pull cable when they were designing the
building from the ground up. The wireless
snakes would have been a little overkill for
this venue, since we were able to set up an
infrastructure.”
Acoustic Challenges
INST
In terms of acoustic treatment, the
team installed heavy curtains down the
long walls of the auditorium that measure
110 feet long by 75 feet wide and 24 feet
high. Each curtain weighs 500 pounds and
is moved via motorized controls. In addition to cleaning up the room’s acoustics,
these curtains help differentiate the theatre from the gym.
The auditorium’s ceiling also provided a challenge, Shankar adds. “We
worked in unison with the architect after
doing some acoustical analysis predictions early on,” he says. “He had put some
acoustic panels in there, but not enough,
so he made sure the entire ceiling deck
was acoustically treated.”
Once that was done, ETI started to
look at boxes and points. Because a wide
variety of pieces, including music, dramatic performances, dance and film, will
be performed there, flexibility was the
key. “They brought us 11 seating plans
that they wanted us to be ready to set
up for,” Project Manager David Archer reports. “The system turned out to be flexible enough that we didn’t have to have
11 configurations.”
Goodman says, “I think I went through
eight iterations of facility drawings before
they settled on the overall design. That’s
the most I’ve ever done in my life as an
engineer,” he says. “It was unbelievable. I
think that it had a lot to do with the fact
that the facility was expanding, and as
they were putting things together, they
realized that they could do this and try
that. We gave them some restrictions, but
for the most part, they had a free rein in
what they decided to do.”
The final design provided a full surround sound field, so Goodman picked
boxes that would accentuate that opportunity. Front left and right boxes are JBL
VP7315 and VP7210s. There are also an additional six 7315s (two on each wall) positioned around the room. A center cluster
is stocked with a pair of 7315s and 7210s
The lighting equipment at Oaks Christian
20
DECEMBER 2007
www.fohonline.com
Installations
“ We’re two
steps away
from being
a broadcast
studio.”
DigiDesign D Show Profile mixing console
Another view of the DigiDesign D Show Profile mixing console
and four VPSB7118DP subs. Monitoring on
stage comes through six JBL MRX 512 Ms
that are powered by QSC amps.
The 7315s can be controlled via separate
DSP and sounds and can be steered through
the sound field. This feature will be used during the school’s dramatic performances, including a presentation of The Diary of Anne
Frank in November and Godspell this spring.
A Digidesign D-Show console is the highlight at front of house, located 18 feet above
the finished floor. In fact, other than a pair
of studio monitors, a CD and DVD player, a
CD-R machine, patch bays and an intercom,
that’s all that is up there. Both the audio and
video signals can be split and sent to the media control room on the first floor. On the audio side, a live mix and a record mix into Pro
Tools can be run independently. Video can
be sent into Final Cut Pro and then sent back
to the three HD-capable projectors in the
main room. “Those two systems are married
together, so there’s a lot of flexibility. We’re
two steps away from being a broadcast studio,” Alexander says proudly.
Given the technical prowess in this
venue, it’s sometimes easy to overlook
the fact that the Bedrosian Pavilion is located on a high school campus. So, was
there ever a consideration that this gear
was going to be used by students? “Yes,”
answers Shankar, “but as we talked to the
school, one of the things they told us was
that they wanted these kids to be more
proficient [in audio and video] than anybody
else out there before they hit college. They’re
not at an entry level. They’ve used Final Cut
Pro; they’ve used Pro Tools; and they’ve used
high definition cameras. So, they know how
to edit, mix and put things together.”
The stage rack at Oaks Christian
Product Gallery
Cool Tools
Or, Some Neat Stuff That I Hope Santa Leaves
Under the Tree for Me
The year is coming to an end and, as we have done in years past, we are forgoing our usual chart-and-specs buyers’ guide format for a wish list of cool stuff we have seen this year.
Feel free to tape this page to the fridge as a gentle reminder for those buying holiday gifts.
No real qualifying facts here — not even a maximum price point. What is outrageously expensive to someone buying gifts for me may be pocket change to the significant other of
someone mixing, say, the Stones or Springsteen. In the spirit of the whole 12 Days of Christmas thing, here are a dozen candidates. Maybe someone will get me one for each day…
AT ATM250DE Drum Mic
$649
This is the affordable version
of the coolest kick mic I have
used. With both a dynamic and
a condenser in the same housing
with separate XLR outs, you get
the punch of the beater from the dynamic and the tone of the shell from the condenser without having to deal with placing two mics. It also works great on guitar
cabs. And, as an added bonus, you can find it online for about half the list price.
Peavey Distro
$599.99
Not all of us need or
can afford a big pro distro, but power is a constant issue on smaller gigs. This one box lets you search out a 40 amp, 220 outlet
(just unplug the dryer or that room air conditioner) and get six — count ‘em — separate 20 amp, 110 circuits each with its own breaker. That will run your whole P.A.
and backline on most small gigs. Let the squints find their own juice….
RSS S-1608 Digital Snake
$2,995
16 x 8 all on a single run of Cat5. The
mic pres are transparent, and you will
likely be shocked the first time you use
it at how much detail you are losing over
that long run of copper. This modular system can be expanded easily and uses standard Ethernet protocols, so you can grab an off-the-shelf hub to split the signal
between mains and monitors.
Heil PR-40
$375
A dynamic that sounds like a condenser
and that can take all the SPL you can throw
at it (movie sound guys use it to mic cannons for God’s sake). And Heil is one of the
most notable innovators in the biz, so this
is no cheap Chinese knockoff of a mic that
has been around for decades.
Yamaha Silent Brass System
$155.95
This one is gonna sound a little weird, but if you
have to mix horns on a quiet gig, you know that the
volume of the band is often determined by the trumpet player. This pickup looks and acts like a mute and
is meant as a practice system. But shove it in an out-of-control horn and use the
output instead of a mic. Presto! You instantly regain control of your mix.
Future Sonics Atrio M5
$199
The best-sounding universal fit P.M.s available — hands down.
They are comfy, look cool and have buckets of bass. If you can’t
get that wedge-addicted bass player or drummer to go in-ear with
these, then it’s time to stop trying. Take them for yourself. They work
great with that new iPod.
Digidesign Mbox Micro
$279
Like it or not, we are all increasingly expected to be able to record
shows, and Pro Tools is the medium
of choice. This little beauty is about
the size of a USB flash drive and comes
with Pro Tools LE software. No input capability, but it will let you mix the recording
of last night’s show on a laptop. On a plane. In coach.
DECEMBER 2007
BBE 882i Sonic Maximizer
$499.99
I have taken some crap over the years
because I ALWAYS have a Sonic Maximizer
in the rack. I may not always use it, but it has
saved my butt on many occasions when I needed a bit
more punch out of an underpowered or just plain crappy system. And
I see more of them than you might expect in pro touring racks all the time. A great
audio “backstop.” This version has balanced XLR I/O.
Shure KSM9
$699
A truly great vocal mic meant for truly great singers. This is a real pro tool that you don’t want to use on a
marginal vocalist. But on a great singer, it brings out every nuance of the performance and just sounds great.
But it will bring out the nuances you might not want to
hear on a less-than-great singer or even a great singer having a bad night. Use with care.
iPod Touch
$399
How many of us actually carry CD players
for canned music anymore? The 16GB version
will hold something like 400 tunes in full, uncompressed AIFF format, and you can use it to
browse eBay for new gear between sets. And
face it, it is just the coolest thing out there.
Sure to make you the subject of iPod envy.
24
TC Helicon Correct
$345
Not all of us work with singers who have perfect
pitch. This is a gig-bag item that inserts between the
mic and the console so you can use it in any situation
regardless of inserts available on the board. Throw it on
the floor, plug in and that pitch-challenged singer starts
to sound pretty good.
Primera Bravo II Disc Publisher
$2,695
Again with the recording gigs thing. A lot of us do
double duty — especially when touring with club acts —
doing audio and, maybe, merch. If the band is trying to
sell instant CDs of the night’s show, you take a master
CD of the show, throw a stack of blank printable discs
on the spindle and walk away. The Bravo will dupe
the discs AND print ‘em up nice and pro looking.
You get to be the hero and still have time to hit on
the cutie who was eying you during the set.
www.fohonline.com
Road Test
BBE
DS24 Speaker Processor
By MarkAmundson
T
he BBE DS24 speaker processor intrigued me because of its low cost
(around $299.95 street) and its professional looks and performance. The BBE name
is famous for its Sonic Maximizer processors, a
hotly contested piece of gear that some engineers dismiss as a crutch and others swear by
as a gig saver. Now BBE is putting its substantial experience behind universally accepted
gear, including equalization and DSP speaker
processing that may have even the skeptics
taking a good hard look….
The DS24 starts out with an eye-catching
red-brushed aluminum front panel with the
LCD, switches, rotary encoder and LED bargraphs, making it obvious that the product
is a speaker processor from its look and feel.
The backlit two-row monochrome LCD with
adjoining six editing switches (back, next,
menu, enter, gain and quit), plus the rotary
encoder for parameter adjustment, provides
plenty of menu-surfing capability. The two
signal inputs and four signal outputs get a
seven-LED bargraph treatment (-30, -24, -12, 6, -3, Limit, Clip) with the output having mute
switches below the bargraphs. A conventional curvette rocker on/off power rounds out
the front-panel interfaces.
The back panel maintains the “all business” feature set, but with black paint and
white legends. Prominently featured are the
two XLR-F balanced audio inputs and four
XLR-M balanced audio outputs for handling
the typical ins and outs expected of this basic
speaker processor design. A nine-pin D-sub
serial port connector (RS-232) is also provided for standard personal computer interfacing with the included SYSOMAX software for
graphical control of the processor’s parameters. After the RS-232 interface, the obligatory
(and welcome) IEC inlet is evidence that the
DS24 will have the power supply and signal
headroom like other professional speaker
processors.
RT
The BBE DS24 uses quality 24-bit analog
to digital to analog converters working at 48k
samples per second with low-latency conversions. With this knowledge, the 0.01% THD
and 110 dB dynamic range are easily met. The
downside of the DS24 design is that the maximum signal levels handled are 7.6 volts peak
to peak (~14.6 dBu). While 14.6 dBu is plenty
enough snort for most power amplifiers, it is
not the usual +22 to +28 dBu advertised by
many other professional speaker processor
manufacturers.
The DS24 includes most of the essential
speaker processor elements needed to get
the job done. These processing elements
are: gain adjustment on the inputs and outputs; polarity flipping; pass and crossover
filters for Bessel (12/18/24/48 dB), Butterworth (6/12/18/24/48 dB) and Linkwitz-Riley
(24/48dB); parametric eqs; output delays;
and a flexible limiter. A couple of limitations
caught my eye in checking out the DS24.
First was the 0 –7-millisecond output delay
element in 0.5 millisecond increments. To
me, this means there is about a six-inch distance correction for each increment of delay
— quite a bit less resolution than I would like
when phase matching the voice coil displacement in speaker cabinets. A better compromise would have been 0.1 millisecond incre-
The Gear
Sensaphonics
By BillEvans
I
have reviewed a ton of personal monitors
for FOH and other books. It is at the point
where I have pretty much decided to pass
any future reviews on to someone else because there is so much good stuff out there
that it really comes down to a question of
26
DECEMBER 2007
tive side, you are battling issues like dBV
scaling, encoder resolution, delay resolution and limited parametric frequency settings. On the positive side, you are getting
a ton more flexibility than a standard analog
crossover, with pristine audio added in for a
bargain price. I would offer the proposition
that cost-conscious sound engineers would
jump at the BBE DS24 from the value standpoint, while fussy and less frugal engineers
would take a pass to fuller-featured speaker
processors.
RT
The Gigs
The important part of the BBE DS24 is its
performance once set it up the way I want it.
In both the shop critical listening and out at
the clubs, the DS24 performed very nicely
and compared well to much more expensive
speaker processors. The metering was easy
to read and useful, and the audio quality was
clean and without noticeable artifacts.
In weighing the technical issues and
the outstanding aural performance, it really depends on your sense of frugalness
versus your technical scruples. On the nega-
Who it’s for: Budget-minded
soundco’s needing solutions for biamping, tri-amping.
What it is: Economy speaker
processor.
Pros: Nice looks, great price, quality
audio processing.
Cons: Limited delay and parametric
selections, encoder detenting.
How much: $429.00.
3DAA Personal Monitors
sound quality versus price. And
sound quality is a totally subjective thing. There are units that I
like a lot that others think stink,
and units that I am not fond of
that others swear by. So, it is fitting that my swan song on P.M.
reviews is for something that
is unique. Others have talked
about it and said it was in the
works, but to the best of my
knowledge, no one else is doing
what the Sensaphonics 3D Active Ambient System does.
The Gear
ments (resolution), but over just a couple of
milliseconds of range. Also, the DS24 could
have enjoyed a much longer delay range, up
to a second, for setting up delay speakers in a
large venue scenario.
The second niggle I ran into is the 31 ISO
frequency choices on the encoder when setting up the parametric filters. When jogging
the encoder fast, I noticed better resolution,
but it was thwarted when the speed was reduced to home in to an exact frequency. Here
is an instance where a better feature could
have been designed for no extra recurring
cost. Also, the encoder detenting had in-between settings that concerned me. This may
have been a case of good design intent and
cost cutting at production.
RT
Like most P.M.s, the Sensaphonics are armature-based. That means they use vibrating
rods to produce sound. This is basically hearing aid technology that has been refined and
adapted for use in pro audio. Unlike most
P.M.s I have used, the actual earpiece is made
of a soft silicone that is very comfortable and
that Sensaphonics says is “unbreakable.” (Having once ruined one side of a pair of custom
P.M.s by running over them with a car — long
story — I really appreciate that.)
Where most P.M.s terminate in a stereo
mini-plug, the 3D earphones use dual stereo miniplugs to connect to the system’s
bodypack mixer; they can’t really be used
with anything else. Built into the actual structure of the earpiece is a pair of mini mics (the
reason for the second plug). The whole deal
plugs into a belt pack that is essentially a mixer. The belt pack lets you mix sound from the
mics with the monitor mix from the console.
The version we tested uses a stereo 1/8-inch
jumper to plug in to your wireless belt pack receiver, while the standalone wired version takes
a stereo signal straight from the monitor board
via a pair of XLRs to a LEMO input.
There are two operating modes — Perform
and Full Ambient. In Perform mode, you dial in
www.fohonline.com
how much of the mic signal you will hear mixed
with what is coming from the monitor feed. A
flick of an easily accessible switch puts you in
Full Ambient mode, which bring the mics up
to full unity gain and dials back the input from
monitor world. This results in something very
much like not wearing P.M.s at all. The idea is
that the performer (or monitor engineer) uses
the Perform mode during performance, and
the mics are there to dial in enough stage and
room sound to eliminate the feeling of isolation that is common when using any P.M. system. If you need to talk to someone on or off
stage without resorting to a talkback mic, you
simply switch to Full Ambient mode and speak
— and hear — normally. Let’s see how that
idea works out in real life.
The Gigs
RT
I did the gigs for this review differently
than I usually would have. Since I did not have
any standalone monitor continued on page 34
The Bleeding Edge
By SteveLaCerra
We Lied
W
e told you that we were going to lay off the discussion
of wireless audio technology
for a while. Well, we lied. It seems like
developments in the wireless world are
happening so fast that by the time the
ink dries around here, there’s more news
to report. So this month, we shine the
spotlight on X2 Digital Wireless Systems
and Audio-Technica. X2 Digital (www.
x2digitalwireless.com) — with a bit of
help from Audio-Technica — has just
augmented its XDR Series of Digital UHF
wireless systems with four new products:
the XDR952 (omni lavalier microphone
with A-T MT830-X); the XDR953 (cardioid
headset mic with ATM75-X); the XDR954
(cardioid lavalier mic with A-T MT831-X);
and the XDR957 (clip-on instrument mic
with A-T Pro35-X).
“Big deal,” you say while you reach
for the remote control. Well, yeah it
is kind of a big deal. XDR wireless systems are based on multichannel, 24-bit
digital wireless transmission. The system features several stages of operation,
starting at the XD4 body pack transmitter, which is capable of handling instrument-, line- or microphone-level
signals. A 24-bit analog-to-digital converter resides inside the XDT4, and the
system transmits the audio signal, sans
companding, to the XDR4 Receiver over
a 300-foot operating range, using two
separate RF carrier frequencies.
[For those of you who don’t recall,
companding is the process of compressing a signal before transmission and ex-
panding it after reception in an effort to
reduce noise, which it does. It can also
create some very strange, audible side
effects such as pumping and breathing
and high-frequency loss. Lectrosonics
is another wireless manufacturer that
avoids companding].
Transmission from the XDT4 is in the
ital data that originates from the XDT4
transmitter, effectively “locking out”
competing sources of RF interference.
An onboard microprocessor analyzes
the transmitted data, sorts it out and
sends it to a 24-bit digital-to-analog
converter, resulting in a dynamic range
in the vicinity of 118 dB with a frequency
“Digital television, hostile RF
environments? Bring ‘em on.”
range of 902 MHz to 928 MHz and employs X2’s proprietary Q-DiversityPLUS
(a type of diversity reception technology). Q-DiversityPLUS is a dual-frequency
broadcast system that ensures that the
data being transmitted — your precious
audio — is isolated from unwanted interference. The XD4 transmitter turns audio
into a unique digital data stream that is
modulated over two separate RF carrier
frequencies for frequency diversity.
The XDR4 receiver, with its four receiver sections multiplexed in pairs,
executes the next stage of Q-DiversityPLUS. Each set of two receivers works
to receive one frequency. Two of the receiver sections connect directly to internal antenna, while two more receive RF
signals from external antenna through
BNC jacks on the XDR4’s rear panel. All
four receiver sections work together to
grab the two RF signals that carry the
digital transmission. The receivers are
smart enough to recognize only the dig-
response from 10 Hz to 20 kHz. Since XDR
systems operate in the 900 MHz band,
they are (at this moment) free from DTV
and FCC licensing concerns and may be
run on any of five user-chosen operating
channels. The result is an increase in the
resistance to interference from competing technologies and better performance
under “hostile” RF conditions.
So far, so good. So what? Here’s the
kicker: All X2 Digital Wireless XDR systems
are “2009 compliant,” giving them the ability to operate freely throughout North and
South America without frequency coordination issues or concern for DTV and the
“white space” issues we have been jumping
up and down about over the past year. In
other words, X2 says “digital television,
hostile RF environments? Bring ‘em on.”
In addition to microphones from
Audio-Technica, XDR body-pack transmitters can be used with headset, ‘lav
or instrument microphones from other
manufacturers when wired with a 1/8-inch
LIVE SOUND, Theory & Practice
Mark Amundson’s
first book
AVAILABLE
NOW
at
www.fohbookshelf.com
28
DECEMBER 2007
www.fohonline.com
TRS connector. Furthermore, XDR products are backward compatible with previous products in the company’s XD Series of wireless components.
Audio-Technica (www.audio-technica.com)
is working on wireless technology from
a completely different angle. (The company has incorporated Ultra Wideband
wireless technology from Multispectral
Solutions Inc., using it for the first time
in commercial sound applications. Believe it or not, UWB dates back to the
1800s and Marconi, when it was used for
long-range communications. Dubbed
SpectraPulse Ultra Wideband, the system
does not employ conventional wireless
channels and carrier frequencies. UWB
uses a series of extremely short (nanosecond) pulses that occupy an instantaneous bandwidth of 500 MHz within the
6 GHz frequency spectra. The signals are
broadcast in precisely timed sequences,
resulting in reliable, coded transmission
of information.
What’s really interesting about UWB
is that (in addition to being extremely
short) these pulses are broadcast at an
extremely low level. Our current wireless
systems typically broadcast a signal with
strength of about 50 milliwatts of power. SpectraPulse transmission strength is
roughly 40 nanowatts, placing it down
near the RF noise floor of the typical
environment. Ironically, this low signal
level makes SpectraPulse transmission
difficult to detect by all receivers other
than the UWB device(s) that have been
programmed to decode the precise
sequence of data pulses. Since SpectraPulse operates in a region of the RF
band where few other RF devices have
been licensed, interference is unlikely.
In other words, UWB is kinda’ invisible to
other wireless technology.
Current SpectraPulse products from
Audio-Technica include the mtu101
Microphone Transmitter Unit (boundary mic), the drm141 Digital Receiver
Module, the aci707 Audio Control Interface and the cei007 Charger Encryption
Interface. At this time, SpectraPulse is
intended for use in conference rooms,
courtrooms and corporate events, and
supports 14 simultaneous channels.
With a sample rate of 24 kHz, audio
bandwidth of a UWB system is approximately 100 Hz to 12,000 Hz, latency is
around one millisecond and the system
does not employ companding. I think
we can expect to see this technology extended to instrument and handheld vocal mic applications in the near future.
Score two for the wireless geeks!
Steve “Woody” La Cerra is the tour manager and front-of-house engineer for Blue
Öyster Cult. He can be reached via e-mail
at [email protected]
Regional Slants
Good Ol’ Boys Grow Up
North Carolina’s SE Systems Has Grown from a Local Staple to National Tours for Select Clients
By DavidJohnFarinella
W
hen Cliff Miller was a touring musician, he had many things going
through his mind. Sure there was the
tuning of his guitar and the song the band was
playing, but Miller’s mind would occasionally
drift to how the band was sounding out in the
house. It was the early ‘70s, and Miller, who was
playing guitar with Doc and Merle Watson,
had already started to think about starting a
regional sound company.
In the nearly 35 years since then, Miller and
a team of employees and associates have built
SE Systems into one of the best regional sound
companies in North Carolina. Headquartered
in Greensboro, SE Systems is a full-service
production company that provides audio,
lighting and staging and boasts retail outlets
in Greensboro and Charlotte.
Hometown Hero
RS
His time on the road as a musician also
taught him what worked and what didn’t
30
Good, Not Cheap
RS
Miller came to music, audio and electronics early in life. “I started out in a band in
junior high, and at the time, I’d modify an old
Stromberg-Carlson amplifier, put a speaker
with it and make a guitar rig,” he recalls. “So,
when I first started, I was putting together
my own stuff, fashioning a P.A. out of old tube
components and a couple cut-away speakers.”
[Pause] “Yeah, it’s changed quite a bit.”
That experience lead him to all sorts of
work before SE Systems was born, including
working as a service technician for a couple
of music companies in town, where he’d fix
church organs, install small systems or work
on gear. At the same time, he was working at a
radio station as an engineer and DJ.
The schedule enabled him to continue
playing music and learn about P.A.s. The first
P.A. he bought was the one he built for the music company employing him. “I was still doing
service work because I needed the income to
buy everything I needed to buy,” he says.
Somewhere in the mid-’70s, the company
started to pick up steam, and Miller began providing sound services — first to local music festivals and then at college venues. The college
work, since he was between Duke, N.C. State
and the University of North Carolina, kept him
busy. In addition to working with the Watson’s,
with whom he continued to play, some of Miller’s early gigs included Dizzy Gillespie and Doc
Severinsen.
So, working with big, boomy auditoriums
with no acoustic treatments and equipment
circa 1975 must have been exciting. “Oh yeah,
nothing like trying to stack stuff up to hit the
balconies and the back of the room,” he says
with a laugh. “The funny thing? How big can
the box be and still have only two speakers?”
While he laughs after saying that, the truth
of the statement led him to start building his
own enclosures and then loading them with
JBL components. “At the time, the things that
you could buy from the manufacturer were not
suited for live reinforcement,” he reports. “Typically, we could build our own cabinets and do
a really nice job of it using good plywood and
save a whole lot on shipping across the country. Actually, they’d hold up better because a
lot of [the manufacturer-built cabinets] were
built from particle board and would not hold
up on the road.”
Learning from Others
Turns out, that may have been the most
important move the company has made.
“Today, the sales side of the business does
about six or seven times the gross of the
sound reinforcement, lighting and staging
side of the business,” he reports.
DECEMBER 2007
Cliff Miller (L) and Chris West at Winston-Salem Symphony at LJVM Coliseum
when it came time to start SE.
“You pick up a lot from dealing
with other sound companies,”
Miller says. “It still sticks out in
my mind the companies that
I enjoyed working with, and it
always came down to people
who were attentive, had good
service and good people, and
who understood the music
that you were doing. So, as we
picked up more employees,
and as the company grew, I
put in that philosophy of beCliff Miller (top) and Bernie Velluti at FOH for the Alison Krauss/Tony Rice tour
ing customer-friendly, reactive
and attentive to anybody on the stage.”
In addition to sound services, Miller exDiving headfirst into the sound compa- panded SE so that the company now provides
ny market meant, of course, that he would lighting and staging to clients. Lighting and
staging came because some of
the region’s leading companies
were putting together full production packages, and promoters began to expect it. “They felt
that if they could have one big
truck come in and bring all the
gear, they were saving a little bit
of money,” he says. “So, we almost got forced into the lighting
business to be able to compete.
The next thing you know, people
were asking us for a stage, and
we bought staging. We own a
couple of mobile stages and lots
of decks and stuff like that. All of
Cliff Miller (L) and Chris West at Winston-Salem Symphony at LJVM Coliseum
it still helps to pay the bills.”
have to leave some of his performing dates
In the ‘80s, SE Systems opened a pair of
behind. It wasn’t difficult for him to make retail stores in Greensboro and Charlotte.
the switch. “The longer that I
played as a musician, and the
more musicians I met traveling around doing festivals,
I felt that my first limitation
came as a musician versus as
a sound engineer,” he says.
“So, I felt like I was in a better
position being on the console
end, still understanding what
needed to happen on the
stage. I was all prepared and
ready to make that switch
because being around that
many great musicians gave
me the desire to make them Haley Miller (L) and Cliff Miller at load-in for Alison Krauss and Union Station
sound as good possible.”
featuring Jerry Douglas
www.fohonline.com
RS
The local competition, Miller reports, is
strong, yet each company has its own niche.
SE Systems continues to service some of the
top touring acts that come through the area
and has added a number of corporate clients
to its roster. “I tend to think that we may be
the priciest company in the area,” he allows,
“but at the same time, we’re one of the oldest. One of the things we continue to invest
in is personnel. Everybody in this business
realizes it’s not just about the gear, it’s who
you’ve got running it and the people who
you have representing the company.”
Eventually the company’s reputation,
and Miller’s musical history, led to a number of phone calls from bluegrass bands
looking for regional support as they’d roll
through the Southeast. Then, in 2002, the
company was tapped for the Down from the
Mountain Tour, which featured some of the
biggest names in the genre. “They wanted
us to do the summer tour, which was national. At the time, we had never toured,
and I have a lot of good engineers who
work for me because they didn’t want to
tour,” Miller reports with a laugh.
So, Miller decided it was time for him to
go back on the road. “A lot of my friends and
a lot of people I’d known for years were on
that tour, so I thought it was a great thing
to be able to go out with that kind of music
and expose it to the national audience,” he
says. “I wanted to do my best to make them
sound as good as possible. We had 12 busses and one truck. We kiddingly called it the
Hillbilly Lollapalooza.”
That tour was enough of a success that
the company opened the door to other tours.
Since then, SE Systems has provided audio
gear, as well as Miller’s talents as production
manager, to national and international tours
by Alison Krauss and Union Station.
Miller has 48 JBL VerTec boxes out on
that tour, while the company’s headquarters is stocked with an assortment of JBL
HLA and VerTec boxes to service regional
work. On the console front, SE has purchased boards from Midas, Yamaha and
Soundcraft. “A lot of people still ask for an
analog console,” Miller reports. “They just
like it, they’re comfortable with it and that’s
what you’ll give ‘em. For the people who
like carrying their card with them, plugging
in and using a digital console, then we can
do that. We’ve been using two PM5Ds with
Alison for quite a few years, and they work
really well for us.”
Building the book of business, and continuing to service it, has been the recipe of
success for SE Systems. “It’s funny, over the
years when you keep customers long enough
— as they are growing you tend to grow
along with them,” Miller says. “If you really
want to keep that client for the long term,
you really have to be attentive to their needs
and respond to their requests. So, a lot of the
things that we do come directly from the requests we get from our customers.”
Sound Sanctuary
Employing a Godly Tech
By JamieRio
A
long with my writing efforts for
FOH, I work with a variety of
houses of worship. I guess that is
more than obvious, since I am the guy
who writes Sound Sanctuary. Well, I also
own and operate a secular (nonreligious)
regional sound company that designs
and installs residential and commercial
sound systems.
Generally speaking, I will hire anywhere
from one to six techs for my secular or worship gigs. They are actually independent
contractors. But rather than get into the legal qualifications of my employees, I will tell
you what I need in terms of technical skill
and physical attributes. Qualifying as a Rio
Deluxe (my company) tech is pretty easy.
You need to understand live audio setup
(lift speakers and plug in the right wires),
signal flow, EQ, compression, etc., and be
strong enough to handle the big stuff, but
smart enough to position the small stuff.
Shower regularly and wear the company
shirt. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?
However, in the worship end of this
business, the rules and requirements are a
little tighter. Appearance can be right up
there with technical ability. If I have one of
my boys mixing a Sunday service, they have
to know what they are doing and dress for
the occasion.
Let me give you my dress code for
church gigs (indoors or out).
First: Wear a clean, collared shirt (solid
colors preferred).
Second: Bathe, comb your hair and
shave (if you have a beard, trim it).
Third: Brush your teeth, use mouthwash
and Visine (if you smoke and were out working late the night before).
Fourth: It is imperative that you never
let a foul word exit your mouth. I don’t care
what the circumstance, a pure vocabulary is
a must. Appearance is not as important for
install gigs, but a clean vocabulary is vital.
Now, is this not the absolute antithesis of
your average sound guy? If you are working
on the road, you most likely are mixing in your
favorite or lucky T-shirt. You probably haven’t
had a shower in three days, you lost your toothbrush, your eyes are as red as stop lights and
you really don’t give a f*#k if you ever shave.
It doesn’t take much to see the difference between the secular and the spiritual
mixing worlds. It’s not that church sound
guys are pussies, we just show the more
refined side of live sound mixing. I live and
mix in both worlds, and it has taken me
some time to adjust to the changes between the two.
My biggest challenge was getting my
language under control. There is nothing
worse than letting the f-word or s-word slip
when selling the pastor on a new sound
system. “I’ll tell you pastor, this new system
will rock the f#*k out of your congregation.”
That just isn’t going to fly with most religious folks. So, the real question is: How do
you find a tech who will go out there and
represent your company with grace, style
and a reverence for the Lord.
I think that your primary test is finding
an employee who believes in some sort
of God and respects that belief in others.
In the worship end of this business, the rules
and requirements are a little tighter. I don’t
have to hold the same beliefs as my clients;
I just have to respect them.
You don’t have to hire a Jew to mix at the
temple or a Catholic to mix in the Catholic
church, but you need to hire a tech who understands the depth and the seriousness of
most religious groups’ beliefs.
Once you have found someone who
can and will conform to house of worship
work and mixing needs, you need to introduce him to the church elders or pastors
or the powers that be. And the folks who
run that church need to like the guy and
feel confident. I took one of my boys to a
very spiritual, mostly black church in L.A. I
love the energy of this church, but I wasn’t
sure if my guy was going to be a good
fit for this particular house of worship. It
turned out that my tech and the pastor hit
it off beautifully. I spent one Sunday with
my tech at this church, and I haven’t been
back for six months.
I took the same guy to a church in La
Cañada (an L.A. suburb) and introduced
him to the staff. They just didn’t click. He
never even had a chance at mixing even
one church event or service. I doubt that
they will ever use him. I really don’t understand the decision-making process of
a lot of houses of worship. Whether they
prayed about my tech or just went on first
impressions, I’ll never know. I only know
he didn’t get the gig.
Of course, bringing in a crew for an install is another story. I basically make sure
they look decent and wear the company
polo shirt. But I am always reminding them
of the importance of good language, especially in the sanctuary.
When doing install work, you also
have to make everyone conscious of their
surroundings. Religious buildings can be
full of spiritual icons (especially Catholic
churches), and these icons are almost always valuable. You really don’t want to drop
your drill on the statue of the Virgin Mary
from 16 feet up. Or knock over the Star of
David with your ladder. Just train your crew
to be extra careful.
I also have no problem praying with the
pastor or rabbi or whomever before a service, and none of my guys do either. Like I
mentioned earlier, I don’t have to hold the
same beliefs as my clients, I just have to
respect them. And, besides, praying never
hurt anyone (it probably helps).
I think that is about all I have to say
about this subject. Oh, maybe one more
thing. Go slow. Choose your church tech
wisely. If they shine for your company, then
you look good and will get more referral work. If they can’t handle the pressure
of spiritual mixing, they can send your biz
straight to hell.
Theory and Practice
By MarkAmundson
A
Gates —Pearly and Other Kinds
udio gates are what I call an accessory,
and pretty far down the list of new gear
purchase priorities. But if everything
further up the list is okay, then procuring a few
gates to insert on percussion and other noisy/
buzzy sources is a good thing. This column will
address a little history of “noise gates,” how
they work, key features to look for when shopping for gates and typical applications.
and personal recording applications. Today,
the bad news is that a lot of these noisy noise
gates are still around, hiding out in various install club systems as a way of spitefully saying,
“Here! Here are the gates you requested.” I am
hoping that eventually these ancient pieces
of “technology” will bump into a real engineer, who will promptly do the dumpster-toss
routine on them.
The Bad Old Days
Kudos to Ivor
TP
In the bad old days, noise gates, as they
were called, were just electronic mute switches that would unmute their channels when
the input signal level reached a specific
threshold in dBu. This all worked nicely, but
most of the circuitry employed on these early
noise gates were nothing more than CB/Ham
radio microphone “squelch” circuitry cleaned
up as best as could be for live audio usage.
They tended to be high in self-noise, had not
much headroom before clipping, and were
pretty much one knob (threshold level) and
an LED to indicate a muted status.
The good news in those days was that
you could get a quad channel noise gate reasonably cheap, and a lot of small companies
began producing them for both live sound
TP
Back in the United Kingdom in the bad
old days, audio tinkerer and sound engineer
Ivor Drawmer was tired of using the old noise
gates as they could often be unmuted, not
by the desired audio source, but by another
source with a bit of transient loudness close
and loud enough to trigger the gates. So Ivor
started to tinker with his prototype of noise
gate circuitry, using a modestly narrowed audio frequency filter before the threshold circuit. Thus, the dawn of frequency-conscious
gates began, with the Drawmer brand leading the pack and many quality brands adding
the feature as well.
Today, the typical frequency-conscious
gate for live-sound/recording use is extremely quiet, very versatile, and most of
ANALOG GATE BLOCK DIAGRAM
Voltage Controlled
Amplifier (VCA)
Input
Main Path
BUF
BUF
VCA
Key Listen
Bandpass
Filter
Threshold
Sidechain
Metering
Figure 1
Freq
the brands contain similar circuit architecture. Now I am not saying that a Behringer
Multigate has the same circuitry as a BSS
DPR-504, but the system architecture is
the same, with the quality of components
different, along with the quality of performance. At present, I prefer the Drawmer
brand of gates — not so much because I
know Ivor personally, but because I do like
the way his “sidechain” performs with minimal gate clicking and the whole control
from attack through release. But choosing
popular brand gates (dbx, Drawmer, BSS) is
like Fords, Chevys and Dodges — everyone
finds a brand they are fond of.
www.fohonline.com
Thres Release
Gate Guts
TP
Figure 1 shows a typical noise gate architecture block diagram. The audio signal
enters through TRS phone or XLR jacks, is
buffered, sent to the VCA, rebuffered and
sent back out another set of TRS phone
or XLR jacks. The first thing to note is that
the VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier) is
the heart of the unit, and its quality determines the overall fidelity of the audio signal progressing through the gate. Thankfully, dedicated audiophile-grade VCA
chips of excellent quality now replace the
bad-old-day squelch chips.
continued on page 34
2007 DECEMBER
31
Vital Stats
HEAR Technologies
By KevinM.Mitchell
BUSINESS
What: Hear Technologies
What it does: Manufacturer of professional
audio equipment for recording, TV, video postproduction and live sound.
Where: Huntsville, Ala.
When: Founded in 2001.
Services/products provided: Mix Back Monitor Mixer, Talk Back Personal Monitor System,
Talk Back 600MV, ADAT Extreme Extenders,
Freedom Back Wireless system, Future Sonic
Atrio personal monitors and Hear Bud and
Headset personal monitors.
Claim to fame: Hear Technologies won the
Innovations in Technology Award at the
National Sound Contractors Association
(NSCA) Expo 2003 in Dallas. New products from
over 500 NSCA exhibitors were nominated
across six categories. Products from each of
the finalists were displayed in the Innovations
in Technology Pavilion. More than 10,000 lowvoltage professionals, including designers,
integrators and installers voted the “Hear
Back” Personal Monitor Mixer System from
Hear Technologies as the top innovation in the
Audio category.
Brush with greatness includes… Les Paul,
who selected the company’s Future Sonics Ear
Monitors brand custom personal monitors.
People might be surprised to know: Hear
Technologies is a division of Quantum
Research.
PERSONAL
Who: Dave Holland.
First Gig: “I played in a nine-piece horn band
at the age of 14.”
I knew I wanted to be in this business
when… “I wired my first P.A. at age 14.”
What I love about this business is… “Helping
The organ at Flamingo Road Church
Roger Smith
people achieve
great sound and
music.”
Career low point:
“I’d rather not discuss it, but it involved playing a
song in the wrong
key!”
What bugs me
about this busi- Dave Holland
ness: “Long trade
shows, though I
really enjoy seeing my friends there.”
What bugs me at concerts: “Engineers
who think that the kick drum and bass guitar are the only reason for mixing sound.
Come on guys — what about vocals and
other instruments?”
The CDs in my car right now are… “Tower
of Power, Jackson Brown, Ugly Stick, James
LeBlanc and Jeff Tamelier.
Headquarters for Quantum Technologies Inc./Quantum Research International
Jazz organist Tony Monaco
Best concerts I have ever heard were: “Pink
Floyd and Jimi Hendrix.”
Over there, they just call it food: “My favorite
food is real Chinese food in China.”
Last good movie I saw was: “Real Genius.”
If I were a cartoon character, I’d be: “Marty
Martian.”
Motto/Favorite Quote: “Live, Love and
Laugh.”
Larry Hammel of Deep Wave
The Biz
Extended Stays
W
hen Celine Dion began a five-year
performance residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las
Vegas in 2002, it certainly didn’t seem like a
signal that the touring concert business was
about to undergo any major changes. Dion’s
is a talent perhaps best suited to a home theatre rather than sequential one-night stands.
And she certainly seemed to make the right
real estate deal: Her 700 shows in the past five
years generated more than $500 million, according to the Wall Street Journal, with Elton
John pulling in pro rata numbers for his interim Caesars stints when Dion took breaks.
But that remarkable theatre built to accommodate Dion’s show won’t stay empty for long.
In February 2008, Bette Midler will begin an
extended run, committing to 200 shows. The
same trend appears in other venues by other
big sellers: Prince did a 21-night run in London
in early 2007 (ticket sales benefited from the
free distribution of his new record as a cover
mount on the Daily Mail newspaper), and Bon
Jovi inaugurated the new Prudential Center in
Newark, N.J., with a 10-night run in October.
Given the way concerts have become the
new revenue generators of the music industry,
and given the competitively induced complexity of concert productions, plus the growing
32
DECEMBER 2007
cost of putting tours on the road (e.g., oil is approaching $100 per barrel), to reposition a concert as a destination rather than a traveling road
show is economically attractive.
Since the music business is changing so
radically, it’s worth reexamining what is normally taken for granted. The basic economics
are pretty stark. “When you put the show into
one place and have your audience come to
you,” says Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief of
Pollstar magazine, “you’re bringing your overhead costs down to a fraction of what they are
on tour. From an artist’s point of view, it’s a very
attractive proposition, financially speaking.”
It’s appealing in other ways, too. As much
as digital consoles and systems controllers
can offer to log and recall information about
a particular venue’s acoustical and sonic characteristics, nothing trumps the ability to walk
into the same FOH area night after night and
know exactly what the reflections are, what
the delay values are or how adverse weather
one night is going to create a hole in the room
that changes sound wave behavior.
When it’s your room, you can control the
consistency of the entertainment experience
and ensure that the audience, who is paying
high three figures for tickets, is going to get its
money’s worth. Also, it ensures that the artists
know that their music is being presented in
the best possible way. In the new music business, it’s all about building brands and building relationships. To do that, you need more
than quality — you also need consistency of
quality. When you control the environment,
you control the experience.
This strategy could impact concert sound
in other ways. Music artists and engineers are
still fond of vintage signal processing and
consoles — plug-ins are simply more affordable and more travel-friendly. But can you
imagine the kind of processing and consoles
that would be viable if an artist were to be in
residence for while? There’s no reason why
you couldn’t recreate an accurate recording
studio effect when that kind of environmental control is available. There is, in fact, no reason why the artist’s next recording can’t be
done in that same environment.
While the extended-stay concert strategy
has thus far been mainly limited to older artists
who have the stature to pull sufficient numbers
to distant venues, like Barry Manilow’s ongoing
run at the Las Vegas Hilton, the strategy could
become viable for a larger number of artists, too,
especially those catering to niche audiences.
Consumers used to check Ticketmaster or
Pollstar to see when (and if) an artist was com-
www.fohonline.com
By DanDaley
ing to a nearby venue. Now, when the artist is no
longer a moving target, fans can plan their lives
— vacations, weekend breaks — accordingly.
But could this trend freeze out a lot of
potential listeners, as well? Will everyone be
able to make the hajj to his or her own personal musical Mecca? It’s possible that artists
will have to occasionally do an old-fashioned
tour now and then. Or maybe the creativity
of the market will come up with new solutions. Maybe when Linkin Park reaches its
own relative seniority, some promoter in the
city of Chicago will see the benefit in setting
up the by-then-creaky band for an extended
stay at that landmark: “Come see Linkin Park
in Lincoln Park.” Asbury Park might be a little
cramped for the Boss, even these days, but
who’s to say Atlantic City couldn’t get some
of its luster back from Vegas with a long run
of Bruce Springsteen?
Celine Dion didn’t invent the extended stay;
Branson figured it out years ago, as did Wayne
Newton in Las Vegas. But where Branson had an
end-of-the-road feeling about it, and Newton
was known as much for his kitsch and camp as
for his talent, the extended stays of Dion’s successor, and those who will follow ,will continue
what has been the makeover show of the century — the new music business.
Anklebiters
Location, Location, Location
Brian: So Ken, I’ve just recently moved,
and I’m finding myself dealing with a new frustration. All of my equipment is still 10 minutes
up the road from my old house, which puts it
about an hour and a half from my new home.
I’ve got to get my shop closer to where I’m
living now, but I don’t have a nice three-car
garage, and I certainly don’t have the money
for some big commercial space. Have you got
any thoughts on a good way to store lots of
equipment?
Ken: Brian, Brian, Brian.... are you asking
the wrong person! As a sound professional
who plays living room Tetris every day, let
me warn you that it is not quite the turn-on
for your new wife that you may think. Friends
who would like to have a cheap weekend in
Las Vegas are appalled when I explain that
they have to bunk on the racks — yet another
reason for matched-height gear. My personal
best was having a well-endowed young lady
find the cremated remains of my father on a
speaker cabinet I was repairing. My laughter
did not seem to help the situation.
Brian: That might be a little more than I
needed to know.... I’m not really sure. I guess
it depends on what you were doing with this
coed at the time. Fortunately for me, I don’t
really have the option to store equipment in
our living room. We have an apartment on
the second floor of a commercial building,
and there’s no elevator for this loft. I know
you won’t find me hauling racks and stacks
up and down these steps. Bringing the groceries in is bad enough. I know I won’t be putting my gear around the dining room table,
but where can I put all of that stuff?
Ken: It sounds like you might be moving
out of anklebiter status. I think leasing
commercial space gives your business more
than a whiff of a “grown-up” job most of
us avoid. I, of course, have to maintain my
rootless style in case the Rolling Stones call
and need to replace touring bassist Darryl
Jones. In the meantime, check your local ads
for garage space for rent that is attached to a
residential home. People who don’t need the
extra room frequently offer these spaces, and
that can mean an older homebody, so you
get the added benefit of a security guard with
a vested interest in protecting his or her own
property. And they’re cheaper than regular
commercial space. You like cheaper, right?
Brian: Oh, we like cheaper. And that
sounds better than renting a storage locker,
which is how I’m storing stuff now. Those
things can be dank and dark, unless you pay
extra for climate control. Not to mention that
finding one with an electrical outlet is close to
impossible. My current “shop” has a deep cell
marine battery and two tractor lights wiretied to the ceiling, just so I can have some
light to unload by after the gig. I’ve thought
about adding a power inverter and a solar
panel to keep it charged, but how elaborate
does one get with something that is supposed to be temporary?
Ken: From what I understand, it’s just as
tough with a “real” warehouse space, where
you need an advanced degree in electrical
engineering and a touch of MacGyver to fake
the three-phase power you require when you
reach that stage. Next item for your research
should probably be security systems.
As with any piece of gear, it sounds like
the permanent solution will require a little effort on your part. Maybe list what you desire
and then put those items in order of importance. As a person not facing that predicament, perhaps our ever-faithful and smarter
By BrianCassell & KenRengering
readers have suggestions?
Brian: Well, some of them probably could
shed some light on the subject. I have a feeling that those readers who have been in my
situation would tell me that there just came a
point where they just bit the bullet and leased
or built a real warehouse space. I know that I
eventually had to dive in and buy a truck to
haul all this stuff. Some day, I guess I’ll have to
buy a real shop too.
I do know that one of the best business
moves my grandfather ever made was to run
his construction company from the same
piece of property where he lived. Less overhead means more profit any way you slice the
pie. Speaking of…I have a taste for another
slice of pumpkin, complete with whipped
cream.
In the Trenches
Rob Treloar
Services Provided:
FOH audio engineer
Clients: Queen Latifah,
Steve Tyrell, Lew Soloff,
Manhattan Brass
Quote: “Does anyone
remember a proper
sound check?”
FOH Audio Engineer
The Live Group
Middletown, CT
860.538.2951
[email protected]
www.thelivegroup.com
Personal info: Rob
Treloar has been
involved in the pro
sound industry for
over 20 years in the
fields of live sound
production, recording engineering,
technical testing and manufacturing,
as well as marketing and product
development. He is currently working
as FOH audio engineer for the Queen
Latifah Trav’lin’ Light tour.
In his early days as a musician, Rob worked
alongside the designers and technicians
of audiophile companies Mark Levinson,
Madrigal Audio Labs and Cello Laboratories
(now Viola Audio Laboratories).
Rob also spends off-the-road time at
Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., mixing
shows for artists such as Ronan Tynan,
the Nancy Wilson jazz band, Steve Tyrell,
Monica Mancini, Ben E. King, Jim Brickman,
comedians Lewis Black and Richard Jeni,
among many others. Broadway stars have
graced the stage as well, including Patti
LuPone, Eartha Kitt, Petula Clark, Lea
Salonga and Kristin Chenoweth. When
not mixing Ms. Latifah, you can find Rob
in New York doing location recordings
and live sound for today’s jazz, rock and
classical performers.
He has worked for such well-known
companies as Sennheiser Electronics Corp.
and Neumann. Rob helped introduce
microphones like the Neumann KMS-105
www.fohonline.com
handheld to the U.S. national touring
marketplace, working alongside sound
companies and artists, including Dave
Matthews, Bob Dylan, Tracy Chapman,
Natalie Merchant, Paula Cole, Static-X and
Peter Gabriel.
He also supplied Sennheiser microphones to the artists involved in the
September 11 Concert for America.
Rob has recorded congressmen at the
Washington D.C. Democratic National
Committee recording studios and toured
with artists such as bassist Meshell
Ndegeocello and Crash Test Dummies.
Hobbies: Working in the yard, hanging in
my studio, watching movies with the family.
Equipment: Digidesign Profile, Cubase,
Excedrin.
Don’t leave home without: Wallet, cell
phone, pass, laptop, Sharpie, pic of wife!
2007 DECEMBER
33
Road Test
Sensaphonics
3DAA Personal Monitors
continued from page 26
gigs on the books, I used them in a
situation that — for me anyway — is way
more stressful. When I rehearse my own
band, I get to be frontman, guitar player
and monitor engineer at the same time
for a nine-piece band. We use the Hear
Technologies Mix Back and Hear Back
system, which has made life easier as each
person has a degree of control over his or
her own P.M. mix. But it is still a hell of a
juggling act, and I almost always end up
with the “one-in, one-out” P.M. situation
just so I can both hear and communicate.
I used the 3D system in three situations: a straight rehearsal, a live recording and a lip-synch video shoot. When
I first plugged them in, I did what I normally do — wing it. And, not having read
the manual fully or called for any advice,
I was, of course, using them all wrong. I
thought that Perform mode was just the
MON feed and that Full Ambient brought
in the mics. So I played the whole time in
Full Ambient, which actually worked fine.
The only problem was that another player
was sharing my Hear Back output, which
I had cranked up to compensate for the
“ducked” MON level in that mode. Almost
ripped his head off with sheer volume. But
I was happy, which is all that matters….
Next time out, I actually took the time
to figure out what I was doing. Dialing
in just a bit of ambience in the Perform
mode gave me a better feel for what was
actually happening in the room, and I
found myself laying back just a little both
vocally and playing. It made for a better
performance on the recording.
So how does this apply for a monitor
engineer? First, the ability to communicate with another crewmember by flicking a switch instead of yanking out an earpiece is a huge improvement, and the 3D
system is worth checking out just for that.
But the biggest advantage is in getting a
performer who is fighting the whole P.M.
thing comfortable with the idea.
The 3D system totally negates two of
the three “reasons” I get from performers
I am doing monitors for as to why they
stick with wedges — the isolation factor
from both the audience and other band
members, and the ability to communicate among each other onstage. This is
especially true for looser acts that tend to
mix up arrangements and song order in
the middle of a set. For bands like that,
onstage communication is vital. The one
excuse that this system does not really
address is the perceived lack of low end
in P.M. systems. The 3D sounds very good,
as good as any balanced armature system
– and the sound from the onboard mics
is natural and undistorted — a neat engineering trick. The system is spec’d out
as going down to 30 Hz, but I did not perceive the bass response of something like
the Future Sonics Ear Monitors. On the
other hand, the 3D offers advantages that
are not even available using any other
system, so it comes down to what is best
for the situation.
The entire world of monitoring is
changing, and the increasing use of P.M.s
is inevitable. They result in a cleaner stage
sound, which makes it easier to mix a good
show out front and — if you keep both of
them in your ears all the time — they cut
the level by up to about 26 dB, which can
save the hearing of both a performer and
a monitor engineer. And that really says
it all. No matter what the client is using,
if you are mixing a band whose stage volume constitutes a hazardous work environment, P.M.s are simple self-defense. The 3D
system lets you defend your hearing (and
extend your career) and still hear the bass
player screaming for more kick in his mix.
No other P.M. system does that.
What it is: P.M. system with builtin mics for dialing in room and
stage ambience.
Who it’s for: Monitor engineers
and recalcitrant per formers.
Pros: Hear the band and your
system engineer at the same
time. Ver y comfor table over long
periods of wear.
Cons: The addition of mics and
mixer makes this an expensive
system.
How Much: 3D Active Ambient
IEM Systems: 3DAA-WL2 — (as
tested) 3D-2 dual driver earphones and mixer, for use with
wireless IEM $2,500; 3DAA-WL1
—3D-1 single driver earphones
and mixer, for use with wireless
IEM, single driver 3D-1 earphones
$2,000; 3DAA-HW2 — hardwired
standalone system, 3D-2 dual driver earphones and mixer $2,800;
3DAA-HW1 — hardwired standalone system,3D-1 single driver
earphones and mixer $2,300.
Theory and Practice
Gates —Pearly and Other Kinds
continued from page 31
The gate sidechain starts by picking off
the buffered input signal and processing
the audio through a variable bandpass filter circuit to form the frequency-conscious
feature. This is where the different brands of
gates begin to vary in performance. Some
lower-cost frequency-conscious gates will
just implement a medium-Q bandpass filter
around the lower octaves of the audio frequency spectrum, while more full-featured
gates will cascade low-pass and high-pass
filters to allow the user to tweak in the audio
frequencies of interest to trigger the unmuting
function. Since most gates are used on percussion sources, the best gates focus on having wide 50 Hz to 500 Hz frequency span
on the sidechain filter controls to catch
specific drum head tuning resonances as
the trigger audio.
After the frequency-conscious filters, the
remaining part of the sidechain circuitry is
devoted to the threshold detection function
along with the ADSR (attack, delay, sustain,
release) shaping of the “key” waveform. The
key is just a buzzword for the sidechain signal as it progresses from audio to a rectified
control signal that follows the audio amplitude, to the chopped up control voltage that
opens and closes the VCA and is visualized
through the metering LEDs. The threshold
control is just the trigger point adjustment
where the VCA is commanded to open.
34
DECEMBER 2007
On the backside of the audio signal triggering, the release control permits an adjustable time before remuting the VCA, once the
sidechain signal retreats below the set threshold. For drums, the threshold time may be a
half-second to several seconds to permit the
drumhead sound to decay. For instruments
like keyboards, a tight fraction-of-a-second
selection of release is useful to reduce hum/
buzz or to create a staccato musical effect.
the key filters out, if there is that option on
the gate. Then you get to go back after the
mix is settled and key listen to the gates
during performance, hoping for a drum fill
to catch a hit or two to tweak in the filters
of each drum channel. There is never a dull
moment for a house engineer when there
are new bands every night, and likely each
new drummer will have different tunings
for each tom.
Setting Up a Gate
TP
Yes, setting up a gate could be as easy
as dialing in a reasonable threshold, like -20
dBu, and letting the loudest thing nearby to
open it up (presuming it is a mic source). But
what you really want is some extra time at
line check to have the drummer hit the toms
(or snare, or kick, etc.) while you PFL the channel with the gate inserted in it, and with the
“key listen” switch activated. Referring back
to Figure 1, the key listen switch lets you
hear the filtered version of the signal that the
gate’s sidechain will rectify and unmute to.
By adjusting the filter characteristic to each
drum’s primary (or secondary) resonance,
you can keep adjacent drums from opening
up other gates than the desired one.
It is nice to have the time to set up each
gate’s frequency-conscious filters at line
check, but often time pressure will cause
you to either bypass the gate in the beginning of the performance, or at least bypass
Application
TP
Given that most gates are provided in
pairs, fours or six-packs, the question is:
Which inputs get the gate treatment? I always focus on getting the tom-toms gated
first, and if there are spare channels, then
pursue the snare drum, followed by the kick
drum channels. It used to be that a lot of direct inject (DI) keyboard channels used to be
notoriously noisy, but thankfully this is mostly a thing of the past.
With percussion rating a priority, setting
the release times on the drums becomes a
tasteful choice thing. If you have a drummer
with badly dampened toms, then shortening up decays under a second makes things
sound more pleasant than they really are onstage. I find with a well set up drum kit that
I can progressively open the release times
from 0.5 seconds to over one second as I
go from small toms (6 inches to 10 inches)
toward floor toms (16 inches to 24 inches).
www.fohonline.com
Too much release time, and the stage noise
swells every time a drum-fill starts. And
too short release times cause the drums to
sound unnatural or synthesized.
Today, with digital consoles, every input
can have a gate if desired. However there is
a difference between setting -50 dBu floors
to drop some hiss out of the overall mix and
hard gating drums or other noisy sources.
Gates on tom-toms are meant to stay silent
if the toms are not hit, then the remaining
open mics are how you are miking the remaining drum kit. Think of how drummers
were miked in recording studios in the old
days — mostly with a kick drum mic and one
or two mics placed over the drummer’s head
to pick up the cymbals, snare and toms. Today, with the luxury of individual drum mic
channels, it still is best to remember the old
technique and let kick and overheads do the
heavy lifting, as far as sound reinforcing and
balancing the drum kit sound.
But I have a confession to make: I love
gating the toms and letting them open up
with near full level on the channel faders. This
“drums from hell” sound is enjoyable, but can
get old really fast if you overdo it. My compromise is to just do it at the start and trim
back the tom fader levels to the point were
they are not so objectionable.
Now that you have my secrets on
gating, experiment and invent some hot
tips of your own.
EMPLOYMENT
For Advertising Information Call
Dan Hernandez at 415.218.3835
ADVERTISER’S INDEX
PG#
PH URL
AKG
25
818.920.3212
Allen & Heath
16
800.431.2609
http://foh.hotims.com/12796-176
Audio-Technica U.S., Inc
17
330.686.2600
BBE Sound
7, 9, 11
714.897.6766
EV, Electro Voice/ Bosch
15
248.876.1000
Crown International
9
574.294.8000
D.A.S. Audio
8
888.237.4872
d&b Audiotechnik
5, 6
828.670.1763
dbx Professional Products
19
801.568.7660
DiGiCo Consoles
27
877.292.1623
DPA Microphones
C4
303.485.1025
EAW/ Loud Technologies
23
800.992.5013
Full Compass
22
800.356.5844
Heil Sound
9
618.257.3000
JBL Professional
3
818.894.8850
Lab.gruppen
C1
818.665.4900
Meyer Sound Laboratories
C2
510 486.1166
OVO/Mega Systems
7
210.684.2600
Precise Corporate Staging
10
480.759.9700
TMB
13
818.899.8818
Westone Music Products
4
719.540.9333
Yamaha Commercial Audio
Systems
1, 21, C3
714.522.9011
AudioEast
35
866.274.4590
Consolidated Audio Technology/
Gabriel Sound
35
973.831.7500
Hi-Tech Audio
35
650.742.9166
New York Case/Hybrid Cases
35
800.645.1707
Sound Productions
35
800.203.5611
COMPANY MARKET PLACE
www.fohonline.com
www.fohonline.com
Month 2005
2007 DECEMBER
35
35
FOH-At-Large
By BakerLee
OK,
so there I was, all gakked up
and sitting in the back of the bus…
A
n engineer friend of mine, who
a problem in the workplace, even one
is now retired from the business,
as loose as ours. Gear can be damaged,
started his audio career in the
people can get hurt, schedules can be
early 1970s and spent most of the ensuruined and, similar to a DUI charge,
ing 30 years traveling throughout the
none of it matters until something hapworld mixing front of house and monipens or someone is caught.
tors. As well as being an excellent engiIt’s probably a good rule of thumb
neer, he is endowed with a charismatic
not to imbibe while loading or unloadcharm, wit and a talent for networking.
ing a truck, flying an FOH rig or while
He was in with the rock ‘n’ roll elite and
hunting quail with good friends. Mixalways worked with top name acts in
ing a show or doing monitors should
the business.
be done as soberly as possible, and if
In the latter part of the last century,
one is responsible for the power tiehe navigated a glamorous course that
in, I would again suggest it be done
took him on an odyssey via the world
while sober. Speaking to the client is
of towering platform boots, big hair and
not advisable while under the influcolossal snare drum sounds to the north
ence, nor is being high while doing
country of plaid shirts and ripped jeans.
settlement for a show. That said, I am
After a final bit of touring, which took
sure that many of us have done all of
him across an ocean of lip-synching dithe above plus more while “all gakked
vas to the lucrative strip-mined fields of
up” or something like it.
boy bands, he finally hung up his shoes
So, when does substance use beand decided to settle down.
come substance abuse? Easy signs
Settling down turned out to be a bit
might be if you feel a beer with your
of a challenge and, as most people who
morning cereal is a good idea, or if
have tried know, the party never ends,
you’d rather skip breakfast and have a
and the road goes on forever. It’s not
line with your coffee. Oversleeping and
easy to bring 30 years of nonstop momissing load-in might be forgiven once,
tion to a seemingly grinding halt, but
but should be given a serious look if it
he had made up his mind and was athappens again. When the phone stops
tempting to give it his best shot.
ringing, and the gigs become less frePart of the therapy in adapting to
quent — that’s also an indication that
his new life was to regale anyone within
something is askew.
earshot with tales of his fantastic life of
Junkie logic is something that
adventure. An engaging speaker, he
would have to be pointed out, since
easily enthralls his listeners with anecimpaired logic still seems logical to a
dotes of glamour, music and distant
junkie. A friend of mine, who is now in
Image by Andy Au
vistas; invariably, his tales start the same
a program and four months sober, once
way. “OK, so there I was, all gakked up
me that his plan for getting rid of
While most people are relegated to “party” when they go told
and sitting in the back of the bus…” or
his cocaine habit was to stop snorting
“OK, so we were all in the bar, drinking out once or twice a week, as touring or venue engineers, it and start smoking it instead, because
and all gakked up….” Once in a while,
by doing this, he wouldn’t be able to afwe are basically at the ball all the time.
he may start a road saga with a slight
ford to buy it, and he would be forced to
variation on the theme, “OK, so there I
quit. Seemed logical at the time….
was. I just had a big hit of some amazing weed, which was nice because we had been gakked end is a hopeless drug addict or an alcoholic,
Cocaine is not a musical drug! It doesn’t have
up all day….”
but while most people are relegated to “party” rhythm, melody or nuance, and when one takes
The narrative that follows his opening sen- when they go out once or twice a week, as tour- cocaine, it is akin to dressing up the neurons
tences is always interesting, informative and ing or venue engineers, we are basically at the when they (the neurons) have no place to go.
amusing, but after hearing a few of these bio- ball all the time.
However, it’s difficult to assess oneself regardgraphical reminiscences, an emerging pattern
Since we are always working in a social ing substance use and abuse, and most people
becomes hard to ignore: It is evident that my environment, the opportunities to imbibe are claim that they can be in charge of it — even as
friend spent most of the past three decades of countless. Various reasons can be given for they are careening out of control. Though not
his life drunk, high or “all gakked up.”
traveling down the not-so-straight-and-narrow everyone has an addictive personality, it’s often
“All gakked up,” for those who do not know, path. As a touring engineer, it can be the excite- difficult to recognize it in yourself until, one day,
is a fairly accurate way of describing the feeling ment of the show or the numbing monotony of you realize that the drug is controlling you and
Salt Lake
in the back of one’s throat, as well as the high, travel that leads us to the bottle, pipe or spoon. not the other way around.
that is associated with snorting a white pow- As a club, or venue engineer, the long hours and
A good many of my friends are in recovery
Tabernacle
dery substance. Believe me, I know of what I late nights — not to mention the easy access to and doing well, while others have gone the othspeak. I came of age in a world that was “tuning a multitude of spirits — can lead us down the er way and are still struggling with their habits.
renovation
in, turning on and dropping out,” and I lived and sobriety-challenged trail. Last, there is the event A few people I know with less addictive personworked through the same three decades as my itself, which is most always a soiree regardless of alities, including me, have either given up most
friend and in the same business.
its nature, and again we, the engineers, are right of their evil ways or transferred their addiction
Product Gallery
Drugs and alcohol have been prevalent in there in the middle of it all. Even when it’s over, to something more socially acceptable such as
our society for many years, and their seductive it’s difficult to let the good times end.
chocolate or fast food. Many things about a life
looks at speakers on
attraction is not unique to our chosen field of
I am not against alcohol or drugs, nor do I in audio can lead one to seek a diversion, and
work. Many people snort, drink, smoke and think of them as evil. I am in favor of drug law re- while it’s nice to have hobbies, there are some
a stick.
inject intoxicating substances. Although this form and propose that all substances should be that are more detrimental than others.
behavior was, at one time, indicative of en- as legal as liquor in our society, thereby alleviTherefore, if you suspect that your avocatertainers and other people of questionable ating the overcrowding of our prisons by many tion is beginning to interfere with your vocaWhat it takes to be
background, the playing field has opened up, noncriminal types. However, drugs and drink- tion, it might be time to get into one program
and everybody has joined in. I do not mean to ing do change one’s perspective and can lead or another and possibly consider taking up a
a hired gun for God.
imply that everyone who goes out on the week- to impaired judgment, which can definitely be different pastime.
COMING NEXT
MONTH...
•
•
•
www.fohonline.com

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