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MARCH 2009 Vol. 7 No.6
LOS ANGELES — It could be a case study in the idea of “choosing your battles,” in a business sense. ATK-Audiotek had their share of tours in years past, but at one point they looked at the market, realized that they were not getting the margins they once were, and made the decision to concentrate their considerable expertise on providing audio for large one-shot events. To say it has worked out well is a bit of an understate-ment.
In February, the busy soundco provided live audio support for both Super Bowl XLIII and the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, staged thousands of miles and just one week apart. Oh yeah, and a couple of weeks later, they had a small gig in L.A. Some-thing called the Oscars.
The Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where ATK-Au-diotek provide live audio production for Coldplay and Jay-Z; Al Green, Keith Ur-ban, Justin Timberlake and Boyz II Men; the Jonas Brothers and Stevie Wonder; Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus; Paul Mc-Cartney and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl; Katy Perry, Carrie Underwood, and oth-ers. (Check out our exclusive interview with Grammy FOH mixer Ron Reaves on page 14).
One week earlier, in Tampa, Fla., ATK provided audio services for the Super Bowl, and as in years past, the compa-ny deployed its custom-designed cart system, which helped them turn the football championships into a stadium-sized concert venue and back again in minutes. The carts each included five JBL VerTec VT4889 full-size line array elements for Faith
Ron Reaves and other FOH crew members rehearse for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center. The 2009 show marked the seventh time Reaves had mixed sound at the annual event, and this year’s show had the largest roster of live performers yet. For the inside story on what it’s like to prepare for “Music’s Biggest Night,” turn to FOH’s exclusive interview with Reaves on page 14.
FOH At The Grammy Awards
Road TestsFurman’s PL-PRO DMC power units and EV Tour X speakers
The Digital EdgeThe merits of converting audio signal to digital at the source.
ATK Rules February…Again
LAS VEGAS — Sure, it was small and a pain to load in and out of, and it only sounded OK, but when it came to a small venue for major acts, the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino had a status that was no less than iconic. Since opening in the mid 1990s, The Eagles, the Rolling Stones, The Beastie Boys, David Bowie, The Strokes, Robert Plant, Stone Temple Pilots, Tom Pet-ty, Metallica, The Who, Steely Dan and Billy Joel could all be counted among
The Joint is Dead, Long Live the (New) Joint
PEOPLE. PRODUCTION. GEAR. GIGS.
The audio gear for the Mirage casino’s revamped volcano blends in with exotic foliage on islands in the volcano’s three-acre lagoon. But if the gear is discreet, the sound is anything but.
On a street that pairs only slightly-scaled down versions of the Egyptian Sphinx, the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building and the rise and fall of the dancing fountains of the Bellagio, the mandate is for all-out spectacle.
Acoustic Dimensions and Technology West Group collaborated with Bellagio fountain creators WET Design, pairing fiery eruptions with a rhythmic soundtrack composed by the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart and percussionist Zakir Hussain.
For more, turn to page 16.
22
Live Nation, Ticketmaster Merger Facing Scrutiny
WASHINGTON, DC — A few years back, concerns were raised about the wisdom of a huge corporation called ClearChannel — which already owned more than 1,200 radio stations and countless billboards and other adver-tising outlets — getting into the live event business. When terms like “mo-nopoly” and “antitrust” began to be regularly bandied about, ClearChan-nel “spun-off” its live event business and a new entity called Live Nation was born.
Live Nation has not exactly been free of controversy as it racked up ownership or operating agreements with hundreds of venues. In the live event business many expected the next step to be the acquisition of pro-duction companies creating a closed loop that included radio, advertising, venues, production and even artist management. continued on page 6
continued on page 8
By Bill Evans
continued on page 6
Erupting Audio
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By Bill Evans
By Bill Evans
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Feature
Powered Subs. You can stack ‘em or fly ‘em with the line array — or you can hang six tons of them directly above the drummer’s head. Your call.
Buyers Guide
What’s
hot
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www.fohonline.com
MARCH 2009, Vol. 7.6
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14 FOH InterviewIt takes a team to put on the Grammys.
16 InstallationsAudio erupts with the Mirage volcano.
22, 24 Road TestsWe check out a Furman power conditioner and some new EV speakers.
25 Theory & PracticeIs your impedance matched?
25 On the Digital Edge To pre or not to pre? A look at digital mics.
26 The Biz Who will speak for the live event industry?
4 Editor’s Note 5 News 9 International News10 New Gear11 On the Move12 Showtime
Departments
Columns
MARCH 2009www.fohonline.com
2
Just read the Feb. 2009 issue — nice interview with Big Mick & Paul of Metallica.
I wanted to point out in the LVIC article (Feb. 2009, page 18) the author mentions using an XTA LMS-D6. Technically, while the LMS-D6 is manufactured by XTA, it is correctly refered to as Turbosound LMS-D6. The XTA unit is DP 226 while the Turbosound unit is the LMS-D6. The hardware is the same, but there are slight differences in software between the units.
—Tony Marra, Thermal Relief Design, Inc., North Las Vegas
LMs-D6, For the Record In the Feb. 2009 issue of FOH, (“In the Trenches,” page 30) we printed Tony S a n d o v a l ’s picture next to a write-up
of Fred Pollice, who is pictured here. (We’ll be covering Tony in an upcoming issue.) FOH regrets the error.
CoRRECtIoN
What’s
hot
FOH -At-Large
Make a ton of money or do something you really love? To be or not to be? What’s that smell? And other great universal questions.
28Fred Pollice
LEttERs
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Editor’s Note
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MARCH 2009 www.fohonline.com4
Publishers of...
By BillEvans
PublisherTerry Lowe
EditorBill Evans
bevans@ fohonline.com
Managing EditorFrank [email protected]
Technical EditorMark Amundson
Contributing WritersJerry Cobb, Dan Daley, Floyd Dilman,David John Farinella, Steve LaCerra,
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Production Manager/ Photographer
Linda Evanslevans@ fohonline.com
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National Sales ManagerDan [email protected]
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Front Of House (ISSN 1549-831X) Volume 7 Num-ber 6 is published monthly by Timeless Communica-tions Corp., 6000 South Eastern Ave., Suite 14J, Las Vegas, NV, 89119. Periodicals Postage Paid at Las Vegas, NV and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send ad-dress 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 Publica-tions 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 sub-missions 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.
Are We Loud Enough?
In this month’s “The Biz” column on page 26, FOH reader and guest con-tributor Floyd Dilman pens a piece
titled “Who Will Speak For the Live Event Industry?” It’s a good question and one that becomes more crucial to find an an-swer to by the day.
If you do any work at all with corpo-rate events (especially in or around Las Vegas or other “destination” cities), you already know how much impact one ill-considered comment can make on your
business. Case in point: When news re-ports surfaced that a certain bank that had been on the receiving end of the whole bailout thing was proceeding with a planned employee recognition event in Las Vegas, President Obama made a snappy sound-bite-perfect quip about such companies not spending money on “junkets to the Super Bowl and Las Vegas.”
Understood. People are rightfully pissed about the prospect of bailing out banks and financial companies to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars and then see those companies not chang-ing the behavior that many perceive got them in trouble in the first place. And the bank in question cancelled the event. That’s fine as far as it goes except that the fallout went way past that.
Given the current political climate, no corporate CEO or PR type wants to be seen as spending on unnecessary luxu-ries. And when it comes to what qualifies as unnecessary and a luxury, well, percep-tion IS reality. So as a result of that one comment, three other companies—none of whom had taken any bailout money—cancelled large events in Las Vegas. Ac-tually two cancelled and one relocated to a less baggage-laden location.
Chief among the cancellations was
the annual State Farm Insurance cor-porate event. In terms of impact on the local economy, that cancellation alone was a huge blow. It accounted for 11,000 room-nights. To put it in terms for those of us in the live production trades, load-in for the event started a week prior, the event lasted a week and load out was an-other week. Bottom line is that hundreds of live event pros lost thousands of hours of paid work because of one remark at the wrong time.
No one is condoning waste, but an employee recognition event is not a “jun-ket.” A junket is when politicians spend a week in Hawaii or the Bahamas (or even Las Vegas) on the taxpayers’ dime conducting “team building” sessions — something that both major politi-cal parties do regularly including in the
time since the economy started to melt down.
As Dilman points out, these corpo-rate meetings are largely places where real business gets done. And when they are cancelled, the impact on our industry is huge. However, unlike the banking and financial industries and auto makers and certain others, we are not heard because we do not speak in a single voice. We don’t have lobbyists to explain to politicians who care for nothing except their own re-elec-tion how their actions affect our industry. We don’t have a trade organization repre-senting us and our interests. But it might be time to think about starting one.
We got our butts kicked in the wireless debate. Our events have become symbols of corporate excess and how many sound company owners who file taxes as sole pro-prietorships will get bunched in with the “wealthy” because they bring in more than $250K in a year and see their taxes go up substantially despite the fact that they are just scraping by from month to month??
A lot of us do what we do because it was a way to not have to don a suit and tie and become just like everyone else. In some ways our industry is the last refuge for privateers and gunslingers and other mavericks who want to make a living with-out having to really conform. But that non-conformist streak means we speak with individual voices and not as an industry. It will likely not change.
I can’t help thinking about that Jim-my Buffett tune, “A Pirate Looks At 40,” where he sings, “yes, I am a pirate, 200 years too late.” Maybe this is just the price we pay for avoiding that suit and tie and sterile cubicle. Or maybe we need to start thinking about speaking in a sin-gle voice.
As a result of that one “junkets” comment, three other companies—none of whom had taken any bailout money—cancelled large events in Las Vegas.
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PENRYN, U.K. — Allen & Heath ships the first batch of its iLive-T digital mixing systems launched at NAMM 2009, and the British manufacturer said it has been overwhelmed as distributors have placed orders several months in advance.
“The response to iLive-T has been unprecedented and production is now flat out to fulfill orders,” said managing director Glenn Rogers. “In all my years in the pro audio industry I’ve rarely seen a reaction to a new product like this.”
Manufacturing is scheduled to produce 50 systems in February with production cranking up to 100 per month thereafter. All systems are manufactured at Allen & Heath’s factory here.
Part of the company’s iLive digi-tal range, the iLive-T Series houses puts many of the features of the original iLive in a lower-weight, lower-priced package. The T Series comprises the fixed I/O iDR-32 and iDR-48 MixRacks and iLive-T80 and iLive-T112 Surface options, which are connected by a single CAT5 ca-ble using Allen & Heath’s proprietary ACE link. Each rack can be used with either control surface, and all mod-els will be compatible with the exist-ing iLive units.
Allen & Heath Ships First iLive T System
A&H team members with the first iLive T System, from left: ACE interface system designer, Jeff Simpson; mic preamp designer, Simon Trethewey; MD, Glenn Rogers; test engineer, Mark Keatley; production manager, Gary Goss; and test development engineer, Andrew Wearne.
Buckcherry and Avenged Sevenfold Using Meyer MILO
ROSEMONT, IL — When Buckcherry and Avenged Sevenfold united for their co-head-lining world tour, Avenged’s FOH Engineer Nigel Paul and his Buckcherry counterpart Stephen Shaw chose a Meyer Sound system to meet their goal of achieving a combination of power and clarity.
“It’s quite possible to crank it up without being obnoxious, yet also be smooth and linear,” said Paul.
The tour features opening acts Saving Abel, Papa Roach and Shinedown, and has been playing to crowds ranging from 5,500 to 17,000. Taylor, Mich.-based Thunder Audio is providing the sound system based around the MILO line array loudspeaker from Meyer Sound.
“Overall, the decision to use Meyer speak-ers took about five seconds, because of both Nigel’s and my previous experience using the cabinets,” said Shaw. “Both of these bands have a real throwback sound, so the MILO is ideal, given its smooth, flat response.”
The system is based on left and right arrays of 16 MILO line array loudspeakers, with twin arrays of up to eight MICA line array loudspeakers for side hangs, and four UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers for frontfill. A Galileo loudspeaker management system assists sys-tem processing, with tuning courtesy of the SIM 3 audio analyzer.
“We first used Meyer on the last Avenged tour,” said Paul, “and everybody loved it, espe-cially the band. Meyer really helps me keep every sound onstage clean and distinct. To get a precise mix you need complementary tools. With some systems when you go a bit higher, they get a bit ragged, but Meyer has outstanding response and articulation at any SPL.”
The system lets the touring bands crank it up “without being obnoxious,” according to Avenged’s FOH engineer Nigel Paul.
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the major acts who had played the venue.But life (and live production standards) moves
on, and in early February, the club hosted its final show — a very loud blowout featuring Mötley Crüe (I clocked it at 112.3 at the back of the bal-cony). In April, an all new Joint will open, featuring state-of-the-art production capabilities including a new audio rig comprising Digidesign Venue sys-tems and a d&b speaker rig. The first weekend will feature shows by the Killers and Paul McCartney.
The new Joint will hold twice the number of guests as the current one but will also retain the intimate feel with the farthest seat from the stage only 150 feet away. Like many other Vegas venues in recent memory, the new Joint has been de-signed by Canadian company Sceno Plus, which also did the Colosseum at Ceasers Palace, current-ly hosting Bette Midler and Cher.
The company had a tough task in designing what is essentially a high-end theatre that feels like a rock n roll club. “There is one thing about a legendary venue of that kind — his heart is the sound, his blood is the beer and then you have a real rock party in a venue that can meet any tour-ing technical requirements,” said Normand-Pierre Bilodeau, director of technology and specialized equipment at Sceno Plus.
Providing that kind of experience means a real partnership between design and production tech-nology. “The new Joint P.A. has been designed to fulfill the most demanding technical requirements of the permanent and touring sound reinforce-ment trades,” said Simon Leonard, Sceno Plus tech-nology designer. “One of Sceno Plus design inten-tions for the Joint was also to provide peace of mind to touring sound engineers. Dynamic range, sound pressure level, intelligibility, uniformity of frequency response and amplitude were carefully looked at in the design process of the system. Therefore, a high performance, solid state and well renowned system was designed and specified based on d&b audiotechnik range of products.
“The public address sound reinforcement will be achieved by multiple subsystems,” Leon-ard continued. “Some will be hung from the grid, some stacked on stage, while others will be fixed under balconies or mounted on side boxes. A left and right, flown line array systems, tapered with two sub clusters, will provide the essential dynamic range, acoustic pressure and stereo image required for a rock concert.”
“We could not be more pleased with how well closing weekend turned out,” said VP of Entertainment, Paul Davis. “Motley Crue put on two great performances and gave mention of the list of iconic acts that had graced the stage over the years. The designers of the new Joint were very careful about carrying over the look, feel and design elements that made it unique.”
The Joint is Dead, Long Live the (New) Jointcontinued from cover
Now we can add ticketing to the mix. Maybe.
Under a plan announced earlier this month, Ticketmaster, the nations largest ticket seller, and Live Nation, the nation’s largest concert promoter, hope to com-plete a “merger of equals,” which will form a new entity, Live Nation Entertainment. If approved, Ticketmaster shareholders will receive 1.384 shares of Live Nation com-mon stock for each share of Ticketmaster they own, subject to certain adjustments defined within the agreement. Live Na-tion and Ticketmaster shareholders will
each own approximately 50 percent of the combined company.
But not everyone is cheering the pro-posed merger on. At Senate hearings on the merger on Feb. 24, the atmosphere was less than cozy and the assembled senators ap-peared unconvinced that the merger was a good idea. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that “All of the senators voiced strong skep-ticism about the merger — including tradi-tional foes Orrin Hatch (R-UT, and an ama-teur recording artist) and Charles Schumer (D-NY, and a Bruce Springsteen fan outraged by Ticketmaster’s handling of the upcoming
tour) — and they hurled barbed questions about skyrocketing prices, duplicitous ticket schemes and unfair competition at Ticket-master head Irving Azoff and Live Nation boss Michael Rapino.
The day before the hearing, Ticketmas-ter announced that they had settled with the state of New Jersey over a “glitch.” An unknown number of online ticket buyers for Springsteen shows at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. were redirected from the main Ticketmaster site to a subsidiary called TicketsNow, which offered tickets priced well above the usual face-value rate,
even though plenty of the regularly-priced seats were still available. At the time, N.J. At-torney General Anne Milgram said that the redirect might have been a violation of the state’s consumer fraud act. Milgram said her office received about 2,200 complaints from people unable to buy Springsteen tickets for the face-value price of $65 or $95. They were instead directed to TicketsNow, where tick-ets retailed for $200 to $5,000 apiece.
Ticketmaster and Live Nation execs were questioned by members of the House Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy on Thursday, Feb 26.
Live Nation, Ticketmaster Merger Facing Scrutinycontinued from cover
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continued from coverHill’s pregame performance, Jen-nifer Hudson’s rendition of the National Anthem and the halftime show featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Super Bowl XLIII marked the 12th year where ATK served as the audio provider. “The Super Bowl not only requires the best in audio quality, but also challenges us to set up and break down the system very quickly to keep the broad-cast on schedule,” said Mike Stahl, president of ATK Audiotek. “The VerTec line arrays have always
provided us with the optimal combination of unmatched performance and easy con-figuration, enabling us to meet the rigorous demands of this high-profile application.”
At the Grammys, ATK Audiotek chose four Yamaha PM1D digital audio consoles, two at front of house and two for the monitor mix and every major mic manufacturer was well represented as well. Even given the politics of endorsements and air-time, it comes down to the right tool for the job. “The need for these shows to be flawless is what drives Audiotek to obsess on the details and not compromise on the quality of equipment and people that operate behind the scenes,” said Stahl.
“This job is just a joy,” said Reaves. “In spite of all the enormous logistics and gruel-ing schedule, I had the pleasure of mixing for 23 of the hottest acts on the planet. This was a big moment for them, too. Nobody phones it in for the Grammys.”
When ATK moved over to the Kodak The-atre for the Oscars, they brought the Yamaha digital consoles once again. PA designer and FOH engineer Pat Baltzell received a help-ing hand from ATK supplying both a Yamaha PM1D 128-input/64-output Dual Engine sys-tem and PM5D digital console to outfit front of house. A Yamaha PM1D-128 input/64-out-put Dual Engine system was also used and manned by monitor mixer Michael Parker supported by monitor tech Tom Pesa.
“Digital recall consoles have increased the detail of a mix by an order of magnitude for multiple performance television shows such as The Academy Awards,” said Patrick Baltzell. “In the analog days, I was always ‘splitting the difference’ and making com-promises, knowing I would only be able to restore certain settings but not all. I now can confidently program and recall the subtlest details in an orchestra balance for each per-formance.”
Baltzell noted that the Yamaha PM1D and PM5D consoles have a proven reliability and are widely accepted by artist engineers. Baltzell was also the PA system designer and front of house mixer for the 44th Presiden-tial Inauguration and Super Bowl XLIII. “For the Inauguration of President Obama, I used a pair of Yamaha PM5D’s cascaded. Several alternative digital consoles were offered to me, but I had the most confidence in the Ya-maha consoles to work outdoors for three weeks in sub zero temperatures.”
Michael Parker, who was also the monitor mixer for the “B” stage at The 51st Grammy Awards notes that digital mixing in general has been a major step in offering quickly ac-cessible processing, which is very important in live television shows.
Pesa said that individual scene recalling has become a standard on multi-act televi-sion shows. Pesa was also the monitor mixer for Super Bowl XLIII and the “A” stage at the Grammy Awards. “Performers and guest engineers traveling into a show expect to be able to have their own scene, fully cus-tomizable to their performance and recalled exactly for the live show,” says Pesa. “Yamaha pioneered this on a large-scale console early on with PM1D.”
In the end it is, as always, the driver, not the car that makes the crucial difference. “You are only as good as the people you hire,” said Mikael Stewart who manned one of the consoles at the Grammys.
ATK-Audiotek Rules February…Again
HOLLISTER, MO — Blue Planet Light-ing has agreed to acquire Sandor Sound Services Group, forming Blue Planet Au-dio. Ed Sandor, newly appointed presi-dent of Blue Planet Audio, will oversee all departments of the company. San-dor will receive a controlling interest as well as creative control over the Blue Planet Audio division.
Blue Planet Acquires Sandor Sound Services
The onstage orchestra at the Oscars relied on mics including Sennheiser MKH 8040s, Neumann TLM 193s and Neumann TLM 170s.
2009 MARCHwww.fohonline.com 9
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International News
Rhino Sound Korea Working with HK AudioST. WENDEL, Germany — Rhino Sound, a
relatively new Korean sound rental company, is serving as a demo partner for HK Audio after hav-ing crossed paths through a mutually beneficial coincidence. While little more than a year old, Rhino Sound’s two founders had each worked as sound engineers on a freelance basis. The new firm’s director, Sungwon Park, served monitor engineer for Korean standout Cho Young Phil.
As a result of earlier projects, the principals of Rhino Sound were already very familiar with Midi & Graphics, HK Audio’s Korean distribution part-ner. Midi & Graphics was searching at the time for a demo-partner for HK Audio Concert Sound sys-tems, a rental company that could demonstrate Cohedra and ConTour Series systems for Midi & Graphics.
One conversation led to another, and toward the end of 2007 the crew from Rhino Sound paid a visit to HK Audio headquarters in St.Wendel, where they went through comprehensive prod-uct training and participated in thorough system tests. Rhino Sound then decided to work togeth-er with Midi & Graphics, and has been the HK Au-dio demo-partner in Korea ever since.
“We are very happy with HK Audio equip-
ment,” said Park, speaking highly of “the natural-ness of its sound” and its “value for the money. The huge success of the first few gigs that we’ve already had in the Korean market,” Park added, such as equipping the Cho Young Phil tour with ConTour Series monitors, or the GrandMint Festi-val and the gig with Lim Jae Bum in the Olympic Hall—“have confirmed for us that we made the right decision.”
For Cho Young Phil’s tour, Rhino Sound pro-vided stage monitoring with over 30 ConTour Series CT 112, CT 115 and CT 108 cabinets. On Rhino Sound’s recommendation, the traveling company Total Korea also invested in their own ConTour Series monitors. Rhino Sound outfit-ted the concert of another Korean superstar, Lim
Jae Bum, in the Olympic Hall in Seoul with HK Audio gear as well. Cohedra served as the main PA, ConTour Array as sidefills, and ConTour Series cabinets were used as the stage monitors.
At the GrandMint Festival, Rhino Sound de-ployed a Cohedra system with 20 CDR 208 mid/high units and 32 CDR 210 subwoofers for the Forest Garden Stage. At the Incheon Grand Park World City Festival, Rhino Sound also used a Co-hedra system.
“With their wealth of experience, we are hap-py to have the Rhino Sound crew on board carry-ing out our professional product demonstrations and helping us boost HK Audio’s brand image throughout Korea,” said Kang Sun Mo, managing director of Midi & Graphics.
Rhino Sound’s Cohedra Operators, from left: Chan-gyu Choi, chief sound engineer, and Su-beom Kwon, sound engineer.
Wyclef Appearance in India Relies on Digital Gear
PUNE, India — Wyclef Jean made an ap-pearance on stage at the Venkestshawara Farm House in Pune, Maharashtra, Western India, where Mumbai-based Rich Audio had provided EAW’s KF760 Line Array Speaker Sys-tems. “For FOH, we flew two KF760 line array modules, plus two KF761 line array modules per site with optimal angles of boxes,” said Lee Braganza, Rich Audio FOH and system engineer.
“The technical result was that the sound in the venue was perfect with no slap backs. To achieve this, we used two EAW UX8800 Digi-tal Signal Processors with presets for differ-ent sound zones.” The EAW processors, along with amplifiers from Crown Audio, were com-pletely networked to a wireless tablet Laptop, which was equipped with EAW’s Smaart Live to provide system correction according to venue and complete system management.
“Everyone who has heard the new system has offered fantastic reviews,” said Braganza. “The sound quality is unmistakably EAW, and Wyclef’s FOH engineer was amazed that so little needs to be done with the rig to attain a superior concert signature.”
The crew only had to put in a half hour’s work, which mostly entailed wrapping their minds around India’s first Soundcraft Si3 Digi-tal Live Sound Console. In fact, the Si3 was di-rectly transported to the venue without hav-ing even been switched on, as they received it only a day prior to the event.
Wyclef’s FOH engineer was surprised to watch Braganza figure out the console so quickly, and he was impressed enough with the way Rich Audio’s engineers executed ev-erything that he requested their services in Africa and for future events.
Richie Braganza, Rich Audio’s Founder, credited the new EAW and Sound Craft inven-tory for helping the company serve the needs of large-scale concert sound reinforcement. The new line array system and subwoofers have already been used for events in Nanded by Daler Mendhi and by an annual day event at Mumbai’s Dhirubhai Ambani International School.
MARCH 2009 www.fohonline.com10
New Gear
QSC CSM Series MonitorsThe CSM Series from QSC Audio Prod-
ucts, Inc. includes three models: the CSM10, CSM12 and CSM15. As the model numbers in the product group imply, the loudspeak-ers are respectively equipped with 10, 12, and 15-inch woofers and compression drivers outfitted with neodymium magnet structures, 3-inch voice coils and 1.4-inch exits. Features include user-adjustable pat-tern control of the high frequency section, which facilitates changes in the vertical plane from asymmetrical coverage span-ning a total of 100° to a fully symmetrical 150°, making each enclosure capable of serving double-duty as a frontfill, downfill, or other full-range device when used with a special yoke. Beyond user-adjustable pattern control, hardware internal to each cabinet and the simple press of a button facilitates the release of a pair of aluminum legs that offer added upstage tilt available from 0° to 15° in 1° increments.
www.qscaudio.com
d&b T-SeriesThe T10 cabinet is a passive two-way design that
houses two 6.5-inch drivers and a 1.4-inch exit HF com-pression driver, and it can be used either as a compact component in a multiple cabinet line array, or, by rotat-ing the horn, as a high directivity point source loud-speaker. The HF driver is fitted to a waveguide horn producing vertical line source directivity with a 90° horizontal pattern that is maintained down to approxi-mately 600 Hz. An acoustic lens placed in front of the horn widens horizontal dispersion to 105°; rotation of the horn by 90° relative to this produces an accurate point source dispersion transforming a vertically ori-ented T10 into a stand-alone full range loudspeaker with a 90° horizontal and a 35° vertical directivity pat-tern.
The T-SUB shares the same width and integrated rigging fittings as the T10 for deployment either flown at the top of a T10 array, in a separate column, or it can also be ground stacked. It is used to increase the low frequency headroom and extend the bandwidth of a T10 column down to 47 Hz. The bass-reflex design uti-lizes a high excursion 15-inch driver with a neodymium magnet assembly.
www.dbaudio.com
Production Intercom BlazonOne of PI’s most recogniz-
able products in the market has always been the Blazon. From its creation in 1986, it has un-dergone many changes. The ex-trusion and lamp have been re-duced to less than 25 percent of the original size, and it has gone from a plastic extrusion to a more rugged aluminum construction. PI, which is currently offering the fifth generation of the Blazon, had not addressed the issue of reducing the visibility, leaving it up to the end user and some gaff tape. In the Blazon 180, the big difference is in the strobe shape and placement on the extrusion. They have changed the strobe to a rectangular 2.8 inches by 1 inch, and placed on the face of the extrusion. By doing this they have reduced the visibility of the visual cue to 180 degrees. Just think of the savings in Gaff tape alone…
www.beltpack.com
Sabine SWM6000 System With the 700 mHz band
largely off limits and 2.4 mHz more and more congested by Wi-Fi, at least a couple of manufacturers are looking to the all-but-forgotten 900 mHz range for some relief. The new DTV-free SWM6000 Smart Spectrum wireless mi-crophone system from Sabine is one of those.
Both the Sabine SWM6000 and SWM7000 wireless sys-tems offer digital companding along with a full channel strip of signal processing, including FBX Feedback Exterminator, Equalization, Compressor, De-Esser, Effects presets and an RF Scanner. Both also operate on rechargeable AA batteries that provide up to eight hours of continuous use, and both are com-patible with third-party controllers such as Crestron and AMX.
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Ear thworks named Michael Hurwitz national sales manager. A former sales rep-resentative for professional au-dio manufactur-ers, Hurwitz has backgrounds in both the sale of professional audio equipment and retail sales. Heidi Blackmer-Robichaud, president of Earth-works, said Hurwitz’s understanding of recording and sound reinforcement appli-cations will be an asset to the company’s customer base.
FDW-World-wide announced the appointment of Buzz Goodwin to the newly cre-ated position of President of FDW-Worldwide. Goodwin will be responsible for overseeing day-to-day op-erations of the business as well as managing worldwide sales and marketing strategies, artist re-lations and product development for all FDW-Worldwide brands. FDW-Worldwide is the North American distributor of Violet Design, Sontronics, Nevaton microphones and worldwide distributors of Cable Up and Vu cables and accessories. Goodwin has over 20 years of industry experience, the last 11 at Harman Professional. Prior to that, he was vice president at Audio-Technica.
KMD Pro-ductions is the name of a venture launched by event planner Karen Margroff Dunn. The new company will provide event coordination, management and photo-graphic/media services. Dunn has more than 20 years experience as executive di-rector of the Mix Foundation for Technical Excellence and Creativity and the Annual Mix LA Open golf tournament. Karen Dunn
can be reached at 925.708.0307; by email at [email protected] and on the Web at www.kmdpro.com .
KS Audio Corp, USA has appointed Simaen Skolfield sound systems engineer. Skolfield will be responsible for sales and system integration and implementation of KS Audio analog and digital products for residential stereo, sound studio and con-cert production arenas, including product presentation, applications and end-user training. Skolfield has a Grammy as a stu-dio record engineer, an array of hit records in the U.K., and a career involving audio devices design, mix automation and digi-tal console development throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Powersoft Advanced Technologies, LLC relocated its New Jersey headquarters to Farmingdale, N.Y. The company said its new location would allow for improving the logistical services Powersoft offers to support its expansion in the U.S. market. Powersoft amplifiers are designed and manufactured in Florence, Italy. The new facility is at 70 Sea Lane, Farmingdale, NY 11735.
Zaolla Silverline said Audio Geer will represent its products in Southern Califor-nia. Audio Geer, based in Huntington Beach, Calif., represents equipment manufacturers in the professional audio and DJ markets, and Zaolla Silverline provides connectivity solutions for these types of products.
On the Move
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MARCH 2009 www.fohonline.com12
Venue Boardwalk Hall,Atlantic City, NJ
CREWJohn Heinz, Mick Cheung, John Chittum, Bruce Gerson, IATSE Local 77
GEARFOH Console: Yamaha PM4000Speakers: JBL Vertec 4888, JBL SRX 728s, JBL VRX 932LAP
Amps: Crown I-Tech 6000Processing: dbx 4800Mics: Shure, Sennheiser, AKGPower Distribution: LEX ProductsHoists: CMSnake Assembly: Whirlwind
MONConsole: Yamaha PM5DSpeakers: JBL SRX 712m, EAW KF850TPM: Shure PSM700, Sennheiser EW300, Aviom A16IIAmps: QSC PLX2, QSC PL
Showtime
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VenueVictory Field Twentynine Palms, Calif.
CREWSoundco/Provider: Powers AudioFOH Engineer: Steve PowersMonitor Engineer: Tom HesterSystems Engineer: Tim DavisSystems Techs: Sean Case/ Brian Graham
GEARFOHConsole: Digidesgin ProfileSpeakers: d&b J8’s & J12’s-JSubs/d&b Ci80Amps: d&b D12Mics: Shure, Sennheiser, Audio-Technica Rigging: CMSnake Assemblies: SSG
VenueCount Basie TheaterRed Bank, N.J.
CREWBon Jovi: Obie ObrianBruce Springsteen and Gary US Bonds: John GrassoHoliday Express: Jack Kosa, Ed Dibona, John Grasso, Brian Tomason, Jim O’Hara
GEARFOHConsole: Yamaha PM5000Speakers: 10 WorxAudio V-8 line array boxes all self powered, 2 WorxAudio X5, 5 cell line array boxes, 2 WorxAudio 215S subs 2x15, 4 ACIR Pro 2118s SubsAmps: Yamaha T3nProcessing: 2 Avalon 737, 2 Drawmer Quad Gates, 2 Yamaha REV 5s, 10 dbx 160, tc5000Mics: Wireless AT Artist Elite 5000 SeriesSnake Assembly: Whirlwind
MONConsole: Yamaha PM5D MonitorsSpeakers: 2 Meyer Sound front fills UPAs, 22 ACIRPRO 2115 stage monitorsAmps: Yamaha T3n
ST
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SoundcoConcert Quality
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SoundcoPowers Audio
SoundcoACIR
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Andy Hui & William So
Somebody Loves You/Disciple/Darryl Worley
Hope IV Concert: Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes,
Gary US Bonds, Bobby Bandiera
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2009 MARCHwww.fohonline.com 13
VenueUniversity of St. Thomas St. Paul, Minn.
CREWSoundco/Provider: One Step Productions, Epic EventsFOH Engineer: Andrew LoftusProduction Manager: Vickie BurgettTour Manager: Michael Danielson, Charlie EideSystems Techs: Andrew Horvath
GEARFOHConsole: MixWizSpeakers: Mains: Dynacord Cobra 4 (6) Top, (8) Sub; Front Fill: EV QRx112Amps: (2)Dynacord PowerH 2500; (2)Dynacord PowerH 5000Processing: (1) KT Square One DMics: B52, B98, SM81, SM57, SM58 U4, KT DN100, J48Power Distro: Motion Labs
MONSpeakers: 4 EV QRx112Amps: 4 Dynacord LX2200Processing: (2)KT DN370; (2)Dynacord DSP244;
ST
VenueWinnipeg Convention Center Winnipeg, Canada
CREWSoundco/Provider: SoundArt WinnipegFOH Engineer: Neil CameronMonitor Engineer: Matthew MullaSystems Engineer: Ian SkrabekSystems Techs: Iain Graham, Ian Skrabek, Matthew Mulla
GEARFOHConsole: Midas XL4, Venice 320Speakers: 18 XLC, 8 XLine SubAmps: 20 EV P3000Processing: IRISMics: Shure, Sennheiser, AKG, ATMPower Distro: SoundArt CustomBreakout Assemblies: CPCSnake Assemblies: Ram Latch 56 Pair
MONConsole: Midas XL250Speakers: 12 Xw 12Amps: 12 QSC 236Processing: Xilica, Klark TeknikMics: Shure, Sennheiser, AKG, ATMPower Distro: SoundArt Custom
VenueMTS CenterWinnipeg, Canada
CREWSoundco/Provider: Abe V Systems FOH Engineer: Derek Prescod, Monitor Engineer: Eliezer Traval Systems Engineer: Jimmy IbanezSystems Techs: Bret Lang, Roy Hollier
GEARFOH Console: Yamaha PM5DSpeakers: JBL VerTec 4889 (40 tops) 4880 (16 subs)Amps: Crown I-TECH 8000Processing: Dolby Lake Procesors
Mics: Shure UHF-RPower Distro: Motion LabsRigging: CM motorsBreakout Assemblies: WhirlwindSnake Assemblies: Ramtech
MONConsole: Yamaha PM5DSpeakers: Clair 12AM , EAW KF350Amps: Clair/Carver CBA-1000Processing: Clair ProcessorsMics: Shure
ST
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Productions, Epic Events
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Soundco Abe V Systems
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University of St. Thomas Homecoming ‘08, Epic Potential, DJ Sharp, Heiruspecs
Investors Group Gala/Burton Cummings
Akon, Wyclef Jean and Sean Paul
MARCH 2009 www.fohonline.com14
FOH Interview
Asked to sum up the role of FOH mixer at the Grammy Awards, Mike Abbott, the long-time audio coordinator for the show,
characteristically first quantifies it, then wraps it in a neat aphorism. “Twenty-four bands, 24 guest mixers, 24 managers, 24 agents — you have to be the Henry Kissinger of pro audio,” he says.
Ron Reaves, who mixed his seventh Grammy Awards show in February, has the innately calm demeanor necessary to let a disparate group of musicians and their entourages feel sufficiently acknowledged even as he makes sure that what-ever is coming off the stage works for the room, the first few rows of which are occupied by some of the best ears in the world. This year’s perfor-mance benefits from having virtually every com-ponent of the PA system almost the same as the previous Grammy show, from the twin Yamaha PM1D FOH and production consoles Reaves and FOH production mixer Mikeal Stewart use to the PA cabinets supplied by ATK.
What’s hardly ever the same year to year, though, is the amount of music. The 2009 Gram-my Awards had 22 acts performing 25 percent more music than the year before.
FOH caught up with Reaves shortly before the Feb. 8 event. Here’s what he had to say:
FOH: How many inputs does this make for?Ron Reaves: My PM1D is loaded up with a
few more input/output buckets than Mike’s. I’m landing about 176 channels.
And that’s all music? Yeah, because we’ve got the A stage, the
B stage, the C stage kind of, that little dish out front.
And how do you split the console and ev-erything else between shows? I mean, what happens when one act finishes and the next act has to go on?
Monitors are discrete, so there’s a monitor mix position for A, there’s a monitor mix posi-tion for B, and my console is the only console that touches everything. So what happens is, I’ll mix a band, and when that band finishes,
the next stage, whichever it happens to be, will start their line check. I stand up, say good-bye to the guest mixer that I just dealt with, say hello to the guy who’s coming in. While that’s happening [FOH technician Andrew Fletcher, a.k.a. Fletch], does the line check with the guys on headsets, tapping through every line, making sure we’ve all got them. Then he’ll turn around and give me a thumbs up, tell me we’re all good, and then I sit back down and we count back in and off we go.
Are “guest mixers” actually mixing, or are they consulting?
They’re consulting. We tell them they’re “producers” on this.
And do they ask how many points they get?
Hah! Now, it’s more hands-on up in moni-tor world because it can be, but if we stopped out front to let every individual guy do his thing we’d be here for a week.
What about during rehearsals here in the Staples Center? Are they consulting?
They make suggestions. Some of them, like Joe O’Herlihy with U2, he always brings great notes and we need this delay times and this and that, they’ll make their comments and it’s kind of a consensus between what they say and what Leslie Ann Jones [supervisor of live audio/FOH for the Recording Academy] says, and what [award show co-executive producer] Kenny Eh-rlich says, and then a lot of times those guys will sit with me for a couple of passes of the song and then they’ll go off to the truck, because that’s re-ally the money mix out there.
What are the monitor consoles?PM1Ds. PM1Ds, everywhere.
And who are the monitor mixers?Tom Pesa is the A stage, which is house left,
stage right, and Mike Parker is on the other side. Jeff Peterson and Fletch are front of house sys-tem techs.
Where do you start to encounter problems?
Everybody wants to be the loudest band on the show, because everybody, including televi-sion producers, equates volume with excite-ment. I think it takes more skill to make it exciting at a lower level of volume personally.
With more music to mix this year — 24 per-formances and about 30 songs within those over the course of three-and-a-half hours — it’s the workflow that I wanted to know about. Between everybody who’s with you up at the FOH position.
Typically, we pound through our line check and I get the sounds, and I’ll turn around and ask them is that okay, how’s the kick drum, do you like this, do you like that? They make their sug-gestions, we run a pass or two of a song. And then they make more suggestions, and usually at that point Leslie kind of hangs back unless some-thing is just glaringly obvious or really bothering her. I just always try to walk this tightrope be-tween what they want and what I know Kenny Ehrlich wants. Then I store snapshots and that’s our starting point, and because my console is not real-time automation, I’ll still make some analog notes on my run down, you know, “push this at this time” or whatever. They’re also here with me at the actual performance, but unless something goes horribly wrong at the last minute, we’ve already made them happy and satisfied all their requirements and they just kind of watch and observe at that point.
In this case some performers are doing two songs back to back, so it’s almost like a con-cert situation there. Do you have all of your patches in each artist’s snapshot?
It depends. Take Kid Rock for instance, who’s doing a medley of three songs. I would reckon that the general configuration is going to stay the same from song to song and I won’t have to make big changes, but if for some reason I do, then I’ll write a separate snapshot, because one of the beauties of this console is that it’s got instant recall. It doesn’t interrupt the audio, so there’s no audible glitch if I change snapshots.
The other thing that occurs to me too is that when you do have an artist that is do-ing two, or in the case of Kid Rock, three songs in a row, that’s when you’ve got that potential for the volume to begin to get out of hand because it’s like a concert.
Yeah. I’ll drag it down if it gets out of hand. I mean we just don’t let this show get that loud. Like I said, it’s kind of a tightrope between what the executive producer wants and what NARAS wants, and knowing who your audience is important, and mine, at least on the floor, those guys are all recording engi-neers, and they don’t want to be abused.
Is there any of your signal going out to broadcast?
Not usually, but it’s provided as a back-up if there was some catastrophic failure with say the Effanel truck [where the live broad-cast mix is done]. If they go down then my mix becomes the broadcast music mix.
Has it ever happened?We’ve come real close. There was one
time they had some kind of problem — there was a potential imminent failure. I remem-ber it was back before they went to ProTools, when they had that Neve Capricorn out here. I remember Fletch turning around and telling me, “You’re going to be on the air in 5, 4, 3, 2…
He had been listening on the intercom in between acts, which I don’t do because I have a steady stream of people in and out of the booth as the show goes on. But I’m not go-ing to change anything because of that. [The signal to the broadcast truck is] just another output on my desk. They got back online and I never did end up going on the air. But Mi-chael Stewart provides redundant mixes to the truck in case something was to happen, and we provide redundant music mixes to the truck as well in case there’s a failure there.So that’s yet another snake coming off of your position.
Yeah, and then also Mike Stewart’s console
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Ron Reaves, foreground, and other members of the FOH Grammy Awards crew, clockwise: Leslie Ann Jones, An-drew “Fletch” Fletcher, Jeff Peterson and Mikeal Stewart.
2009 MARCHwww.fohonline.com 15
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is the master console out front, but if his console crashed we’d have to do some physical patching, because my console would then become the master console.
Explain that to me. I thought yours was the master.
I run into him. I send him left, right, subwoof-ers, separate stem, and a vocal buss. And the reason we do a separate vocal buss is because for instance down in the front fill, when you’re right in front of the stage and you’re hearing a lot of the monitors and stuff like that you want your balance to be a little different than maybe you had it in the main PA. So if they need to add a little vocal to the front fills to get up over the roar of the monitors, they have that separately. Also, in every snapshot I have video tape, audio tape, and a dialog buss that all comes from the TV truck, so if Mike’s console were to go down, we’d move his output mult over to my console and suddenly I’m doing the whole show until we get him fixed.
So this is kind of a NASA-level redundancy proposition.
Indeed, that’s right. We check the “O” rings frequently.
The Staples Center is kind of notorious as a venue, acoustically speaking; there are VIP boxes up there, then there’s like a blank wall, then there’s more seating above it. It really wasn’t put together with music in mind.
Not at all. But we have a huge advantage over your typical touring act that comes in here in that we have three days or so to get our stuff together, plus they carpet for us, they drape ar-eas that aren’t being seated. If this was a typical tour, you come in, you hang your left, your right, you’re pretty much done. We’ve got left, right, sides, delay clusters, we’ve got a ring of small sig-nal point clusters in front of those luxury boxes, and also there’s a lot of care taken with the little laser pointers on top of the PA to make sure that we’re not shooting into those bare walls.
How do you prep for this? Every year you’re going to have different artists.
Well, they send me a CD of all music and I listen to music at home and put it on my phone and carry it around with me, get familiar with it. Some of the stuff I’ve heard on radio, just like ev-erybody else has.
When you listen to those CDs or those MP3s, what are you listening for? How do you listen to it?
I’m listening for any cues that I might need, any effects like wild little delay things or some-thing, or anything that’s a signature part of the song — what’s the hook here? Just like any mixer would. You listen to the song, you figure out what am I going to push and what are we sell-ing, how am I going to do that, and also I like to listen to the song while I’m programming the snapshot into the console because it will tell me where to lay things out on the console, like how I’m going to be riding this a lot during this song. I like to listen to the song while I’m looking at the desk and figuring out where am I going to lay their inputs out, because that determines a lot. If there’s a guitar solo obviously I want that guitar somewhere where I can reach it easy, and obvi-ously I’m going to put the lead vocal down there where I can reach it, the same with EFX, and that’s pretty much it as far as preparation.
What they’re sending you is generally their records; does anyone ever send you live per-formances?
Yeah, they do actually. This year Paul Mc-Cartney sent us the track from some live per-formance, and occasionally we’ll get rehearsal recordings. If it’s something that’s not their re-cord, like these medleys and stuff like that, and then sometimes the people in the production office will just do the best continued on page 18
You think your think your split is a mess? This is what you get with 24 acts and 30 songs performed on three stages.The set for the 2009 Grammy Awards show, broadcast live from Staples Center.
MARCH 2009 www.fohonline.com16
Those seeking subtlety should drive right through the 702 area code and head east another 1,200 miles or so until the Tope-
ka town limits are in sight. Then again, those looking to be dazzled should pull right up in front of The Mirage and wait for the newly re-worked volcano feature to fire.
The volcano outside of The Mirage has been a Las Vegas landmark ever since the hotel opened its doors in 1989. In 1996, the technol-ogy of the volcano was updated, but the audio system remained unchanged until last year when a complete overhaul was undertaken under the guidance of WET Design, Acoustic Dimensions and Technology West Group.
The latest improvements include rede-signed pyrotechnics pilot and igniter systems and 150 new burners, all engineered by WET Design, and an audio system that features 25 boxes of Meyer Sound MILO line arrays, a num-ber of 700-HP subwoofers, MSL-4 and UPQ-1P boxes, not to mention a Matrix3 system that spreads the tracks across the attraction’s three-acre lagoon.
Raise the DeadIn addition to hardware and software, the
attraction features a soundtrack composed by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and re-nowned percussionist Zakir Hussain. The Hart/Hussain piece includes over 70 tracks with voices and effects ranging from monk chants to tinker bells.
“I was surprised about how enthusiastic he was when we first got to working on it,”
remarks Jim Doyle, WET Design’s director of technical resources. “Two days after we met, I had a test track, and we hadn’t even talked about a contract. He was sitting in his studio building tracks. He put hundreds of hours into this thing. It was so far beyond what I expect-ed. He and Zakir took it to movie soundtrack level.”
Where the Mirage’s volcano was once just another sight to see on the Las Vegas strip, now it’s a major attraction that stops passersby in their tracks. The attraction itself includes the volcano and other islands with natural vegetation in the resort’s three-acre lagoon.
The design of the audio system, which needed to be heard up and down Las Vegas Boulevard as well as in front of The Mirage, became the responsibility of Ryan Knox, a consultant at the Dallas office of Acoustic Di-mensions. The first challenge, Knox reports, was to determine what direction they wanted to go. “We needed to find out if they wanted a point source system where the audio came right from the volcano or if they wanted something that was more distributed.”
Ultimately, the team decided to go with a system that was more immersive, featuring nine sources that covered the entire area. “The system also allowed the sound designer and composer a tremendous amount of depth to work with and a lot of tools to use,” Knox says. “We wanted to come up with something that was more of an experience and more like a show.”
Keep it MovingIn addition to the huge sound field, Knox
was faced with designing a system for an au-dience that wouldn’t be stationary. “We knew that, so the system is composed in a way that you get a slightly different experience, depending where you are,” he says. “We liked that, because then people might keep coming back.”
While the system was designed to carry, Knox and Brad Cornish from Technology West Group report that they had to be careful with how far sound went. “There is no ordinance in place on how loud the signals can be,” Cornish says, “but I think we needed to be neighborly and respect the casinos on either side of The Mirage.”
The placement of the nine arrays varied depending on the coverage required, and was also determined by the location of the pri-mary audiences as well as the desired length of throw. While most placements included a
MILO box and a 700-HP subwoofer, a number also include either a MSL-4 or a UPQ-1P box to increase the coverage.
The signal was delivered to the boxes via waterproof fiber optic cables and connected with Meyer’s VEAM connection system. “At each location, we had an electrical box that had a panel mount VEAM connector on it,” Cornish explains. “So if something happened to the field cabling, somebody could just walk out and replace the male to female VEEM ca-ble. That would fix the power, signal and the RMS (remote monitoring system).”
The signal that was sent to the south is-land went right into a pair of Galileo boxes that converted the feed into analog audio, Cornish adds.
Before the boxes were installed, each was painted green to match the foliage on the is-lands. One of the unanticipated challenges that the install team faced was the threat of tree diseases being transferred from one island to
“It was so far beyond what I expected. Hart and Zakir took it to movie sound-track level.” —Jim Doyle, director of technical resources, WET Design
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The new audio system includes 25 boxes of Meyer Sound MILO arrays, 700-HP subwoofers, MSL-4 and UPQ-1P boxes with a Matrix3 system. A pair of Galileo boxes converts the feed into analog audio.
Along with redesigned pyro effects, the attraction now fea-tures a soundtrack composed by Mickey Hart and Zakir Hussain.
There Is More Than Just a Bunch of Flames at the New Mirage VolcanoThe Sound of Fire
By DavidJohnFarinella
MARCH 2009 www.fohonline.com16
Installations
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Before the boxes were installed, they were painted green to match the foliage on the islands in the lagoon.
During the installation, the crew had to be mindful about the exotic plants already growing on the islands, and the risk of spreading disease during the trenching process.
that’s not their record, like these medleys and stuff like that, and then sometimes the people in the production office will just do the best they
can, they’ll chop three MP3s together, run them together and send the them to me and tell me it’s going to be something like this.
Have you ever had a situation where you said, okay, I’ve listened to this five or six times, I’ve got my snapshot all set up, we’ve done the re-hearsal, and then you had a curve thrown at you during the real thing?
Oh yeah, all the time. I’ll give you a great example. Last year — Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang, “Rhapsody in Blue.” They didn’t send me that on the CD, so I went to iTunes to download it. Well, if you type in “Rhap-sody in Blue” on iTunes you’ve got 50 ver-sions. So I bought a few of them a listened, got kind of a consensus. The problem was I didn’t know this particular arrangement because I don’t come out early and go to the rehearsals or anything like that. So Les-lie basically stood behind me and called out the arrangement. I just mixed, she stood right there and she’d say “Lang Lang!” and I’d push him up, then “Herbie!” “Trumpet!” “First trombone!” She knew the arrange-ment, that’s her forte, she does orchestral music and stuff. So yeah, things like that. Also, the lists that they send us tend to be touring input lists and will often include a lot of stuff that we don’t need for one song. Most of the time it’s deletions. They’re not using this instrument today, the trumpet player’s not here, whatever, so we just turns things off. But occasionally they’ll come in and really change things, and then I have to reprogram and they have to wait.
The script calls for more performing art-ists to make more transition announce-ments from the stage this year. That means the same microphone goes from being a vocal microphone to being a pro-duction audio microphone.
Right. And we have to talk about that a lot in between, this year for instance there’s quite a few little areas where like the artist will do their song and then they’re going to introduce the next bit on the vocal mic. So Mike and I will sit down and go through the rundown and say okay, I’ll take this and you take that.
And does it move in the signal flowchart?No, the only thing that will happen is Mi-
chael Stewart and will talk about it and I’ll say okay, right here where Bob’s going to intro-duce so-and-so, leave me open and I’ll put that through the PA, and what I’ll do is I’ll mute the instrument inputs, leave up only the vocal mic, turn off the effects and dry it up.
Do you have to change the EQ at all? No.
Speaking of processing, what do you use?I use all the inboard stuff on the Yamaha. I’ve
got seven effects programmed into the desk: two delays, long, short, a play-to-room, a vocal-play-to-chorus, and a pitch shifter, little doubling thing.
Now that this is becoming a more prevalent thing, has anyone ever asked to have Auto-Tune, any kind of a pitch correction?
Well, if they ask that they’re typically going to ask it of the truck, and if we get into a situation like that the truck will send that to me. When we do Beyoncé she always wants a long delay on her vocal, and they want it to be the same everywhere so John Harris usually triggers that out in his truck and just sends a return of that out to front of house and I mix it in with my stuff. And as far as the auto tune thing, that question actually came up this year because there’s a lot of these vocals, like TI, that are using AutoTune as an effect. I’m not sure how we’re going to handle that. I asked that question, is there go-ing to be an AutoTune return from the truck to me, and everyone said no. So we’ll see.
How can you be TI and not have AutoTune?
They’re probably going to be on the track. That’s what I’m hoping. Because yeah, that’s the hook, isn’t it?
When you do use backing tracks, what’s their source and how many tracks do you usu-ally get?
Pro Tools, and we limit them to ten tracks on this show. Everybody has to conform their Pro-Tools session to ten, they give it to Pablo who is the show’s ProTools operator, and he formats it into ten tracks and tells us what they are and sends them out to us.
Who starts? Who hits play?Pablo, who is on headset with the director,
so they can call that cue. You know, a lot of the artists want to do that from the stage, but it’s just really cumbersome to do that. They’re not attuned to listening to a television director and an AD and everybody else in their ear, and it just doesn’t work out well. I’m sure there are some of them that are quite capable of it, but we’d rather have control of that ourselves.
Anything interesting or remarkable or out of the ordinary or out of what has been ordinary for this show when it comes to microphones?
John Harris mentioned we got some new Audio Technica stereo microphones this year I guess we’re going to use on some stuff. The truck guys choose the mics and obviously in collaboration with the artists, whatever en-dorsement deals they might happen to have or preferences that they have. Pab, for instance, Paul McCartney’s guy, wants to use his particu-lar mics and stuff on the drums. So as long as they’re of good quality and John Harris and Eric approve them, that’s no problem. Other than that, John Harris will pick the microphones. And if I have any objections or problems, I can voice an opinion, but at the end of the day it’s his call.
Anything particularly remarkable about the wireless?
We’re using more hard wired stuff this year. Anybody that’s willing to, or that’s in a fixed spot that’s willing to, we’re putting them on hard-wired mics to try to minimize some of the RF stuff. I noticed on my input list this year there’s many more hard wired lead vocals than we would have maybe had in the past. There’s a few artists that prefer a wire. The old school folks and stuff. McCartney, if he’s going to stand in one place and sing — he comes to mind because I just wrote his snapshot — he’s on a wired.
Does anybody ever say “good job” when it’s done?
Absolutely. There are compliments. The two I always look for are Leslie Ann and Phil Ramone. If I hear good things from them, that’s all I need to know. I just want to get invited back next year.
Those seeking subtlety should drive right through the 702 area code and head east another 1,200 miles or so until the Topeka
town limits are in sight. Then again, those look-ing to be dazzled should pull right up in front of The Mirage and wait for the newly reworked volcano feature to fire.
The volcano outside of The Mirage has been a Las Vegas landmark ever since the hotel opened its doors in 1989. In 1996, the technol-ogy of the volcano was updated, but the audio system remained unchanged until last year when a complete overhaul was undertaken under the guidance of WET Design, Acoustic Di-mensions and Technology West Group.
The latest improvements include rede-signed pyrotechnics pilot and igniter systems and 150 new burners, all engineered by WET Design, and an audio system that features 25 boxes of Meyer Sound MILO line arrays, a num-ber of 700-HP subwoofers, MSL-4 and UPQ-1P boxes, not to mention a Matrix3 system that spreads the tracks across the attraction’s three-acre lagoon.
Raise the DeadIn addition to hardware and software, the
attraction features a soundtrack composed by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and re-nowned percussionist Zakir Hussain. The Hart/Hussain piece includes over 70 tracks with voices and effects ranging from monk chants to tinker bells.
“I was surprised about how enthusiastic he was when we first got to working on it,” remarks
Jim Doyle, WET Design’s director of technical resources. “Two days after we met, I had a test track, and we hadn’t even talked about a con-tract. He was sitting in his studio building tracks. He put hundreds of hours into this thing. It was so far beyond what I expected. He and Zakir took it to movie soundtrack level.”
Where the Mirage’s volcano was once just another sight to see on the Las Vegas strip, now it’s a major attraction that stops passersby
in their tracks. The attraction itself includes the volcano and other islands with natural vegeta-tion in the resort’s three-acre lagoon.
The design of the audio system, which needed to be heard up and down Las Vegas Boulevard as well as in front of The Mirage, became the responsibility of Ryan Knox, a con-sultant at the Dallas office of Acoustic Dimen-sions. The first challenge, Knox reports, was to determine what direction they wanted to go.
At The Grammy Awards continued from page 15
MARCH 2009 www.fohonline.com20
Buyers Guide
Company Model MSRP Dimensions Weight Frequency Response Maximum SPL PAR Cabinet Design Driver Size Interfaces Onboard Processing
A-line Acoustics
LS218A $3,499 44.5 X 21.8 X 22.8 160 lbs. 40-200Hz 133 db 1000W
Vented 2 X 18” Balanced transformer isolated input /output
ICE powered Bang and Olufsen with on board DSP
LS218AAHP $6,249 44.5 X 21.8 X 27.8 195 lbs. 30-150 Hz 140 db 2000W Powered with proven Bang & Olufsen ICEpower‚Ñ¢ technology with onboard DSP, the
LS218AAHP includes switchable omni/cardioid operation for better low frequency pattern control from 30-90Hz.
Bag End
PS18E-R $1,930 22” X 22” X 18” 70 lbs.
8-95 Hz
122 dB SPL1000W
Sealed ELF
18” XLR Power conNone, Requires Infra ProcessorPD18E-R $3,060 42” X 22” X 18” 135 lbs. 129 dB SPL 2 X 18”
PQUARTZ-R $5,750 40” X 30” X 31” 247 lbs. 123 dB SPL 2000W 4 X 18” XLR Power Con
Carvin LS1801NA $549.99 23.5” X19.75” X 22.75” 58 lbs. 30-80Hz (or 120Hz) 128 dB 700W / 1400W peak Bass-reflex 18” XLR and 1/4 inputs. Male XLR for chaining and switch able high pass filter. Volume control Cross-
over switch able to 80Hz, 120Hz, or wide open.Internal clip activated limiters. 3rd order 30Hz low cut filter. 4th order linkwitz-riley low pass
crossover.
Cerwin-Vega!CVA-118 $999 25” X 21” X 23.5” 115 lbs. 41-135Hz (-3dB) 131 dB 1400W peak
Front loaded, ported18” Line Input - Thru/Slave Output x2 Crossover Output x2 Variable crossover frequency High Pass Filter Variable Low Pass Filter Polarity Switch
CVA-121 $1,599 31.75” X 23.5” X 23.5” 180 lbs. 35-135Hz (-3db) 135 dB 2400W peak 21” Inputs XLR/F Balanced (x2) 1/4” TRS (x2) Outputs XLR/M (x2) XLR/M Slave HPF 65 Hz, 85 Hz, 130 Hz variable LPF 65 Hz, 130 Hz polarity switch 0/180 degrees parametric EQ Gain, freq, Q
DAS Audio LX-218A $7,127 22x51x26 161 lbs. 28-85Hz 141 dB 2200W RMS Bass Reflex 2 X 18” Networking DSP
FBT USA FBT Hi Maxx 100sa $2,300 20.8” X 23” X 27” 92 lbs. 36-120Hz 135 dB 1800W Continuous Vented Bandpass 18” Dual Coil L&R Balanced XLR in/ outs, Filtered XLR outs, Volume control, Ground lift switch. Built in Active Stereo Crossover, Active analog signal processing, Active limiter circuitry, FBT’s
ADAP component protection circuitry
ISP Technologies
XMAX 118 $2,310 24” X 31.5” X 21” 115lbs. 38-100Hz 129 db 1000W RMS 13 ply baltic birch bass reflex 18” XLR Inputs Left and Right XLR outputs Left and Right, XLR High Pass for Left and Right Outputs 24bd per octact internal low pass and High Pass outputs for both left and right outputs
XMAX 218 $4,180 48” X 22.5” X 30” 230lbs. 28-120Hz 137db 2000W RMSBass reflex 13 ply baltic birch
Dual 18” with 4” voice coils
Stereo XLR input, stereo XLR output, Stereo XLR high pass outputs internal crossover can be bypassed for use with external crossover
24db per octave Linkwitz Riley crossover for lowpass and stereo high pass outputsSA 118 $1,980 24” X 31.5” X 24” 115lbs. 38-100Hz 126 db 600W RMS stand alone 1000W RMS
with additional external SP118 18” Stereo XLR input, stereo XLR output, stereo XLR high pass outputs
JBL Professional
VT4880ADP $8,999 48.4” X 19.9” X 39.8” 219 lbs. 29-120 Hz +/- 3dB 143 dB SPL, 1m 6900W peak / 3500W continuous Centrally-vented, front loaded 2x18” 2269G dual voice
coils XLR audio input, Powercon AC. Optional HiQnet input modules (analog or digital) for remote control & monitoring with System Architect software. DBX Type IV A-to-D conversion, DSP bandpass filters, pre-e.q., limiters, self-test function.
VT4881ADP $5,169 31” X 22.4” X 31.5” 137 lbs. 34-125 Hz +/- 3 dB 131 dB SPL, 1m 3600W peak / 1800W continuous Front-loaded, dual ported 1x18” 2269G dual voice
coil
VRX 918SP $2,299 20” X 23.5” X 29.5” 85 lbs. 34-220 Hz, +/- 3 dB 126 dB SPL, 1m 1500W peak / 750W continuous
Front-loaded, ported
1x18” 2268H dual voice coil XLR audio, Powercon AC DSP-based system opimtization, pre-e.q., limiting, crossover.
VPSB7118DP $4,999 20.25” X 27.63” X 32” 129 lbs. 39-145 Hz +/- 3 dB 129 dB SPL, 1m 3600W peak / 1800W continuous 1x18” 2268G daul voice
coilXLR audio input, Powercon AC. Optional HiQnet input modules (analog or digital) for remote
control & monitoring with System Architect software. DBX Type IV A-to-D conversion, DSP bandpass filters, pre-e.q., limiters, self-test function.
Mackie SWA1801z $1,799.99 28.5” X 23.5” X 23.5” 132 lbs. 35-120Hz 135 dB 1000W peak 15mm Baltic birch 18” w/ 4” voice coil Dual balanced female XLR inputs Dual balanced male XLR thrus Dual balanced male XLR high pass outputs
Crossover filters, system EQ, polarity invert, limiting and other protection for the transducer and electronics
Martin Audio ASX N/A 47” X 24” X 47” 353 lbs. 30-150Hz 152 dB 8500W Hybrid Horn Loaded Reflex design 21” Female XLR input, male XLR link output. DSP Control Input RS485 Port RJ45 socket The loudspeaker shall incorporate an integral Class D amplifier module with a peak output power of 8500W, a DSP system and a differential pressure sensor.
Meyer Sound Labs700-HP Ultra-High-Power Subwoofer
$8,100 45.93” X 22.50” X 30.00” 204 lbs. 30-125 Hz ±4 dB 139 dB 2250W (1125W / channel) Multi-ply hardwood with black textured finish 2 X 18” cone drivers
Differential, electronically balanced input, uses Female XLR input with male XLR loop output or VEAM all-in one (integrates AC, audio and RMS network). Also has optional RMS Network,
equipped for two conductor twisted-pair network, reporting all operating parameters of amplifiers to system operatorís host computer.
The 700HP’s internal processing takes care of optimizing the subwoofer’s bandpass and limit-er protection to get the most power possible out of the mechanical parts of this loudspeaker.
Outline s.r.l. SUBTECH 218 SP N/A 43.3” X 25.6” X 23.6” 176 lbs. 35-350Hz (+ - 3db)
137dB continuous, 143 dB peak
2 X 1050W @ 8 ohm (1kHz, 1%THD EIAJ) Bass reflex 2 X18” Signal: XLR male/female --Main Power: Powercon male/female -
Peavey PV 118D $799.99 27” X 21.88” X 19.63” 76 lbs. 49-180 Hz 126 dB 300W (Class D) MDF covered in Black Carpet 18” Female XLR mic- or line-level balanced input; Male XLR jack switchable for either high-pass or thru; One 1/4” phone jacks for speaker in capability
Woofer servo circuit, the Constant Loudness (Fletcher-Munson) circuit, exclusive bass con-tour circuitry proprietary DDT‚ loudspeaker protection technology Fourth-order Linkwitz-
Riley crossover
QSC Audio Products, LLC HPR118i $1,999 28.6” X 23.5” X 22.9” 127 lbs. 45-95 Hz 134 dB peak 700W (Class H) Bass reflex, birch plywood 18” Balanced female XLR line level inputs X 2 (L+R) Balanced male XLR full range line level
throughputs X 2 (L+R) Male XLR low-cut line level outputs X 2 (L+R)
RCF USA INC.4PRO 8003-AS $2,199 29” X 22” X 29” 108 lbs. 40Hz X-Over Point 134 dB Self powereed 1000W RMS
Bass Reflex18” neo, 4” voice coil With any top reproducing above the X-over points X-Over 80 - 120 Hz, Therm. prot. dynamic limiter, phase switch.
NX S21-A 3,499 29.5” X 30” X 27.5” 117 lbs. 40-120 Hz 136 dB 1000W RMS, digital 21” Any top starting from the X-over points Thermal & RMS protection soft peak limiting frequency cut, X-over link phase switch
Renkus-Heinz, Inc. DRS18-2R $5,525 24” X 48” X 24” 204 lbs. 32-120 Hz 135 dB peak 2 X 1000W Direct Radiating, Bass Reflex 2 X 18”, 4” voice coil Analog XLR, AES/EBU, RHAON, CobraNet Internal Networkable RHAON DSP, Delay, EQ, HPF, LPF and Shelving Filters
Samson Technologies DB1800a $699 21.5” X 27” X 23.25” 80 lbs. 20-240Hz+/-3 dB 95 dB SPL @ 1 W/1m 1000W Program, 500 W RMS 3/4” plywood, carpet covered 18” None None
Turbosound
TSW-218DP $8,299 22.6” X 55.1” X 30.3” 248.6 lbs.35-150Hz ±4dB recom-
mended operational range below 250Hz
136 dB con-tinuous, 142
dB peak2,500W voltage-sensing (Class-D )
18mm (3/4”) birch plywood through-out; rebated, screwed and glued.
Finished in black18”
Input: (1) XLR female, Link: (1) XLR male, pin 2 hot; Neutrik Powercon mains; (2) RJ45 network ports
96kHz user-adjustable DSP processing with TurboDrive software interface.
B-18DP $5,199 30.2” X 22.6” X 27.6” 148.5 lbs. 40-150Hz ±4dB130 dB con-tinuous, 136
dB peak1600W power-sensing (Class-D)
18mm (3/4”) birch plywood; re-bated, screwed and glued. Finished
in black semi-matt textured(1) XLR female, Link: (1) XLR male, pin 2 hot; Neutrik Powercon; (2) RJ45 network port
Wharfedale Pro
EVP-X18PB $899 24” X 20.6” X 24” 108.2 lbs. 40-200Hz NR 400W RMS / 600W peak Black carpet finish, top stand adapter, rectangular enclosure
18”
Stereo line input and speaker level input, High pass balanced line output for mid/high satellite speaker connection
A pair of an integral 150Hz, 24dB/Oct crossovers Peak limiter that protects the amplifier and speaker from clipping 0∞, 180∞Phase switch Thermal, DC fault and short circuit protection
Integral, preset limiter prevents clipping and distortion
Twin 18X-Sub Active $1,399 28.3” X 27.2” X 21.2” 155.8 lbs. 35-200 Hz 130 dB NR
18mm Birch plywood, black or white textured paint, part steel grille, top stand adapter, 4 handles, 4 rubber
feet
One balanced combination jack socket (XLR+1/4” phone socket) for input, one balanced and one 1/4” balanced line out
Four increment, 90 degreee phase select control., Selectable crossover point at 80-100-150-200Hz.
Concert quality subs with drivers of at least 18 inches are al-ready beasts. So, what the hell, we might as well put the power in the box, too. Truth is, we decided to do a Buyers Guide on
powered subs and realized that unless we were prepared to publish it in book form we would need a way to further limit submissions. We thought the 18-inch driver would do it, but as you can see below,
there are still plenty of flavors out there to choose from. Some are “specialists” providing sub-bass and power and nothing else. Others seek to be the foundation of a system and provide DSP, crossover and sometimes even power for top boxes all in one box. Whatever you need, there is something out there to fill that void with a whole buncha thump.
Powered SubwoofersBy BillEvans
2009 MARCHwww.fohonline.com 21
Company Model MSRP Dimensions Weight Frequency Response Maximum SPL PAR Cabinet Design Driver Size Interfaces Onboard Processing
A-line Acoustics
LS218A $3,499 44.5 X 21.8 X 22.8 160 lbs. 40-200Hz 133 db 1000W
Vented 2 X 18” Balanced transformer isolated input /output
ICE powered Bang and Olufsen with on board DSP
LS218AAHP $6,249 44.5 X 21.8 X 27.8 195 lbs. 30-150 Hz 140 db 2000W Powered with proven Bang & Olufsen ICEpower‚Ñ¢ technology with onboard DSP, the
LS218AAHP includes switchable omni/cardioid operation for better low frequency pattern control from 30-90Hz.
Bag End
PS18E-R $1,930 22” X 22” X 18” 70 lbs.
8-95 Hz
122 dB SPL1000W
Sealed ELF
18” XLR Power conNone, Requires Infra ProcessorPD18E-R $3,060 42” X 22” X 18” 135 lbs. 129 dB SPL 2 X 18”
PQUARTZ-R $5,750 40” X 30” X 31” 247 lbs. 123 dB SPL 2000W 4 X 18” XLR Power Con
Carvin LS1801NA $549.99 23.5” X19.75” X 22.75” 58 lbs. 30-80Hz (or 120Hz) 128 dB 700W / 1400W peak Bass-reflex 18” XLR and 1/4 inputs. Male XLR for chaining and switch able high pass filter. Volume control Cross-
over switch able to 80Hz, 120Hz, or wide open.Internal clip activated limiters. 3rd order 30Hz low cut filter. 4th order linkwitz-riley low pass
crossover.
Cerwin-Vega!CVA-118 $999 25” X 21” X 23.5” 115 lbs. 41-135Hz (-3dB) 131 dB 1400W peak
Front loaded, ported18” Line Input - Thru/Slave Output x2 Crossover Output x2 Variable crossover frequency High Pass Filter Variable Low Pass Filter Polarity Switch
CVA-121 $1,599 31.75” X 23.5” X 23.5” 180 lbs. 35-135Hz (-3db) 135 dB 2400W peak 21” Inputs XLR/F Balanced (x2) 1/4” TRS (x2) Outputs XLR/M (x2) XLR/M Slave HPF 65 Hz, 85 Hz, 130 Hz variable LPF 65 Hz, 130 Hz polarity switch 0/180 degrees parametric EQ Gain, freq, Q
DAS Audio LX-218A $7,127 22x51x26 161 lbs. 28-85Hz 141 dB 2200W RMS Bass Reflex 2 X 18” Networking DSP
FBT USA FBT Hi Maxx 100sa $2,300 20.8” X 23” X 27” 92 lbs. 36-120Hz 135 dB 1800W Continuous Vented Bandpass 18” Dual Coil L&R Balanced XLR in/ outs, Filtered XLR outs, Volume control, Ground lift switch. Built in Active Stereo Crossover, Active analog signal processing, Active limiter circuitry, FBT’s
ADAP component protection circuitry
ISP Technologies
XMAX 118 $2,310 24” X 31.5” X 21” 115lbs. 38-100Hz 129 db 1000W RMS 13 ply baltic birch bass reflex 18” XLR Inputs Left and Right XLR outputs Left and Right, XLR High Pass for Left and Right Outputs 24bd per octact internal low pass and High Pass outputs for both left and right outputs
XMAX 218 $4,180 48” X 22.5” X 30” 230lbs. 28-120Hz 137db 2000W RMSBass reflex 13 ply baltic birch
Dual 18” with 4” voice coils
Stereo XLR input, stereo XLR output, Stereo XLR high pass outputs internal crossover can be bypassed for use with external crossover
24db per octave Linkwitz Riley crossover for lowpass and stereo high pass outputsSA 118 $1,980 24” X 31.5” X 24” 115lbs. 38-100Hz 126 db 600W RMS stand alone 1000W RMS
with additional external SP118 18” Stereo XLR input, stereo XLR output, stereo XLR high pass outputs
JBL Professional
VT4880ADP $8,999 48.4” X 19.9” X 39.8” 219 lbs. 29-120 Hz +/- 3dB 143 dB SPL, 1m 6900W peak / 3500W continuous Centrally-vented, front loaded 2x18” 2269G dual voice
coils XLR audio input, Powercon AC. Optional HiQnet input modules (analog or digital) for remote control & monitoring with System Architect software. DBX Type IV A-to-D conversion, DSP bandpass filters, pre-e.q., limiters, self-test function.
VT4881ADP $5,169 31” X 22.4” X 31.5” 137 lbs. 34-125 Hz +/- 3 dB 131 dB SPL, 1m 3600W peak / 1800W continuous Front-loaded, dual ported 1x18” 2269G dual voice
coil
VRX 918SP $2,299 20” X 23.5” X 29.5” 85 lbs. 34-220 Hz, +/- 3 dB 126 dB SPL, 1m 1500W peak / 750W continuous
Front-loaded, ported
1x18” 2268H dual voice coil XLR audio, Powercon AC DSP-based system opimtization, pre-e.q., limiting, crossover.
VPSB7118DP $4,999 20.25” X 27.63” X 32” 129 lbs. 39-145 Hz +/- 3 dB 129 dB SPL, 1m 3600W peak / 1800W continuous 1x18” 2268G daul voice
coilXLR audio input, Powercon AC. Optional HiQnet input modules (analog or digital) for remote
control & monitoring with System Architect software. DBX Type IV A-to-D conversion, DSP bandpass filters, pre-e.q., limiters, self-test function.
Mackie SWA1801z $1,799.99 28.5” X 23.5” X 23.5” 132 lbs. 35-120Hz 135 dB 1000W peak 15mm Baltic birch 18” w/ 4” voice coil Dual balanced female XLR inputs Dual balanced male XLR thrus Dual balanced male XLR high pass outputs
Crossover filters, system EQ, polarity invert, limiting and other protection for the transducer and electronics
Martin Audio ASX N/A 47” X 24” X 47” 353 lbs. 30-150Hz 152 dB 8500W Hybrid Horn Loaded Reflex design 21” Female XLR input, male XLR link output. DSP Control Input RS485 Port RJ45 socket The loudspeaker shall incorporate an integral Class D amplifier module with a peak output power of 8500W, a DSP system and a differential pressure sensor.
Meyer Sound Labs700-HP Ultra-High-Power Subwoofer
$8,100 45.93” X 22.50” X 30.00” 204 lbs. 30-125 Hz ±4 dB 139 dB 2250W (1125W / channel) Multi-ply hardwood with black textured finish 2 X 18” cone drivers
Differential, electronically balanced input, uses Female XLR input with male XLR loop output or VEAM all-in one (integrates AC, audio and RMS network). Also has optional RMS Network,
equipped for two conductor twisted-pair network, reporting all operating parameters of amplifiers to system operatorís host computer.
The 700HP’s internal processing takes care of optimizing the subwoofer’s bandpass and limit-er protection to get the most power possible out of the mechanical parts of this loudspeaker.
Outline s.r.l. SUBTECH 218 SP N/A 43.3” X 25.6” X 23.6” 176 lbs. 35-350Hz (+ - 3db)
137dB continuous, 143 dB peak
2 X 1050W @ 8 ohm (1kHz, 1%THD EIAJ) Bass reflex 2 X18” Signal: XLR male/female --Main Power: Powercon male/female -
Peavey PV 118D $799.99 27” X 21.88” X 19.63” 76 lbs. 49-180 Hz 126 dB 300W (Class D) MDF covered in Black Carpet 18” Female XLR mic- or line-level balanced input; Male XLR jack switchable for either high-pass or thru; One 1/4” phone jacks for speaker in capability
Woofer servo circuit, the Constant Loudness (Fletcher-Munson) circuit, exclusive bass con-tour circuitry proprietary DDT‚ loudspeaker protection technology Fourth-order Linkwitz-
Riley crossover
QSC Audio Products, LLC HPR118i $1,999 28.6” X 23.5” X 22.9” 127 lbs. 45-95 Hz 134 dB peak 700W (Class H) Bass reflex, birch plywood 18” Balanced female XLR line level inputs X 2 (L+R) Balanced male XLR full range line level
throughputs X 2 (L+R) Male XLR low-cut line level outputs X 2 (L+R)
RCF USA INC.4PRO 8003-AS $2,199 29” X 22” X 29” 108 lbs. 40Hz X-Over Point 134 dB Self powereed 1000W RMS
Bass Reflex18” neo, 4” voice coil With any top reproducing above the X-over points X-Over 80 - 120 Hz, Therm. prot. dynamic limiter, phase switch.
NX S21-A 3,499 29.5” X 30” X 27.5” 117 lbs. 40-120 Hz 136 dB 1000W RMS, digital 21” Any top starting from the X-over points Thermal & RMS protection soft peak limiting frequency cut, X-over link phase switch
Renkus-Heinz, Inc. DRS18-2R $5,525 24” X 48” X 24” 204 lbs. 32-120 Hz 135 dB peak 2 X 1000W Direct Radiating, Bass Reflex 2 X 18”, 4” voice coil Analog XLR, AES/EBU, RHAON, CobraNet Internal Networkable RHAON DSP, Delay, EQ, HPF, LPF and Shelving Filters
Samson Technologies DB1800a $699 21.5” X 27” X 23.25” 80 lbs. 20-240Hz+/-3 dB 95 dB SPL @ 1 W/1m 1000W Program, 500 W RMS 3/4” plywood, carpet covered 18” None None
Turbosound
TSW-218DP $8,299 22.6” X 55.1” X 30.3” 248.6 lbs.35-150Hz ±4dB recom-
mended operational range below 250Hz
136 dB con-tinuous, 142
dB peak2,500W voltage-sensing (Class-D )
18mm (3/4”) birch plywood through-out; rebated, screwed and glued.
Finished in black18”
Input: (1) XLR female, Link: (1) XLR male, pin 2 hot; Neutrik Powercon mains; (2) RJ45 network ports
96kHz user-adjustable DSP processing with TurboDrive software interface.
B-18DP $5,199 30.2” X 22.6” X 27.6” 148.5 lbs. 40-150Hz ±4dB130 dB con-tinuous, 136
dB peak1600W power-sensing (Class-D)
18mm (3/4”) birch plywood; re-bated, screwed and glued. Finished
in black semi-matt textured(1) XLR female, Link: (1) XLR male, pin 2 hot; Neutrik Powercon; (2) RJ45 network port
Wharfedale Pro
EVP-X18PB $899 24” X 20.6” X 24” 108.2 lbs. 40-200Hz NR 400W RMS / 600W peak Black carpet finish, top stand adapter, rectangular enclosure
18”
Stereo line input and speaker level input, High pass balanced line output for mid/high satellite speaker connection
A pair of an integral 150Hz, 24dB/Oct crossovers Peak limiter that protects the amplifier and speaker from clipping 0∞, 180∞Phase switch Thermal, DC fault and short circuit protection
Integral, preset limiter prevents clipping and distortion
Twin 18X-Sub Active $1,399 28.3” X 27.2” X 21.2” 155.8 lbs. 35-200 Hz 130 dB NR
18mm Birch plywood, black or white textured paint, part steel grille, top stand adapter, 4 handles, 4 rubber
feet
One balanced combination jack socket (XLR+1/4” phone socket) for input, one balanced and one 1/4” balanced line out
Four increment, 90 degreee phase select control., Selectable crossover point at 80-100-150-200Hz.
Martin Audio ASX JBL VT4880 ADPISP Technologies XMAX 218
MARCH 2009 www.fohonline.com22
Road Test
Furman PL-PRO DMC
Furman continues to be a leader in power conditioning units, due its fea-tures and ruggedness. Hardly an out-
board rack can be seen without an ubiqui-tous Furman PL-Plus Power Conditioner or two providing both the power distribution and rack-face illumination from its light tubes. But don’t expect Furman to rest on its laurels and wait for the competition to create the “me-too” products. The new PL-PRO DMC shows that Furman designers listen to the customer, and add the conve-nience features that we love.
The GearWhen I received the Furman PL-PRO
DMC, I had some conflicted feelings. As I have often mentioned, I love looking a LED bargraphs over numeric LED readouts, since typically I am doing this at a distance and use the color to see if I am operating safely. And with music pushing amp racks, reading current meter numerics is a futile exercise during the show. However, when the power conditioners are used at FOH, the amount of music induced change in power currents is very much smaller.
So I did the rarely admitted to, and read the owner’s manual for the Furman PL-PRO DMC before playing with the controls on the power conditioner. As expected, we are getting an upgrade in 120VAC power filter-ing, surge protection, and extreme voltage shutdown circuits. Besides clamping over-voltages starting at 133VAC RMS, the de-sign of the protecting circuits is such hat no components are designed to be “sacrificial”, so no MOV transorbs are required to be re-placed after each major surge event.
And Furman did the good thing and re-placed the old Christmas tree bulbs in the light tubes with LED equivalents. And from what I can tell, the color and intensity of the light output is about the same. What is missing is the hand-scorching heat coming off the light tubes of the older power con-ditioners.
As is typical with me, I could not resist pulling out the electric screwdriver and de-paneling the top cover of the PL-PRO DMC. Looking inside, the wire dress and mechani-cal attachment of everything was first rate.
The use of a magnetic circuit breaker also used as the power on switch was a nice choice, because the breaker type resists trip-ping on initial in-rush power surges. I also liked how the incoming hot wire first ran through the current transformer, so I get the true current measurement of the whole power conditioner, and not just the recep-tacles in the back panel.
For some users, the inclusion of a front panel USB jack looks odd, but if you rely on an i-Pod for break music you know how es-sential a timely battery recharge can be to your show. Even with pins 2 and 3 (data) not used, pins 1 (+5 volts) and 4 (ground) on an USB jack are useful for many needs. And from the looks of the Furman circuits, the +5 volt supply could go all the way up to the 0.5 ampere limit in usage. It wouldn’t sur-prise me to see in the future, 4-way USB jack splitters coming off this jack powering MP3 players, portable digital recorders, and mini-mixers used for SMAART or similar spectrum analysis software.
Also on the front panel is the light tube dimmer control. This control does the usual dimming function, but also contains a push on/off feature for the light tubes. The cen-trally located digital LED readout provides voltmeter or ammeter indications with the color of the display also providing defini-tion of the indication. In both ammeter and voltmeter modes, the intuitive green read-out means things are moderate, with yellow followed by red characters when indications
get too high or too low; just like the old LED bargraph.
The front panel also includes the meter control button, to toggle between voltme-ter mode and ammeter modes of operation. And of course the obligatory front panel receptacle is present as well. The rear panel include eight more 120VAC, 20 ampere ca-pable receptacles. The grouping is different than the previous four pairs of duplex recep-tacles, in that five receptacles are grouped closely together making room for three more receptacles that could accommodate modest size AC adapter plugs. Now I am not a fan of AC adapters in live sound usage, but combined with the included velcro “secure straps,” those wall warts oughta stay put.
Besides the necessary 12-gauge, 10-foot NEMA 5-20P power cord for the Furman PL-PRO DMC; the back panel contains a BNC auxiliary light jack and an on/off switch for the jack. So users can use their favorite LED or incandescent gooseneck lamp to provide some temporary work light when flounder-ing around in the back of the rack.
The GigsI liked the more robust surge/spike
features on the power conditioner as one of the hidden items that will take the worry off of my mind after using the Furman PL-PRO DMC during an electri-cal storm. The one nanosecond response time and 6500 ampere soak of spikes makes the PL-PRO one of the better pro-
tector units out there. The unit is a little deeper in dimensions (10.5” depth) than previous versions, but the beefier cast front panel gives me a bit more comfort that no rear rack attachments are pro-vided.
Looking for issues, I found none other than my hang-up on bobbling am-meter indications better with LEDs in 2 ampere increments (old PM-PRO) than with LED numerics. The black cosmetics, expanded feature sets, and attention to details shines for me regarding the Fur-man PL-PRO DMC. And if you need the 15 ampere plug instead, Furman offers the 15 to 20 ampere cheater/adapter cable for those smaller gigs.
What It Is: Power conditioning unit
Who It’s For: Anyone who wants to avoid the problems that can arise without power conditioning units.
How Much: $499 MSRP
Pros: Innovative feature set, reliable, rugged construction
Cons: The unit does nothing to satisfy my LED bargraph fixation.
Web site: www.furmansound.com
By MarkAmundson
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The back panel includes eight more 120VAC, 20 ampere capable receptacles. The panel also includes a BNC auxiliary light jack and on/off switch for the jack.
The front panel, with its USB jack, light tube dimmer control, meter control button to toggle between voltmeter and ammeter modes.
MARCH 2009 www.fohonline.com24
Road Test
Deck
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The Electro-Voice Tour X series of loudspeakers sits in that middle ground of live sound reinforce-
ment speaker—higher-end than most MI boxes, but not something you are going to find on tour riders either. In other words, great for clubs and bands in a van as well as local soundcos. Start-ing with the popular Eliminator series of speakers, the Tour X series improves on the design with features including a new “backbone” grill that looks like it can take some real abuse.
The Tour X line starts with single 12-inch and 15-inch top boxes, adds a double 15-inch top box for bigger work, then two subwoofer options are offered with either single 18-inch or double 18-inch enclosures. And shortly two very nice stage monitor options at 12 inches and 15 inches will be added to round out the series.
The GearFor this review, I choose the
TX1122—the smallest enclosure in the series. Weighing in at 44.5 pounds, the TX1122 is very portable and has enough enclosure volume to repro-duce a full-range of audio frequencies. The external cosmetics are attractive with a 16-gauge black grill in front of a plywood/MDF cabinet coated with “EV-Coat” epoxy for a rugged and durable finish. Both the TX1122 and the TX1152 have pole/tripod sockets for corporate event work and small-ish gigs.
Inside the TX1122, a passive cross-over splits the frequencies for a 12-inch low frequency driver (SMX2120) with a 500 watt continuous power rating at 8-ohms. Above 1750Hz, the classic EV DH3 high frequency driver takes over and keeps the frequencies up to 20kHz cleanly reproduced. The DH3 driver is an old friend of mine, as it was my se-cret tweeter weapon when I substituted JBL 2416 HF drivers with DH3’s for bet-ter fidelity and ruggedness back in the 1990s.
The remaining parts are the plas-tics and fasteners for the TX1122. Each speaker comes with an owner’s manual that shows right and wrong ways to properly hang/fly the TX series cabi-nets, plus other useful information. The plastic multi-grip handles continue to be refined, and the rear recessed NL4 Speakon jack panel is very sturdy and the downward angle of the jacks is very much appreciated for both tight spaces and quick connections/disconnections. While not offering a bi-amp capability, the crossover inside is conservatively designed; and perfectionists like me can focus on flattening the few minor bumps in the frequency response in-stead.
Besides the 500 watt continuous rat-ing (with 2000-watt peak), the general speaker coverage angle is the typical 90-degree-by-50 degree wide dispersion you generally expect from smaller cabi-net offerings. Overall sensitivity is an av-erage 97dB SPL at one watt-one meter that correlates to maximum SPL of 130dB SPL at one meter. One the low end, this front loaded and vented enclosure has a -3dB low frequency response of 60Hz that is usable down to 45Hz (-10dB).
The GigsMy shop testing showed that the EV
TX1122 speaker performed up to its rat-ings and had a reasonable sound right out of the box. However, I thought a cou-ple modest equalization tweaks made it a touch more enjoyable to my ears. Like many small enclosures, I goosed the 80Hz by a couple dB over an octave to make up for lack of a subwoofer when lis-tening to iPod tracks stand-alone. I also took down some of the presence band in the 5kHz area by a few dBs as that was a bit too strident to me at higher SPLs. After those tweaks, I was off to a couple smaller gigs for the road tests.
The first gig was a wedding recep-tion/dance, where the bridal couple kept things on the cheap by offering
up their own mixes on burned CDs and I baby-sat the gear. With the frequency tweaks in-place, the night was perfect, and I had several compliments on how well-balanced the audio sounded. The second gig was a small bar room where the TX1122s were added to reinforce the vocals for a country-rock cover band. Again, no problems keeping up with the instruments, and plenty of kudos on how well the speakers sounded. The EV TX1122 are general-purpose “keepers,” and I plan to keep a couple in the shop.
What they are: Middle-ground loudspeakers
Who they’re for: Clubs and bands, local soundcos.
How much: $775 MSRP
Pros: Compact, durable features, good sounding
Cons: No bi-amp capability
EV Tour X Speakers By MarkAmundson
The Electro-Voice Tour X series of speakers ranges in size from a single 12-inch box to a double 15-inch top box for bigger work. There are two subwoofer options now, with stage monitor op-tions in development.
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Impedance matching used to be a prime teaching topic in decades past. The reason for learning impedance matching was that many
sound sources, signal processors, consoles, and amplifiers were borrowed from fields other than sound reinforcement, and the necessity of know-ing the input and output impedances was criti-cal to get the system components to play nicely together. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, you could have a home hi-fi tape player patched into a bor-rowed recording studio console driving an install PA power amplifier into shop-made live sound speakers. Each class of gear had its own ad-hoc standards for line levels and input/output im-pedances.
The formal evolution of sound reinforce-ment came from the telephone industry, fol-lowed by the “talking” motion picture industry that used telephone industry standards and practices. Back then, everything was referenced to 600-ohm transmission line impedances with an exception of a few 150-ohm microphone line impedances. Since all the electronics were made of vacuum tubes, both input and output trans-formers were used on all audio circuits to bring things back to 600-ohms for efficient long-wire transmission.
This early era of audio used the most of “im-pedance matching” because vacuum tubes were relatively expensive and the most reliability-challenged part of audio systems. To preserve every bit of audio power, the “power matching” technique of creating 600-ohm source imped-ances to drive 600-ohm load impedances was a standard design practice. The upside to this practice made everything compatible with each other. The downside was that each interface lost half its power (and some voltage and current), so minimizing circuitry was very important.
From dBms to dBus tp
When lower-cost circuitry began to appear in the 1970s, the idea of not counting the tube or transistor stages, and of getting more flexibil-ity, won out. The concept of impedance match-ing shifted from identical impedances for power
matching. Lower impedances driving higher input impedances became normal practice. So the 1 milliwatt at 600-ohms that was 0.775 volts RMS (0 dBm) now lost its 600-ohm reference and became 0.775 volts RMS unreferenced (dBu). So to keep a 600-ohm input impedance from losing most of its voltage, the drive circuit had to have a 150-ohm or less source impedance by decree.
But matching transformers were becoming a habit that was too expensive for high fidelity au-dio circuits, especially when vacuum tubes and transistors (and integrated circuits) were getting really inexpensive by comparison. So as a result, audio impedance standards began to rise up to many thousands of ohms to use direct coupling of audio gear. In tube equipment, source im-pedances such as 100k ohms were much more accepted driving 470k ohms or higher input impedances of the next stage gear. Today, most vacuum tube guitar amplifiers have a standard 1 meg-ohm input impedance jack for the 250k ohm instruments.
All this high impedance matching was based on the old-school practice of impedance matching that enforced a one-to-four ratio of source impedance to load impedance. In Figure 1, the 220k ohm plate resistor of the 12AX7 tube amplifier circuit used a 0.02 micro-farad cou-pling capacitor to couple the output voltage into a 1 meg-ohm grid level control of the next tube stage. This practice is followed less today, as most equipment is now solid-state. Note that you can always lower the source/drive imped-ance or raise the load impedance and get even a better match to lose less voltage (dBus).
When transistorized circuitry became the usual practice, the impedance matching tech-nique became even less power matched, with a one-to-ten ratio taught in most technical and engineering schools. Figure 2 shows this with a common PN2222 transistor having a 10k ohm collector resistor driving a 1 micro-farad coupling capacitor into a 100k ohm volume potentiome-ter that has 10 times the collector resistor value. Given that the coupling capacitor impedances are fairly low in the audio frequency band, most all the source voltage makes it into the next stage input circuits. And this also applies if the capaci-tor may have jacks and a cable after itself.
The Modern Era tp
Today we are spoiled rotten with industry-dedicated gear using XLR or TRS phone con-nectors, uber-perfect balanced cabling and low-noise circuitry everywhere. Just about all output impedances are 100 ohms or less, and most input impedances are 6k ohms or more. These standard combinations take advan-tage of integrated circuits or dedicated driv-ers to handle all kinds of cable interconnec-tions and provide nearly hum (ground-loop) free audio paths. Figure 3 shows a typical low cost integrated circuit driving a 47 ohm safety resistor (to prevent cable shorts from blowing
up the circuit), a 10uf coupling capacitor, into a cable towards a 10k ohm input resistor of the next piece of gear.
Looking back from the cable in Figure 3, the output impedance is typically 100 ohms or less, coming from the 47 ohm safety resis-tor plus an internal 50 ohm output imped-ance of the TL071 integrated circuit chip. And by some standards, the feedback resistor de-sign of the TL071 (22k ohm feedback resistor), makes the 47 ohm resistor the real output impedance. The bottom line is that today’s modern circuitry makes impedance match-ing an often neglected thought by even au-dio grandpappys like me.
2009 MARCHwww.fohonline.com 25
Is Your Impedance Matched?
Theory and Practice
ByMarkAmundson
Digital Edge
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a microphone freak, so any activity involving microphones is at
the top of the gear lust chart for me. There are three things you cannot have enough of: money, microphones and well, you can guess what else.
I recently had the opportunity to check out Neumann’s TLM 103 D digital micro-phone system. This is the first time I have worked with a digital microphone, and it is quite a different experience from using an “old school” microphone. At this point in time, the audio industry has analog micro-phone technology down to an elegant and exact science. We rarely run into problems with phantom power (1) and you can be almost 100 percent confident that plug-
ging a mic into a console’s microphone input will result in sound. In fact I’d dare say that analog microphone technology pretty much matured 50 years ago when Mylar was substituted for PVC as a dia-phragm material.
Testing 10100110 de
The digital microphone experience is very different. Neumann digital mics mate with the DMI-2, a small power supply/in-terface box providing solely an AES out-put (this is typical of digital microphones). Initially this rocked my world. You mean I don’t get to choose the mic preamp? Nope, it’s built into the mic. Analog-to-digital converter? Built into the mic. What about that $2,000 analog compressor in my rack? Sorry, can’t use it. Ouch. The microphone connects to the PS with an AES/EBU cable
— yeah, the ones that look like standard microphone cables, but don’t use an ana-log cable because, while the XLR3 connec-tors are the same, the impedance of the cable is not.
Shockingly, the DMI-2 has no external con-trols. Nothing. Not even a power switch (very unnerving). So I’m looking at this thing think-ing, “how the heck do I set the gain?” Ah, there is a software CD in the box. If these guys did not make this thing Mac-compatible, someone is going to get a box filled with stinky socks on their desk. It is Mac-compatible, thank you very much. A small adapter is included with the system which mates a USB cable from my Mac Pro to something that looks like an Ether-net connector on the DMI-2.
Neumann’s software for their digital mi-crophones is called RCS (Remote Control Soft-ware), which does exactly that. Here is where
we find controls for microphone gain, low-cut, compression and “digital phantom power” on/off. As you’d expect of a condenser micro-phone, power is required to bias the capsule and run the internal electronics that include the DSP and A/D conversion.
All of this data is exchanged (both direc-tions) via the “mic” cable. Lucky for us, Neu-mann knows a thing or two about micro-phones as well as electronic standards. They helped develop the AES42 specification which defines parameters for the transmission of dig-ital phantom power to the microphone (+10V for the curious) as well as for implementation of gain adjust, low cut filter, compressor, lim-iter, phase reverse and pattern control for mics that offer that ability. In fact, Neumann RCS and the DMI-2 can be used with any digital micro-phone that conforms to the AES42 standard.
To Pre or Not To PreBy SteveLaCerra
(1) I have found one issue with phantom power: certain manufacturers do not adhere tightly enough to the 48 V DC phantom standard. There are certain microphones that will operate over a range of phantom power voltages (the Shure SM81 for example) and as a result, certain console manufacturers have made the decision to design their mixers to deliver phantom voltage lower than 48 V. However, just because a
microphone can be run on say, 18 V DC does not mean that it should be run on 18 V DC. The reduced voltage yields less headroom and an increase in distortion. Further complicating the matter is the fact that phantom voltage lower than 48 V DC is insufficient to power certain microphones, period. The Neumann U87i, Audix SCX25A, Earthworks TC25, and Audio-Technica AT4050 come to mind.
continued on page 26
Impedance matching, from vacuum tubes to transistors to today’s integrated circuits and dedicated drivers.
MARCH 2009 www.fohonline.com26
It’s a cold, hard winter for the meetings and events business. Things are just plain rough out there.
According to a survey by the industry trade group Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and American Express that was released last month, seven percent of business meet-ings already scheduled for 2009 have been canceled, and that number may be an under-estimate. We are hearing from our clients and vendors that cancellations often outnumber actual shows, and the recent economic indica-tors show no sign of relief. And while meeting/event production and staging is a large and vital industry serving all levels of business, the press is often unaware of the value of the non-outsourceable jobs this industry represents to the economy and the important services we provide every day to support commerce and encourage economic recovery.
Good for the EconomyAccording to the U.S. Travel Association
(USTA), business-related travel generates 2.4 million American jobs, $244 billion in spend-ing and $39 billion in tax revenue at the fed-eral, state and local level. What percentage of that spending does meeting production and staging represent? If it is just two percent, then our unheralded segment of the industry easily contributes over $4 billion to the U.S. econo-my. And the stimulus from our work reaches far outside the meeting room or convention floor.
Companies who choose to meet, hold events, and attend trade shows create jobs for workers in the airline and hotel industries, for union workers at theatres, convention centers and scene shops, in the restaurant and hos-pitality industries and beyond. The meetings and events business also supports the produc-tion companies who envision and create the communications content used to sell prod-ucts and increase productivity, and the stag-ing companies who must continually invest in trained personnel and the latest video, audio, and lighting equipment that is required to put
on a meeting. And many classes of workers are involved throughout the production process, including a disproportionate number of inde-pendent contractors and small businesses, the fastest growing parts of the economy.
A Media FrenzyThe recent media storm about a Wells
Fargo meeting in Las Vegas caused its can-cellation. Politicians and the media created a frenzy around a company that had chosen to invite their most productive employees to a meeting and recognition event, resulting in the cancellation of the program. In fact, Wells Fargo went on to cancel all of their employee recognition events for 2009. This is now an all-too-common problem, and many companies are now canceling meetings well in advance for no other reason than to avoid bad press and government scrutiny.
Our industry must go on the offensive on behalf of our clients and talk about the re-turn on investment that a meeting provides. Compare the impact of spending on meet-ings versus the cost of a television spot. A 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl costs $3 million. Chase Bank took TARP money and advertised on TV during the Super Bowl. So why isn’t the media outraged about that? Three million dollars could buy a whole series of meetings and make a solid contribution toward boosting corporate productivity, em-ployee morale, and the recovery of the econ-omy. But apparently a double standard exists in the media where advertising is okay, but face-to-face communications to employees or clients is not.
I am holding a vision that the current mood surrounding corporate meetings will start to right itself by summer, just enough to allow companies to again invest money in face-to-face communications with their field staff and customers. Companies will have products to sell and the survival of brands will be at stake. It is difficult or impossible to get people moti-vated or reward them over a conference call or a streaming Internet feed. That is just the way
it is. Research shows that people need connec-tion. They need to hear the story from their leaders — in person. But the mood will not change and the herd will not turn without a concerted campaign to reinforce our benefits to clients, politicians, and the press.
Investments, Not IndulgencesOur industry must make a compelling case
to politicians and news media that business conferences and events are part of maintain-ing and rebuilding the economy, not indul-gences that squander money and produce few tangible results. Meetings and events produce measurable ROI. When the going gets tough and companies downsize, there is no more ap-propriate time to reach out across a company to present a vision for recovery and growth. Employees need to believe in their company — they need to stay connected.
Those employees and sales forces need to know — even more they need to believe that their firm is on the right track and that there will continue to be a pipeline of new products to sell, and support behind the sales force and the products. Cutting back is a serious message that employees and sales forces take to heart. And the results show on the bottom line, and in lack of employee retention. And slowing sales do not support the recovery of our econ-omy. If businesses want to communicate and motivate sales forces or market their products to clients, the proven best approach is face-to-face communications. Anything less is just a low-budget attempt to achieve the same goals using superficial means. Clients know nothing is as effective as bringing people together, but in tough times, they often choose to act as if this has not been proven over time, or they are simply afraid to be seen spending money. Nobody wants to be judged in the press or by shareholders for “extravagance in the time of layoffs”, even though every company needs to communicate to survive.
A carefully-coordinated industry response must be crafted to both defend those compa-nies who choose to hold conferences and in-
centive events, and to support the large and diverse segments of the economy who de-pend on meeting/staging and business travel industries for their livelihood. Only then will there be the potential for a large and power-ful voice of moderation to rise above the din of politicians and media taking shots at our cli-ents and our livelihood. The efforts of MPI and USTA are beginning to reach out to the media and government, and the petition at www.keepamericameeting.com is also making slow progress. But unless we act quickly and force-fully, we may not see the effects of these for quite some time.
I support the intentions of the leading industry associations, but their efforts still seem passive. I think we can and should do more. Which industry association should the staging business should turn to in times like these? ESTA? InfoComm? Does anyone really represent our interests? Should our industry join MPI and USTA efforts to get the word out, or is that enough? Who will you choose to stand up for us?
Spread the WordHow will you sell the government,
the news media, and corporations on the fact that companies who use meetings or events to market, motivate, and communi-cate are not only smart, but also patriotic and providing a service to the recovery of the economy? And where will you begin? Do your elected representatives know what you think and how these issues affect your livelihood?
We can’t wait any longer for others to galvanize our industry into action. Stand up, and demand that our industry organiza-tions represent your interests, and write to your congressman today, unless, that is, you are happy with the way things are now.
Standby.....and GO!
Floyd Dilman is the owner of Event Engi-neering, Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected] .
Who Will Speak for Our Industry?
The BizBy FloydDilman
But Why? de
What’s the advantage? Converting the audio signal from analog to digital information at the source negates the effects of frequency response degra-dation due to cable capacitance, and greatly reduces the chances of inter-ference from RF. Conversion to digital directly from the capsule also elimi-nates several analog gain stages, and where there is gain, there is potential for noise. Analog devices in the chain such as mic preamps, EQ and A/D con-verters are (for better or worse) elimi-nated from the signal path so the req-uisite impedance and level matching between these devices is no longer an issue.
And who, you might ask, actually makes digital microphones that conform to the AES42 standard? Sennheiser and Schoeps, for starters (we were unable to confirm whether or not the MCD100
from beyerdynamic supported AES42). Earlier this year Sennheiser announced the MZD 8000, an accessory for their MKH 8000 series of modular condenser microphones. This device replaces the analog preamp/body of the MKH 8000 mics. You simply screw the capsule onto the MZD 8000 and you now have an AES42 output. This is a fantastic idea — you can have mic capsules for use with either traditional analog circuitry, or with the AES42 digital standard.
Schoeps is also in the race for AES42 with the introduction of their CMD 2U digital microphone preamplifier. This preamp conforms to AES42 and is com-patible with the entire Schoeps line of Colette Series capsules, which currently number around 20. You could conceiv-ably have a CMD 2U preamp for digital recording and a “standard” analog pre-amp for when you need to use that vin-tage Neve 1073 preamp/EQ you covet.
Where does this lead us? To a digi-
tal console, naturally. It only makes sense that we have started to see and will continue to see an increase in the number of digital consoles that can ac-cept AES42 input. As of now, Innova-son supports AES42 via their DioCore and Stage Box, which interface with their Sy48 and Sy80 digital consoles. At the NAB show in Las Vegas, it was an-nounced that DiGiCo digital desks now have the ability to directly interface with Neumann digital microphones. I expect that it won’t be long before we see more manufacturers offering digi-tal microphones and digital consoles with AES42 compatibility. Keep a close eye on that XLR mic input: it might not be exactly what you expect.
Steve “Woody” La Cerra is the tour man-ager and Front of House engineer for Blue Öyster Cult. He can be reached via email at [email protected]
Converting the audio signal from analog to digital information at the source ne-gates the effects of frequency response degradation due to cable capacitance, and greatly reduces the chances of inter-ference from RF.
To Pre or Not To Precontinued from page 25
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You’ve Gotta Love The Work
FOH-at-Large
To quote Gordon Gekko from the 1987 Oliver Stone movie, Wall Street: “The richest one percent
of this country owns half our country’s wealth, five trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on in-terest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It’s bullshit. You got 90 per-cent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create noth-ing. I own. We make the rules, pal. The news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the price per paper clip. We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you’re not naive enough to think we’re living in a democracy, are you bud-dy? It’s the free market. And you’re a part of it. You’ve got that killer instinct. Stick around, pal, I’ve still got a lot to teach you.”
The numbers may have changed over the last 22 years, but the sentiment and plutocracy is still the same. Unfortu-nately, it is this same prevailing mindset that has left our country in its current state of affairs, and as a product of our culture we have all absorbed this infor-mation from film, television, the printed word and the 24 hour news shows. We are subtly and not so subtly inundated with the desire and need to be rich.
Last year, when my daughter shipped off to college, she asked me what she should study. I asked her what she want-ed to do, and she replied, “Make a lot of money.” I told her that if her goal is to make a lot of money she should concen-trate her studies on banking or business, and, for the first time in many years, she actually took my advice and majored in economics and business. Now in her second year of college, she tells me that she hates both the study of economics and business and has declared a major
in English. She’s aware that getting a de-gree in English is not necessarily taking her on the fast track to her imagined pot of gold, but reading, writing and critical analysis are tasks she enjoys and does well. As a result, there is one happier co-ed in this world.
Of course, there are certain con-cerned relatives that have questioned her decision to switch her major to Eng-lish, a study that they liken to a philoso-phy major. These liberal art majors make for a nice intellectual stimulus, but they have no real practical career applica-tions. Since my daughter does not aspire to a career in teaching, these concerned relatives fear that her college educa-tion is just money wasted on four years of school with no foreseeable return in the future. These same relatives are un-able to see past what they know, and for them, the study of business, medicine, science and law lead to careers one can bank on to make “real money.”
Years ago, upon learning what I do for a living, one of these “professional” relatives expressed his amazement that there is such a large subculture of peo-ple that are able to making a living in the field of audio. He never asked me what I earn, but I doubt that he would have thought my salary was “A living.” C’est la vie. As I recall, he was one of the first of many penthouse leapers when the cur-rent economy tanked. It’s bad news, but there was no scandal, no wrongdoing
and no criminal activity attached to his swan dive. He just had no reason to live with all his money gone.
The good news is that in this time of financial crises, I personally didn’t lose a dime, and I can still scale high cliffs with-out ever feeling a compulsion to dash myself on the rocks below. The bad news is that I never really had much money to begin with, and now it seems that I have even less. Boo hoo! Everyone is feel-ing the pinch in this time of pecuniary uncertainty, and I am not exempt from suffering the same economic woes as everyone else. I do see, though, a differ-ence between me and such people as my gravity-challenged relatives in as much as those who have centered their whole focus and passion on making money are a lot less happy than those who have focused their attention on doing some-thing they love to do.
OK. I do not think that just because someone might be a starving artist in pursuit of a dream that they are happier than the hedge fund manager making millions of dollars, but in an ideal world, there should be some sort of middle ground. Our country’s ideology is based around a Declaration of Independence that most famously exclaims, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Hap-
piness.” As with most declarations, the further one gets from the original pro-nouncement, the less one remembers the spirit and motivation behind the decree. As more people rally around the proclamation, different interpretations are presented and accepted until over time the edict loses the character of its original meaning and takes on a differ-ent connotation.
Be that as it may, I don’t intend to ad-dress the ills of our society at large, or lament about how rampant greed has brought us to our knees. I do not profess that money is evil. I like money and en-joy making it as well as spending it, but the current financial situation has made me think about the varied and dissimilar interpretations of “The pursuit of happi-ness.” For example, most of the people I know in the field of audio joined the ranks so that they could indulge their passion for music with the hope of bang-ing out a living at the same time. One might start as a studio intern or a club engineer and move on to being a travel-ing engineer with a band or owning his or her own audio company; regardless of our good fortune, or lack thereof, along the way life comes at us with all its va-riety and revelation. We have families, obligations, and changes of heart while gigs come and go, and in the pursuit of happiness, it is our job to maintain a bal-ance between chasing dreams and cold hard cash.
There are always sacrifices to be made, and sometimes we construct the cause while other times the reason is manufactured for us. As we grow, we reach different levels of competence and appreciation for what we do, how we do it and what it is worth for us to do. In the best of times the road gig that once looked so glamorous doesn’t seem so appealing once you have a family at home. The money, though good, is not enough to compensate for time away from home and family. You may still en-joy mixing a show, but the 15-hour day just to mix for 40 minutes does not seem worth it anymore.
In the worst of times, when our choic-es are limited, we may have to suck it up and work for less than we like, but keep in mind that while gobs of money may ease the pain, it will never improve a job you don’t like or make a situation more satisfying. There is nothing wrong with owning a piece of the American dream, but before you sell your soul and become one of those touring curmudgeons mak-ing large alimony payments and hating everything, try to remember your own pursuit of happiness and why you de-cided to get into the business in the first place. Keep in mind that the money one makes should merely be the by-product of your talent and love of your job, and not the passion in itself.
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By BakerLee
Last year, when my daughter shipped off to college, she asked me what she should study. I asked her what she wanted to do, and she replied, “Make a lot of money.”
