a PDF - Front of House

Transcription

Tony Awards Announce
Sound Category
ThE NEws MagazinE For LivE Sound
JULY 2007 Vol. 5 No. 10
Nelly Furtado Gets Loose
NEW YORK — On June 19, nine days after the 61st Tony Awards ceremony, the Tony
Awards Administration Committee voted to add two new competitive categories for
future Tony Awards ceremonies — Best Sound Design of a Play and Best Sound Design of a Musical. This is the first time the Tonys have recognized sound design along
with the other production elements in the competitive categories. Eligibility for the
new categories begins with the upcoming 2007–2008 season.
With the inclusion of these two new
categories, there now is a total of 27 competitive categories for qualifying producat InfoComm
tions. The last time the Administration
Committee changed the number of categories for competitive Tony Awards was
in 2005. Beginning that year, the Tonys
included separate awards for plays and
musicals in the Scenic Design, Costume
Design and Lighting Design categories.
The musical Spring Awakening was
the clear winner at the 61st annual Tony
Awards on Sunday, June 10, picking up
eight awards, including thecontinuedonpage11
FOH
Crown Celebrat es
60th Anniversary
Nelly Furtado has completed the European and the U.S. legs of her Gets Loose tour and is
getting ready for more dates in London and in Spain. When we caught up with her FOH mixer
Jeffrey Holdip, who has been with Nelly Furtado for seven years — pretty much since the beginning — he explained how he tunes whatever house system he's on to get the “old school”
sound he likes. He also told us why he thinks its worth the extra time and effort to set it up this
way. To find out how he pulls it all together, turn to page 20.
Event Production Directory Goes Online at EPDweb.com
LAS VEGAS — Timeless Communications, publishers of PLSN and FOH magazines, has made their
Event Production Directory, the most widely distributed production directory of its kind, available
online at www.EPDweb.com. The Web version of the ultimate production guide contains all the
information found in the print version, along with several enhancements made possible by the
power of the Web.
“It’s a quantum leap forward,” said Terry Lowe, publisher of the Directory. “The EPD has instantly
become the industry’s preeminent search engine. All the information in the EPD is now online, and
fully searchable — not just by company, but by city, state or even a specific piece of gear.”
continued on page 6
ELKHART, IN — Crown International is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. From its beginnings in
1947, Crown International has grown
to become one of the world’s largest
manufacturers of power amplifiers
and microphones for professional audio markets.
Crown’s history traces back to
an Elkhart, Ind., minister Clarence C.
Moore (1904-1979). Moore, a longtime radio enthusiast, spent the early
part of the 1940s in Quito, Ecuador,
working for HCJB, a nonprofit Christian broadcasting and engineering
group. Following his return to the
United States, he felt the desire to supply Christian broadcasters like HCJB
with quality electronic products. As
a result, Moore founded International
Radio and Electronics Corporation
(IREC) in 1947 and converted a former
chicken coop into
continued on page 6
FOH went to InfoComm and
brought back more than a t-shirt and
a flat panel TV. We update you on all
the new gear and all the latest news
from the show on the important
“white space” issue, including an
announcement of an exciting new
development that could render the
entire issue moot. Check out our
InfoComm coverage on page 13
and the white space discussions on
page 34 with The Biz and page 31
with The Bleeding Edge.
22
28
29
Product Gallery
First we’ll tell you all about the
speaker processors . . .
Theory and Practice
Then we'll tell you about the theory
behind speaker measurements.
Regional Slants
Allstar Audio makes its mark in and
out of Nashville.
Ad info: http//www.fohhotims.com
Ad info: http://foh.hotims.com/
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200.0707.Ads.indd 1
6/28/07 4:21:52 PM
www.fohonline.com
CONTENTS
WHAT’S HOT
Installations
Features
Feature
16
Ovation Lounge has two Midas XL8s and enough L-ACOUSTICS
& JBL drivers to blow your fillings out.
13 Kickin’ It InfoComm Style
30 Anklebiters
Our intrepid crew went to Anaheim, Kingdom of
the Mouse, to look for audio gear that roared.
This sunburn season, consider saying good-bye to
bands, and hello to Miss Rutabaga.
18 Production Profile
31 The Bleeding Edge
It’s Christmas in July as we examine Alice Cooper’s
annual Christmas Pudding.
The conflict over white space isn’t as black and
white as you think.
20 FOH Interview
34 The Biz
We fly into Canada and examine the first leg of
Nelly Furtado’s North American tour.
More drama over white space, and some discussion of strategy and allies if pro audio wishes to
make it out of this thing alive.
22 Product Gallery
36 FOH-At-Large
Drive processors to help you carve out some
filters for the solid wall of sound coming out of
your stacks and racks.
Riddle me this, Baker, exactly how is belief in obscenity a lot like belief in a strong currency?
24 Road Tests
Production Profile
WHAT’S HOT
JULY 2007, Vol. 5.10
Departments
Get it in from the Audix VX5 mic, and send it out
through the Soundcraft Vi6 board.
4
5
11
12
14
32
32
Columns
28 Theory and Practice
Regional soundco, national sound pro, or Anklebiter, everybody should have a basic understanding of SPL.
29 Regional Slants
Allstar Audio got off the road and found success.
26
With Masque Sound, Celtic Woman’s sound is as good as the
ladies’ voices.
ctory
ire
D
n
o
i
duct
o
r
P
line!
t
n
n
e
O
v
e
The E
ailabl
v
A
w
Is No
Editor’s Note
News
International News
On the Move
Showtime
Welcome To My Nightmare
In The Trenches
30 Sound Sanctuary
You better do more than pray if you want to make
a successful HOW install bid.
Need Lighting in Poughkeepsie?
How About Audio in Anaheim?
Looking for Radios in Richmond?
You Can Find All OF THEM and More at
www.EPDweb.com
If you need gear for a tour or event
Large or Small
Check out www.EPDweb.com
The Industries #1 Directory
Is Now the Industry’s
#1 Search Engine
www.EPDweb.com
The EPD is used year-round by:
Event Producers
Touring Shows
Rental Companies
Production Managers
Corporate Producers
Fairs & Festivals
Promoters
Production Companies
Production personnel
Facility Managers
Personal Managers
Producers
Basically, anyone who is involved in
live event production will use the EPD.
24/7 access to 1,000s of companies
Sections on
•Lighting • Sound • Staging • Video Projection • Set Design & Construction
•Manufacturers / Distributors / Theatrical Retailers • Lasers • Cases • Pyrotechnics
•Generators • Coaches • Freight Forwarders • Trucking • Radio Communications
•Backline
Search by State – City and even the gear each company has!
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Editor’s Note
By BillEvans
Publisher
Terry Lowe
Wireless White Space
And Where Do We Go from Here?
tlowe@fohonline.com
Editor
Bill Evans
bevans@fohonline.com
Managing Editor
Jacob Coakley
jcoakley@fohonline.com
T
here is a bunch of stuff in this issue
about the current obstacles facing
the live event audio community regarding wireless communications, and if
you are not really well-versed in what is
going on and what is likely coming up, it
of cosponsors from both sides of the political aisle, which is a pretty big achievement. But the odds are still against this
bill, which would, among other things, set
aside a portion of the spectrum specifically for wireless mics.
There are still things that can be done politically, but they are likely band-aid solutions
when we are really facing major surgery.
may seem like we are talking out of an orifice that is usually reserved for expelling
material other than speech.
Dan Daley looks at the issue from a
straight biz perspective, while Steve La Cerra
takes a peek at some developing technology
on the intercom front that has the potential
to clear up some space in the spectrum we
all use. Finally, in the InfoComm coverage,
you will read about a new system that, while
currently confined to boardroom-type applications, takes an approach that is completely different from any other I have seen
and could — if it works in the field — solve
a lot of problems.
So we are not talking out of both
sides of our mouth, it is just that the wireless landscape on both the technical and
legal levels is changing almost daily. A
handful of companies continue to lobby
Congress and the FCC to protect — at
least for a while — the spectrum we all
use currently, and they are making some
headway. The piece of legislation known
as the Rush Bill has garnered a number
There are still things that can be done
politically, but they are likely band-aid
solutions, when we are really facing major surgery. What can be done is this: call,
write and e-mail your congressional reps
and ask them to cosponsor the Rush Bill
(The Interference Protection for Existing Television Band Devices Act of 2007
— H.R. 1320). If you are one of our Nevada
readers, you can have a real impact because Harry Reid — the Senate majority
leader — is from Nevada, and he is one of
the few people in D.C. with the power to
keep active the legislation that will prevent this wireless space from becoming
the exclusive property of the Microsofts,
Yahoos and Googles of the world.
We are yanking back the covers a
bit, but here is how it really works. Neither of Nevada’s two senators really cares
much about this issue — one has been
charged with fundraising for all Republicans for the upcoming election cycle, and
the other runs the Senate. Our problem
with wireless mics is not even on their
radar. But enough pressure from enough
people could get them to keep the bills
sponsored by John Kerry and John Sununu — the ones that started this whole
mess — off the floor for this session. And
given the huge resources and almost obscene power wielded by those lined up
against us, buying time is likely the best
we can hope for.
E-mail Senator Reid at http://reid.
senate.gov/contact/email_form.cfm, or
call him in his Washington D.C. office at
202.224.3542 to let him know just how
much this issue means to our industry.
Associate Editor
Geri Jeter
gjeter@fohonline.com
Technical Editor
Mark Amundson
mamundson@fohonline.com
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
gpetrov@fohonline.com
And given the huge
resources and almost obscene power
wielded by those lined
up against us, buying
time is likely the best
we can hope for.
Production Manager
Linda Evans
levans@fohonline.com
Graphic Designer
Crystal Franklin
cfranklin@fohonline.com
David Alan
dalan@fohonline.com
Web Master
Josh Harris
jharris@fohonline.com
National Sales Manager
Peggy Blaze
At the same time, start looking at your
gear acquisition priorities and budgets. A
few years ago, everyone was looking to
buy a line array. Right now, it seems like
the hot item is a digital console. I have a
feeling that in the next couple of years, as
new technology emerges that will make
our current tools obsolete, wireless will
head to the top of that list.
E-mail Bill at bevans@fohonline.com.
pblaze@fohonline.com
National Advertising Director
Gregory Gallardo
gregg@fohonline.com
General Manager
William Hamilton Vanyo
wvanyo@fohonline.com
Executive Administrative
Assistant
Mindy LeFort
mlefort@fohonline.com
Business and
Advertising Office
6000 South Eastern Ave.
Suite 14J
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Ph: 702.932.5585
Fax: 702.932.5584
Toll Free: 800.252.2716
Circulation
Stark Services
P.O. Box 16147
North Hollywood, CA 91615
Front Of House (ISSN 1549-831X) Volume 5 Number
10 is published monthly by Timeless Communications
Corp., 6000 South Eastern Ave., Suite 14J, Las Vegas, NV,
89119. Periodicals Postage Paid at Las Vegas, NV and
additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address
changes to Front Of House, P.O. Box 16147, North
Hollywood, CA 91615-6147. Front Of House is distributed free to qualified individuals in the live sound
industry in the United States and Canada. Mailed in
Canada under Publications Mail Agreement Number
40033037, 1415 Janette Ave., Windsor, ON N8X 1Z1.
Overseas subscriptions are available and can be obtained by calling 702.932.5585. Editorial submissions
are encouraged, but will not be returned. All Rights
Reserved. Duplication, transmission by any method
of this publication is strictly prohibited without the
permission of Front Of House.
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Publishers of...
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JULY 2007
www.fohonline.com
6/28/07 6:12:38 PM
News
Guitar Center Inc. to Be Acquired by Bain Capital
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA — Guitar Center Inc.
today announced that it has signed a definitive
agreement to be acquired by affiliates of Bain
Capital Partners, LLC, a global private investment firm. The total transaction value, including
assumed debt, is approximately $2.1 billion.
Unlike some other acquisitions recently
announced, this does not appear to be a
typical Wall Street grab and dash, but rather a way to allow the chain to continue to
grow without the often unrealistic expectations shareholders can make of a public
company. In recent years, GC has grown
from the 50 range to more than 200 stores
currently and is expected to have well over
300 by next year.
This agreement represents the culmination of an auction process, led by Goldman, Sachs & Co., to solicit interest in a
potential acquisition of the company. The
board of directors of Guitar Center, acting on the recommendation of a special
committee of independent directors, has
approved the merger agreement and recommends that Guitar Center stockholders
support the transaction. Under the terms
of the merger agreement, stockholders will
receive $63 in cash in exchange for each
share of Guitar Center common stock they
own. This represents a 26% premium over
the closing price of Guitar Center’s shares
on June 26, 2007.
The transaction is expected to close in
the fourth quarter of 2007 and is subject to
customary closing conditions, including the
approval of Guitar Center’s stockholders.
Marty Albertson, chairman and chief executive officer of Guitar Center, stated, “We believe
this transaction delivers outstanding value for
our stockholders and is a strong validation of
the company’s accomplishments over the years
as well as our future growth prospects. We are
committed to maintaining our vendor relationships and ensuring our customers will continue
to experience the same quality and selection of
musical instrument products as well as the high
level of service and professional advice through
our stores and our Web sites.”
VENUE by Digidesign
Hits Major Sales
Milestone
DALY CITY, CA — This spring, VENUE
system sales hit 500 worldwide. “The
500 mark is an amazing milestone for
us to reach in such a short span of time,”
says Robert Scovill, Market Manager for
Digidesign’s Live Sound Products. “It’s
just so rewarding to see mixers, systems
integrators and even PA companies genuinely excited by what VENUE brings to
their efforts.”
The growing roster of artists and
events currently touring with VENUE systems encompass numerous genres. VENUE is the console of choice for mixers of
Ozzfest, Beck, Radiohead, Paul McCartney,
U2, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Black
Eyed Peas, Dave Mathews Band, Barbara
Streisand, Shakira, Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam,
Justin Timberlake and Gnarls Barkley to
name just a few.
Events around the globe such as the
Bonaroo Music Festival and Switzerland’s
Montreux Jazz Festival, as well as iconic
U.K. rock festivals such as Glastonbury
and Isle of Wight, all employ VENUE for
their multiartist line-ups. “VENUE has
a reputation for its intuitiveness, “says
Montreux’s senior sound supervisor, Bernard Natier. “Everyone seems comfortable using the console and is delighted
with the system’s numerous features.”
Mega Houses of Worship such as
Colorado’s Heritage Christian Center
and Georgia’s North Point Community
Church, have adopted VENUE systems.
Heritage Christian Church’s FOH engineer Curtis Sobolik says that “We rely
heavily on our gear to perform without
flaw every day of the week, and this product is flawless. Before we purchased the
VENUE, we had three different consoles,
and the VENUE replaced both FOH and
monitor worlds as well as all the outboard gear.”
In theatre applications, VENUE’s versatility has made it well-liked. “In the
current console market, the Digidesign
VENUE stands out by a mile,” says Gareth
Owen, sound designer for Orbital Sound,
which handles many of the live theatre
shows in London. “The scene handling
and recall parameters are way ahead of
anything else out there. Combined with
advanced trigger and MIDI functions, the
D- Show software makes programming a
theatre show ridiculously easy.”
www.fohonline.com
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2007 JULY
6/28/07 6:27:55 PM
News
Bipartisan Support for Legislation to Protect Wireless Microphone Systems
NILES, IL— Sandy LaMantia, President and CEO of Shure Incorporated,
praised several legislators who are
supporting H.R. 1320, The Interference
Protection for Existing Television Band
Devices Act of 2007. The bill, introduced
by Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-IL),
seeks to protect from harmful interference by new devices the users of wireless microphone systems and other apparatus that transmit in the television
band. Representatives Mark Steven Kirk
(R-IL), Shelley Berkley (D-NV ), Jim Cooper (D-TN), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) and
Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY ) have pledged
their support for the bill. FOH Editor Bill
Evans was a member of the lobby group who
visited Washington to save the white space
for live audio. FOH is not only reporting on
this issue but actively trying to defend the industry we are lucky enough to be a part of.
The legislation requires manufacturers of new unlicensed devices to demonstrate that they do not cause harmful interference to existing products that use
the so-called “white spaces” in the television band. The FCC would only certify
new devices after engineering analysis
and testing to assure non-interference with existing users.
“We’re especially pleased
to see that the bill is generating bipartisan momentum,”
concluded LaMantia, “because
it reflects Shure’s belief that
interference protection is not
a Republican or a Democratic
issue. It is, rather, an issue that
preserves quality live entertainment, religious, sports and
news productions on behalf of
the American public.”
Rep.ShelleyBerkley(D-NV,fourthfromleft)with(L/R)Shure’sMark
BrunnerandJeffKrull,MarkDennis(CirqueduSoleil),BillEvans(FOH
magazine) and Scott Harmala (ATK Audiotek).
Cal State Fullerton Meng Concert Hall Debuts
FULLERTON, CA — The 800-seat Meng Concert Hall at the new Performing Arts Center at
California State University, Fullerton, features a
sound reinforcement system designed by MultiMedia Consulting Inc. (MMC) of Los Angeles,
incorporating EAW AX Series loudspeakers and
SB Series subwoofers. MMC Founding Principal
Rick Wells took the lead role in the system design
process for Meng Concert Hall, specifying three
sets of dual EAW AX366 loudspeakers to provide
coverage throughout the room.
The loudspeakers are flown in a “one above
the other” configuration at selected positions
above the front edge of the room’s large stage,
with each set joined by a single EAW SBX220 subwoofer. The AX Series is a collection of arrayable
loudspeaker modules that are designed to meet
the higher output demands of larger venues. All
AX enclosures have an identically sized, dual trapezoidal shape that permits creating horizontally
or vertically orientated arrays in a variety of beam
widths, with precise horizontal and vertical pattern symmetry created to maintain the proper
relationship between the polar patterns.
Criss Niemann of Audio Geer, Huntington Beach, Calif., participated in the early
stages of the design, with system installation
by GroggWorks Inc.of San Diego.
TheMengConcertHallduringarehearsal
Event Production Directory Goes Online
continued from cover
Users at www.EPDweb.com can still look up
information on a company from any web-enabled
device, but the true power of EPDweb.com comes
in its search capabilities. On the road, it’s hard to
know who around you has the gear you need.With
EPDweb.com, users can search the directory based
on their location — What audio rental shops are
there in Milwaukee? — or even on a specific piece
of gear — How many audio shops in Milwaukee
carry the desk I need for tonight’s show? EPDweb.
com can tell you, and even give you a map to
the company. And this is possible across all the
listings in all the categories of the EPD: Lighting,
Sound, Staging and Rigging, Pyro, Lasers, Video
— everything.
“There is nothing like this online, anywhere,”
said Bill Evans editorial director at Timeless. “Not
only can this database literally save your show by
helping you find that mission-critical piece of gear,
but it can also drive your rental business.Because it’s
Web-based, companies can add their listings and
update their inventories anytime.”
Companies can log in to the EPDweb.com
interface and add themselves as a listing at any time,
immediately adding themselves to this powerful
search engine. They can then add as much of their
gear inventory as they’d like from the extensive
online library. Even better, if they don’t see a piece
of gear in the library they’d like listed, they can add
it themselves, to be sure their listing is complete.
Gear, location and contact info can all be updated
at the click of a button. The more detailed a listing
lets users harness the power of EPDweb.com for
their benefit.
“This is the central repository of production
information for our industry,” said Lowe. “Event
producers, production managers and promoters
will be able to use EPDweb.com to solicit bids for
their events. Not only that, but rental and staging
companies can leverage EPDweb.com to find crossrental partners.The possibilities are limitless.”
EPDweb.com is now live,and it gives you all the
power of the EPD, and more, wherever you are.
Crown Celebrates 60th Anniversary
the budding manufacturer’s first production
facility.
The company’s early reputation was built on
a family of rugged and compact open-reel tape
recorders designed to operate reliably when
used by missionaries in remote, often-primitive
regions of the world. In 1949, after modifying and
distributing several existing models (Magnecord, Recordio, Pentron and Crestwood), Moore
obtained a patent for a groundbreaking invention: the world’s first tape recorder with a built-in
power amplifier (15 watts).
Eventually, Moore’s wife and cofounder, Ruby
(who died in Dec. 2002), suggested that “International Radio and Electronics Corporation” was
too long a name for the company. Since IREC had
produced vacuum tube tape recorders called
“Royal” and “Imperial,” which had as emblems
a crown, she suggested that the company be
called “Crown.” Her husband agreed, and in the
1960s, the company’s name was changed to
“Crown International, a division of International
Radio and Electronics Corporation.” In 1975, the
stockholders voted to change the name of the
corporation to Crown International, Inc.
With the company’s acquisition by Harman
International in March 2000, Crown continues
to develop new products. Products such as the
I-Tech amplifier line, XM Satellite Radio-equipped
180MAx, and the XTi, CDi and DSi product ranges
carry on the company’s tradition of ongoing
technical advancement.
“Six decades after Mr. Moore first established this company, Crown still adheres to
its founder’s reputation for creating innovative products that are both sonically superior
and highly reliable,” says Crown International
President Mark Graham. “And with the resources and support of Harman International
combined with our dedicated network of
employees, reps, distributors and dealers
around the globe, Crown is well poised to
carry on that legacy for yet another 60 years.”
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6/28/07 4:22:45 PM
News
Meadowbrook Baptist Church Moves into Renovated Gymnasium
GAINESVILLE, GA — Keith Armstrong, db
Audio and Video’s System Advisor, carefully
planned the physical renovation for Meadowbrook Baptist Church using Danley Sound
Labs SH-50 full-range loudspeakers, Danley
SH-100s and Danley TH-115 subwoofers,
along with absorption and diffusion methods. To accommodate the growing congregation, the church had decided to move from its
old, 550-seat sanctuary to the only other large
room at the facility — the gymnasium.
The gymnasium was a large 120’ x 80’ x
22’ box covered with reflective surfaces, and
Armstrong measured its reverb time at 7.5
seconds. However, the church wanted a generous stage along one of the long walls, and
wanted to accommodate 900 church mem-
bers. Since the church was operating on a
tight budget, and since Armstrong was told
that some of their members owned metal
fabrication companies and would be willing
to donate their time and expertise, he started
by drafting plans for diffusion panels to cover
both of the shorter walls. The church took the
plans and, using church labor and a modest
outlay for materials, built the diffusion panels themselves. “The diffusion panels would
help kill the rather extreme flutter echo,”
Armstrong explained, “but there was still a
massive slap-back echo from the back wall to
the stage.” To combat the problem, dB Audio
and Video designed a regiment of two-inch
absorption panels and installed them along
the back wall.
Using Danley loudspeakers, Armstrong
flew two 50’ x 50’ Danley SH-50 Synergy Horn
full-range loudspeakers directly above the
pulpit. He supplemented them with two 110’
x 110’ Danley SH-100 Synergy Horn full-range
loudspeakers, 35 feet in either direction from
the center cluster and angled in at 45 degrees,
to ensure that nothing hit the sidewalls. Two
more flown SH-100s served as low-energy
choir monitors. The church independently
built risers for the choir and placed a curtain
from floor-to-ceiling behind the stage area.
The ceiling was left in its presanctuary, tecktum-paneled state, and, except for 900 acoustical absorbers in the form of church members, left the floor untreated. When funds
allow, the church plans to build an even larger
sanctuary, at which point the gymnasium will
return to its roots.
Armstrong hard-packed two Danley TH115 Trapped Horn (Patent Pending) subwoofers above the main cluster. He commented,
“The Danley subwoofers use a proprietary
design that generates an amazing amount of
clean, thunderous bass from a relatively small
cabinet. The absorption treatment had tightened the room up nicely, and the TH-115s
provided the system with an equally tight low
end.” He also specified new QSC RMX-Series
amplifiers to drive all of the house loudspeakers. RMX 4050s powered the SH-50s, RMX
2450s powered the side fills and RMX 5050s
powered the TH-115 subwoofers. He used the
church’s existing Crown Macrotechs for the
choir monitors and for their existing stage
wedges. An existing Crown USM810 provided
processing, although Armstrong commented
that the Danleys required almost no equalizing, and an existing 40-channel Soundcraft
Series 2 console fed the whole system.
“It’s amazing that we were able to take a
gymnasium and turn it into a bona fide sanctuary,” Armstrong reflected. “The Danleys are
a dramatic improvement over their old sanctuary loudspeakers, and the difference is obvious even to church members who have no
special interest in audio.”
Steely Dan Makes
Some Noise
200.0707.5-11.indd 8
BERKELEY, CA — For the U.S. leg of
Steely Dan’s international “Heavy Rollers Tour 2007,” the band is being heard
through a Meyer Sound system provided
by Taylor, Mich.-based Thunder Audio.
The main system is built around two arrays of eight MILO high-power curvilinear
array loudspeakers and two MILO 120
high-power expanded coverage curvilinear array loudspeakers each for the
main system, with six 700-HP ultrahighpower subwoofers covering the bottom
end. Two side hangs of five M’elodie
ultracompact high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers augment the main arrays, with eight UPJ-1P compact VariO
loudspeakers covering frontfill. On stage,
there are 18 of Meyer Sound’s new MJF212A high-power stage monitors and two
UM-100P wide coverage stage monitors,
along with a pair of 600-HP compact highpower subwoofers. A Galileo loudspeaker
management system provides system
processing and drive. FOH engineer John
Robins uses a Midas XL4 console. Systems
engineer Keith Jex employs MAPP Online
Pro acoustical prediction software, while
systems tech George Chapman watches
over the system with Meyer Sound’s RMS
remote monitoring system and SIM 3 audio analyzer. On stage, monitor engineer
Peter Thompson uses a DiGiCo D1 console.
6/28/07 2:26:34 PM
News
Oregon Church Upgrades Sound for Worship Ministry
MEDFORD, OR — Joy Christian Fellowship
in Medford, Ore., announced that it is one of the
first houses of worship to install Meyer Sound’s
M’elodie ultracompact high-power curvilinear array loudspeaker. Music minister Jake
Schmelzer chose the Meyer system because of
his experiences at the Britt Festivals in nearby
Jacksonville, for which George Relles Sound
of Eugene, Ore., has provided a Meyer Sound
rental system every summer since 1985.
“When I thought about the best sound
I’d heard in the area, I immediately thought
of Britt,” recalls Schmelzer. “I heard Nickel
Creek there last summer and Ricky Skaggs
a few years back. The clarity of the sound for
both was stunning, and in Christian music,
clarity is crucial because you want the lyrics
understood. The Meyer systems at Britt also
have plenty of impact and a warmth that
really envelops you.”
With two M’elodie arrays of eight cabinets each providing coverage of the 500seat worship center’s main floor, the only fill
cabinets used are a pair of UPJ-1P compact
VariO loudspeakers to cover a shallow balcony located on one side. A pair of 600-HP
compact high-power subwoofers supplies
the bass, with drive processing for all loudspeakers provided by a Galileo loudspeaker
management system.
To complement the Meyer Sound system,
Relles also supplied a Yamaha M7CL digital
console, a complete Aviom personal monitoring system and eight Shure PSM Series wireless in-ear monitors. The package also included a complement of wired and wireless Shure
microphones to supplement existing stock.
With Joy Christian Fellowship now
celebrating its 25th anniversary year, the
church’s senior pastor (and Jake’s father),
Steve Schmelzer, decided to put a topquality sound system in the first phase
of the church’s renovation project, rather
than in the last, as is often the case. “Music
plays a big part in our worship ministry,”
explains Jake Schmelzer. “All churches
have a message that needs to be communicated clearly. In our church we have a
The interior of the Joy Christian Fellowship church
desire to carry out that duty with an attitude of excellence.”
Dallas House of Blues Opens
BBC America’s BritBus Tour Treks Across the U.S.
DALLAS —The latest addition to the successful House of Blues brand, opened in Dallas
on May 8 with an inaugural performance by
Dallas native, Erykah Badu. The new venue includes a 1,625-capacity music hall, a 400-seat
restaurant, special events facilities, a company
store and a Foundation Room consisting of a
private lounge and fine dining area for members. The sound system features the latest XLC
DVX line arrays from Electro-Voice, along with
a full compliment of EV P and CP series amplifiers, Midas mixing consoles and Klark Teknik
Square One signal processing.
The Dallas HOB features two main hangs
of eight XLC DVX per side, each split in the
middle with two XLC118 subs. According to
system designer Harry Witz, splitting the top
four and bottom four XLC DVX enclosures
with two subs effectively makes each hang
operate as two individual arrays. Individual
processing for upstairs and downstairs coverage eliminates the need for upstairs delays,
and the sub-split configuration helps minimize main system slapback from the front of
the balcony back onto the stage. The three
custom designed Quad 18 subwoofers are located under the stage and feature the new EV
EVX 18” drivers.
NORTHRIDGE, CA — BBC America’s
BritBus Tour has been trekking across the
U.S., promoting the best of British music, television and culture with the help
of three emerging music artists and the
backing of numerous U.K. manufacturers,
including Soundcraft.
BritBus Tour audio partner Harman
Pro Group provided portable P.A. equipment from not only Soundcraft, but also
from AKG, dbx, DigiTech, JBL and Lexicon
to support the musical portion of the
cross-country jaunt, which is comprised
of the up-and-coming English rock band
The Crave, the Scottish pop-rock band
Jyrojets and the Welsh-born singer-songwriter and tour founder Julia Jones.
“This is the third year The BritBus Tour
has crossed America and the second year
we have had the support of Soundcraft,”
notes Jones. “Pulling up in our old British
double-decker — affectionately known as
“The Duchess” — always draws a crowd,
but this year we have sounded amazing,
too. Big love to Harman Pro for helping
us to develop this unusual touring event
bringing the latest U.K. rock bands to audiences across the U.S.”
Additional
EV equipment at
the Dallas House
of Blues includes
distributed ZX1
speakers and
Plasma powered
speakers in a smaller, separate club
space, for a more
intimate concert
experience.
Charles “Chop- EV XLC DVX speakers at the
Dallas HOB
per” Brady (Director
of Production, House of Blues Club Venues)
and Jim Rounsley (Production Manager, House
of Blues Dallas) like the new sound system:
“The DVX version of XLC balances noticeably
warmer sound with better power handling,”
says Brady.“Two of the first shows through the
new system were Erykah Badu and Joss Stone,
and it really shined on their voices. We had
performances by George Clinton and the Deftones right after that, and the rig was equally
impressive delivering punchier, heavier music.
From the smoothest vocal reproduction to the
heaviest metal, it has the sonic flexibility we
need for the wide range of acts we have.”
Harman Pro Group supplied a 16-channel Soundcraft GB2 mixing console, together with a GigRac 600 mixer-amplifier
— custom finished with a Union Jack front
cover — for smaller shows. JBL MRX515
two-way and MRX518 subwoofer speakers provide main P.A. vocal and instrument reinforcement with JRX112M wedge
monitors for the musicians, all powered by
Crown XTi 4000 and XLS 802 amplifiers.
Available microphones include AKG
C4500, D5, D112, C451 and C518M models. Processing comprises dbx DriveRack
PA and Lexicon MX300 units for the main
system, plus DigiTech foot pedals for onstage instrument use.
BUENA PARK, CA — Top dealers recently spent a mid-June day as invited guests
of Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems Inc. to participate in the official launch and
training of the new Yamaha DSP5D system and ADK LYVE Tracker at the company’s
Buena Park, Calif., headquarters. The Yamaha DSP5D is a stand-alone unit that expands the capabilities of the Yamaha PM5D digital console to 96 mono plus 16
stereo input channels. ADK’s new 4U rack-mounted LYVE Tracker is based around
a Steinberg Nuendo 3 or Cubase 4 audio engine and provides the PM5D engineer
with a recording solution capable of up to 192 simultaneous tracks.
200.0707.5-11.indd 9
Dealers Attend DSP5D Launch
6/28/07 6:33:27 PM
News
KROQ “Weenie Roast” Turns up the Heat
ThestageattheWeenieRoast
IRVINE, CA—
With a crowd of
close to 18,000
and with headliners like Korn,
Linkin Park, Social Distortion
and
Interpol,
Delicate
Productions of Camarillo, Calif.,
needed a line
array
system
that could go
as long and as
loud as possible
without
straining. As system engineer/designer
Bryan Bazilsky puts it, “We were just trying to cover the amphitheater and lawn
without using most of the house stuff. It
was a loud event.”
So what speakers did they choose to
get the job done? “The new Martin Audio
Longbows,” Bazilsky replies. “It’s the new
upgraded version of the W8L. They’ve upgraded the high end from three drivers to
four 1” drivers and increased the high frequency output by 10dB from the original
box at the same power.” He continues, “It
also throws longer than the W8L. Martin
actually designed the Longbow with stadiums and arenas in mind. I was extremely
happy with them. That was the first time
I was able to put them up. We got them
in from England three days before with
the factory crossover settings and they
worked well and sounded really good.”
Held at the 20-year old Verizon Amphitheater in Irvine Meadows, KROQ’s
annual “Roast” is a major event on the So
Cal concert scene. Delicate and the crew
provided the sound. The crew included
Meegan Holmes (Crew Chief/Stage), Scott
Scherban and Alan Behr (FOH Staff Engineers & Technicians); Shaun Sebastian and
Drew Consalvo (Monitor Engineers); Matt
Fox and Tony Carrafa (Stage Technicians);
Holly Johnson (RF Engineer) and Bazilsky.
The speaker system consisted of a
dozen Longbows per side with 4 W8LCs
as underhang, side hangs of 12 W8LC
per side for outer fill, 6 W8LS flying subs
per side and 12 WS218 sub bass cabinets
ground-stacked per side, and 4 pairs of
W8LM for front fill.
Complementing the Martin Audio
speaker arsenal were Martin’s MA 4.2
power amps and three Dolby Lake Processors. The turntable stage (designed to
ensure a seamless transition from band
to band — while one band was performing, the next would be doing a line check)
had on each side 12 Martin LE700 wedges
powered by Crest 7001 with BSS FDS334
crossovers, and a stereo drum fill consisting of two Martin Audio FSX 2x18” Sub
Bass and F1T Cabinets. The stage had a
shared Side Fill consisting of two Martin F2B Bass Cabinets and two Martin F2
Combi Mid High Cabinets per side powered by the same Crest/BSS combination.
Consoles included two Yamaha PM5D-RH
consoles at FOH with two more on stage
for monitor duty with some of the larger
acts supplying their own consoles.
As Bryan sums it up, “We played with
no breaks. The first band was on at 4:30
p.m., and 10 bands later, we were done
at 11:00 p.m. The crowd seemed to like it,
and the band engineers also really liked
the system.”
CORRECTIONS
In the June New Gear Section,
under the listing for the EV ZXA5
Powered Speaker, we gave the incorrect phone number for EV. The
correct number is: 800.392.3497.
In the June News section we mistakenly gave Alex Hall the wrong
last name, which probably prompted him to call us a few bad names.
Lastly, in the May issue, through
the magic of misdirection, we
implied that Brian Thorene was
working a Yamaha PM5D on the
Rod Stewart show. After the feedback died down, we decided it was
time we came clean and said that
Thorene is a system tech on that
tour, and that monitors on that tour
are mixed on a DiGiCo desk.
International News
Red Bull Air Race in Rio Flies with JBL Professional VerTec Line Arrays
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL — Sound engineer Christopher Winter chose Loudness Sonorizacao of Sao Paulo, Brazil, to provide the
sound reinforcement system for the April Red
Bull Air Race in Rio de Janeiro’s Botafogo Bay,
which drew one million spectators, making it
the largest sports event in Brazilian history.
The system included four towers of 16 VerTec
VT4889 line array elements each (64 in total),
powered by Crown I-Tech 8000 amplifiers.
Low-frequency fill was provided by 64 JBL
SRX728 loudspeaker subwoofers.
The first Red Bull Air Race was held in
2003; in 2007, 12 events are being held across
the world, each featuring a contest in which
the pilots must navigate an airborne racecourse in the shortest possible time. The
result is low-level flying at extremely high
speeds, bringing the air race experience very
close to the spectators.
Considering the scope of the event, the
wide and accurate coverage of the VerTec
line arrays proved to be a selling point. “We
like the VerTec system because of its great
sound quality, light weight and flexibility,”
said Marcio Pilot, co-owner of Loudness Sonorizacao. According to Pilot, the system performed well. “The setup of the VerTec line ar-
Les Luthiers Play Madrid Palace
MADRID, SPAIN —
Spain, Les Luthiers once
P.A. hire company Proagain relied upon Pronorte Sonido of Asnorte Sonido to provide
turias, Spain, supplied
the concert sound sysEAW KF730 compact
tem as well as technical
line arrays as key comsupport.
ponents of a complete
Miguel Zagorodny
sound reinforcement
of Buenos Aires, sound
system for recent contechnician for Les Lucert performances in
thiers over the past 10Madrid by Argentinian
plus years, formulated
comedy-musical group
a left-center-right main
Les Luthiers. Formed
loudspeaker rig for the
One of the three EAW KF730 compact line arrays
in 1967, Les Luthiers deployed in left-center-right configuration for Les Madrid dates. “Usually
is popular in both Eu- Luthiers live at Palacio Municipal de Congresos
we tour with the larger
rope and South/Central in Madrid.
EAW KF760 larger-forAmerica. The group is
mat line arrays, but the
known for its homemade musical instru- lesser scale of the Palacio Municipal made
ments (the term “luthiers” is French for the KF730 the optimum choice to meet all
“musical instrument maker”), which are em- of our sound reinforcement goals,” Zagoroployed in their performances, accompanied dny notes.
by refined humor.
This marks the fifth consecutive time
The sold-out Madrid shows, titled Las Pronorte has been selected to provide
Obras de Ayer, were held throughout May the system and support for Les Luthiers in
2007 at the 1,900-seat Palacio Municipal de Spain.
Congresos. As they have in several trips to
rays was very quick and simple,” he
said. “The sound quality was perfect
and my client was very happy with
the equipment and with the Loudness staff.”
David Scheirman, vice president
of Tour Sound, JBL Professional concluded, “Marcio Pilot and his team
have helped to set a new benchmark
for air-show sound reinforcement
support. All of us at JBL Professional
are gratified to see the company’s
new JBL VerTec system used to
Crowd at the Red Bull Air Race
achieve such positive results.”
Bowfire Sets the Stage Aflame
KITCHENER, ON —Bowfire, the total
string experience which combines step and
tap dancing with virtuoso fiddle-playing,
played a special show at the 2000-seat Centre in the Square theatre in Kitchener, Ont.
The entire show was run from an InnovaSON
Sy80 digital console at FoH by Dennis Mortson, with an Sy48 on monitors piloted by
monitor engineer/wireless tech John Smith.
InnovaSON dealer Apex Sound & Light,
based in Pickering, Ont., supplied all audio.
Apex’s Chris James, who also serves as Bowfire’s technical co-coordinator for touring
and live projects, guided event production.
The speaker system chosen by Mortson for
this project and all Bowfire touring is the
new d&b Audiotechnik Q series, Q1 line array with Q7 under-fill, Q subs for lows and
B2 subs for ultra low. Power was provided by
d&b D12 amplifiers, complete with internal
processing.
Tony Awards Announce Sound Category
200.0707.5-11.indd 11
Bowfire
Tony for Best Musical. Tom Stoppard’s three-part epic The Coast of Utopia also did well, winning
Best Play and six other Tonys, setting a record for the most awards won by a play. In their acceptance speeches, Spring Awakening’s Michael Mayer, winner for Director (Musical) and Kevin Adams, Lighting Design (Musical) winner, supported the creation of a Tony award honoring Sound
Design.
Here’s the complete list of winners:
Choreography: Bill T. Jones, Spring Awakening
Orchestrations: Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening
Book of a Musical: Steven Safer, Spring Awakening
Score: Duncan Sheik and Steven Safer, Spring Awakening
Scenic Design (Play): Bob Crowley and Scott Pask, The Coast of Utopia
Scenic Design (Musical): Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Costume Design (Play): Catherine Zuber, The Coast of Utopia
Costume Design (Musical): William Ivey Long, Grey Gardens
Special Theatrical Event: Jay Johnson: The Two and Only
Lighting Design (Play): Brian MacDevitt, Kenneth Posner and Natasha Katz,
The Coast of Utopia
Lighting Design (Musical): Kevin Adams, Spring Awakening
Direction (Play): Jack O’Brien, The Coast of Utopia
Direction (Musical): Michael Mayer, Spring Awakening
Featured Actor (Play): Billy Crudup, The Coast of Utopia
Featured Actress (Play): Jennifer Ehle, The Coast of Utopia
Feature Actor (Musical): John Gallagher, Jr., Spring Awakening
Featured Actress (Musical): Mary Louise Wilson, Grey Gardens
Actor (Play): Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Actress (Play): Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed
Actor (Musical): David Hyde Pierce, Curtains
Actress (Musical): Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens
Play Revival: Journey’s End
Musical Revival: Company
Play: The Coast of Utopia
Musical: Spring Awakening
6/29/07 2:05:16 PM
On The Move
Aviom has appointed Michael J. McGinn as
the company’s new vice
president of sales & marketing. McGinn brings
years of senior executive and board member
experience with demon- Michael J. McGinn
strated success in general management, marketing, and sales with
global industry leaders Shure, Ecolab, and
Eastman Kodak. In addition to his contributions as a member of the company’s senior
management, McGinn now oversees all of Aviom’s worldwide sales and marketing efforts.
Crown International recently made several changes and additions to its marketing
personnel lineup. Brian Divine, who previously
served as market director for Portable P.A., has
now transitioned into the role of market director for Engineered Sound/Touring Sound.
Andy Flint, formerly a Business Developer in
the Portable P.A. market, now moves into his
new position as vertical market manager for
Portable P.A. Furthermore, Phil McPhee has
taken on the title of vertical market manager, Commercial Sound. McPhee previously
served on Crown’s engineering team. Lastly,
new hire Kristin Howard has been appointed
to the post of marketing coordinator.
Juice Goose has appointed Stephen
Blow as its new operations coordinator. Steve
brings with him a wealth of experience in
warehouse management, electronic assembly
and quality control at various firms including
Hewlett Packard. As Operations Coordinator,
Steve is responsible for supporting the company’s manufacturing, product development
and internal systems management activities.
Meyer Sound has
announced that veteran engineer and sound
system designer Paul
Giansante has joined
the company as touring manager. In this
position, Giansante will
Paul Giansante
work closely with tour
liaison manager Buford Jones as part of
Meyer Sound’s touring group. Giansante
has toured with a wide range of artists including Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Sade, Neil Young, Beastie Boys, Zucchero, Parliament and Frank
Sinatra. He has worked closely with such
well-respected engineers as Buford Jones
(previous to his joining Meyer Sound), Jon
Lemon, Dave Bracey, Robert Collins, John
Shearman, Colin Norfield, Roger Lindsay,
Al Tucker, Paddi Addison, and Jim “Redford” Sanders. Giansante comes to Meyer
Sound after several years with Sennheiser/
Turbosound, and has previously worked
with other well-known touring companies
including Britannia Row, Italy’s Nuovo Service, and Maryland Sound.
Roland Systems
Group U.S. has named
Rob Read as marketing
communications manager. Read brings more
than 10 years sales experience within the Roland
group of companies. Rob Read
Based in Washington
State, Read will manage and continue the
growth of the company˙s already extensive
marketing activities.
Symetrix, Inc., has
appointed Dallas Dougherty to the newly created
position of product and
training specialist/field
engineer. Dougherty will
spend most of his time
traveling to help existing Dallas Dougherty
and potential customers understand the applications for Symetrix technology, listen to their
needs and identify solutions. His main focus
will be training and support for SymNet.
Tannoy
North
America, has hired Richard Steele as national
consultant manager for
the company’s Commercial product sector,
a new position. Richard
has worked with the Richard Steele
Strait Music Company
and Blackstone Audio Video (which later
became High End Systems), where he became national and international regional
sales manager. In 1999 Richard joined JMS
Marketing to help create the JMS Marketing
Contractor Division.
TOA Electronics, Inc., has named Pacific Coast Visions as the newest member
of their team of sales representatives for
audio products. Pacific Coast Visions will
manage the company’s dealer base in
Northern California, Northern Nevada and
Hawaii. Established in 1990 as Multimedia
Marketing, Pacific Coast Visions is owned
by Phil Kipnis and is headquartered in
Santa Clara, Calif., with satellite offices in
Los Angeles, Denver and Seattle. Phil is
a member of ERA, Infocomm, NSCA, and
other professional trade associations. PCV
has a staff of seven.
12
200.0707.12.indd 12
JULY 2007
www.fohonline.com
6/28/07 11:35:23 AM
New Gear
InfoComm 2007
AKA, “Were You At NSCA?”
By BillEvans
200.0707.13.indd 13
Allen & Heath’s new WZ3 for monitor mixing
A screenshot from QSC’s Venue Manager, version 3
moc.smitoh.hof //:ptth:ofni dA
Audio-Technica wowed the crowd with its new SpectraPulse
Hear Technologies introduced its own
wireless personal monitor system. This is
more significant than it may seem. Sure,
there are lots of wireless PM products out
there, but when you put the Mixback and
Hearback mixing sytems together with the
new wireless, and Hear’s hook up with Futuresonics to distribute pro-grade universal ear-pieces you get the only company
out there that can cover personal monitors from one end of the signal chain to
the other all by itself.
Besides that, there were a whole lot
of video displays and projectors and
that’s about it. This is the part where
Steve Jobs would casually say “Oh yeah,
one other thing…”
I am not even going to pretend to understand it, but Audio-Technica showed
some new wireless technology that — if
they can get it into the live event audio
world and out of the boardroom — could
change the current wireless equation and
maybe even negate the white space issue. (Note: This DOES NOT mean we can
slack off on efforts to influence legislation. This technology is very exciting but
it is currently confined to boardroom applications, and it may be more time than
any of us would like before it gets into our
grubby little live audio paws.)
Called SpectraPulse Ultra Wideband,
the system transmits at very low power
levels across a 500 MHz bandwidth in
pulses of two nanoseconds. These pulses
are picked up by a receiver that “decodes”
the pattern of a specific audio stream and
converts it back to an analog signal. You
can run a bunch of them at once without
worrying about frequency selection or coordination and there is no compander, so
the full sound of the mic comes through
unchanged. At least that is how the justintroduced boardroom system works. A
live event version is being worked on,
but there’s no word on how long until it
is ready. If you want to try to understand
it better than me, A-T has put together a
white paper on the technology that you
should be able to find on its Web site.
I
f you have been reading FOH for any considerable period of time you have undoubtedly
already endured one of my periodic “there
are too damn many trade shows” screeds. So I
will try to control myself this time and just note
this as a kind of illustration. The phrase I heard
most often when entering a booth and asking
“What’s new and exciting?” was …
“Were you at NSCA?”
In other words, nothing new in the
three whole months between those two
shows. It was cool with me, gave me plenty
of time to just shoot the shit with industry
friends but it did not leave a lot to report
on. Here are the few exceptions with the
big one last just to keep you reading (don’t
you hate it when we do that?).
OK, Face Audio offered some updates to
its line of beefy, well-made (actual through
soldering on the circuit boards!) power
amps. We mentioned these in the FOH e-mail
newsletter a couple of weeks ago. These guys
may not have the decades-long pedigree of
some of the major players, but they are serious about making a great product and supporting it 100%. Worth checking out.
Remember when amps meant hardware
and only hardware? That’s obviously not the
case these days as more amp makers are
bundling DSP and network control into their
products. QSC debuted version three of its
Venue Manager which provides systemwide control and monitoring for any device
on a QSControl.net network.
On the compact mixer front, Allen &
Heath took their über-popular MixWizard
series to Monitor World with the new WZ3.
With 12 mix outputs that can be globally
switched to six stereo pairs for personal
monitor mixing, the WZ3 includes phantom
power and a built-in passive split plus four
EQ bands (two sweepable mids).
While we are in Monitor World we should
note the release of Aviom’s 6416Y2 interface
card. Each card provides 16 channels of input, output and control serving as a bridge
between Yamaha consoles and mix engines
and Aviom’s personal monitor products. Multiple cards can be used to build a system up
to 64 channels wide.
6/28/07 7:44:52 PM
Showtime
The Rosary Bowl
ST
Systems Engineer: Mike Gutierrez
Production Manager: Moises Tagle
FOH Systems Techs: Jimmy Xiloj,
Rodolfo Perdoza, German
Venue
Rose Bowl,
Pasadena, CA
SoundcO
Concert Services, Inc.
GEAR
CREW
FOH Engineer: Luis Munoz
MON Engineer: JR Estrada
FOH
Console: Yamaha PM5D
Speakers: 55 JBL Vertec 4889
Amps: 36 Crown I-tech 8000
Destiny Center
Ashby, MN
Soundco
KPS
CREW
FOH Engineer: Brendan Wickstrom
Monitor Engineer: Pete Johnson
Systems Engineer/ Production
Manager: Steve Kneprath
MON
Speakers: 12 JBL SRX4702x, 4 Clair 12AM
Amps: Crest 7001, JBL MPA 1100
Processing: dbx
Mics: Shure
Skillet
ST
Venue
Processing: dbx 4800/ I-tech DSP
Mics: Shure
Power Distro: Custom
Snake Assemblies: Ramtech
FOH System Techs: Zach Schwandt
GEAR
FOH
Console: Mackie TT24
Speakers: Community SLS & SBS
Amps: QSC Powerlite
Processing: Community SC24
Mics: Shure, Sennheiser, Audio-Technica
Power Distro: Motion Labs
Rigging: ATM Flyware
Snake Assemblies: RamTech 54ch
splitter
MON
Speakers: Sennheiser IEM, Ultimate ears
w/ custom molds
Mics: Shure, Sennheiser, Audio-Technica
Fab 60s Weekend with Tommy James, The Turtles,
Lovin Spoonful, Soul Survivors
Venue
GEAR
Oceanside Arena, Wildwood, NJ
FOH
Console: Midas Verona 480
Speakers: QSC WideLine-10
Amps: QSC PL-6.0
Processing: QSC BASIS 922
Mics: Shure UHF
Power Distro: JK Audio
Rigging: CM Loadstar
Snake Assemblies: EWI
SoundcO
JK Audio
CREW
FOH Engineer: Joe DeMao, Jack Koza
MOH Engineer: Dan Seeth, Tommy Reily
FOH Engineer/Systems Engineer: Jack Koza
System Techs: Thomas Bishop, Mike Kurczeski
You don’t need to steal a copy of
ST
MON
Consoles: Soundcraft MH-3/40
Speakers: EAW SM15
Amps: QSC
Processing: Ashly
Mics: Shure
Power Distro: JK Audio
Get your own Subscription!
It’s FREE
www.fohonline.com
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JULY 2007
200.0707.14-15.indd 14
Just go to
www.fohonline.com/subscribe
to start your own personal subscription
www.fohonline.com
6/28/07 7:10:54 PM
YC 2007
ST
Venue
GEAR
Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Consoles: Midas XL4, Midas Heritage 1000 (x2),
Midas Verona 480, Soundcraft Series 5 48 + 4
Speakers: EV XLine — 20 XVLS, 4 XV KF853, 8
BH853, 24 SB850
Amps: EV P3000RL, EV P3000, EV TG 7, QSC
Powerlight 1.8, 2.0HV, 4.0
Processing: TC Electronic EQ Station (4 mix);
XTA DP226; BSS FCS 960; EV DX 38; TC Electronic D-Two, M-OneXL, M3000, M2000; Eventide
H3000 (x2); Lexicon PCM 91, 80; Yamaha SPX
2000 (x2), SPX990 (x4); dbx 160SL, 166A, 160A;
Drawmer DS201, DL241, BSS DPR 404, DPR504;
Aphex 622
Mics: Shure, AKG, Sennheiser
Soundco
Axe Productions Inc.
CREW
FOH Engineer/System Techs: Chase Tower,
Joel Bird
FOH Engineer/Systems Engineer: Jon
Mushaluk
MOH Engineers: Dan Hamilton, Jeff Charmichael, Jeremy Brown
Production Manager: Jon Beckett, Kelly Kimo
Rigging: CM 1 + 2 TON
Breakouts: Whirlwind, Ramtech
Snakes: Ramtech
MON
Consoles: Midas XL250, Yamaha PM5D,
Soundcraft SM24, Crest LM
Speakers: EV Xw12, Xi1152, Xarray Xb,
Proprietary LPM wedge (15” + 2”)
Amps: QSC, Yamaha
Processing: Xilica, dbx Drive Rack, Klark Teknik
DN360, dbx 2231
Mics: Shure, Sennheiser, AKG
Power distro: Motion Labs
Just for Jesus: Excite Tour
ST
USA Tour Arenas/Theatres
FOH Systems Techs: Dustin Reynolds,
Charlie Klein
Snake Assemblies: 2 Whirlwind
Splitters
Soundco
GEAR
MON
Console: Yamaha PM1D v2 96x32
Speakers: Westone PMs/15
Sennheiser G2 PMs, 4 EAW SM500, 6
d&b C, 3 EAW SB1000
Amps: d&b D12, Crown Macro-Tech
Processing: d&b/dbx
Mics: Shure
Venue
Pro Audio Group, Inc.
CREW
FOH Engineer: Ryan Rettler
MON Engineer: Bobby George
Systems Engineer: Kyle Shepherd
Production Manager: Wes Amick
Tour Manager: Joel Bench
FOH
Console: Digidesign VENUE 96
Speakers: 60 d&b C, 12 d&b B2, 2 d&b Q-7
Amps: 16 d&b P-1200, 12 d&b D12
Processing: Lake Dolby, Tube Tech,
Lucid Word Clock
Power Distro: 2 PAGPDs
Rigging: 4 CM Lodestar 1-ton
Phil Vassar
ST
FOH System Techs: Al Rominsky
Venue
Dane County Alliant Energy Coliseum
Madison, WI
Soundco
Intellasound Productions
CREW
Console: Yamaha M7CL, Midas XL 200
Speakers: EV XLC-DVX
Amps: EV TG-7
Processing: XTA 226
Rigging: CM
MON
Consoles: Midas Verona
Speakers: Shure PSM
FOH wants your gig
shots, horror stories and
resume highlights! Go to
www.fohonline.com/submissions
to send us your Showtime
pics, Nightmare stories and In
The Trenches stats. Or e-mail
jcoakley@fohonline.com
for
more
info.
We
cover the industry
— and that means
you!
FOH Engineer: Tim Woodworth, Tracy Holder
Monitor Engineer: Tommy Garris
Systems Engineer: David Maier
Tour Manager: Gordon Buchanan
GEAR
We
Want You!
www.fohonline.com
200.0707.14-15.indd 15
2007 JULY
15
6/28/07 6:02:32 PM
John Meanor in monitor world
Installations
applauding the ovation
An intimate room gets the star treatment By DavidJohnFarinella
A Midas XL 8
House Band Rich & Famous
J
eff Thompson has what they call in the
business a conversation stopper. He’s
used it a couple of times now while
working with tour managers who are advancing a show at the Ovation Lounge in
the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Las Vegas, where he serves as the entertainment
production manager. “They’ll ask me what
kind of boxes we have, and I tell them LACOUSTICS KUDOS,” he said. “Then they
ask about monitors, and I tell them that we
have L-ACOUSTICS 115XT HiQs. Then we
get to desks, and when I say Midas XL8s,
everybody pauses and asks ‘What do you
mean, XL8s?’ And I say, ‘At front of house
and monitors I have XL8s.’”
Always throws them for a loop.
Green Valley Ranch is one of Las Vegas’
high-end hotel properties, so when it came
time to build
a showroom, parent company
Station Casinos knew it had to aim high.
In terms of a gear wish list, Thompson had
two lists in mind. The first included Heritage consoles and a regular touring package, including an L-ACOUSTICS speaker
package. The second, and the one that was
ultimately approved, featured a full digital
package from amps to processing to cabling to desk.
In fact, the current gear list in the Ovation Lounge includes 20 L-ACOUSTICS
KUDO boxes placed in a left-center-right
discrete setup and five JBL CSP82 subwoofers with four L-ACOUSTICS MTD108a front
fills. According to room designer Scott
Oosthuizen, CEO of the AVDB Group, the
power of the XL8 made it possible to put
up the discrete spread: “That’s very unusual
for a showroom, but because of the capability of the XL8 with the SIA Soft stereo
manipulation software, a sound
engineer has the capability to spread the
audio through the left-center-right channels in a very discrete manner.”
In the room, 10 Crown I-T4000s and
10 I-T6000s power the P.A. Three I-T8000s
power the subs, and the front fills are powered by an I-T4000. A pair of XTA DP448s
provides processing; additional outboard
gear includes two Manley MSLC limiter/
compressors and an Eventide DSP 4000 B
harmonizer. The monitor system is the LACOUSTICS 115 XT HiQs, powered by 13
I-T4000s, along with a pair of L-ACOUSTICS
dV-SUBs, powered by an I-T6000.
For Oosthuizen, it was crucial to stay digital all through the chain.“In this instance, my
preamps on the stage are digitized to signal over to the console on AES50 lines,” he
explained. “From the console, it goes digital
AES/EBU into the XTA processors, then out
of the processors back through the Midas
system, back to the stage into the break-out
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200.0707.16-17.indd 16
JULY 2007
boxes and then AES/EBU
straight into the amplifiers. So, we don’t
have any analog conversions whatsoever in
the whole signal stream.”
The room is also a multimedia wonderland, incorporating a Stewart AB ElectriScreen with a Greyhawk LS 9-foot by 6foot screen, plus a pair of Stewart 81-inch
by 144-inch ElectriScreens and a handful
of HD monitors that show images shot
through a trio of JVC GY-HD250U HD cameras. The high-end lighting system, which
was installed by Four Wall of Las Vegas, has
63 moving heads and a collection of High
End Systems DL.2s.
“From the beginning we went with the
attitude that we didn’t want any compromise in the room,” Thompson stated. “We
wanted to overbuild it. It’s hard to book
a 500-seat room for some of the acts the
club wants to put in there because artists
don’t want to play the smaller spots. So, we
went with the idea that it’s a no-compromise room when it comes to audio, video
and lighting.”
Oosthuizen also heard the no-compromise mantra when he got the initial
assignment. “They wanted to have a room
that could compete with, if not annihilate,
any other room on The Strip right now,”
he said. “They certainly succeeded. This
system can take your head off. Overall, it’s
a very high-horsepower system, and they
spent the money that should be spent on a
room like this — which for an A/V integrator like us is a chance in a million. You don’t
often have a client who says, ‘How much?
OK. Put it in.’”
Making sure that the right gear for the
space was purchased was certainly key, but
so was the acoustical attention to detail, especially important since the club is located
in a large baseball-diamond-shaped room
on the second floor of a tin-ceiling casino.
For help, Thompson and the team at Station Casinos turned to renowned acoustic
engineer Chip Davis, and he completely revamped the room’s sound with treatments
on the ceiling, the back wall and the
exterior of the building.
“It took a lot of the bounce of the room,
but for a 500-seat room it’s either control
with the size of boxes, or you are out of
control — so we went for the control side
of it,” said Thompson. “The Ovation is on
the second level of the casino; therefore,
www.fohonline.com
6/29/07 2:09:50 PM
FOH
2
20
5
4
1
1
2
10
10
3
1
2
1
2
2
2
Midas XL8s
L-ACOUSTICS Kudos
JBL CSP82 Subwoofer
L-ACOUSTICS MTD108a
HP HP ProCurve Switch 2524
HP HP ProCurve Switch 2650
XTA DP448 4 X 8
Crown IT4000 2000W Amps
Crown IT4000 2000W Amp
Midas DL451 XL8 Modular I/O Box
Midas DN9331 Klark Teknik RAPIDE
Earthworks M30 HDM Omni - 5Hz to 30kHz +1/-3dB
JanAl Custom 26 Space Single Wide Rack
Motion Labs 1100-2-CC-D8 1
1
2
1
1
1
1
Racpac 2 space
Tascam CD-01U Pro Pro 1-Rack CD Player
Tascam CD-RW901 Professional CD Recorder
Manley MSLC Manley Stereo Vari
able Mu Limiter/Compressor
Eventide DSP 4000 B Harmonizer
Dell Precision M65
SIA Soft 0002416 SmaartLive Full Pack
SIA USBPre 0002428 USB Pre-amp
MON
1
4
6
4
20 2
Midas XL8/5-bay/CC 5-Bay Control Center
Midas DL431 XL8 Input Splitter Box
Midas DL451 XL8 Modular I/O Box
Midas DL461 XL8 Signal Routers
Midas DL471 XL8 DSP Signal Processor Units
Midas DN9331 Klark Teknik 1
1
1
1
1
1
13 1
14
2
1
1
2
4
RAPIDE
JanAl Custom 24 Space Double Rack
Motion Labs 1100-2-CC-D8
Dell Precision M65
SIA Soft 0002416 SmaartLive Full Pack
SIA USBPre 0002428 USB Pre-amp
HP HP ProCurve Switch 2524 - Switch - 24 port(s) - 10Base-T,
Crown IT6000 3000W Amp
L-ACOUSTICS 115XT HiQs
L-ACOUSTICS DV-Subs
Sennheiser AC-3000 Active Broadband Antennae Combiner
Sennheiser A5000-CP Passive UHF Antennae
Sennheiser SR3256-U Dual Rackmount Transmitter
Sennheiser E3253-U Bodypack receivers
1
4
2
1
1
6
4
6
4
4
2
2
2
6
1
1
2
6
4
AKG C414B/XLS-ST
AKG C-451 Condenser Microphones
AKG C3000B
AKG D112
Barcus Berry Piano Pick-up
Country Man Type 85 DI Active
Countryman E60W7TSL Headset Mics for Shure Transmitters
Klark Teknik DN100 Active DI Boxes
Sennheiser e609s
Sennheiser MD421 II Microphones
Sennheiser MD441-U
Sennheiser MKE2-5-K
Shure BETA 52A Microphones
Shure BETA 57A Microphones
2 Shure BETA 58A u
Shure BETA91
Shure KSM32/CG
Shure SM 57
Shure SM81-LC
the ceiling had to be put on spring isolators because of the subs on the deck,
and the stage had to be heavily treated.
I couldn’t pour solid concrete like I would
prefer; it’s actually a boxed room system.
We’ve got quite a bit of acoustical treatment in the room, which makes it easier
for us when we’re trying to get a touring
band with a lot of guitar amps up.”
For Oosthuizen, one of the other challenges was the room’s low ceiling, which
led him to use the KUDO line of speakers.
“We needed a speaker system that was
going to be able to cover the space and
tuck away high enough in the ceiling so it
didn’t block the video projection screens,
the spotlights and focusing and lighting
instruments,” he said. “To get a low profile
system, we were going to take the KUDO
boxes and deploy them in a horizontal
fashion. It wasn’t the typical way, because
each box has a nominal dispersion of 10
degrees, and then depending on where
you put the louvers, you can aim the audio anywhere.”
To handle the installation, rigging and
integration, Oosthuizen turned to Jason
Schwartzel and Kevin Page of Audio Video Business Resources. All the AV System
AutoCAD engineering and soundvision
modeling was done by Nathaniel Hall.
Thompson reports that, to date,
acts as varied as pop star Mandy Moore,
country act Matt Kearney, swing band
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and rockers
Collective Soul have played the Ovation Lounge. In August and September,
Stanley Clarke, Raul Malo, Jack Ingram
and Everclear will be putting the room
through its paces.
Thompson added with a laugh that
those aren’t the only people coming to
see what’s happening at Ovation. “Everybody in town wants to come over here
and play with the consoles,” he says. “We
were like the testing ground for the XL8s,
and now the word has gotten out.”
XL 8
Gear
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200.0707.16-17.indd 17
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17
6/28/07 11:22:59 AM
Production Profile
The Proof
Precise Corporate Staging and Alice
Is in the Pudding Cooper team up for a good cause
By David John Farinella
T
hanks to an ever-widening web of
generosity, dozens of underprivileged
and underserved segments of the
population are being helped in ways that
were unimaginable just a decade ago.
Indeed, entertainers of all stripes are
standing up and lending their talents to
events that range from the grand — Live
Earth comes to mind — to the intimate, à la
the annual gathering in Phoenix, Ariz., known
as Christmas Pudding, a benefit evening of
comedy and music that helps support Alice
Cooper’s Solid Rock Foundation.
Cooper and a handful of friends in Phoenix launched the Christian, nonprofit Solid
Rock Foundation to help disadvantaged kids
throughout Arizona. The foundation is opening a 29,000-square-foot teen center called
The Rock, which will hold one of the only
vocational schools in the United States that
will teach teens sound, video and lighting
The 2006 Christmas Pudding event
featured musical guests Alice Cooper, Stephen Stills, Glen Campbell, Tommy Shaw &
Jack Blades, California Transit Authority, Al
Di Meola and members of Tesla, including
singer Jeff Keith, drummer Troy Luccketta
and guitarist Dave Rude, among others.
Mark Cordes, Mike “Black Jack” Wilson and
MC Danny Zelisko handled the comedy
end of things and Destiny Dancers provided additional entertainment.
The wide range of artists meant that
Stern and FOH mixer Michael “Milk” Arnold needed to be on their toes, yet Stern
remained nonplussed at the demands of
the show because he got mixed up in the
event early in the process. “It’s just another day in the life,” he says. “My wife and
I are heavily involved in this charity and
we get a lot of the people who we work
with throughout the year to donate their
Alice Cooper onstage at the Christmas Pudding event
“We want kids to have the best gear made to
learn on, so when they go into the real world
they’ll be working on that gear.”
—David Stern
for the entertainment and corporate market.
Interested teens will receive music lessons
(guitar, bass and drums) and the facility will
boast a pair of recording studios for any who
are curious about learning how to work in
that environment. The Rock will be on the
grounds of Grand Canyon University, a private Christian college in West Phoenix.
David Stern, president of Precise Corporate Staging, has been working with The
Rock for a year now and has talked a number of audio companies into donating gear.
“We want kids to have the best gear made
to learn on,” he says, “so when they go into
the real world they’ll be working on that
gear.” To date, sponsors include L-ACOUSTICS, Martin Professional, Color Kinetics and
a handful of others. “We are trying to pick
the best of the lot for the kids.”
In addition to his work at The Rock, Stern
and his team donate their time and skills, as
well as all the sound, lighting and video equipment, to pull off the Christmas Pudding event.
PCS has been working with the Solid Rock
Foundation on the Christmas Pudding event
for the past six years, although 2006 was the
first time the company provided audio gear.
“When we do the Christmas Pudding
we try to get the best talent and comedians
coupled with the best production of lights,
staging, sound and filming,” says organizer
Alice Cooper. “That is why we turn to Dave
and Marla Stern of Precise Corporate Staging. The equipment they use is always top
of the line and current with the latest technology. Their expertise in the field and their
professionalism help make the Christmas
Pudding show a fantastic event.”
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200.0707.18.indd 18
JULY 2007
time. So, it’s a work of love as opposed to
another gig.”
The event was held at Dodge Theatre
in Phoenix, a venue that features curved
walls and a couple of balconies that were
challenging. To overcome those acoustic
issues Stern worked with L-ACOUSTICS
vice president of sales and marketing Paul Freudenberg. “I sent them the
CAD drawings of the building and they
mapped the room for us using their
Soundvision software. That was part of
their involvement with the charity.”
PCS hung 12 L-ACOUSTICS V-DOSC cabinets per side, with three dV-DOSCs down
and 16 SB218 subs. The console at FOH was
a Heritage 4000 and the monitor board was
a Yamaha 3500M. The monitor system was
L-ACOUSTICS 115XT HiQ with Kudos sidefills and a single 18-inch subs.
Backline — a pair of drum kits, several
guitar and bass amps and two keyboards
— was provided by S.I.R. Arizona.
To be sure, Christmas Pudding is exciting for PCS on a number of fronts. “It’s out
of the box for us,” he says. “We do mostly
corporate events in convention centers
and ballrooms, so having a full show of live
entertainment is very exciting for us to do,
as opposed to having a corporate meeting
and one act of entertainment.”
There’s also the fact that the PCS
team is full of music fans. “The list of
those playing at Christmas Pudding includes all recognizable names,” he says.
“It was very exciting, especially for the
people who work for me, to actually
meet these people.”
The stage and crowd at Christmas Pudding
Alice Cooper performing
www.fohonline.com
6/28/07 3:14:50 PM
200.0707.Ads.indd 19
6/28/07 4:23:15 PM
FOH Interview
FLYING
in Good Sound
Left to right: FOH engineer Jeffrey Holdip, system engineer Brad Ervin and Ben Cabot of Adamson
Jeffrey Holdip and crew keep Canadian songstress
Nelly Furtado sounding great no matter where she is.
By TonyMah
I
recently caught up with FOH mixer Jeffrey Holdip and the rest of the Towers
Clair Showco audio crew for Nelly Furtado.
Adamson’s Ben Cabot helped out for the
first two shows of the Canadian leg of Nelly’s
world tour by tuning the house system. He
a very popular band and Nelly wasn’t signed
yet, so I told them I would think about it and
to call me when they were ready to tour. A
few months later, they called — I can’t explain
why, but I made the change and went with
Nelly.
“The trick in making the D-Show or any digital console sound
good is to think old school — set up the plug-ins to make the
mix sound like old-school analog.”
– Jeffrey Holdip
uses sine-wave sweeps with a multichannel
version WinMLS by Lars Morset to equalize
the Clair IO processors. He chose WinMLS
because it’s the only portable multichannel
measurement system quick enough to handle
the time pressures of touring. Ben’s kit of six
microphones, multichannel sound card and
computer can easily fit into a laptop bag and
be hand-carried onto an airplane. This was
the first time I have seen WinMLS used on a
major tour. I have used almost every measurement system on the market; I think that tuning the house before the artist sound check
with WinMLS and using Smaart when the
band plays is ideal for getting the most useful
measurements. Most speaker manufacturers
use sine-wave sweeps because they’re accurate even when there are extraneous noises.
With a sine-wave sweep you can get usable
measurements even if there is hammering
and banging going on.
FOH: You’ve been with Nelly Furtado since
the very beginning. How’d that get started?
JH: Yeah, I’ve been with her for seven
years — from day one. I was working for the
rock band Big Sugar in Canada and her manager called me up and asked me if I wanted
to make a change. At the time, Big Sugar was
20
200.0707.20-21.indd 20
JULY 2007
Why did you choose the Adamson line array with the T21 subwoofers, and how is it
distinct from other line arrays?
I chose Adamson because it is my current
favorite speaker. Nelly doesn’t tour very much,
but she does do festivals, and that is where I
got to mix a few times on the Adamson Y10
and Y18 line arrays. The system sounded
great, so I jumped at the chance to add it to
the tour. Even her management could hear
the difference. On the Canadian leg of the
tour, we were able to add the T21 subwoofers,
which are awesome.
Tell me about how the Digidesign D-Show
and how you chose it to mix.
When I am not touring with Nelly, I am
usually in the studio recording reggae bands.
I record with Pro Tools and the Digidesign
Control 24. When I had a chance to change
the sound system and align both the recording and the live world, I jumped on it. The
D-Show console was daunting at first, but I
soon realized how to quickly get around the
basic use of the desk. We are recording all the
shows to hard disk just in case management
wants to release a live album, for reference for
the MD and to use the virtual sound-check
capabilities of the VENUE. Using the D-Show
Console with the Adamson line array and
subwoofers makes mixing live for me as comfortable as recording in my studio. At the moment, I am not using any outboard gear. My
favorite Pro Tools plug-ins for the live show
are McDSP MC2000 for multiband compression and the Revibe for reverb. I love having
the ability to recall specific settings for each
song. Nelly’s music is quite complex; it has a
lot of layers, and the sound changes a lot from
song to song.
What is your take on the sound of analog
verses digital?
I’m old school. Analog boards like the
Midas XL4 sound really warm, and it is worth
the extra time and effort to set up. The trick
CREW
FOH: JeffreyHoldip
MON: Dave Donin
System engineer: Brad Ervin
P.A. tech: Brian Kirk
MON tech: Jon Halliwell
Adamson Tech: Ben Cabot
GEAR
FOH
24 Adamson Y-18
12 Adamson Y-10 Under hang
6 Clair Brothers P-2 Front fill
12 Adamson T-21 Subs
20 Adamson Y-10
in making the D-Show or any digital console
sound good is to think old school — set up
the plug-ins to make the mix sound like oldschool analog.
What’s it like having a mic sponsor?
Throughout my career, there have been
many times where I had to show up and
use whatever was provided. If I am given the
choice, I’m like a kid in a candy store. I do have
favorite brands of microphones for specific
instruments, but I don’t mind using any microphone system as long as it is reliable. For
Nelly, I use a Sennheiser SKM500 handheld
with a 935 dynamic capsule. I prefer it to the
Neumann 105 capsule because, with the loud
stage noise and the natural high-end of her
1 Digidesign VENUE D-Show with Sidecar
Clair IO
Lab.gruppen 3400s and 6400s.
Crown 3600s.
MON
4 Clair Brothers 12 AM Wedges
4 Clair Brothers R4’s for Side fills
Crown 3600s
1 Digidesign VENUE D-Show with a sidecar
12 Sennheiser G2 300 Systems
10 Sennheiser EW 550 Series with 935 Capsules
16 Sennheiser EW 550 Series Wireless for Instruments.
www.fohonline.com
6/28/07 6:46:12 PM
Nelly Furtado
Jeffrey Holdip mixing Nelly Furtado at FOH.
The Adamson array during load-in
voice, the Sennheiser 935 fits her better and
requires less equalization. I have had many
fights with TV engineers who insist on using
the Neumann vocal microphone, but when
they hear how good the Sennheiser 935
sounds on her voice, they are won over.
You just finished the European leg of her
world tour. How’d that go?
Europe was really smooth. The reason it
went so well was Dave Donin, my monitor engineer, who did such an awesome job that I
only had to worry about my FOH mix. I gave
Dave, the new guy, my middle bunk on the
bus and took the bottom bunk. That’s how
much I appreciate him. Having a good monitor engineer makes my job easy, and with
Dave running monitors, if there were any mistakes in the mix they would be mine.
What do you enjoy most about this
world tour?
I really love mixing live; if all I was given
was an 8-channel mixer, I would happily use
it. When Nelly is doing promo, I take care of all
the logistics of the backline, audio and cargo,
but I would much rather be mixing. I have
been very fortunate. On tour, we have our Clair
system engineer Brad Ervin who takes care of
setting up and equalizing the system. When I
come in for sound check, the system is ready
to go. Brad understands what I am looking for
and delivers it to me each and every day.
www.fohonline.com
200.0707.20-21.indd 21
2007 JULY
21
6/28/07 7:18:44 PM
Product Gallery
drive processors
Time was — and not all that long ago — when we all had either additional items in our amp racks or a separate rack full of stuff that we most often called the drive rack. Thanks to the power
of DSP, those crossovers and delays and EQs and limiters are now most often found in single all-in-one units that we now call drive or speaker processors. That’s a lot of power in one box. Looks
like you’ll have to RTFM on this one. Here are a few of your choices for reading material.
Company
Model
Price
Size
I/O
Crossovers
Dynamics
Protea 4.24C
$2,575.00
1RU/10 lbs.
4x8
Linkwitz-Riley, Bessel, Butterworth.
Compressor and limiter.
DS24
$299.99
DS26
$349.99
2x6 configurable
DS48
$449.99
4x8 configurable
Ultradrive Pro DCX2496
$339.99
1U
XLR and AES/EBU
Four different types of selectable crossovers.
Limiting, compression and dynamic EQs.
DriveRack 480
$3,394.95
2U 15.5 lbs.
4 analog and AES/
EBU inputs - 8 analog
and AES/EBU outputs.
Butterworth, Bessel or Linkwitz-Riley crossover
filters.
Compressor/limiter on every output.
DriveRack 4800
$4,999.95
2U - 14.6 lbs.
4 analog and AES/
EBU inputs - 8 analog
and AES/EBU outputs.
Full bandpass filter, crossover and routing
configurations with Bessel, Butterworth, and
Linkwitz-Riley filters.
31-band graphic and 9-band parametric
EQ on every input.
LP4D12
$6,947.00
LP4D4
$5,560.00
LP4D8
$6,178.00
LP8D8
$6,947.00
LPD
$4,990.00,
VSX 26
$599.99
1RU; 19” W x 1.75”
H x 8.5” D; 7 lbs.
XLR inputs and outputs, AES-EBU digital
input.
Butterworth, 6-48 dB/octave; LR, 12-48 dB/octave; Bessel, 6-48 dB/octave.
Feed-forward compressor/limiters on
each input and output.
SC28 System Controller
$1,331.66
1.73” x 18.94” x
6.67” 1 rack unit
2x8
Six parametric filters with adjustable frequency
and gain.
Integral six-band parametric equalization
can be added along with high and low
shelving filters and signal delay.
RPM 26Z
$1,199.00
1U
4/6 (2
analog+1AES)/(6
analog)
9 choices Linkwitz-Riley 12, 24, Butterworth 12,
18, 24, Bessel 12,18,24, 1st order
Dynamics processors may be placed anywhere in the signal path. Some have user
accessible side-chains.
Navigator NAV240
$859.95
1U / 9.25 lbs.
2x4
Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel; slopes to 48
dB.
Compressor/Limiter on each input &
output.
Navigator NAV360
$999.95
1U / 9.25 lbs.
3x6
dB.
output.
Navigator NAV480
$1,619.95
1U / 9.25 lbs.
4x8
dB.
output.
Navigator NAV4802
$2,149.95
1U / 9.25 lbs.
4x8
dB.
output.
Navigator NAV8802
$2,829.95
1U / 9.25 lbs.
8x8
dB.
output.
TC Electronic XO24
$995.00
1U
Balanced XLR, S/PDIF
2,3,4-way crossover (Butterworth, Bessel, and
Linkwitz-Riley)
4-band parametric EQ, delay and
DP 424
$4,195.00
1U/8 lbs.
2x4
Linkwitz-Riley: Bessel:Butterworth up to 48 dB
slopes
96 Khz/24 Bit
DP 444
$3,995.00
1U/8 lbs.
4x4
slopes.
96Khz/24 Bit
DP 446
$4,895.00
1U/8 lbs.
4x6
slopes.
96Khz/24 bit
DP 448
$5,795.00
1U/8 lbs.
4x8
slopes.
96Khz/24bit
Yamaha DME24N
$3,600.00
17.64 lbs.,
480x101x411.5, 2U
8 analog I/O with additional card slot for
I/O expansion.
Adjust Gc, Bessel, Butterworth (12,18,24,36 or
48 dB/Oct), Linkwitz-Riley (12, 24 or 48 dB/Oct),
6 dB/Oct.
Yamaha SP2060
$1,499.00
9.25 lbs.,
480x360.2x44
mm, 1U
2 analog/digital in, 6
analog out.
Adjust Gc, Bessel, Butterworth (12,18,24,36 or
48 dB/Oct), Linkwitz-Riley (12, 24 or 48 dB/Oct),
6 dB/Oct.
Web site
Ashly Audio, Inc.
www.ashly.com
BBE
1U
www.bbesound.com
Behringer
www.behringer.com
2x4 configurable
XLR
dbx Professional
Products
www.dbxpro.com
Dolby LaboratoriesLiveSound Group
www.dolby.com/
livesound
Peavey
www.peavey.com
QSC Audio
www.qscaudio.com
Rane
Rane.com
TC Electronic
tcelectronic.com
XTA Electronics
4in/4out
2U rackmount:3.44
x 19 x 13.78 inches,
20 lbs.
4in/8out
8in/8out
16 channels of digital
I/O AES/EBU format.
www.xta.co.uk
Yamaha Commercial
Audio Systems, Inc.
www.yamahaca.com
22
200.0707.22-23.indd 22
JULY 2007
A
4in/12out
Sabine
www.Sabine.com
Full function limiter
Traditional and Linear Phase crossovers. Bessel, Butterworth and Linkwitz-Riley traditional
LimiterMax loudspeaker protection
crossovers from 6 dB up to 48 dB per octave.
system, incorporating threshold compenLinear Phase crossovers with 24 dB matching, 48 sating true-RMS limiter and instantaneous
dB matching and brick wall responses exceeding
peak limiter.
180 dB per octave.
limiting.
www.fohonline.com
6/29/07 3:12:59 PM
For
so
for
The Peavey VSX 26
The dbx 4800
The Yamaha SP2060
The Sabine Navigator 8802
EQs.
ut.
etric
on
mpenneous
Computer Interface
Adjustment
Mutes
Metering
Routing
RS-232, Windows
Yes
Yes
5-LED Ladder
Selectable routing, 30 presets.
All parameters adjustable from the front
panel RS-232 and associated software
Front panel access for all
outputs
LED ladder type for all i/o
-30 to clip
Limited, but front panel or software accessible
RS-232 and RS-485
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes - DriveWare
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes - DriveWare
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Three different configuration modes:
4in x 12out Lake Contour crossover
mode, 8in x 8out Lake Mesa EQ
mode, and a split 2in x 6out crossover & 4in x 4out EQ mode.
For remote control, the Dolby Lake Controller
software has a graphic interface, optimized
for a wireless touch-screen or tablet PC functions.
Yes
Yes
The Dolby Lake Processor provides front panel metering and control through our new portal interface (patent
pending). Each of the four front-panel portals can represent multiple channels of level and limiter metering.
USB 2.0
Yes
Individual switches on each
input and output.
3-color LED per input and output
Any input to any output.
USB
LCD
Infinite attenuation
LCD
Preprogrammed tunings for QSC
loudspeaker systems, user-adjustable equalization and delay.
Ethernet
None. Computer or
remotes.
None
4 in/6out
Open architecture w/24 user definable presets.
RS232 and USB
All functions
Yes
Yes
Yes
RS232 and USB
All functions
Yes
Yes
Yes
RS232 and USB
All functions
Yes
Yes
Yes
RS232, USB and Ethernet
All functions
Yes
Yes
Yes
RS232, USB and Ethernet
All functions
Yes
Yes
Yes
N/A
Yes
Yes
Yes
Factory and user.
RS 485 or RS 232
Virtually all functions
All inputs and outputs.
Full Matrix Capability
RS485 or RS 232
RS485 or RS232
RS 485 or RS 232
Fully Matrix Capability
USB, Ethernet
Yes, user programmable.
Yes, user programmable.
Yes
User programmable
Yes
3x2way; 3x2 link; 2x(2way+sub);
2x(2way+sub) link; 2x2way+2xAux;
2x2 way+2xAux Link; 2x3way; 2x3
way Link; 4way+2xAux; 5way+Aux;
6way; multizone
on
ation
low
.
anyuser
t&
t&
t&
t&
t&
The Behringer DCX2496
d
Ethernet
Yes
Yes
www.fohonline.com
200.0707.22-23.indd 23
2007 JULY
23
6/29/07 3:13:27 PM
Road Tests
audix vx5 handheld condenser vocal mic
By BillEvans
A
ny of you who have been reading
FOH for a while have probably
heard me openly refer to myself
as a condenser slut when it comes to
mics for vocals. I own a bunch of mics
and am probably unusual in that I actually own more vocal condensers than
dynamics. A condenser just has that
“air” and open feel that it is tough to get
from a dynamic, and I generally find that
the audio quality of the vocals goes up
substantially just by replacing dynamics
with condensers.
rt
The
TheGear
Gear
The VX5 is a lower-priced, lower
output version of Audix’s flagship VX10
(which I own and use along with a pas-
rt
sel of AKG C900s). Audix responded to The Gigs
concerns by some users that the VX10 The GigThe VX5 was used on two gigs
had too much of an open pickup pattern in two states with two sound compaand was so hot that it was hard to con- nies and two ver y different bands.
trol. They replaced the VX10’s cardioid First up, a jazz and blues festival in
pattern with a tighter super-cardioid, Valencia, Calif., with a nine-piece horn
radically dropped the input sensitivity band. Small outdoor stage, crowd of
and added –10 dB pad and low-end roll- 800+ and volume levels in the 100 dB
off switches and ended up with the VX5. range 15 feet from the stage. The lead
Added bonus: It also costs ½ of what its singer was used to using a VX10 so we
louder sibling will set you back.
used that as a “control” and used the
Like the VX10, the VX5 features a gold pair of VX5s on two female singers for
vapor diaphragm (it’s a little smaller on the one set and two male singers for a
VX5 — 14 mm vs. 16 mm) and a black satin second set.
finish. The VX 5 adds “acoustic ports” to the
Things went very well. Unlike the
grill screen (which, if nothing else, look cool) VX10, which sounds great but can be
and loses a little bit of top-end response (40 hard to control, the VX5s were “plug
Hz to 16.5 kHz vs 20 kHz on the VX10).
and play” and needed almost no EQ.
Feedback was never an issue, even
when we had to use wedges for this
show while the band is used to being
on personal monitors.
Next up was a gig in the Arizona
desert at an Indian casino. The show
was a couple of tribute bands on an
outdoor stage for a crowd of about
800. Sounds similar, except it was a
much larger stage and a much louder
gig. The headlining Eagles tribute band
had three lead guitar players and five
lead singers — need I say more? The
stage was loud with everyone except
one guitarist/singer on screaming
wedges. The FOH system was a fairly
wide line array, not the point and
shoot boxes of the previous gig.
soundcraft vi6 digital console
By BillEvans with LarrryHall
T
his is the first time for FOH (and, indeed,
for any audio magazine that I can think
of) to do an actual in-the-field Road
Test on a piece of gear with a $90K price tag.
Because we have worked at making and maintaining good relations with regional sound
companies, we were able to hook up with
a company that was demo-ing the eagerly
awaited Vi6 digital console from Soundcraft.
This is not something we could have pulled off
on our own so we need to start off by thanking the crew at H.A.S. Productions in Las Vegas
for making it possible. It took some doing and
some coordination — including an overnight
trip to the bustling metropolis of Parker, Ariz.
— but it was worthwhile. (BTW, to you other
manufacturers reading this, we are open to
other Road Tests following this method. You
have my number, give me a call.)
The Gear
RT
OK, next disclaimer. There is no way in hell
that we can possibly include everything about
this console in a magazine review. We have added some new things that we have never done
before on our Web site, including video of the
console on the gig, and are setting up a way for
FOHOnline users to ask questions directly of the
folks who have used the console in the field.
The Vi6 is a co-developed project between
Soundcraft and Studer — both Harman companies, but one known for live consoles and
the other big in the broadcast/studio world.
Like most digital mixing systems, the console is
the equivalent of a big computer mouse with
lots of buttons and faders on it. It is, in other
words, a control surface that does not actually
pass audio. Digital/analog conversion, processing and mixing actually happens in a separate
box that holds the guts of the system. Also like
many other systems, the Vi6 has a stage box
that houses inputs and mic pre’s which can
connect to the local rack via a single Ethernet
connection (although there are some limits,
which we will get into later).
At the risk of sounding like a kid with stars
in his eyes, the first thing you will notice about
the Vi6 is that it looks extremely cool. No other
way to put it. It just screams coolness. It is much
24
JULY 2007
more shallow than a typical board (in other words,
all of the controls are easy
to reach) and most functions are accessed from
touch screens where the
meter bridge is found on
an analog board. Touch
a channel on the screen
to activate it. Touch the EQ
section and the entire screen
RT
becomes EQ for that channel. Touch the dy- The Gigs
namics section and you get the same thing. I
The Vi6 went out twice for this Road Test
never took a class or had more than a perfunc- — once to a little corner of Hades known as
tory tour, and I was confident enough to take Parker, Ariz., and again to a gig in Las Vegas.
over for a time while the FOH engineer on one Each gig had a different FOH mixer, so we were
date (who was doubling as system tech) ran able to get responses on the Vi6 from two mixup front to check a problem with one of the ers with very different takes on things
cabinets in the line array.
As the board went on the truck the one thing
The Vi6 currently supports 64 input and we were all worried about was heat.Parker is even
does God-only-knows how many output mixes hotter and drier than Las Vegas, and every digital
(35 to be precise — three dedicated to left, right board that has gone out there has shut down at
and center, and 32 configurable that can be some point during the day due to excessive heat.
either groups, auxes or matrices) and you get The other less-than-ideal situation was the split
16 VCAs. One very nice touch is that when you between FOH and monitor world. As mentioned
go into certain functions, such as the VCA and earlier, the Vi6 is designed to have the input box
mute groups, some condensed instructions ap- on the stage and what look like Ethernet (actupear on the touchscreens in case you are having ally MADI over Cat5) outputs from the stage box
trouble remembering how to do something.
feed the local racks at both FOH and MON. This
This is a Harman product and so — as ex- works as long as you are running two Vi6s, which
pected — it is very Harman-centric. In other we were not doing. This meant a traditional split
words, the comps are based on existing Studer though, if we had had the proper cable on hand,
algorithms. The 30-band graphic EQs available we could have left the stage box on stage and
on all 35 outputs are BSS-designed and the run the single MADI connection back to front of
eight effects processors are models of Lexicon house and sent the split outputs to the M7CL at
units. In an audio world increasingly defined Monitor World. But, lacking that cable, we had a
by third-party plugins, this may seem limiting big copper snake running to the stage box which
to some, but you can insert anything you like was actually residing at FOH next to the local rack.
into the signal chain. The advantage of the We used the two boxes as stands for the console.
onboard stuff is that it is directly controlled
We can’t beat up on Soundcraft about this
via the touchscreen interface and, let’s face split problem, as it is common throughout the
it, Lexicon, Studer and BSS don’t exactly suck. industry. That does not make it any less annoySpeaking of control, the Vi6 already interfaces ing, but it would be unfair to single anyone out.
with Harman’s HiQnet, and future software
Before we leave the communications beupgrades are planned to extend that control. tween consoles and boxes subject, there is one
What exactly that means is being left for all of thing to clear up that may be confusing. On most
us to imagine . . .
digital desks at this level, if you lose your primary
We’re leaving out a lot, but it is time to Ethernet connection — anything up to and inmove to the gigs.
cluding the severing of that cable — the system
www.fohonline.com
will automatically switch to the redundant backup
cable so quickly that no one will ever hear it.This is
true of the Vi6 as well but may not be immediately
obvious. There are two MADI ports and one is labeled as “Aux.” that aux cable can be a redundant
backup or you can give up the redundancy and
use it as a split to a second Vi6. It would be nice to
have both options available at the same time.
Mixer #1 at Parker was instantly comfortable and happy with it. Mixer #2 who had the
console in Vegas had some adjusting to do
simply because he uses other brands of desks
most often. The taper on the channel gain and
EQ controls was not as linear as on his Midas
or Yamaha digital desks that he works on most
often. But even given those differences, both
mixers agreed that this was the best-sounding
digital console they have used. Mixer #2 prefers
Yamaha effects to Lexicon so would have been
happier with a choice, while mixer #1 likes a lot
of different stuff but is perfectly happy with
Lexicon and had no issues. Oh, and despite
triple digit temps, heat was not an issue.
A couple of operational issues (that can and
should be addressed in firmware updates) to
address before we close out. First, channel pairing for stereo sources. The good news is that it
is easy and flexible. You can pair any channel to
the one on either side of it or the one directly
“under” it in the second layer. So you could have
a stereo keyboard on channels 12 and 42 and
control it all from the top layer without giving
up a second fader. The problem is that when
you pair a channel you really pair them. Most
digital consoles pair everything except the panning, allowing you to match gain and EQ and
aux sends but pan the sources left and right.The
Vi6 pairs everything including the pan. What is
not obvious is that when the channels are
paired the pan control becomes a balance
control and we, like others who have used
the board did not realize that the nature of
the control had changed. We assumed that
the pan had been fixed to center on both
channels. [According to Soundcraft, substantial improvement on stereo channel linking
and control is being worked on —ed.]
Another firmware addressable issue is the
lack of input pads at the local rack.This means
that something that runs hot inserted locally
(like the CD player we used for walk-in, walk
out music) can easily overload it. Sure you can,
and we did, insert a line pad between the CD
player and the local rack, but on a console this
advanced and capable, it is not something you
should have to think about. [Soundcraft replies:
We’ve noticed the same thing.Inputs can be padded using internal jumpers on the cards, but we
are looking at changing the default settings of
these jumpers as shipped from the factory.]
But in the grand scheme of things everything we noted as something we would
like to see addressed is pretty minor. It
sounds great, looks awesome and is easy
to use. (Did we mention that the LEDs under the faders change colors depending
on what mode you are in? Wicked cool.)
With a way to turn off those neon blue LED
Soundcraft logos on each side of the board
we would really have something.
[We have set up an area on FOHOnline.com
where you can ask questions directly of those
who have used the console. Two caveats: First,
we have the console on a 30-day loan which
will be more than half over by the time you
read this, so no telling how long we will be able
to keep this up. Second: Remember, these are
regional sound guys. Like you, they are busy
and this is the craziest time of the year. Give
them a little time to answer.—Ed.]
mic, and the difference was audible
from FOH as well.
Finally, like the VX10 before it, the
VX5 passed the FOH Drop Test without
any problem.
Like most of the tools in our work
boxes, this one comes down to using
it the right way in the right situation.
If you are going to use condensers on-
stage then you have to get the stage
volume down, which is one reason
they have seen increased use in almost direct relation to the increased
use of personal monitors. Loud stage
and screaming wedges? Pull out a
tight-pattern dynamic. Vocal-heavy
act on a quieter stage? The VX5 is a
good candidate.
The monitor engineer was very
happy with the sound of the VX5, but
we had feedback problems with one
of them during soundcheck and ended up replacing it with a tighter and
less sensitive OM5. The second VX5
gave us no problems at all. The difference? The one where we had problems was in front of a wedge that we
could not get loud enough for the
person using it and the other was
on the only singer using personal
monitors. Both the monitor engineer and the per former noted how
much they liked the sound of the
What It Is: Handheld Vocal Condenser Mic
Who It’s For: Soundcos with quiet
stages
Pros: Outstanding sound quality,
pad and rolloff switches, lots of
bang for the buck
Cons: Can be tough to use in front
of very loud wedges and sidefills
How Much: $299 MSRP
Web site: www.audixusa.com
What It Is: High-end digital console
Who It’s For: Touring and large regional
soundcos, theatre and HOW installs
Pros: Great sound, great look, intuitive and
easy to use
Cons: No separate panning on paired
channels. Have to choose between backup
for digital transmission and digital split for
monitors — Can’t do both at once. Onboard
EQ and effects limited to Harman brands.
How Much: Approx. $90K as reviewed
Web site: www.soundcraft.com
200.0707.24-25.indd 25
6/28/07 7:17:25 PM
Production Profile
Getting Good Tone for Golden Voices
They may have whisper-clean sound, but Celtic
Woman’s not a secret anymore
Pictured left-to-right at Radio City Music Hall are: Celtic Woman RF Technician, Guy Gillen; Systems
Tech Gord Adams; Monitor Engineer Andreas Linde-Buchner and FOH engineer Wayne Pauley.
By BryanReesman
I
t might be understandable if you have
not yet heard of Celtic Woman, but the
“secret” that has enthralled millions of
PBS viewers and myriad concertgoers will
not be one for much longer. The group’s
debut was the #1 album on Billboard’s
World Music chart for 68 weeks, only to be
bumped off by their Christmas album, then
that release was knocked from the top slot
by the group’s A Woman’s Journey earlier
this year. Having notched three successful
albums (including a recent Top 10 rock/pop
entry) through massive public television
exposure, the Irish folk/pop project offering both covers and originals has beguiled
audiences with a quartet of pretty voices, a
vigorous violinist, pulse-racing percussion
and a smooth mixture of energetic and
ethereal moments. Currently wrapping up
a 100-plus show tour, Celtic Woman is becoming one of the biggest (yet quietest)
pop sensations around.
What is most striking for any audience
member upon seeing the show — other
than the presence of five gorgeous women
and eight choir members and six supporting musicians — is how clear the sound is.
Even a dozen rows back at the venerated
Radio City Music Hall, the mix was clean
and far from the in-your-face experience
one could expect.
“The key to this thing is the dynamics,
and having a great band really makes all
the difference in the world,” remarks FOH
engineer Wayne Pauley, who works with
monitor engineer Andreas Linde-Buchner.
“They’re top-notch musicians, the best. For
an audio person, the difference between a
good musician and a great musician is not
really their ability to play. It’s knowing when
and what to play, and also when not to play,
because that space is what gives you the
depth and the dynamics.”
Having a great audio engineer juggling
18 musicians onstage also helps. “Wayne
200.0707.26-27.indd 26
approach than I’ve been used to. Normally
you get involved in a show, and it’s a specific
genre, or maybe it’s a genre stretching into
one more. You get sounds
“With this show you that you think are good
and appropriate for what’s
literally have to treat going on and run with it.
each song like its own You might change some
entity, and what might overalls here and there, but
don’t change the basis
be appropriate for one you
does a fabulous
of the entire mix from song
job of integrat- song is completely inap- to song. With this show, you
ing all the dif- propriate for the next.”
literally have to treat each
ferent systems
song like its own entity, and
— Wayne Pauley
that I put up for
what might be appropriate
him everyday
for one song is completely
into an amazing audio picture for the chalinappropriate for the next. The idea is for
lenges he has to deal with,” says Gord Adit to be a hybrid of a lot of different things
ams, the Masque Sound live systems engi— one being a very Broadway-type experineer on the tour. “The stage is covered with
ence, another being a very pop concert type
Sennheiser and DPA mics on all the talent,
of experience — and to try to make the segand that provides any engineer with the
ues between the two meld, so to speak.”
challenge between getting the full sound
Pauley puts it best: the show is not over
that he wants versus the mics hearing the
produced. Nevertheless, the show is very reroom. He’s a top-notch engineer, and I have
hearsed in the sense that a lot of rehearsal
a lot of respect for him.”
time is invested in the production, which alPauley, who sonically interprets the allows everyone involved to maintain a high
bum vision of musical director/pianist Dalevel of consistency night after night. After
vid Downes and producer Andrew Boland,
all, that is what people come to see.
has been running a Yamaha PM1D with 5K
Despite the varying size of venues,
mic pres, “which makes an enormous difranging from amphitheatres to arenas, the
ference, in my personal opinion,” he states.
smaller of which are not large enough to
“It sounds more like an old-school analog
hold the entire stage set-up, the tour has
console, that sound us old-timers are used
been running pretty smoothly. “The day’s
to getting from some of the older consoles.
pattern is: I come in the morning, use some
The mic pres are not perfect on purpose,
laser tools to measure the room, use Land that makes the whole a lot more warm
ACOUSTICS Soundvision to come up with a
and natural sounding. A lot of times, you get
plan, then review that with Wayne,” reports
certain digital consoles where everything
Adams. “Sometimes, due to the room’s gecomes out being very sterile, and that is not
ography or limitations of the rigging points,
the case with this. I think Yamaha has really
we have to make a compromise to make
stepped up to the plate in this scenario and
that work. Then we start unloading the
done pretty well.” Most of the mics onstage
trucks. Usually, we wait for lighting to get
are Sennheiser, with the exception of the
in and deal with riggers at that point, get
wireless mics on the main singers, which are
our points set, and away we go. Usually it’s
DPAs, but with Sennheiser wireless transmitabout a four-hour build for everything. Auters. The PM1D is set up for 96 inputs, and
dio is only about an hour or an hour and a
the total for the tour hits in the mid-80s.
half’s work because there’s a lot of standing
“This is the first time that I’ve been inaround waiting for other things to come
volved in anything that spans more than
into play.”
four genres of music within one show,”
There are three L-ACOUSTICS arcs on
states Pauley, who has worked with nueach side of the stage. “That’s a ground
merous rock and country acts in the past,
stack on each side, adjacent to or on top of
including Trisha Yearwood, Bo Bice, and the
the subs depending on the day,” says AdNashville Star tour.“It’s a completely different
ams. “In arenas, it’s much different. We have
24 L-ACOUSTICS Ds and 24 V-DOSC speakers, as well as a total of six arcs, 12 of the
SB218 subs, and then we use Meyer UPMs.”
Adams agrees that the Celtic Woman
sound is not overkill, unlike so many other
pop and rock acts.“We were amazed at how
quiet the system at idle was,” he remarks.
“I’ve gone to many shows, and you can hear
an audible little hiss, even as the amps are
at idle, through the P.A. We use the Camco
Vortex 6 amplifiers, which are great, and we
also carry around with us an audio isolation
transformer. I don’t use the house system
neutral power, I make my own, and so we’re
able to have a fairly central neutral for the
audio. There’s no hum or buzz everyday. It’s
a one-to-one isolation transformer. I just
give it the three hot phases and a ground
for reference, and it quiets the center point
of that and creates its own neutral. It’s a big
piece of steel to lug around every day, but
it’s certainly worth it. It’s whisper clean.”
The systems engineer says he feels
privileged to work with Masque Sound because it has been in business for a long time
and knows how to get the sound systems
to work correctly. “Because they have such
a large inventory of wire there, the way
they’ve chosen to connect all their stuff is a
standard format throughout the company,”
states Adams. “They use Wireworks G series
connectors for signal. Their wire people are
stellar, so all that stuff is zero maintenance
for me. As a road guy, that is something I
greatly appreciate. I don’t have to rebuild
connectors on a daily basis. So I basically
deploy it every day and put it away, and as
long as I take care of the equipment, I’m not
having to rebuild any of it. That’s a joy.”
Another plus on the tour has been the
smooth wireless communication software
set up by the company, which allows the
crew to sync up disparate wireless systems
and integrate them effortlessly. Jason Eskew, wireless specialist for Masque Sound,
developed the frequency coordination
software called the PWS IAS 4.4 Intermodulation Analysis System, which has made
the wireless crew communication on Celtic
Woman a breeze. A long-time soundman
with A2 experience, Eskew began working
on the software seven or eight years go.
“As a developer I knew that there was
a better way than the tools that were available to me, which really, truly sucked,”
6/28/07 3:27:59 PM
“We were amazed at how
quiet the system at idle
was.”
recalls Eskew.“They were DOS-based tools
that were taking me four hours to do a coordination. Now I can do that same coordination in less than 10 minutes. Everything
about the software came about to make
my life easier initially, but there are other
people who have to do the same type of
work, so it applies to customers as well. For
a long time, I used it internally, and then I
started supplying a copy to other people
within the company. It just made their
lives so much easier as well. Finally, last fall,
I convinced them to release it for sale.”
Eskew’s system runs on a laptop and
works as a planning tool. “You sit down, do
a coordination, figure out which frequencies are good for a given location, dial up
your racks, and then test them,” explains
Eskew. “Rather than picking frequencies
just at random or by trial and error, it saves
you a huge amount of time in setting up
your system. More importantly, on tour
you could do a coordination for the next
couple of cities down the road. In today’s
environment, where there are some serious chunks of spectrum missing in a given
city, you’re able to plan ahead and say,
‘When I get to Dallas, I’m not going to be
able to use this ear rack over here or these
instrument mics because they’re just going to get pounded by DTV. I can call the
shop and get a spare set in the different
frequency range shipped to meet me in
that city, do what I have to do, and ship it
back.’ It gives you a chance to plan rather
than showing up Saturday for a Sunday
concert. There ain’t no shipping something in then. If you can’t make it work,
you’re stuck.”
The Celtic Woman crew is pleased with
the software’s results. “When you have
roughly 40 channels of wireless going
relatively all the time, you have to have the
gear and the guy,” says Pauley. “It’s pretty
much flawless.” Adams concurs, saying it’s
flawless “to the point you plug it in, and
Guy Gillen, our wireless tech, deals with
scanning the room and his environment
to make sure his frequency set is not going to get any hits or anything like that. He
works fine everyday. He tends not to have
to scramble too much.”
Beyond the audio synergy of the Celtic
Woman, its crew agrees that the personal
chemistry on tour has been great as well.
“The music is pleasant, and all the people on
the tour are a joy to be with,” declares Gord.
“That really makes a difference. You can try
as hard as you want to do the best you can
do professionally, but if the people are difficult to get along with or unreasonable,
that certainly takes the fun out of it. These
people are wonderful to be with. They treat
you well, and they have great consideration
for the people who are working for them.
I’ve got no complaints in that department
at all. It’s certainly something I’d like to do
again if it comes up.”
200.0707.26-27.indd 27
— Gord Adams
6/28/07 3:28:26 PM
Theory and Practice
The Pursuit of
By MarkAmundson
LOUDNESS
I
t feels like my perpetual task in life is to
get up on my soapbox and dispel myths
and tell the truth about getting righteous
sound pressure levels to the audience. What I
want to do is weave the story of speaker-cabinet dispersion, power handling and sensitivity
and attempt to explain why certain “grades”
of speaker are pitched to various sound persons at different levels of the business.
First, there is the thoroughly professional
sound pro, who has a decent budget and
a discriminating need for road-ready longthrow cabs to handle big halls and outdoor
festivals. Below this are your local-to-regional
soundco types with stack ‘em-up cabinet
needs for modest venues with moderate
crowds to please. Then, there is the vulnerable anklebiter pitched a bill of goods by the
music stores for MI-grade speakers with not a
lot of emphasis on performance specs and a
lot of selling of the visual appeal.
have limited SPL generation capability via the
power handling and sensitivity multiplier to
get the RMS/Program/Peak SPL ratings per
driver. If we could violate the laws of physics,
we would all love the flux-capacitor-driven
single-speaker cabinet with a wide dispersion
and killer loudness for a quarter mile.
Lead by Example
TP
Now it is time to make the point numerically and visually. Figure 1 shows three grades
of speaker cabinets that generically show
grade characteristics. I chose these anonymous types not because they are favorites
of mine, but because they are middle-of-theroad examples of the grades.
In previous Theory and Practice columns, I have covered power-in to powerout SPL calculations ad nauseam, but it
still bears repeating. The transfer function
is the sensitivity number, so that electrical-
If we could violate the laws of physics, we would
all love the flux-capacitor-driven single-speaker
cabinet with a wide dispersion and killer loudness
for a quarter mile.
Line Array Disclaimer
TP
I want to exclude line arrays in this diatribe for now, because I want to keep the
math simple with point source cabinets and
non-coupled performance for square-law
acoustic power loss. Line arrays attempt to
put a good amount of the audio frequency
spectrum in the near-field effect for only 3
dB loss per distance doubled instead of the
usual 6 dB square-law loss of sound pressure
levels (SPLs). And, of course, all the line arrays
still need subwoofer support, and those low
frequencies still obey the 6 dB-per-distancedouble rules because the wavelengths get to
a couple meters long.
Dispersion
TP
Speaker cabinet dispersion is defined as
horizontal and vertical beamwidths of various frequency bands, where the edges are
half the acoustic power (-3dB) of the forward
direction. This is usually the first parameter
rookies ignore when looking at speakers. A
cabinet with a 90 by 40-degree horn is fine for
coffee houses and small VFW halls, but has little use when you gotta rock the house a hundred feet back from the stage. A good midthrow horn with 70 by 50-, or 60 by 40-degree
dispersion is a better choice, as the narrower
flare typically increases the sensitivity to get
those wispy vocal consonants and cymbal
crashes to the back of the venue. If your venue
is a huge outdoor festival or arena, it is likely
that the 40 by 20-degree long-throw horn will
be used to cast as much sensitivity hundreds
of feet away from the speaker locations.
Beyond the narrow dispersion/increased
sensitivity axiom, the narrower sensitivity allows you to cluster speakers in splayed horizontal and vertical arrays so that each cabinet
has its unique designated area to throw audio
into. This means more speakers and amplifiers, which is handy, as the speaker drivers only
28
200.0707.28.indd 28
JULY 2007
watts-in multiplied by the sensitivity equals
acoustic watts. Taken into the decibel scale,
dB watts plus the sensitivity in dBs SPL
equals acoustic SPL output.
So, for easy math, 100 watts in (20 dB
watts) is added to the 100 dB/watt at 1 meter
speaker sensitivity at a given frequency band
to become 120dB SPL at one meter reference
distance from the speaker measured down
the main dispersion beam of the speaker. In
reality, most speaker manufacturers measure
Pro
Mid/High
Top Box
(12 ” +1.4 ” )
You can’t just look at the measurements —
You gotta know what they mean
their speakers a few meters away and calculate the effective one-meter reference sensitivity and SPL capabilities. This is because SPL
attenuation falls at a 6 dB per distance double.
In the above math, 120 dB SPL at one meter
drops to 112 dB SPL at two meters and 106 dB
SPL at 4 meters. So loudness (sound pressure)
to masses means the best audio power into
the speakers you choose, plus the efficiency
of the speaker within the dispersion beam
provided by the sensitivity rating.
Now back to Figure 1, the professional
mid- to long-throw box with 12-inch hornloaded driver and a coaxially mounted 1.4inch high-frequency driver provides a very
nice 109 dB sensitivity rating. And with 600
watts (27 dB watts) program power input,
puts out a respectable program 136 dB SPL
at one meter. With your typical rock concert
levels expected to be in the 90 dB to 118 dB
SPL in the audience seating areas, the chart
shows that this speaker will be capable of this
range from 25 to 500 feet away.
Looking at the mid-priced, mid-quality
speaker box (prosumer grade) with double
12-inch speakers front loaded with a 1.4”
high-frequency driver; a whole different story
develops. The average 97 dB SPL sensitivity and the beefy 2400 watt power handling
should do pretty well at putting power to the
people. But note the much poorer sensitivity being made up by four times the power
input, compared to the professional speaker
cabinet. The net program SPL is an okay 130
dB at one meter, and puts a rock concert SPL
experience from 13 to 250 feet away at best
if you’ve got the 2400 audio watts to heat up
the voice coils.
Now voyage into the anklebiter kingdom
with a bargain single 15-inch front-loaded
driver cabinet with a 1-inch horn (MI grade).
The typical 94 dB sensitivity and 500 watt program power input yields a 121 dB program
SPL with a rock concert experience from 5
feet to about 100 feet. As you can see, you
are not likely to have outdoor or large venue
capability with this speaker system. But I still
see a lot of ‘biters trying to by stacking speakers together in hopes of extending the throw.
Even with perfect cabinet coupling, it would
take about four of these MI grade cabinets to
come close to the Figure 1’s example of a fully
driven prosumer cabinet.
Summary
TP
The big point of the column this month
is that, when loudness is required, speaker
efficiency trumps power handling and size
by lesser speaker cabinets. While the professional box is going to cost a lot more than the
prosumer and MI speaker cabinet offerings,
that money is thrown into cabinet ruggedness so the cabinets can survive a couple of
years in air-ride tractor-trailer rigs between
concerts. So, if you want righteous loudness
for big club or outdoor gigs, start looking
for the 102 dB-or-higher sensitivity cabinets.
These typically will have horn-loaded drivers
and have a lot of weight in wood cabinetry in
their construction. And they are likely to have
a $2000 or higher list price per cabinet.
Obviously, professional cabinets are not
for everyone’s budget or need. But use sensitivity specs first, before power ratings and
other eye candy. Shop the manufacturer’s
Web sites first, because the best speakers for
you are not likely to be found on a retailer’s
showroom floor.
E-mail Mark at marka@fohonline.com.
Distance
1m
3ft
4m
13ft
8m
26ft
16m
52ft
32m
104ft
64m
208ft
Program
SPL
136dB
124dB
118dB
112dB
106dB
100dB
Distance
1m
3ft
4m
13ft
8m
26ft
16m
52ft
32m
104ft
64m
208ft
Program
SPL
130dB
118dB
112dB
106dB
100dB
94dB
Distance
1m
3ft
4m
13ft
8m
26ft
16m
52ft
32m
104ft
64m
208ft
Program
SPL
121dB
109dB
103dB
97dB
91dB
85dB
60° by 40 ° Disp .
600 W Program
109 dB Sensitivity
Prosumer
Mid/High
Top Box
(2x12 ” +1.4 ” )
70° by 50 ° Disp .
2400 W Program
97 dB Sensitivity
MI Grade
Mid/High
Top Box
(15 ” +1” )
90° by 40 ° Disp .
500 W Program
94 dB Sensitivity
Figure 1
www.fohonline.com
6/28/07 6:55:33 PM
Regional Slants
Allstar Audio Systems Puts Down Roots
And gets on the road to success. . .
By DavidJohnFarinella
A
country singer, a tour bus and a new
town were the ingredients of success
for Mike Borne, who arrived in Nashville in 1979 after being hired to handle the
FOH responsibilities for country singer T.G.
Sheppard. Five years and 13 number one hits
later, Borne decided that it was time to start
his own company and get off the road. Thus,
Allstar Audio Systems Inc. was born.
“My goal was to develop T.G. into a situation where I could build a company based
around his career, and it just wasn’t happening. The tours weren’t developing as I had
hoped. It became monotonous getting on
the bus and having a truck full of gear sitting in Nashville not getting used,” Borne says
now, 23 years after he got off the road.“I could
still be on that bus today and where would I
be? Making a salary? The only way I was going to break out of the box was to do my own
thing. So, I decided I had to sink or swim and
I went for it.”
Nashville back in 1984, he recalls, was a
much different place.“There were four sound
companies. It was a good time. Country music was very popular, still riding the wave
of the ‘Urban Cowboy’ era,” he says. “There
was quite a bit of work to go around. It was
friendly competition.”
So, how much have things changed?
“Oh, my gosh,” Borne replies, “now there are
probably two dozen sound companies in and
around Nashville. Some of them are national
companies with offices all over. We have two
of the biggest boys here, which really saturated the market with equipment for touring
purposes when they arrived. They are pursuing all the same work very aggressively, so the
smaller companies get lost.”
Borne wasn’t interested in being one of
the lost, so he made the tough decision to
look beyond the touring market in the early
‘90s. “Those guys were giving gear away and
I couldn’t afford to,” he admits. “Every piece
of gear I own, I have to have it make something for me.”
He had done some work at the Opryland
Hotel and had made a few contacts in the corporate world. “So, we went off, started doing
more and more corporate work and found out
that that’s not a bad place to be. It’s not bad
working indoor shows with air conditioning
and a clean environment. The catering is typically pretty good and they have stage hands,”
he says with a laugh.“So, we diversified there.”
To better service that market, Borne
brought in a lighting rig because he found
that corporate clients preferred one-stop
shopping. “It seems that people calling looking for production usually call the sound
company and ask the sound company if
they can do lighting. They don’t usually call a
lighting company and then ask them if they
can do sound. I don’t know why that is,” he
says. Staging came next and then around
the Y2K drama, he decided to buy four diesel
generators. Recently he purchased a mobile
stage and has added a couple of plasma
screens and video cameras to the company’s
assortment of gear.
Is It Live, Or. . .
RS
While the company’s list of services has
evolved, Allstar began as an audio company.
In fact, in 1984, Borne’s collection of gear was
“It’s not bad working indoor shows
with air conditioning and a clean
environment.”
—Mike Borne
split evenly between recording and P.A., and
he had to figure out which one offered him
the best opportunity to earn a living. “At the
time, the live equipment was making me
more money, so I sold off all my recording
equipment and ended up buying more live
P.A. gear,” he explains.
At first, Borne purchased his equipment
second hand. “I didn’t wake up one day and
have a million dollars to spend,” he admits.
“I bought gear a piece at a time, and a lot of
gear early on came out of the Trader’s Post,
quite frankly, from somebody else selling it.
I had some EAW 550s that were about the
size of a small refrigerator. Well, maybe not so
small, but we had a bunch of those. I loved the
sound of that cabinet, but they were huge.”
At a gig around town, he saw the EAW 850s
“It used to be a lot
easier when you could
look around and say,
‘Hey, take everything.’ ”
—Mike Borne
and then spent several sleepless nights trying
to justify buying a set of the new boxes. “We
now have one of the largest inventories of
the 850s,” he says, “ We have over 100 boxes.”
Borne has been looking at D.A.S., but hasn’t
made a move to line arrays yet.
At first, all his equipment was stored in
a 20-foot box truck that sat outside of his
apartment. When he moved into a 1,000square-foot home all of the gear went into
the basement. “Early on, when we would load
the truck to go do a show, we would have to
scour the basement floor to make sure there
wasn’t a mic cable or anything left behind,”
he recalls. “We took everything out of the
basement except for the washer/dryer to do
a show. Nowadays, we load out a show from
the warehouse, I look around and the warehouse still looks full. It used to be a lot easier
when you could look around and say, ‘Hey,
take everything.’ Now you have to make a list
and check it twice.”
Cop the Right Attitude
RS
Allstar is now one of the region’s top suppliers to the corporate market, which Borne
says is harder on his P.A. because a talking
head will expose the flaw in a sound system
faster than a band will, but he still provides
sound, lighting and staging to the Memphis
in May music festival and to a local rodeo.
He believes that Allstar is able to bounce between the two markets because of the people
he hires. “When you’re dealing with corporate
events, they want a professional person there to
deal with,” he explains.“It’s an attitude. I feel fortunate that we can go do a big rock festival, but
we can also do a big corporate show with nice
clothes on and a professional can-do attitude.
Big companies don’t do well in those markets,
because they put employees in that situation
who still have rock ‘n’ roll touring attitudes.”
Making sure that he has
the right people in place was
an important lesson for Borne.
“That didn’t come naturally to
me, but I’ve learned that people are what makes a company and not gear,” he says.
“You’ve got to have quality
people and gear is down the
chain. The quality of service
is what makes the difference,
and if you lose the quality of
service, then the business
MikeBorneatFOHfortheMemphisSymphony
goes shortly thereafter.”
Another was that he had
to “make decisions that help
me sleep at night,” he reports.
“I try to do good business.
When I’m talking to someone
about a job and I know it’s a
bid situation, I try to promote
Allstar Audio. I don’t try to
down the other company
that I’m bidding against. You
try to promote positiveness,
and I think by doing that,
people get that vibe.”
Those two things, Borne
believes, have given him alAllstar Audio Systems flew a D.A.S. rig for the Sunset Symphony Stage in Memphis.
most 30 years of success and
a client base that decides
to return to him on an annual basis. As an example, he
points to the fact that Allstar
has been providing service
to the Memphis in May festival for 19 years. “I’ve really
strived to do a good job so
that over a period of years a
client will hang with you,” he
says.“As long as you continue
to try your hardest and do a
good job and are pleasant to
work with, they want to keep
you around. So, about 90
TheMemphisSymphonyonstage
percent of the annual work
we do is return business.”
That bodes well for the
future, he says, but that
doesn’t mean that the company can afford to rest on its
laurels. “We’ve built a solid
foundation and we’ve got a
broad client base, but we like
new challenges. Otherwise it
gets boring doing the same
thing day in and day out. So,
I’m out there looking for new
stuff that’s challenging.”
For a video take on Allstar in
Memphis log on to FOH-TV at
FOHonline.com.
www.fohonline.com
TheTemptationsonstagewiththeMemphisSymphony
2007 JULY
29
Anklebiters
The Sunburn Season
It’s an annual pricing war.
Every cheap gig means twice as much
work at half the appreciation.
By BrianCassell & KenRengering
Ken: All right Brian, as we come into the
sunburn season, I face the same pricing battles
as usual. I try to explain to the bands I non-sexually service, that me doing a gig on the cheap
just wins me the chance to do more cheap gigs!
Every cheap gig means twice as much work at
half the appreciation — in other words, I feel like
I get bent over, then these acts still think I’m an
asshole because they really wanted 12 monitors
instead of the zero their budget allows! I am out
of tactful ways to say no. Help!
Brian: Aw, I know what you need! You need
some gigs where your client isn’t a band. There
are lots of summer festivals that celebrate anything and everything. My town does a strawberry festival every June.
Ken: You could be correct. Even the DJ gigs
think a monitor should be thrown in, and possibly a wireless mic or four! Something a little
more relaxed, a little more bucolic would be
great. Some sort of agricultural event sounds
nice, if awfully hot. I would like to see who is
crowned Miss Rutabaga.
Brian: I’ve been known to do sound for rodeos, if that’s the kind of agro-event you had in
mind. It’s no Calgary Stampede, but one of my
clients has their own outdoor arena where they
do weekly rodeos throughout the summer. I do
a couple of fireworks shows each year too… just
not the pyro side of things. You’ve got to be willing and versatile enough to take on the odd show
with the odd coverage requirements. It can be a
challenge sometimes, but those are the gigs that
frequently turn out to be the most fun to do.
Ken: I must admit I do a few company picnic-style events in lieu of pure corporate-style
parties. Last year, I recorded a meeting for the
National Park Service in Zion National Park.
Needless to say, it was a beautiful time of year.
I drove in, set up the gig, did the job and drove
back. Perhaps it’s me not taking the time to
smell the proverbial roses.
Brian: Maybe so — it just seems to me that
even when you are dealing with bands, if you
can grab the shows where the musicians aren’t
the clients, you do better in the end. Let’s see, I
can work for a band that is getting paid $800
to play a show, and can maybe eke $350 out
of them. Or, I can work for the same guy who is
hiring the bands and charge him $1,200 for my
services. And on top of having a better pay scale,
you also have a mediator between yourself and
the sometimes crazy demands of the band.
What was that? A four-person vocal act with live
piano, two acoustic guitars and some backing
tracks. Hey, we need five mixes! What!?!?
Ken: As usual, you are the voice of logic and
reason. I am good about holding my tongue, but
we all do enough pride-swallowing stuff to kill
the average human. I want to do a great job for
the client, for the act, but especially for myself.
The problem is too much stick and not enough
carrot! Doesn’t my reputation suffer based on
insufficient budgets, or my bottom line if I add
something for free?
Brian: I am convinced that our reputations
can suffer if we only provide what the client can
truly afford. They have a $200 budget for the
sound services they need. I can fit a Fender Passport system or a Peavey mixer/amp head in that
budget with a handful of 57s, but what others
see is me providing a bunch of cheap gear. On
the other end of the spectrum, if I give every client everything they need for whatever budget
amount they can scrape together, I get the reputation of providing nice gear at a great bargain.
In the end, I can’t kid myself saying,“I can let the
gear sit for nothing, or I can make $200 bucks
with it.”The reality is that everyone comes to expect you to supply everything in your shop for a
few hundred bucks. It’s just not worth it.
Ken: And welcome to the Dark Side (cue
evil theme music). I have approached it from
the “here’s what you’re telling me you want,
this is what you need, and this is how much
you’re budget will get you” perspective, trying to allow the client to see the logic and offering him/her some choices. I was just hoping for a better sales pitch to justify things in
their mind. So even if I have to say no to the
current gig, I have a shot at bidding in the
future. Is that just wishful thinking?
Brian: I don’t know. I’m always excited
to go and do a job for a new client. When I
have the opportunity to showcase my level
of service, I want to jump on it. Sometimes
it means giving a “first time client discount”
to work within a budget. The catch is, the
client has to understand that it’s a one-time
discount, and they have to understand
what the same show will cost them in the
future. On top of that, you have to be sure
to, at the very least, break even on the gig.
For goodness sake, don’t forget your cost of
fuel these days!
To find out who was crowned Miss Rutabaga,
e-mail anklebiters@fohonline.com.
Sound Sanctuary
Winning And
the
Bid
keeping your standards high
Sound Sanctuary is a unique part of FOH, but
it shares a common thread with every column,
article and review in this book: We all like working in this business of sound (at least I hope we
all do). I have made this rather obvious statement
because I will be writing about a subject this
month that is at the center of every live sound
and install company — the process of bidding
a job. Particularly, bidding an installation job
whether in a house of worship or any other place,
for that matter. (I am not going to talk about live
sound bids, even though I do bid shows for various worship houses. Because of what I am currently working on, I will stick to install bids.)
Recently, I was not only asked to bid an
install job at a new community center, but I
was asked to create a bid format that could
be sent out to various sound contractors in
order to receive competing bids on an even
playing field. I usually tell you all where I am
working, but this project is still in play, so I will
just say that I am working in my home state of
California. Maybe I can get FOH to publish my
bid once it has been submitted.
Nuts and Bolts
SS
Anyway, designing a sound system is the
easiest part of an installation proposal for me.
In this latest project where I am creating a bid
platform, I have been asked to give specific
manufacturers. For example, regarding amplifier
30
200.0707.30.indd 30
JULY 2007
manufacturers, I asked for QSC, Crown, Yamaha
or better. These amp builders offer dozens of
models, but at least we have some sort of bar to
work from. I just don’t want cheesy amps powering my JBL, EV, EAW or better speakers. Also,
because I believe this will create a better bidding environment, I have attempted to keep all
the component choices fairly broad. In the past,
I have bid on jobs where I am told exactly what
manufacturers and models will be used. I think
this limits the bidding process to “who can get
the best deal,” not “who can do the best job.”
However, there is no doubt that getting good
prices on equipment is the cornerstone of any
bid. So, how do you do that consistently?
Just about any of us can become a dealer
or distributor of a particular manufacturer. If
you buy enough products during a specific
period, you can get dealer cost. That is a simplified explanation, but it’s basically true. The only
problem is, what if you need components from
multiple manufacturers, or what if you don’t
have enough business to support the dealer
product purchase requirements? Well, it goes
without saying that the Internet is the shopping
playground of the world. You can basically bid
out an entire job using prices quoted to you
online. You do need to take into consideration
shipping costs, possible taxes and whether you
are buying A, B, C or reconditioned stock. I also
have accounts at a couple of the local electron-
By JamieRio
ics stores. Inevitably, you will need extra cable
and cable ends (speaker or microphone), audio
wall plates, racks, solder, etc. Having an open account is a lifesaver, and where I shop I get a 15%
break on the store’s regular prices. Also getting
a resale number is always helpful.
Labor Relations
SS
The next aspect of the bid is the labor cost. I
have a couple of guidelines I use with labor. One
is to add 10% to whatever I determine the bid to
be because you never know when you will run
into some obstacle that will cost time and money. Another is that I consistently pay my guys
more than the going rate out here in Los Angeles. Some of my crew have been with me for
better than five years, and I pay more because I
expect more. My install standards are very high,
and since most of my work is referral based, I get
good referrals. Looking at a crooked wall speaker or mounting bracket is to me like looking out
a crooked window. I simply can’t have my name
on work that is less than excellent.
Often, I will install flat-screen monitors within a particular sound job. Have you ever seen a
tube hanging on a wall that is not level? I have,
and it will make you throw up. I am not a really
anal guy, but I want my clients to be impressed
with every installation I do. My point here is: pay
your labor well, and let them know you expect
high-quality work from them. If they do a great
job, give them a bonus. If they do average work,
fire them. Believe me, a bad install will haunt you
for years, whereas a great install will just bring
you more and more work. It’s really the same
with live shows, too. Always do your best.
Well folks, right here you get a good idea
of my overall work ethic. When you think
about it, the Powers that Be at FOH wouldn’t
have me writing a column on worship sound
if I were a liar and a cheat. I’ve got a lot of bad
habits, but work ethic isn’t one of them.
OK. Hopefully you have some useful ideas
you can draw on for your next bid. I certainly do
not consider myself an expert in this very important aspect of the biz, but I’m still getting referral work, so something is working. When I toiled
in the construction trade with my dad, we had
some programs (analog, then computer) that
would take one through the bidding process
for home building. There may be programs out
there for sound installers, and I just might be totally in the dark regarding this bidding subject.
If any of you have additional insights, I would
like to hear from you. I really mean that. A few
months back, a guy named Kevin Barham from
Dallas, Texas, wrote to me with some really great
feedback on personal monitors. His views on the
subject were very intelligent and thought provoking. It certainly gave me some insight.
Contact Jamie at jrio@fohonline.com.
www.fohonline.com
6/28/07 7:06:14 PM
The Bleeding Edge
By SteveLaCerra
I
driven spectrum access, resulting in reduced
retail prices — and they’re probably right.
Except that it totally screws the pro audio industry because we can’t possibly compete on
that playing field. We simply don’t have the
cash. I suppose there might be something to
be said for, perhaps, a major news network in
New York wanting to rent a frequency for critical audio production applications, but that still
gives them only one channel of audio.
I continue to feel that the only way Washington is going to really care about the pro audio
industry’s stake in the White Space issue will be
when some pompous politician is using a wireless mic to deliver a speech to his minions, and
he’s interrupted with the sound of interference
in his audio path. Speak up, or get stepped on.
Speaking of Wireless Audio…
TBE
One type of technology that may help
alleviate the White Space problem is called
“spread spectrum wireless technology.”
Spread spectrum has been used by the military since at least the mid-1990s, but hasn’t
really made its way into the pro audio market.
Spread spectrum wireless devices operate in
frequencies above UHF — specifically in the
900 MHz and 2.4 GHz bands. The unique concept behind spread spectrum is that a single
channel of audio does not operate on one specific frequency. Instead, manufacturers have developed algorithms for “frequency hopping,”
whereby both the transmitter and receiver
change operating frequencies during broadcast. It’s sort of like synchronized swimming
and is not as radical as it seems. For example,
you manually initiate frequency hopping every time you press the channel button on your
cordless phone at home. That simple press of
a button tells the handset and base receiver
“change to this channel in a certain number of
milliseconds.” Your signal is briefly muted and
then reappears on another channel, hopefully
with less interference than the original. It’s that
briefly muted part that scares audio pros.
Of course, automating the frequencyhopping process requires quite a bit of finesse.
The system must first scan the local radio
spectrum to determine the available frequencies
and then process a routine that times the
channel-hop for both transmitter and receiver.
Sounds easy, but it isn’t, since an error in timing
will cause the transmitter and receiver to be on
different channels — resulting in a loss of signal.
Our friends over at Clear-Com are using
spread spectrum technology in their Tempest
2400 and Tempest 900 series of wireless intercoms. Tempest systems use Frequency Hopping
Spread Spectrum (FHSS) along with 2xTX Transmission Voice Data Redundancy to send each
packet of audio data twice on different frequencies via different antenna in an effort to ensure
uninterrupted, high-quality audio. The system
can support up to five wireless BeltStations (remote packs) per BaseStation, and when operating in the 2.4 GHz band, up to 10 BaseStations
and 50 BeltStations can be used simultaneously
— accommodating far more users than if the
system were operating in the FM band.
that there’s alternative technology to our existing VHF and UHF wireless on the horizon. I’m
optimistic that it’s only a matter of time before
spread spectrum matures to a point where it can
be applied to vocal microphones and wireless
instrument systems.
As the tour manager and Front of House engineer
for Blue Öyster Cult, Steve La Cerra will be frequently
hopping around the country this summer. He can
be reached via e-mail at Woody@fohonline.com
One Small Step for Intercoms
TBE
While Clear-Com’s FHSS is not being applied
to wireless microphone and instrument systems
just yet, it serves several important functions
for the pro audio community. First, it enables a
higher number of channels of Clear-Com to be
used in production situations without the worry
that users will interfere with each other (lighting
companies rejoice). Second, since FHSS exists in
900 MHz and 2.4 GHz bands, it keeps the lower
FM range clear for existing vocal and instrument
RF systems. Third, spread spectrum technology
decreases the average energy of RF signal at any
one frequency, thus reducing the possibility of
interference from any one particular transmitter.
Finally, it gives the pro audio community hope
don’t think I’ve ever written more than once
or twice regarding the same subject, but the
pending FCC/White Space issue recently
discussed in the pages of FOH is progressing at
an alarming rate, and there are new developments on a weekly basis. The latest is reflected
in an article published by the New York Times
on May 22, 2007. The author of the article, John
Markoff, informs us that our friendly search engine folks at Google are calling on the FCC to
allow companies to “allocate radio spectrum
using the same kind of real-time auction that
the search engine company now uses to sell
advertisements.” In other words, Google wants
the FCC to allow radio spectrum to be sold to
the highest bidder. Trés capitalîst.
In February 2009,the FCC plans to sell off the
spectrum known as “White Space,” i.e., the UHF
TV channels that are “unused” except, of course,
by those of us in the pro audio industry — but
we don’t count because, technically speaking,
we’re not on the radar. The sale of these frequencies is an auction-based event. Those who
are most interested in purchasing them include
cable, telephone and satellite providers, as well
as groups interested in developing next-generation, nationwide digital wireless networks. In
fact, this could increase competition and offer
consumers alternatives to existing cable and
telephone providers (never a bad thing).
Google maintains that the FCC allocation of
frequencies is inefficient, so they propose that if
the FCC were to allow companies to resell the
spectrum (perhaps “re-auction” is a better word),
actual use of the spectrum would increase. For
example, a company could resell its spectrum to
other service providers on an as-needed basis.
“Hello I’d like to own 716.700 MHz for four days
while my client performs at Madison Square Garden.”“Oh sure sir, that’ll be $10,000 per day. Will
the artist be paying for that on his credit card?”
Google’s view is that this “wholesale auction” arrangement would allow more market-
200.0707.31.indd 31
2007 JULY
31
6/28/07 6:52:58 PM
Welcome To My Nightmare
Load of $#%+!
Load In, Load Out
M
y two combined nightmares both
deal with my band — supplying a
P.A. to my own band and not having them help. As any anklebiter will tell you,
it may not be a lot of gear, but it’s sure not
a little, either! I need help to set up, and my
band sure didn’t want to help out.
As soon as I got to the gig the whining
started. “That’s too much P.A. gear, Dave. You
won’t need it all.”
So if they didn’t know what a piece
of gear was for they flat-out refused
to help build the bits they didn’t
think they needed (or much of
anything else, for that matter).
Then, as I tried to put my gear
together they all crowded the
desk to get “their” sound. And
the result? We got one column
placed directly behind the mics,
and there was absolutely no
sound check.
Any guesses on what happened
next?
1
–
2
–
3
–
4
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Down goes the volume. The punters
can’t hear the vocals. Neither can we.
The singer — who is “experienced” —
had been at the desk. She dialed in a shedload of 2K — which, of course, turned out
to be the feedback freq. — and pushed
the gain to the clipping point.
At the break, while the rest of my band
grabbed a drink and ate the promised meal,
I rebuilt the rig and moved the stacks to the
right places so we could have decent sound.
But it ain’t over yet . . .
The singer booked the gig on the presumption that it was three 45-minute sets,
but she miscounted. Actually, it was four
45-minute sets. So it’s getting late, but
we’ve somehow made such a success of it
that the organizer wanted to pay for a fifth
set. Fair enough. Unfortunately, this meant
the show didn’t end until midnight. My
bandmates all cried “Last train,” and ran to
catch the tube. This left me, my girlfriend
and the drummer behind to pack up and
load out — up two flights of stairs and
down the London sidestreets.
As I drove home, I did the math: 30 minutes to load the transport, a one hour drive,
one hour to load in and set up, a five hour
gig, one hour load out, one hour home and a
half-hour pack away. 10 hours.
Dave Potter
Hatfield, Herts, U.K.
Gigs from Hell. We’ve all had ‘em and the good
folks at FOH want to hear about yours. Write it
up and send it to us and we’ll illustrate the most
worthy. Send your nightmares to nightmares@
fohonline.com, or fax them to 702.932.5584.
In The Trenches
Mat Walter
Randy Eldred
Sound Tech
Horizon Christian Fellowship
Rancho Santa Fe, CA
www.horizon.org
760.846.0350
mat.walter@gmail.com
Sound Engineer
Cody Music and Sound
Dayton, OH
937.256.3369
Codymusic@aol.com
Services Provided:
Live Sound Production
Services Provided:
FOH Engineer, Recording Arts Intern
Clients:
Royal Wade Kimes; The Hathaway’s; 24/
Seven; Disconnected; July for Kings; Joe
Hedges
Clients:
Horizon Christian Fellowship; Local Bands;
2orMore
Quote:
“Why does it sound like that?”
Personal Info:
I˙m an 18-year-old sound engineer in Southern
California. I spent over a year running services
at Horizon on a SoundCraft MH4 mixing
console and doing recording on our Pro Tools
rig for solo artists and local bands.
Hobbies:
Music, movie editing, mixing
Equipment:
SoundCraft MH4, DigiDesign 002, iMac
G5
Don’t Leave Home Without:
Laptop, Headphone to 1/4-inch adapter
Quote:
“Happiness is not far away if you have
faith and belief in what you do.”
Personal Info:
I’ve been in the sound and music business
for 30+ years, and I still love every moment
of it.
Hobbies:
I love to spend time with my family. I love
hiking the Appalachian Trail. I enjoy doing
outdoor gigs.
Equipment:
Midas Consoles, Yamaha Consoles, QSC
power amps, Ashly, dbx and various
Yamaha and Lexicon effects.
Don’t Leave Home Without:
Bottled water and my iPod.
If you’d like to see yourself featured in “In the Trenches,” visit www.fohonline.com/trenches
to submit your information to FOH, or e-mail trenches@fohonline.com for more info.
32
JULY 2007
www.fohonline.com
200.0707.Ads.indd 33
6/28/07 4:23:44 PM
The Biz
By DanDaley
White Space Outlook Getting Darker
It’s time to choose sides in this fight for frequencies
I’m no Al Gore, but the “white space” controversy could be shaping up to become the
global-warming issue of the RF universe. Back
in March, we discussed the likely chaos that
could ensue with the switchover to digital
broadcasting scheduled to take place in early
2009. The move will open key parts of the RF
spectrum to a variety of unregulated applications, from cell phones to PDAs, which will
compete for access with existing professional
wireless users.
Consumer electronics manufacturers and
service providers with enormous political
clout via trade groups like the CEA are eyeing
these not-so-wide-open spaces. But another
pair of giants now wants in on the act, and the
names are about as big as they get. Google
and Microsoft, rivals in many other aspects of
Internet business, are combining to petition
the Federal Communications Commission to
make the “unused” white space available for
wireless Internet access. Dell, HP, Intel and
other computer-oriented corporations are
joining the two technology behemoths in the
effort.
The motives of the consumer electronics bloc, which wants to see the white spaces
licensed and allocated and thus made more
controllable through political lobbying, are
pretty clear. Those of the new techno-alliance are less so, made still more opaque by
Microsoft’s submission for testing by the FCC
earlier this year of a mysterious device — the
quintessential black box — that purports to
reliably prevent bleed within the white-space
spectrum. According to NPR’s “Marketwatch”
program, Microsoft’s sparse specification of
the device in its filing describes it as “a wireless
device that utilizes OFDM, a technology that
can be used to route digital TV and voice calls
among devices,” versions of which have been
tested and deployed for mobile phone use.
Tb
The Plot Thickens
This brings up the other large corporate
delegation opposing the Microsoft-Google
alliance: cellular phone service providers. If
the white spaces remain unregulated, companies like Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile
could use them for WiFi access to the Internet
that can bypass existing commercially controlled and owned access.
Also opposing Microsoft, et al., is the Association for Maximum Service Television
(www.mstv.org), which proclaims itself a “liaison between the broadcast industry and
the consumer electronics, professional video
and other technology industries,” but whose
board is made up almost entirely of broadcasters, who are finding their advertisers
migrating to the Internet already and who
don’t want the white-space cushion between
channels challenged. As soon as Microsoft
presented the FCC with its new technology,
the MSTV group staged a protest saying that
the proposal to open up all that unused air
didn’t go far enough to protect digital television users from bleeding signals. (Even at the
executive level, those broadcasters may be
dimly aware of how an unregulated RF environment could delay content production and
add to below-the-line costs.)
Given the FCC’s highly politicized nature in the Bush administration, and that
administration’s own inclination to side with
corporate interests, the fight over what is to
become of the white spaces is not nearly over,
and billions of lobbying dollars will be spent
before it is. Thus, the outcome for RF users is
also unclear. Consequently, even while pro
audio manufacturers are continuing to present their findings to Congress and the FCC, it
makes sense to start thinking about taking
sides here. One of the mega-groups is going
to come out on top; better to be on the winning side than the whining one.
End Game
Tb
So what are the likely outcome scenarios?
The good news is that this is not an open-ended proposition, like introducing a new technology format. The outcome is not waiting
on some uncertain point in the future when
the unseen hand of the market makes its appearance; rather, this has a fixed decision point,
sometime before the switch on digital broadcasting gets flipped around February 2009. The
argument for keeping white spaces unregulated — “ubiquitous spectrum” is the technical
term — argues for the Microsoft/Google contingent. While we shouldn’t look anytime soon
for a professional wireless microphone system
from the people who brought you Windows,
keep in mind the enormous beachhead that
computer-oriented companies have taken in
pro audio. The first thing you see upon entering an AES Show or NAMM pro audio hall is the
enormous Apple booth. That footprint is only
going to get bigger and more comprehensive.
Would making the case to Silicon Valley for
wireless microphone allocation within a ubiquitous spectrum perhaps produce more results
than making the case to a politician in an evennumbered year? If, as the FCC suggests, Microsoft’s black-box technology does indeed keep
discrete the adjacent bands within the white
space, it could act as the technology agent to
argue for reserving a portion of the space for
the live-event entertainment industry.
On the other hand, pro audio is accustomed to coloring within the lines (drummers
excepted). Those seeking to regulate the white
spaces are perhaps closer cousins to pro audio
than Internet businesses. The telcos and CE
manufacturers are hardware-oriented cultures,
something they have in common with pro audio manufacturers, plug-ins notwithstanding.
Some of this constituency also has deeply
vested interests in the live-event economy,
such as Verizon, which sponsors numerous institutional and educational concert series.
I’m not ready to hazard a guess as to which
way this coin is going to land. Both sides are
spending big bucks on their lobbying efforts,
which indicates just how important this upfor-grabs spectrum actually is. But what I am
saying is, that everyone with a dog in this
fight should seek allies wherever they can get
them. Pro audio is a tiny niche in the grand
scheme of media technology, but we have
Bon Jovi’s monitor mix and they don’t. Let’s
see who wants to dance.
Contact Dan at ddaley@fohonline.com.
Who’s Your Hero?
Time once again to recognize the true
soldiers of the live event audio biz — the
regional soundcos. We are compiling the
ballot for FOH’s annual Hometown Heroes vote and, for the first time, are totally opening the nomination process to
our readers. We are looking for a handful
of companies in different regions of the
country (plus Canada) and we will use
you input to put together that list. Go
to www.fohonline.com/hometown/ to
submit your faves.
Please make sure you give us both
the name of the company and the city
where it resides. A contact name is an
added bonus. A full ballot will appear
next month for you to vote on and the
winners for each region will be announced in Sept.
Most importantly, the winners in
each region will become the nominees for the Regional Sound Company
of the Year award at this year’s Parnelli
ceremony at LDI this November.
al Sound
Clearwing, 2006 Region
of
k
cli
un
Br
g
eg
Gr
d
se an
Company of the Year
ie
Jamieson Filip, Scott Br
34
200.0707.34.indd 34
JULY 2007
www.fohonline.com
6/28/07 7:07:32 PM
ADVERTISER’S INDEX
COMPANY
PG#
PH
URL
COMPANY
PG#
PH
URL
A-Line Acoustics
6
814.663.0600
http://foh.hotims.com/12796-100
Precise Corporate Staging
33
480.759.9700
Adamson
8
905.982.0520
Peavey
C4
877.732.8391
Audix
27
800.966.8261
Soundcraft
10
888.251.8352
Audio-Technica
17
330.686.2600
QSC
19
800.854.4079
Bartha Audio Visual
12
614.252.7455
TMB
15
818.899.8818
BBE Sound
9, 11, 13 714.897.6766
Westone Music Products
4
719.540.9333
Cooling & Power Rentals
6
888.871.5503
WorxAudio
31
336.275.7474
d&b Audio
5
828.670.1763
Yamaha Commercial Audio
1, C3
714.522.9011
DiGiCo
7
877.292.1623
Face Audio
16
877.525.1163
Gamble
31
530.583.0138
MARKET PLACE
Hear Technologies
12
256.922.1200
AudioEast
35
866.274.4590
JBL Professional
3
818.894.8850
dblittle.com
35
423.892.1837
L-Acoustics
25
805.604.0577
Hi-Tech Audio
35
650.742.9166
Lab Gruppen
C1
818.665.4900
Hybrid Cases
35
800.645.1707
Meyer Sound
C2
510 486.1166
Northern Sound & Light
35
412.331.1000
Northern Sound & Light
21
412.331.1000
Sound Productions
35
800.203.5611
EMPLOYMENT
For Advertising Information Call Peggy Blaze at 818.435.2285
www.fohonline.com
www.fohonline.com
Month
2005
2007 JULY
35
35
FOH-At-Large
Follow the Money
F
irst Bosch buys Midas, and now Harmon
International has agreed to be acquired
by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs for $8 billion dollars. Hey, I’m small
time and $1 million dollars seems like a lot of
money to me. Therefore, an $8 billion dollar
purchase sounds like the type of numbers my
friends and I would spew out when we were
little kids trying to outdo each other on the
playground. “When I grow up,” I’d say, “I’m going to have a gazillion million billion dollars.”
“Oh yeah?” my friend would counter,“Well
when I grow up I’m gonna have a billion gazillion umpty bumpty gazumpty dollars.” Of
course, back then, none of us ever believed
that these types of dollar numbers could ever
exist, but now it seems as though we’re beginning to get close. As a matter of fact, these
numbers are impressive to me only because
I never knew that audio could be so profitable. ($8 billion!) Nonetheless, these numbers
pale in comparison to how Exxon Mobil’s net
income for the first quarter of 2007 rose from
$8.4 billion in 2006 to $9.28 billion this year.
That’s almost $1.25 billion dollars more profit
for the first quarter of 2007 than posted for
the same period in 2006. Go figure.
In other absurd news, as reported by the
New York Daily News, 69% of the 330 colleges
surveyed “explicitly prohibit speech that, outside the borders of campus, is protected by the
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” For
example, Drexel University has a school policy
that prohibits “not only ‘inconsiderate jokes,’
but also ‘inappropriately directed laughter.’”
Northeastern University prohibits sending any
e-mail message “which in the sole judgment of
the University is offensive.” Johns Hopkins University takes it a step further and prohibits “rude,
disrespectful behavior.” I’m assuming that since
these are private institutions, they can make up
any rules they please and get away with it, but it
certainly makes me stop and think. After all, the
First Amendment wasn’t devised to guide citizens in manners and etiquette, but rather to allow for debate and the free expression of ideas
in a democratic society.
A while back, Howard Stern was hounded off terrestrial radio because the Federal
Communications Commission decided to
arbitrarily fine him and his station for every
uttered obscenity. Unfortunately for Howard
Stern, the FCC made its own subjective guidelines, which it capriciously enforced (think
Drexel University). Howard saw this as harass-
COMING NEXT
MONTH...
It’s an FOH House of
Worship issue!
Installs
We’ll take you into two
HOW installs that believe
audio is sacred, too.
FOH Interview
And we’ll talk with some
of the key people behind
Acoustic Dimensions
audio gurus who use their
powers for Good.
ment and decided that it would be in his best
interest to leave terrestrial radio for satellite
radio where the FCC would have no say in
his programming. This move proved to be a
tough break for his station(s) as they ended
up losing millions in advertising dollars. But
the FCC prevailed, and Howard is now plying
his trade to a smaller market share of listeners than in the past. Still, he has done quite
well for himself monetarily because he has an
incredible advertising base that he brought
to his new format, which, by the way, allows
him more artistic freedom as well. We should
all make such sacrifices.
FAL
Talkin’ Dirty
Arts, entertainment and media have always pushed the limits of respectability and
controversy, and censorship is not a new
phenomenon relegated to our modern age
of digital correctness. In 1913, at the premier
of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, fights broke
out between audience members over the unconventional dance and music and its topic
of ancient fertility rites. In 1933, a U.S. movie
code was instituted and overseen by Joseph
I. Breen, an ardent Catholic missionary for purity and decency; for the following 20 years,
he was the totalitarian moral barometer for
Hollywood and, by extension, America (think
Johns Hopkins University).
With the arrival of rock ‘n’ roll in the early
‘50s, there was also a backlash from the religious and “morally minded citizens” who
found the new art form ethically reprehensible. For the sake of God and country, they did
their best to ban the salacious dance, rhythms
and words of this new art form. Interestingly,
much of the new art form to which these moral compasses were objecting, was steeped in
black American culture or “R & B” music. From
its inception, rock ‘n’ roll was a contentious art
form, due to its racial, sexual and socio-political overtones, which led to various records and
artists being banned from media outlets like
mainstream radio and television. Ironically, this
censorship often served to make the banned
group or record even more popular with the
listening public — the latest case being the Dixie Chicks. For more amusing facts about the
censorship of various recording artists go to:
http://www.classicbands.com/banned.html.
The word “obscene,” as defined in the Encarta Dictionary, yields these definitions:
1. Indecent: offensive to conventional
standards of decency, especially by being
sexually explicit.
2. Disgusting: disgusting and morally offensive, especially because of showing total
disregard for other people.
While these definitions of the word obscene are usually applied to the sexual content
of a show or recording, one can also use these
definitions, especially the second one, to describe despicable behavior, such as for the obscene profits reaped by the oil companies or
the obscene amount of money record companies and radio stations make from advertising
promoting their obscene content. Just as “free
speech” is hard to define, so too is the word
“obscene,” as witnessed in three of the betterknown court cases regarding obscenity laws.
In Miller v. California (1973), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that materials were obscene if they appealed,“to a prurient interest,”
showed “patently offensive sexual conduct”
that was specifically defined by a state obscenity law, and “lacked serious artistic, literary, political, or scientific value.” The court determined that decisions regarding whether or
not material was obscene should be based on
local, not national, standards.
In Reno v. ACLU (1997), the Supreme Court
struck down indecency laws applying to the Internet, which cast serious doubt on Congress’s
ability to pass such wide-ranging regulation
banning “indecent” speech on communications technologies that enter the home.
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1978) is better
known as the landmark “seven dirty words”
case. In that 1978 ruling, the justices found
that only “repetitive and frequent” use of the
words in a time or place when a minor could
hear can be punished.
Recently Don Imus, a well-known radio
personality, was fired from his job after he offhandedly called a girls’ basketball team “nappyheaded hoes.” If one thinks that Imus was fired
because Al Sharpton made the radio station see
the error of their racist ways, they’d be mistaken;
the station made no decision until the show’s
sponsors started to withdraw their cash. Again,
I doubt that the sponsors’ actions, on their own
behalf, were prompted by a moral obligation as
much as it was a monetary decision.
Sharpton, on the other hand, apparently
had stepped in his own quagmire, as he was
then obligated to lead a group of 300 protesters
through the streets of New York City in a drive to
demand decency in hip-hop lyrics. I personally
doubt that anything will come of this protest
since it is the hip hop community, as well as the
record companies, who are getting obscenely
rich by using the words, “ho,”“nigga” and “bitch”
in their recordings. In 1995, Sharpton defended
“gangsta” rappers and stated that they had a
right to make music about sex, drugs and violence. He also stated, “We’re not talking about
censorship. We’re not talking about content;
we’re talking about three words.” Apparently he,
along with everyone else in the music business,
www.fohonline.com
is not up on the FCC v. Pacifica ruling because,
until he found it opportune to take offence with
Imus, he paid no attention to rap lyrics.
FAL
Matters of Taste
I consider Sharpton, Imus, Stern, Opie and
Anthony, Rap music, American Idol, reality TV
and the huge conglomerates that either do
or do not support them to be, not necessarily obscene, but in poor taste. I take offense
at stupidity and poor taste, and I plan to lead
a march against it. Unfortunately, these traits
are hard to pinpoint, and in too many instances, these same traits are even embodied by
the American public. It is difficult to say who
and what can be deemed stupid or in poor
taste as exemplified by the fact that some
people like the paintings of Manet while others prefer a nice Elvis on velvet.
That said, let me leave you by posing this
question: If you are on tour with your band
(regardless of genre), and you roll into an outdoor venue that insists on keeping a dB meter
on hand to make sure that you do not exceed
95dB during the show, does this constitute
censorship of free speech or harassment due
to bias? If dB control is not censorship of free
speech, then it certainly appears to be a way
in which to censor the audio level of free
speech. After all, if anyone can legally enforce
an arbitrary volume of 95dB, who can say that
they couldn’t enforce a level of 72dB or even
45dB? Therefore, acting on behalf of all audio
engineers, I feel it is my job to try and get a
ruling by the Supreme Court to state that
there will be no restrictions placed upon the
volume at which free speech is presented. If
we want to speak freely at 120dB (A weighted), then so be it. Otherwise, we will be at the
whim of every advertiser with a dB meter capriciously deciding the volume of any given
program. Ohhhhh…
You can be as loud as you want in any e-mails to
blee@fohonline.com.
200.0707.Ads.indd 3
6/29/07 2:17:45 PM
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6/29/07 2:17:05 PM

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