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Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Fishman Ships The Aura Sixteen Acoustic Imaging Pedal

A versatile pedal solution for Mac and PC users.

Fishman is shipping its new Aura Sixteen Acoustic Imaging Pedal and Aura Image Gallery III.

The Aura Sixteen features an open architecture for loading up to 16 Images via USB from the included Aura Image Gallery.

Aura Sixteen ships with 16 pre-loaded images, allowing acoustic musicians to easily and accurately reproduce the sound of their instrument as miked in a professional studio in an easy to use, road-worthy package.

Available for Mac and PC, Aura Image Gallery III software provides over 800 free images of actual instruments recorded with select world-class studio microphones.

Users can sort and search by make/model, body style or even wood type. By connecting a compatible Aura product, users can download and store sets of Images to take with them on stage or in the studio.

Fishman Website

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Vocals For “Vandal Hearts: Flames Of Judgment” Theme Recorded With CAD M9

A unique tube mic for an unusual vocal recording.

Composer/Sound designer, Doug Brandon wanted a particular sound on the Title theme for “Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment.”

“I’m ‘old school’ when it comes to microphones and voice production in general,” says Doug, “so my first inclination was to try the CAD M9.”

“I like the fact that it’s a tube mic and I have had success using it in the past. Achieving a warm sound was my main focus for the lead vocal on this theme.”

“The M9 emphasized the “human” element that is many times lost in the digital recording environment. My setup also includes a Demeter tube preamp and a Manley tube limiter.“

“I like the audio path to travel through as much warmth as possible and the CAD M9 was the obvious choice for this project.”

As described by Doug, ”’Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment’ a downloadable, strategy role-playing game published by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc combines the fast pace of the original Vandal Hearts with improved user mechanics and high-quality presentation.

As Audio Director for Hijinx Studios, Doug did the sound design, wrote the music, and worked with the voice talent.  As in the original Vandal Hearts, the theme song is sung by a woman (Sarah Brandon). “We chose to stay with the female voice, because it uniquely conveys a solemn, reflective quality that is prevalent in the environment of this battle-driven game.”

Whatever his approach, it seems to be working.

CAD Audio Website

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Midas Adds Just The Right Touch To Mister Mystere Tour

Digital desks with a small footprint for uncompromising audio quality on tour.

Long time Midas user Olivier Lude is touring with French rock singer Matthieu Chedid, aka M, using his very own PRO6 live audio system.

Lude, who has worked with M on stage and in the studio since 1996, is using the PRO6 at front of house for the Mister Mystere tour.

On monitors, Julien Decarne is using an XL8 live performance system supplied by rental company Dispatch together with a Klark Teknik DN9696 high resolution audio recorder and DN9331 Rapide graphic EQ controller.

“My decision to work with a Midas PRO6 at FOH for this tour was mainly motivated by a need to move on and evolve towards this technology,” says Lude.

“I have worked a lot with analogue consoles throughout the years, mainly the Midas XL4 and the Heritage 3000, and wanted to take the digital step without compromising the audio quality, the dynamics and the integrated effects processing, which had to match Matthieu’s typical instrumentation colour.”

“Having tested several consoles, the PRO6 was a natural choice given its ergonomics and the legendary Midas EQ and preamp sound.”

“The PRO6’s work surface is very similar to those of its analogue predecessors, while the automation in particular is yet another feature that has helped me to handle the console and configure my own settings very quickly.”

“The effects processing section is truly complete and easy to operate, allowing me to reduce the size of external racks to some EQs and compressors that I always have with me. Said Lude, “The PRO6 fulfils all the requirements for this tour, in such a small footprint.

Decarne chose an XL8 knowing that the front of house desk would be a Midas PRO6. “I was introduced to the XL8 on some Dionysos concerts in Paris two years ago,” he said. Having had much experience with Midas analogue consoles, I felt at home straight away on the XL8’s work surface.”

“The sound quality of the XL8 is undoubtedly faithful to the Midas standards of excellence. I have tried other digital desks and there is no equivalent in terms of pre-amp sharpness. The XL8 has all the best of the analogue world: warmth, accuracy and sharpness in a digital package.”

Midas Website

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D.A.S Audio Provides Audio System For New York Theater

The Paradise's Aero system, an installation worthy of high praise.

The Paradise Theatre in New York is both an architectural and musical icon. A registered landmark with ornate statuary and gilding that seats 3,785 patrons and plays host to performers of all genres, the Paradise required a speaker system befitting their grand space. They found one in D.A.S. Audio catalog.

Fernando Garcia of AVS Production Group, the Bronx, NY-based production company, was instrumental in specifying and erecting the system. He shared his thoughts on the challenges of the room as well as his reasons for selecting the D.A.S. Audio equipment.

“The challenge of correcting the sound system was complicated by the ornate nature of the hall,” he stated.

“We originally envisioned a line array system where all the elements were flown and the individual boxes were pinned to provide coverage both in the balcony and on the main floor.

“We were limited, however, in terms of the weight we could hang without modifications to the ceiling area, which was ruled out because of aesthetic considerations. As a result, the solution to provide the most uniform coverage was a combination of flown and ground stacked loudspeakers.”

The Paradise Theater’s loudspeaker setup consists of twenty D.A.S. Audio Aero 50 large format, 3-way line array modules plus another four Aero 12A 2-way, compact, mid-high line array elements.

During the installation of the new sound reinforcement system, which occurred last November, Garcia was impressed not just with the sonic performance of the D.A.S. Audio equipment, but also with the company’s technical support services and the hardware.

“Right from the start,” Garcia reports, “the D.A.S. team was extremely helpful. They assisted with the modeling of the loudspeakers, which was performed with EASE Focus, and were of great help responding to the various questions I had.”

“As I mentioned previously,” he Garcia said, “the theater’s architecture limited the amount of weight we could fly, and this is where the Aero 50’s flyware became a tremendous asset in helping us address this issue. The D.A.S. bumper used to fly the Aero 50’s is surprisingly small and light compared to many systems from competing manufacturers. This helped tremendously, as we had no issues raising the cluster up to the height we wanted.”

With the sound system operational for the past several months, Garcia reports positive results on all fronts. “The sound quality of this equipment is excellent right out of the box—these enclosures are really flat, so they simply don’t need much tweaking” he said.

“While we have equalization available, I find that we use it very sparingly. We’re now experiencing even coverage throughout all areas of the theater and speech intelligibility is first rate. Best of all, we don’t need to blast the system in order to fill the room.”

“We work with SPLs that are appropriate to the nature of the act and the size of the audience. When we need to raise the levels, we have plenty of headroom to work with. Everyone offers compliments on the system’s performance.”

D.A.S. Audio Website

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Lectrosonics Supplies Cornish College Wireless System

A full complement of equipment for teaching students how to use wireless gear.

Cornish College of the Arts recently took delivery of a sizeable wireless setup from Lectrosonics that features the company’s highly acclaimed Digital Hybrid Wireless technology. Cornish College is an institution in the greater Seattle area with approximately 800 students.

Dave Tosti-Lane, Chair Performance Production Department at Cornish College of the Arts said, “Prior to our new system we had been unable to effectively teach students how to work with wireless gear, and this was a major hole in our curriculum.”

“Previously, we owned just three UHF systems which were located in the 700 MHz band. The combination of the recent FCC changes that made our previous wireless system unusable, together with an increasing demand for expanding our musical theater program, led the administration to authorize the funds to address wireless in a systematic way.”

Lectrosonics wireless technology offered Tosti-Lane numerous benefits. “I’ve long been watching Lectrosonics on the advice of audio professionals I trust,” he said.

“The Venue system offers significant advantages, not the least of which is fitting twelve wireless microphone channels into just two rack spaces.

“Moreover, the built-in antenna routing, multiple options for diversity operation, and the LecNet2 VR panel configuration software made this equipment extremely attractive to me—both as a working system, and as a system that can illustrate the fundamentals of RF (radio frequency) design to my students.”

Tosti-Lane was enthusiastic about Lectrosonics’ sound quality and performance characteristics—due in large part to the company’s legendary Digital Hybrid Wireless technology. “The Digital Hybrid system avoids companding,” he said, “and eliminates the need for pre-emphasis in the analog stage, which means we get excellent signal to noise without artifacts and without worrying about distortion with high frequency signals.”

While Cornish College of the Arts only took delivery of their Lectrosonics system in January the new equipment is already leaving its mark. “The system’s sound and performance has been terrific,” says Tosti-Lane. “While we’re starting with twelve channels, our plan is expand the system to twenty-four or thirty-six channels.”

Lectrosonics Website

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