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Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Rat Sound Deploys L-Acoustics KARAi At Orange County’s Galaxy Theatre

Orange County’s 40-year-old Galaxy Theatre changed ownership back in August and has now undergone a significant metamorphosis into two separate live performance spaces: the intimate 350-capacity Constellation Room and much larger Observatory, which can accommodate an audience of over 1,000.

One of the primary improvements made to the venue in the process was the installation of L-Acoustics KARAi line source arrays provided by Certified Provider Rat Sound Systems of Camarillo, California.

Jon Reiser, along with business partner Courtney Michaelis and a third silent partner, are the team behind transforming the Galaxy from a lackluster aging venue into an edgy hipster hangout that consistently attracts some of the brightest up-and-coming acts like Foster the People, Crystal Castles, The Naked and Famous, Young the Giant, Tyga and Warpaint. Reiser is no stranger to SoCal’s indie music scene having previously spent five years as a partner and talent buyer for Costa Mesa’s Detroit Bar.

Shortly after purchasing the Galaxy, Reiser brought in L.A.‘s Foster the People to play the newly dubbed Observatory. Knowing that the club’s pre-existing PA system wouldn’t be adequate to cover the crowd for such a popular band, he turned to Rat Sound to provide a temporary dV-DOSC rig while simultaneously initiating the design process to permanently integrate a new KARAi system.

Today, the Observatory features left and right arrays each comprised of six KARAi elements flown adjacent to two SB18i subs. Four SB28 subs are also located down on the floor—two housed in bunkers inside the stage plus one on each side of the stage.

A custom enclosure built across the front of the stage houses four coaxial 8XT front-fill speakers, while a single 115XT HiQ flown in the center of the house two feet downstage of the stage lip serves as a downfill. All systems are powered and processed by LA8 amplified controllers housed in racks at the monitor mix position.

Rat Sound provided not only the installation of the L-Acoustics arrays, but the rest of the venue’s sound and lighting systems and acoustic treatments as a full turnkey package.

Rat Sound director of installations David Myers notes that the rental dV-DOSC system helped minimize the venue’s downtime to only two nights despite the significant amount of remodeling and equipment upgrades.

“With the new acoustic treatments and KARAi system in place, the Observatory sounds phenomenal,” says Myers. “KARAi is extremely coherent; it’s like having the artist right in front of you in a studio environment. And the bands, engineers, promoters and audiences are all loving the sound. The Naked and Famous recently played the room and their front-of-house engineer told us after the show that we had totally spoiled him for the rest of the dates on their tour.”

Reiser adds, “The Naked and Famous immediately booked another show with us for March and I know that a big part of that was because of how impressed they were with the system and production level. We’ve had a lot of really great shows in here lately—including Scott Weiland, two nights with Young the Giant, and an epic New Year’s weekend with ATB and Tiesto—and everyone’s walked away at the end of the night being very happy with the house sound.”

L-Acoustics

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Revolabs Enhances HD Control Panel For Entire HD Line Of Wireless Microphone Systems

Revolabs has announced that the company’s Windows-based HD Control Panel software has been enhanced to support the entire HD line of wireless microphone systems, bringing the monitoring and configuration tools found on the Executive HD to the HD Single/Dual Channel and the HD Venue systems.

In addition, based upon customer feedback, Revolabs has created several new features for the HD line, including a DIP switch display, mute groups for Executive HD systems, and an expanded control system API.

With the HD Control Panel, users can monitor and control networked HD wireless microphone systems from a single PC software program with an intuitive graphical user interface.

The HD Control Panel allows users to control the mute status and gain of each microphone, and to lock out presenters from using the mute button.

The software also provides the ability to monitor each microphone closely for its real-time status, such as battery level.

The monitor tab of the HD Control Panel has been enhanced to provide the DIP switch status for each system, eliminating the need to look on the back of the system to see which switches are active.

Revolabs has also added several commands to the HD systems’ API, allowing A/V control systems to send global commands, turn off microphones, and even initiate pairing, all from the convenience of a room’s touch panel.

Finally, Revolabs has bolstered the Executive HD with the ability to assign systems to mute groups. This allows all systems in a building to be bussed together without muting each other, unless they are assigned to the same group.

“We are pleased to bring the capabilities of the HD Control Panel to users of our HD Single/Dual Channel and HD Venue systems, in addition to offering powerful new features across our entire HD line,” says JP Carney, CEO of Revolabs. “We take pride in listening to our customers as we continually strive to meet their evolving needs. New features, such as those released today, are a direct result of customer feedback.”

The enhanced HD Control Panel and new features are available through a firmware update (version 2.6.1) to both the base station and microphones. The update is available now at www.revolabs.com/downloads.

New feature enhancements require a Gold unlock code provided as part of a Revolabs service plan. Any system that has previously been unlocked will automatically receive the new features upon completion of the firmware upgrade.. 

Revolabs

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One-Stop Shopping: Captain, What Does It Mean, This Term “Full Production”?

The sound company’s job is to advance the show with the artist and show up with a rig. Not so when the full production falls into your lap.

Sound companies handle “one-off” shows every day. It’s usually formulaic, and after a while, we do it by rote. 

But what happens when the client wants one-stop shopping? This is also known as “full production” or “turn key service,” and it’s quite a bit more involved than an average show. Generally months of planning and coordination are needed, as well as work with a number of subcontractors. It just can’t be done by the seat of the pants.

Normally, when a sound company is hired for a show, the client is a promoter or a venue. They provide the stage, they provide the power, and they provide the labor. The sound company’s job is to advance the show with the artist and show up with a rig. Not so when the full production falls into your lap.

Particularly for large, multi-stage festivals, hiring a single source to handle all the entertainment elements of the event is almost a necessity. The event director has too many other things to handle to have to worry about the details of his entertainment. 

Steve Rosenauer, director of the St. Mary’s University Alumni Association Fiesta Oyster Bake in San Antonio, Texas, once told me his definition of full production: “As a client, full production means working with a knowledgeable and experienced company that can produce a turn-key operation with regard to organizing, building and operating the necessary staging, sound, lights and equipment needs, with all meeting the negotiated specifications of the event as well as the bands. A company that does this can greatly enhance the quality of the event and provide a solid peace of mind to the entertainers and the event organizers.”

For the purposes of describing the process of a full production event, I will use the Fiesta Oyster Bake as my example. It’s a two-day, six-stage festival which kicks off San Antonio’s annual Fiesta Celebration every April. Fiesta has been ranked as the second largest party in the U.S. (Mardi Gras being first) by the National Meeting Planners Association. (And yes, they bake tons of oysters!) For years, our company, Sound Services, worked with this event. (Note that we recently chose to close the company for reasons completely unrelated to business.)

PREP MAKES PERFECT
In order to be ready by mid-April, we would start working in November. To be fair, we had been doing this event for nearly a decade, and had amassed a team of subcontractors with whom we were all very comfortable. Until a company gets to this point, preparations probably need to commence even sooner.

In November, we would begin talking about what our needs were going to be. Because city electrical inspectors were involved, we checked the City Code Compliance for any new electrical requirements. For example, one year (and for the first time), we were required to ground all of stages to the audio power distribution services, as well provide non-conductive covering of all power cables running in public areas. Not fun to discover things like this at the last minute!

We provided staging, sound, lights, backline, labor and all technical personnel for the festival. Because the client uses many more generators than just ours, they made those arrangements, but they used our generator provider so we were assured that power would not be a problem. The generator provider also stayed in contact on any change orders he received that might affect us.

Also by November, the client usually had more than half of the talent booked, so we got a vague idea of what to expect from headliners’ riders. By December, we started talking with our subcontractors, discussing what had changed from the previous year, giving them the firm dates, and requesting a firm price by January. 

After ringing in the new year, and still four months out, it was time to nail down the financials. Be very meticulous with this process!  Everything must be committed to paper, and math triple-checked in order to avoid any mistakes that could cost an entire profit margin.

It’s doubly vital to get this facet correct in the first year with an event, because the client will base future projections on those first year costs. Therefore, a mistake probably can’t be made up for next year.

Only after every cost is defined and listed, as well as those of the subcontractors, should the price be committed to the contract submitted to the client. Note: the one thing we found most often overlooked is the cost of a production manager. The hours and hours you spend working on this shouldn’t be done for free!

WORKING IN EARNEST
We would submit our contract on the first of February, with the understanding that requests on artists’ riders would probably cause an increase in total price. By this point, the client had all talent booked, so we could start working in earnest to learn just what those extra costs might be. My goal was to have all this information by the 15th of the month, still two months out.

There is a negotiation with contract riders and advancing the show that can - with some diplomacy - help reduce the number of additional line items for your client. Because most headliners’ riders are based on arena shows, for example, they will often concede some lighting instruments. 

On the other hand, you don’t want artist representatives to think your client is cheap, so know where and when to stop asking for concessions. It’s important to manage your client’s expectations in this regard as well. Most touring artists also understand that festivals differ from concerts, so if the stages are adequately stocked to begin with, most of the added line items will be for backline and spotlights.

Once we determined all of the additional artist-related expenses, we submitted a contract addendum. This addendum should include absolutely everything - a. client will begin to lose confidence if presented with more than one price addition. His budget is set in stone by this time, and your math errors and oversights are not his fault.

MINIMUM OF 40
Because Sound Services was responsible for the entire Oyster Bake Festival, not just the two stages we were physically covering, it was imperative that we advance the show with every artist. In this case, we’re talking a minimum of 40 bands, which made for a lot of work. But it accomplished several very important things. 

First, we got a thorough look at the requirements of every stage, and were assured that each subcontractor could adequately cover the entertainment line-up. If there was a particularly tough set change on a stage at a particular time, we could arrange to have extra help on hand at that time. 

Second, it gave each artist a feeling of confidence to know that individuals who care about their performances run the festival. Third, we established consistency in the way the artists were handled. The subcontracting sound companies all appreciated this.

And fourth, we could apprise artists of the “special quirks” of this festival. For example, it’s held on a university campus that is, itself, located in a neighborhood, not on a major thoroughfare. Getting to the venue is difficult when 80,000 other people are also trying to do the same, and there is no alternate route.

Sometimes when we told first-time performers to allow three hours to arrive, some balked, but we remained adamant. The ones who didn’t believe us were invariably late, which is a no-win for everyone. (By the way, returning artists were never late!)

Further, artists can’t drive to any stages except the main one, because they’re all positioned among campus buildings. For this reason, full backline was provided at every stage, and musicians were discouraged from bringing more gear than they absolutely had to have. To accommodate this, the university set up a team of volunteers to ferry musicians and their gear to the stages. It took several years to streamline this process.

Once all the advance work was complete, we created stage plots and input lists for every stage, and for both days. These were then dispatched to the sound companies working the festival with us.

GETTING CLOSER
A pre-production meeting with the festival committee and all stage managers was held six weeks to two months out. Each committee reported on their progress and, although we weren’t involved in things like pizza ovens and beer sales, it helped us to know what was going to be happening around us. 

Entertainment production is an important part of this meeting, and we made it a real bonding experience. Construction of “Stage 1,” for example, meant an entire campus parking lot has to be closed two days prior to the event, and thus it was critical that the timing be executed properly by the university security department. 

We also got to meet the stage managers and orient them as to what was expected of them. These folks are critical for smooth-running shows, and we let them know that. While their duties are light, the few things we needed from them are all important to the show.

Other things covered in this all-important meeting were issues of water, green rooms, use of volunteers (there are hundreds!) and getting musicians to the event and their respective stages. Over the years, and learning from our mistakes, we developed methods to efficiently accomplish these tasks, but until you’ve worked with an event for a long time, these issues are extremely important to thoroughly think through. For example, from experience we all learned that as much water as we thought we needed - double it!

At this time, we also walked the campus with the festival director, making note of things like trees that needed trimming or light poles tp temporarily remove. (Grounds and electrical departments need to be notified in advance to schedule work like this!)

WHO’S DOING WHAT
By one month out, we had a firm grip on exactly who was doing what. For example, if there was a sound company short a monitor engineer, this was the time to step in and lend a hand. Each subcontractor provided us with a list of personnel and how many vehicles (and of what type) they would be bringing on site. One aspect to double-check: be sure each contractor is providing enough people. For example, backline duties done properly for six stages requires more than two techs.

At this point, we would tally up all production people (including stagehands and spotlight operators) and provide the festival director with the number of parking passes and wristbands needed. Remember - on a multi-day festival, each person might need a fresh wristband each day. We also padded this number by a few more to replace ones that were inevitably lost.

Very key: the best technical person on staff must be in charge of production management. Even with the best preparations, all kinds of little things can go wrong, especially at multiple stages. One person not involved in production at any one stage has to be free to fight the fires, and this person should be well versed in technical knowledge as well as diplomacy. 

Our production manager for the festival spent each day traveling between stages, providing a break to a beleaguered engineer here, dealing with a power problem there, handling a recalcitrant band engineer somewhere else.  He also carried a radio for instantaneous contact. And, this person must have healthy legs – in a very crowded festival, a golf cart won’t work!

Three weeks out, we assembled packets for all of the subcontractors involved.  These included parking passes and wristbands, a map of the campus showing all stages and parking areas, a complete schedule of the event, and for the sound providers, stage plots and input lists. Load-in times were also provided.

Scheduling personnel is critical at this point. We staggered the load-in times so that we could make the best use of our stagehands. Stagehands have a four-hour minimum, and each is usually scheduled to work at more than one stage during a shift.  For load-out, we scheduled a much larger number of stagehands. This schedule was then filed with the labor company as a written work order, and note that this also included spotlight operators as well.

IT’S SHOWTIME!
Two days before the festival, we began to build the stages. The provider arrived with semi-trucks loaded with staging, and we again walked the site with the festival director, spotting the stages, front-of-house risers, spot towers and security towers.

The day prior to opening, we loaded in at our two stages, which then left us free to address the mayhem of everyone else loading in the next morning. The lighting contractor also loaded in with us in order to be out of the way, and this left the lighting directors free to work with headliners who might arrive early. On-site security was continuous at this point.

Day one of the festival would arrive, and we were free to conduct headliner soundchecks on our stages. Fortunately, the first act didn’t begin until 6 pm, so the atmosphere wasn’t too stressful.

The production manager was also available to address the various surprises that unfold, as they invariably will. This is where months of planning pay off and you can look really good to the client, who’s running around putting out all kinds of fires while his production people are calmly doing their jobs.

If all subcontractors are competent and well prepared, the event should run like an average one-off show. One caveat, however: it’s still a multi-day, multi-stage festival, with thousands of people swarming all over, so competent, well-informed stage managers become critical to your existence. 

They aren’t needed to get artists on and off the stage – we had already planned that out. They are most definitely needed to competently answer artist questions - “Where are our food coupons?” and “Where is our dressing room?” and the like. They also kept lots of water on ice, and plenty of ice in the ice chests.

The most important thing stage managers did, however, was manage the radios. Each stage had a radio, as did the production manager and the lead backline technician, and they were on a common channel with the event director. 

As the production staff performed its various tasks, we didn’t have time to monitor a radio, but when we had a problem or needed help, we simply asked a stage manager to contact whomever we needed. Previously we carried individual radios, but learned that this alternative approach worked so much better for everyone, plus it gave the stage managers a sense of ownership of their jobs as well. 

The best advice: “be round.” Roll with the punches and don’t get too excited by the inevitable little surprises that spring up. Make the production of entertainment as smooth as possible and don’t create tension or problems. That’s a big reason you were hired!

THE AFTERMATH
When it’s all over, the results of diligent planning and scheduling should continue to pay off. We found that handling a large number of stagehands at the end of the festival worked best if we arranged for the crew chief to assemble all of them at a pre-arranged site and make assignments from there.

Stagehands were first dispatched to the stages manned by our subcontractors, then re-routed to our stages last.  We always got this show loaded out within our four-hour labor minimum, by the way.

The production manager continued to make a circuit of the stages, being sure each stage had its allotted stagehands and collecting any left-behind belongings. We later attempted to repatriate these items with their owners.

When all the dust cleared a week or two later, we sat down and created a recap of the event, and this went into the file for next year. We also sent this recap to the festival director. Included were a summary of any issues that came up, general incidents, what worked well and what didn’t, and suggestions for improving next year’s event.

By working with the client in this fashion, we made ourselves a part of the event team, and enjoyed a multi-year contract. We also ingratiated ourselves to our subcontracting partners, who appreciated the work and reciprocated when appropriate. 

It’s just good business to develop this kind of working relationship with your clients and fellow business people, and it leaves you feeling pretty good about yourself as well.

Teri Hogan is a long-time audio professional and was co-owner of Sound Services Inc., a sound company based in Texas.

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In The Studio: Three Mid-Side Processing Tricks (Includes Audio Samples)

A form of processing on stereo sources for practical or creative effects

 
In this article I’ll explain how I use mid-side (MS) processing on stereo sources for practical or creative effects.

Mid-Side?
Two channels of audio can be combined in a way that gives us control over what is the same in each signal, the middle, and what is different, the sides.

The middle is where the kick drum, snare, bass, vocals and a lot of other instruments are, the sides have any hard-panned instruments and spatial effects like reverb.

It can be pretty interesting to listen to music like this, there can be a lot hidden in the side channel.

MS is also a stereo microphone technique using a cardioid microphone facing the source and a bidirectional mic turned 90 degrees away just picking up ambience.

In this situation the two signals would need to be decoded into stereo. The side mic signal is duplicated, polarity inverted and the two side signals are then panned hard left and right. This is not a true stereo mic technique but can sound very nice. The balance of mid and side signals can be adjusted as needed by changing the level of the three tracks.

You can manually encode and decode stereo files to MS and use mono plugins to process mid or side individually. A lot more plugins have an MS mode now. Many of the modules in the T-Racks suite allow mid side processing, as does Ozone, a few compressors and equalizers and a distortion also come to mind.

You can do this for subtle or crazy effects, its a fun way to experiment with plugins and get some unique sounds.

Loud & Wide
For a recent mastering job I used a Fairchild compressor plugin in MS mode (Lat/Vert) to compress the middle and increase the level of the sides. I did this in parallel so I could blend the effect in easily. I was also using this to get a lot of extra loudness. You can call this parallel MS compression.

Compare -

The master without parallel MS compression: listen

With parallel MS compression: listen

With parallel compression soloed: listen

No More Messy Verb
Someone asked ma about clearing up the middle of a mix when using a lot of reverb. Using MS compression on the reverb return can work well. Compress the middle more than the sides and increase the side volume if you want more width.

Here is an example of that on some drums - Steven Slate playing in KONTAKT. The whole kit is sent into Valhalla Room. With the Fairchild after the reverb I’m lowering the middle by 2 dB and raising the sides by 2 dB.

Here is this effect with lots of reverb on the drums: listen

And now with MS compression on just the reverb bus: listen

There is NO compression on the drums themselves, I’m only compressing the reverb return and widening it.

Wacky Effects
Here is an example of what you can do with a stereo loop and any plug-in. This is a little more complicated, and only works if there are hard panned sounds.

The loop I started with had a hi-hat that wasn’t panned very hard -  I copied it to a new track, filtered out all the lows, boosted some highs and then panned it hard left. Then I recorded the combined original and panned track to a new file.

Here is what I’m starting with: listen

Now that I had something on the sides I could mess around with MS processing.

The first thing you have to do is convert left-right to mid and side. I use the free +matrix MS decoder from SoundHack.com. After that I used a delay plugin to add some filtered echoes just to the middle by disabling the right side input.

In the next insert I used a distortion on just the right side. This brought out a lot more of the reverb than was heard in the original loop. Lastly, second MS decoder was used to bring it back to stereo.

Here is how the loop sounds now with delay in the middle and distortion on the sides: listen

Pretty cool right!? I hope you have found these tricks useful.

Jon Tidey is a Producer/Engineer who runs his own studio, EPIC Sounds, and enjoys writing about audio on his blog AudioGeekZine.com. To comment or ask questions about this article go here.

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Fishman Unveils Triple Play Wireless Guitar Controller

The new Fishman Triple Play Wireless Guitar Controller combines guitar with any virtual instrument or hardware synthesizer to access a wide range of instruments, samples and sounds on stage to expand the depth and impact of live performances.

Triple Play comes with a wireless controller, hexaphonic pickup, and wireless USB receiver. The controller and included software works with industry standard DAWs and vitual instruments and installs quickly on any electric guitar. The system can be easily removed from the guitar because it doesn’t require any permanent installation.

The Triple Play system features several “hold” functions such as sustain, looping, and arpeggiators, along with string or fret splits for multiple instruments.

Also included are menu navigation controls for the included software and a guitar synthesizer volume control. A guitar, mix, synth switch is easily accessible during performances.

A low profile design (less than .5-inch) allows the controller to be left on the guitar and still fit in the case. It operates with a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery (included).

Triple Play’s powered USB wireless receiver interfaces with computers or iOS devices. The system comes with a comprehensive Windows, OSX and iOS software bundle to get users started.

A Triple Play Wireless Guitar Expander option provides additional connectivity for interfacing wireless MIDI signals to computers or iOS devices. It adds a full function USB audio interface with guitar input, bypass and headphone output, MIDI hardware IN and OUT and support for footswitches to extend Triple Play’s capabilities for recording, performing or composing music.

The new Triple Play Wireless Guitar Controller is scheduled for release in June 2012.

Fishman

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Church Sound: How To Transition From Analog To Digital Mixing

A digital mixer is a whole new way of doing the same old things

 
I’m in the process of helping one of my churches transition from an analog mixer to a digital mixer.

They were in need of more channels than their Allen & Heath 16-channel MixWiz with some outboard gear (front of house EQ, couple of compressors, effects unit) could provide.

Based on the maximum number of channels that they anticipated needing over the next five years, I recommended the PreSonus StudioLive 24.4, one of the least expensive 24-channel digital mixers on the market.

The church has two audio volunteers that are pretty much average in their knowledge of sound and sound systems so this would be a typical transition for a lot of churches in the 100-400 person attendance range. Volunteers selected more for their willingness to serve than their knowledge of audio. I know that nothing has been touched with the front of house EQ, compressors and FX since I helped them set it up about a year ago.

Some things that you need to consider in this transition is how uncomfortable the volunteers are going to be until they make the paradigm switch from the analog WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) to the digital layers.

Depending on the digital board, layers control everything from different grouping of faders (1-8, 9-16, etc) to control over the aux sends, FX, etc. Outboard gear usually goes away and everything is now handled with the digital mixer. It’s a big transition and you shouldn’t minimize it, but treat it with care and planning and the transition will go smoothly.

Getting Started
What I recommend is that the digital mixer not be put into service immediately but be brought into a two-to-four-week training duty cycle. It requires some mics and cables as well as a couple of speakers for monitors and front of house stand-ins. If you have instruments that you can plug in that helps as well. Keep the existing analog system going as the production system until everyone has been trained and is comfortable with the digital board.

Before you start with the digital mixer, make sure everyone has reviewed the user manual. A digital board is a computer with knobs and faders and is significantly more complex than an analog mixer. While they are pretty robust, you can still mess them up and repairs can be costly.

An Investment of Protection
One thing to invest in if you haven’t is a top-line power conditioner like those from Furman. I also recommend a computer UPS (battery backup) from a company like APC or Tripp Lite. Get a decent capacity one. The reason is that because a digital mixer is a computer, when power is interrupted you can’t just switch it back on like an analog mixer. You need to boot it up and, depending on the mixer, that could take anywhere from a minute to several minutes.

Having a UPS unit, the mixer will stay powered on, so even if the rest of the system is knocked offline by the power interruption, when the power comes back on, the mixer will still be up.

Unboxing The Mixer
Once you get the mixer unboxed, check for any damage. If everything looks good bring all faders down to minimum and turn on the mixer. I like to let the mixer “burn in” for about four hours with nothing going on or plugged in just to let all the electronics warm up to full operating temperature. This will check to ensure that nothing is shorting out. Be aware of any burning electrical smell or smoke. If you detect either one shut the mixer down immediately and unplug it. Contact the vendor.

Preparing For Training
The StudioLive is close to an analog board in that all the channel faders are on one surface as opposed to layers. This makes the transition somewhat easier. All effects, aux send levels are controlled through the center “Fat Channel.” That will be where most of the confusion is going to come in so be prepared to spend a lot of time going through this area.

The StudioLive is set up pretty easy so I was able to figure 85% of the board out without looking at the manual. There are also a ton of video tutorials on the PreSonus site and YouTube that can help with anything to do with the board. But for volunteer sound techs it will be a bit of a challenge.

Building A Mini-System
Hook up a mic to channel 1 on the mixer and hook up a speaker to aux send 1 and to front of house. This will be the basic training setup.

Once you get it hooked up, bring up the gain to an appropriate level. A digital board is less forgiving about exceeding the 0 level than an analog board before going into clipping so run the level less than needed for training until you get comfortable with the way the board handles signals.

Don’t worry about EQ settings or FX yet. All you want to do is to learn the signal flow from the channel to the aux send and FOH.

Once you’ve figured out how to adjust the aux send levels for the channel and you can adjust FOH level you’ve gotten over the initial hump.

Using EQ
The next thing you’ll want to learn is how to adjust EQ’s for each channel. Depending on the digital mixer you’ll either have a screen that will have a parametric equalizer, or in the case of the StudioLive, you’ll have the knob adjustments for high, high mid, low mid and low bands. As with all digital mixers you are able to set the frequency points for all these bands as well as the Q, which is the width of the frequency adjustment. This is a lot more adjustability than what an analog mixer has and is worth spending some time practicing.

After the channel EQs get figured out you’ll want to adjust the front of house EQ. On the StudioLive it’s set the same way that the individual channel EQs are set. One nice advantage about digital mixers is that most of them have a library of preset EQs that you can start with. The StudioLive has built in a nice set of professional quality EQ presets that are good enough to leave alone and assign to each channel.

The other nice feature of digital boards is the ability to save all your settings to a scene. So you are able to set up multiple scenes for different worship teams or different instruments and recall them just by dialing up the scene and pressing the load button. So no more needing to reserve channels based on who’s playing that day.

Enter Effects
The power of digital mixers means that you can assign FX to each and every channel, both to auxes and to front of house, so you’ve got a lot of flexibility. Just remember that just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Less is more, at least in the beginning. Some boards give you more FX capabilities than others. The StudioLive offers two channels of FX, others more.

Multi-track Recording
Another advantage that digital mixers have is that they usually provide some form of multi-track recording capability. In the case of the StudioLive, it’s provided by a FireWire port into the provided Studio One software. This means you can record each channel separately into your computer, as long as it has a Firewire port.

One very cool reason for doing this for the worship team is the ability to do what’s called a Virtual Sound Check. What that means is that you don’t need the worship team there to set up the board. You can play back the individual tracks back into their respective board channels and use those tracks as the sound check.

Then, once the band gets in, sound check is very minimal. It’s also a great way for the sound team to train on the board and allows them to massage settings without needing the musicians.

Saving Scenes
Once you get everything set the way you want it remember to save your settings to a scene. I usually recommend naming the scene with the church name and 1. That way you can always recover your baseline settings.

Sound techs should create their own “sandbox” scene, which allows them to manipulate settings and save it to their own scene without affecting the master scene. Make sure that no one other than the lead sound tech saves to the master scene.

Once you’ve got the master scene saved it won’t matter what changes people make to the board during the week. Bringing back the master scene will only require a quick push of a button, and in the case of the StudioLive, resetting the gain and adjusting the faders. In other digital boards, gain settings and fader positions are saved within the scene.

Making The Switch
Once the sound techs are comfortable with the digital board then it’s time to switch out the old analog board with the new digital one. Check all your settings. Be sure any settings you change are saved to the master scene once you’re happy with how everything sounds.

Finally, when you shut things down, do NOT shut things down by just turning off the power conditioner. This WILL damage the digital mixer. Follow the shutdown procedure in the manual. It can be anything from just powering off the mixer with the mixer’s power switch to a shut-down procedure on the screen.

Summary
A digital mixer is a whole new way of doing the same old things. It’s exciting as well as terrifying for volunteers, so go slow. Take it one step at a time and ensure they are comfortable with the new system before putting it into production. You’ll achieve a seamless transition and have fun doing it!

Brian Gowing has helped over 30 churches meet their technology requirements. Brian works towards shepherding the church, analyzing their technical requirements, sourcing the equipment, installing the equipment and training the volunteer personnel.  As he likes to say, “equipping the saints with technology to help spread the Good News.” Contact Brian here.

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Joe Peavey And Steve Spittle Join QSC Audio

QSC Audio Products has announced the addition of two new members to its professional team, with the appointments of Joe Peavey to the position of product manager, software and Steve Spittle to the position of business development manager.

Peavey will be working with the Q-Sys team to identify and define improvements and additions to Q-Sys software functionality as well as providing high-level technical support. He has a lengthy background in the installed sound market by his work with the family business, Peavey Electronics, specifically working in manufacturing, tech support and finally product manager of the MediaMatrix line of DSP products.

Since leaving Peavey Electronics in 2006, Peavey has focused on creating hardware and software solutions for various audio manufacturers and consulting services for integrators in the U.S. and Canada.

“In the many months since my first interactions with the company, QSC continually amazes me with their attention to the market, their workforce and quality,” says Peavey. “I am proud to join forces with an organization of their caliber and reputation on a product at the top of its game.”

Spittle, in his new role at business development manager, will focus on expanding opportunities for growth in the company’s integrated systems business. He was previously western U.S. sales manager at Avid, and a vice president/owner at Millar Electronics, a manufacturers’ rep firm located in the southeastern U.S.

“QSC makes great products and cares about its customers,” he says. “I’m looking forward to working with this dynamic team to continue to build on this foundation for growth.”

Spittle is located in QSC’s Costa Mesa headquarters, while Peavey is located in the company’s satellite offices in Boulder, CO.

QSC Audio

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Mojave Audio Debuts MA-101SP Matched Pair Cardioid Condenser Microphones

Mojave Audio has introduced the new MA-101SP, a matched pair of MA-101fet cardioid condenser microphones for use in a range of stereo recording and live sound reinforcement tasks, with instruments such as drums and guitar amplifiers, as well as capturing room ambience and general stereo recording.

Each MA-101fet in the matched pair provides warm, full-bodied reproductions of instruments without the shrillness and high frequency artifacts so often encountered with modern condenser microphones.

The microphone’s warm FET circuitry and externally polarized capacitor mic element combine to deliver low noise and high quality performance.

The MA-101fet features both omni and cardioid polar patterns by way of interchangeable capsules and is outfitted with a 3-micron thick, .8-inch diameter gold sputtered diaphragm.

As one would expect from a David Royer designed microphone, each MA-101fet in the MA-101SP matched pair offer performance specifications that are impressive. Frequency response is 20 Hz - 20 kHz (+/- 3 dB), sensitivity rating is -40 dB (1 volt per pascal), and the distortion rating is less than 1 percent @ 120 dB SPL (-15 db pad off) and less than 1 percent @ 135 dB SPL (-15 dB pad on). The microphones operate on standard 48-volt Phantom power.

Mojave Audio president Dusty Wakeman states, “The new MA-101SP matched pair of microphones is the result of countless requests from the audio community. Drawing upon the strengths of the MA-101fet, these mics are a terrific choice for a wide range of stereo recording tasks where imaging is critical. 

“Engaging the 15 dB pad allows one to take advantage of the fast transient response on instruments such as snares, toms and loud guitar amps. The MA-101SP is a remarkably versatile general purpose recording and sound reinforcement tool that, I’m confident, will find a home in a wide variety of environments.”

The new Mojave Audio MA-101SP ships in a single carrying case that includes a stereo bar. MSRP is $1,195, and availability is Q1, 2012.

Mojave Audio

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Monday, February 06, 2012

Meyer Sound Promotes Miguel Lourtie To European Technical Services Manager

Meyer Sound has announced Miguel Lourtie as its new European technical services manager, where he will supervise the company’s technical support team in Europe and assume primary responsibility for sales support and design services in the region.

“Customer support is paramount at Meyer Sound,” says John Monitto, Meyer Sound’s director of technical support worldwide. “Our customers expect an extremely high level of technical expertise and customer service. With his outstanding technical skills, customer rapport, experience in the field, and fluency in several languages, Miguel is a great fit to lead our technical group in Europe.”

Lourtie joined Meyer Sound European technical services in 2007, and has played a vital role in supporting a number of major Meyer Sound projects across the continent, including the Mantziusgården Culture Center, Montreux Jazz Festival, and the Grimaldi Forum. He also serves as a seminar instructor as part of Meyer Sound’s extensive education program.

Prior to joining Meyer Sound, Lourtie founded Lourisom, an audio consulting and distribution business in Portugal and previously a Meyer Sound distributor.

“To ensure a seamless show, high-quality audio tools and the person driving the system are equally crucial,” says Lourtie. “The Meyer Sound tech support network has some of the best sound engineers in the industry, and I look forward to working even more closely with them to help our customers get the best out of their Meyer Sound equipment.”

Lourtie will continue to be based in Lisbon, Portugal.

Meyer Sound

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Fulcrum Acoustic Introduces RX699 Compact Full-Range Loudspeaker

Fulcrum Acoustic has introduced the RX699, a compact full-range loudspeaker designed as a solution for locations with tight spaces such as stage lip, balconies, kiosks, multimedia and delay/fill applications.

The RX699 sports a coaxial design, with a 6.5-inch cone driver and a high-efficiency, horn-loaded HF compression driver that supplies a surprisingly high output-to-size ratio, and the 90-degree by 90-degree is effective in close quarters.

The RX699 cabinet measures 10.8 x 7.1 x 6.5 inches and weighs 12 pounds. Connections from an external amplifier are Neutrik NL4 Speakon jacks.

Two yoke points as well as t-nuts for third party mounting systems are standard. Options include a mounting bracket and internal 70-volt transformer.

As with all Fulcrum Acoustic products, proprietary TQ processing is an integral part of the RX699 design. TQ processing can be implemented on over 20 different industry-standard DSP platforms.

“This product further expands the Fulcrum product line for fixed installations,” states Stephen Siegel, president of Fulcrum Acoustic. “We designed the RX699 to the same standards as its larger siblings, using premium drivers and Dave Gunness’s advanced design techniques. Consistent with all of our products, the RX699 packs an amazing amount of performance into its diminutive footprint.”

Fulcrum Acoustic

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The Right Sonic Blend For An Electronic Ensemble & The New York Philharmonic

Reinforcing the live performance of a motion picture score at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center

The Philip Glass Ensemble, along with members of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Collegiate Chorale symphonic choir, recently performed Glass’ powerful score for the 1982 landmark motion picture “Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out Of Balance” as the film screened at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center.

The two exclusive live performances (and screenings), held on consecutive nights for sold-out audiences at the 2,738-seat home venue of the Philharmonic, presented some sound reinforcement challenges.

The hall does not have a house system, yet the Philip Glass Ensemble, founded by composer Glass in the late 1960s to perform his experimental minimalist music, is always amplified when playing live.

As a result, Dan Dryden, long-time front-of-house engineer for the ensemble, worked with Audio Production Services of Amawalk, NY to design a reinforcement system to serve the unique needs of the event while fitting within the scope of the hall.

“With an event like this you want all of the instruments, acoustic and electronic, to sound like they belong together,” Dryden explains. “The sound system needs to be clean and consistent, in addition to being capable of covering the entire hall without impeding any stage site lines.”

He adds that, in general, he prefers the footprint of compact line arrays, and following a site review, decided that approach would work for this project as well. The choice was the compact RCF TT+ Series, with single arrays each comprised of 10 TTL31-A modules flown left and right, attached to the overhead stage grid.

“When specifying systems for the ensemble I’m looking for smaller line arrays with flat frequency response,” explains Dryden. “These were perfect. The low-mid frequencies are rich and warm, and the coverage was excellent.”

The overall footprint of these arrays indeed was relatively miniscule, measuring just less than two feet wide by only about 10 feet deep. The self-powered, 2-way active line array modules are outfitted with a single-8-inch cone driver and three compression drivers feeding a horn with horizontal dispersion of 100 degrees. They proved capable of covering all four levels of seating (main and three balconies) as well as boxes.

“The arrays had no problem throwing all of the way to the back row of the top balcony without any need for delay fills. We had plenty of power for the space,” Dryden states.

The mains were joined by four RCF TTS56-A dual 21-inch subwoofers, two side-by-side on each side of the stage, and each of these sub sets hosted a single TT25 compact powered loudspeaker supplying in fill presence, particularly for higher frequencies.

The house loudspeaker complement was completed with front fill via four TT052-A low-profile 2-way loudspeakers deployed evenly along the front lip of the stage.

The ensemble, positioned centrally on stage, was comprised of eight players, including three on keyboards, three more on woodwinds, one soprano vocalist, and for this show, a bass vocalist. The orchestra’s 30-piece string section and 19-piece brass section, as well as the 40-member choir, resided in a semi-circle around them.

Each string instrument – violas, cellos and double bass – was outfitted with a DPA 4061 omnidirectional miniature clip-on microphone, while Sennheiser MD 421 II dynamic mics were stand-mounted for each trumpet, trombone, French horn, bass trombone and tuba in the brass section. Each two vocalists of the choir shared a Shure SM58 mic, also stand-mounted.

The ensemble feeds went directly to both front-of-house and monitor consoles, with Dryden manning a Yamaha PM5D board for house and Stephen Erb on another PM5D for monitors.

All of the orchestra and choir feeds (more than 80), meanwhile, routed to a DiGiCo D1 Live console. There, Dan Bora did a mix of the individual stems that were then supplied to the house and monitor consoles.

“One big challenge for a performance of this scale is the number of inputs,” Dryden notes. “In this case we decided to utilize a sub mix, which ended up being a very big job. Not only did Dan Bora have to make sure signal integrity and placement of each of the microphones were good, but the mixes provided to house and monitors were key to the sonic performance.”

All effects were supplied via the PM5D consoles with the exception of a Lexicon 300 reverb at front-of-house that Dryden likes to apply to certain passages or sections.

“The Lexicon algorithms are excellent,” he says. “I’ve used Lexicons forever – for me they’re the smoothest, best-sounding digital reverbs.”

Monitor engineer Erb fed mixes to 12 dBTechnologies DVX D12 powered 2-way loudspeakers that acted as stage monitors for the ensemble - keyboards, woodwinds, soprano vocal and bass vocal.

The strings, brass and chorus sections were served monitor mixes with stand-mounted dBTechnologies K70 multipurpose ultra-compact loudspeakers (also powered).

Dryden reports that the project produced the results he was seeking. “I think it’s always important to remember that you need to work with a room rather than try to impose your will upon it,” he concludes. “In this case, it’s a terrific room and, when equipped with the right system, it sounded fantastic. The musicians in the symphony and the chorus added so much to the ensemble’s performance. It all added up to a lot of fun.”

Julie McLean Clark is a writer and marketing consultant working who has worked in the pro audio industry for more than 15 years.

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Radial Introduces Shuttle Multi-Function Effects Insert Module For 500 Series

Radial Engineering has introduced the Shuttle, a new multi-function effects insert module for the 500 Series frame format and the Radial Workhorse.

The Shuttle offers three insert loops:

—Loop-1 is a front-panel insert that employs 1/4-inch TRS connectors for fully balanced connectivity
—Insert-2 is an unbalanced insert that is also front panel mounted that easily interfaces to standard effects devices
—Insert-3 is available on the Workhorse using the Omniport, which is wired following convention with tip-send, ring-return, making it ideal to interface with a remote patchbay.

All three loops are equipped with an insert switch that lets the user compare the wet and dry signal paths.

The insert points may also be used as inputs to feed a signal into the Workhorse mix bus. This opens the door to using the Workhorse with source devices such as CD players and iPods or with multi-channel fader packs and so on.

The Shuttle also enables those who own a Workhorse to easily integrate older 500 Series modules into the Workhorse mix buss. One mounts the non-Radial module next to the Shuttle, engages the feed function, and the signal will automatically be routed.

“As soon as our engineers started to integrate the Workhorse within the digital studio environment, they immediately noticed a need to simplify the process of patching effects in and out following what studios would normally do using a patch bay,” says Radial sales manager Steve McKay. “And as we delved further down the rabbit hole, we realized that the 500 Series was limited with respect to performing functions such as overdubbing. The Shuttle addresses these limitations while opening the door to creative new patching options.”

Radial Engineering

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ESS Audio Outfits Stadion Miejski With System Headlined By Harman Components For Euro 2012 Champ

Polish technology company ESS Audio is midway through an intensive development program that will see the completion of several world-class football stadia by the time Poland co-hosts the UEFA Euro 2012 Championship (along with Ukraine) next summer.

Earlier this year, ESS Audio commissioned an integrated Harman Pro audio components in the new PGE Arena in Gdansk, before turning its attention to Stadion Miejski in Wroclaw, the highest Category 4 Municipal Stadium in the country.

The ESS technical team engaged in a similar fast-fit installation for the rebuilding of the 42,000-capacity stadium, again sourcing most of the equipment from the Harman Pro portfolio.

ESS Audio worked within an innovative architectural concept—devised by JSK Architekci and built by German company, Max Boegl—in which the building is covered by glass fiber mesh coated with a Teflon fiber net façade. As with the successful PGE Arena design, the company used EASE predictions for system optimization, dividing the stadium stands into 14 separate zones, and assigning a zone each to the ancillary UEFA, VIP and Incentive boxes.

ESS Audio has equipped the main bowl and stands with JBL PD Series loudspeakers, with rotated horns, specifying a total of 59 PD5200/95-WRX (90 x 50 degrees) and 28 x PD5200/43-WRX (40 x 30 degrees) weatherized speakers, along with 56 PD5125-WRX weatherized subwoofers. These have mainly been mounted in clusters of five, comprising two PD5200/43-WRX, one PD5200/95-WRX and two PD5125-WRX weatherized speakers.

A further three single PD5200/95’s fire onto the field, with two single clusters playing in front of the LED screens, aiming 90 degrees down to the lower seating. Two additional clusters, comprising a pair of PD5200/95-WRX and PD5125-WRX, are set behind the LED screens for mid and high seat coverage.

With the wind factor a major area for consideration, ESS prepared custom brackets for the PD enclosures, and as a further precaution, secured each PD loudspeaker in the cluster with a steel line covered in polymer.

Powering the rig are 47 Crown CTs3000 amplifiers, fitted with PIP USP4 processor modules, and interfaced with a BSS Soundweb London DSP environment—allowing distribution over CobraNet, and for the system to be remotely controlled and monitored via Harman HiQnet System Architect.

The stadium is divided into a number of dedicated zones, including 20 VIP boxes,10 further Incentive Boxes (and UEFA boxes), a Business Club, a general esplanade / concourse, a fan shop, team zones (including indoor swimming pool) and media zone. In the UEFA, Incentive and VIP areas, a further 90 JBL Control Contractor 8128 ceiling speakers have been specified—powered by Crown CTs600 amplification.

Amp racks are stationed in the four corners of the stadium (each containing a BSS Soundweb London BLU-80 DSP), while an additional BLU-800 processor is located in the Skybox. All five processors are equipped with Input/Output cards.

Each rack also contains an automatic amp changeover (in the unlikely event of amplifier failure), an Edimax switch along with several Moxa optical-Ethernet converters/switches, making the system fully redundant. This is easily interfaced with the stadium’s voice evacuation and fire alarm system via Soundweb London.

Up in the Skybox is the technical control room where a Soundcraft GB4-16 console, a pair of JBL LSR2325P studio monitors, a rack with AKG DMS 700 wireless mic systems, various line devices (players and recorders) and Soundcraft redundant console power supply are located.

From the Skybox music is broadcast and live announcements made, with an adjacent room for evacuation procedures, complete with fireman’s switch.

The installation meets all required standards (including an STI of 0.5). ESS provided full training including use of the Skybox equipment, System Architect software and general problem solving. They will be able to log on and carry out regular health checks under strict safety rules.

According to ESS Audio project manager Witold Karalow, this stadium project has been one of the most challenging the company has undertaken.

Aside from Karalow, the ESS Audio project team in Wroclaw comprised system designer Wojciech Zielinski and BSS Soundweb programmer Konrad Fengler, with Wojciech Kopytek handling system setup and Dariusz Kuta serving as project coordinator.

Harman Pro

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Full Compass Systems Appoints Jim Ripp As Assistance Sales Manager

Full Compass Systems has named Jim Ripp as its new assistant sales manager, bringing a wide range of music industry related sales and management experience to the role.

Ripp studied at the University of Wisconsin - School of Music with a dual degree in Piano Performance and K-12 Music Education. While there, he began working at Forbes-Meagher Music Company as a sales/general manager, and also served as director of education. 

In addition to handling sales and accounting functions at Forbes, Ripp managed a team of 18 and developed music training programs for youth and seniors. 

In 1993, Ripp began working concurrently for Falcetti Music Co. as a store manager, sales representative and teacher, which had him managing a team of employees and teachers while gaining experience in sales, customer service and technical support.

Roxanne Wenzel, vice president of sales and marketing for Full Compass states, “Jim is a great fit for our organization. His skills and experience will greatly complement the sales management we already have in place and help us continue our double-digit growth.”

Full Compass Systems

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Adamson Subwoofer Technology Chosen For German Science Experiments

The professorship of Mechatronics at the Helmut-Schmidt University and University of the German Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg has chosen 16 Adamson Systems B-118 subwoofers for a new sound reinforcement system used as the primary sound projection source with an aircraft passenger cabin model.

This experimental loudspeaker rig will be used for studying the effects of noise emissions of the controversial propfan engines inside of the cabin, and the effectiveness of active noise cancelling measures.

The B-118 subwoofers are utilized to re-create a specific acoustic signature of the engine at realistic sound pressure levels.

The department, headed by Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Delf Sachau, is internationally respected as a leading research institute for cabin acoustics and active noise cancellation technologies and has multiple partnerships with global players in the commercial aerospace industry.

The new system was installed by Adamson Europe’s Jochen Sommer, in cooperation with Dr.-Ing. Oliver Pabst and Dipl.-Ing. Kai Simanowski.

The B-118 subs were chosen to meet the project’s needs for compact, powerful low-frequency loudspeakers with a frequency range of 40 to 400 Hz, along with extended high-pass characteristics.

Further, the subs needed to be cost effective, as a greater number of units was needed in order to achieve increased flexibility in respect to pattern control through physical placement of each cabinet, and individual processing.

The subwoofers are driven by two Lab.gruppen C48:4 amplifiers and controlled by a single Xilica XA-2040 processor.

The B-118 employs a single AW18 driver, which has an 18-inch woven Kevlar diaphragm driver. With its extremely high stiffness to mass ratio, Kevlar helps eliminate the effects of cone fatigue while providing enhanced long term reliability.

The AW18 continues to be used in a variety of Adamson loudspeakers, including as the LF extension in the Y18 cabinet, as well as in the SpekTrix Sub enclosure.

“The Adamson speakers met our specifications and demands in terms of output, reliability, and acoustic focusing. Further positive effects of the controlled low frequency radiation are greater energy efficiency, and reduced spill towards neighboring test rigs. Flexibility and control of this system offers new possibilities for our acoustic research projects,” states Dipl.-Ing. Kai Simanoswki.

Adamson Systems

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