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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.
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.”
Posted by Keith Clark on 02/06 at 05:16 PM
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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.
A view of Avery Fischer Hall with the main RCF TTL31-A arrays flown to each side of the stage. (click to enlarge)
“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.
A closer look at one of the compact arrays that provided the advantage of a minimal footprint. (click to enlarge)
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 ensemble on stage surrounded by the orchestra and choir during one of the performances of “Koyaanisqatsi.” (click to enlarge)
“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.
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.”
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.
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.”
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.
Haven’t we all had stories of misheard words? It could have been a song lyric or you misheard your spouse? Maybe they mumbled a word or it just wasn’t clear what was said. This has been the cause for a few hilarious moments at our dinner table.
The problem is unclear words are a distraction from the message.
In the church environment, the pastor’s words must be clear. We can ensure this maximum intelligibility through proper speech EQ.
There are four topics to consider when it comes to the EQ’ing needs for the spoken word.
1. Microphone location. We are fortunate in that most pastors now use wireless microphones. This means that the distance between the mic and their mouth is pretty consistent. In the case of the headpiece, this is especially true.
In the case of the lapel mic, remember they should drop their chin to their chest and put the mic directly below that point. Long ago, I was taught “a fist away from the chin.” The point here is that we want the best sound isolation we can possibly get while having a good gain structure in place.
Remember, the closer to the source, the more the proximity effect comes into the equation and you’ll need to EQ out some of that added bassiness.
2. The speaker’s natural voice. Just as every guitar has a unique sound, so does every person. You want to bring out the best qualities of their voice. You don’t want them to sound like a different person. Their vocal characteristics are also “what you have to work with.”
This means you’ll need to know how to deal with quiet speakers, bassy talkers, and nasally preachers, just to list a few. Not everyone has a great radio voice.
3. Presence of background music. Depending on your church, your pastor might talk with a running soundtrack. There is definitely an art to being able to play the right music for this.
However, any type of music bed means you now have to make a space for the voice amidst the instrumentals. Instrumentals can easily blur the spoken word so you’ll have to plan on tweaking the EQ for the musicians as well.
4. The environment. Just because a vocal boost at 400 Hz sounds good in one room doesn’t mean it will sound good in another room. One of myreaders runs audio outside…in Egypt. Any EQ work must take the environment into account. The settings for a “quiet room” won’t be the same for an echo-y room or an outdoor venue.
Now that we’ve got those out of the way, let’s turn to…
The Frequency Make-Up Of Speech
Our speaking voice has three frequency ranges that need to be understood: 1. Fundamentals. The fundamental frequencies of speech occur roughly between 85 Hz and 250 Hz. 2. Vowels. Vowels sounds contain the maximum energy and power of the voice, occurring between 350 Hz and 2 kHz. 3. Consonants. Consonants occur between 1.5 kHz and 4 kHz. They contain little energy but are essential to intelligibility.
In short, this means that the “power” of the voice does not equate to the intelligibility of the voice. Think of it like this…just because a person has a booming voice doesn’t mean they are easy to understand.
Now that you understand the audio dynamics (fundamentals, etc) in a voice and the environmental concerns (background music), let’s turn to…
What You Can Do To Provide The Maximum Speech Intelligibility For Your Pastor
There are three things you can do for tackling the EQ’ing process for the spoken word:
1. Make room for the voice. As I mentioned above, the environment makes a difference in how you EQ the spoken word. We can only control what is coming into the mixing board, so wind and rain aside, let’s talk about music.
Mixing a large band means making space in the sonic spectrum where each instrument/vocal can sit and sound unique; and of course then blending these sounds together into a tight mix.
The spoken word needs the same treatment when music is played underneath it. This can happen in two ways—
—A. Adjust volume. This can be done using compression or simple volume adjustments. The general rule-of-thumb is the music is there to support the spoken word – to sit underneath it. Therefore, look to cut volume levels of instruments before you boost the volume of the speaker. You can also use compression to bring volume levels up and down as you wish. —B. Adjust the mix. Cut the frequencies of the instruments where they are the same as that of the speaker. Boost the spoken word EQ in those areas a little if needed to present the music and the voice as two distinct sounds.
2. Know sibilance and how to avoid it. Sssssssibilance in vocals is when the sound of the letter “S” sounds more like a hissing snake. You can accentuate vowel sounds/add presence by increasing the EQ in the 4.5 kHz to 6 kHz.
However, the “S” sound lives between 5 kHz and 7 kHz. Therefore, be careful when adding presence because you can easily go from a great sound to a hissy sound.
3. Focus on vocal quality. There is no simple 1-2-3 process to EQ’ing the spoken word. Therefore, take these points into consideration:
—Roll off the low frequencies if the proximity effect is causing unusual bassiness. —Don’t roll off so much low end as the voice loses some of its umph. Yes, I’m using “umph” as a technical word. —Boost in the 1 kHz to 5 kHz range for improving intelligibility and clarity. —Boost in the 3 kHz to 6 kHz range to add brightness. This can help with speakers with poor intonation. —Boost in the 4.5 kHz to 6 kHz range to add presence. Note that too much boosting in this area can produce a thin lifeless sound. —Boost in the 100 Hz to 250 Hz for a boomy effect.
In Case Your Head Is About To Explode From Information Overload, Remember:
—The above points can contradict each other. There is no hard and fast rule. Mixing is as much an art as a science. Trust your ears over everything else. —It’s possible that once you EQ the vocal channel that it’s a little lacking in the low end. Boost it a bit give it that full sound. Again, trust your ears. Close your eyes and ask yourself if it a) sounds natural and b) sounds clear.
Finally
EQ’ing the spoken word is about improving the quality of the sound so it sounds clear, is easy to understand, and sounds natural.
So much of our mix time goes towards the band. Make sure you spend those few crucial minutes working on the pastor’s vocal as well.
Church was about the sermon long before music, skits, and cool videos rolled onto the scene.
Ready to learn and laugh? Chris Huff writes about the world of church audio at Behind The Mixer. He covers everything from audio fundamentals to dealing with musicians. He can even tell you the signs the sound guy is having a mental breakdown.
Lexicon has announced the availability of the individual plug-ins from its PCM Native Effects and PCM Native Reverb Bundles, with a total of 14 plug-ins available, including Pitch Shift, MultiVoice Pitch, Chorus, Resonant Chords, Random Delay, Dual Delay, Stringbox, Vintage Plate, Plate, Hall, Room, Random Hall, Concert Hall and Chamber.
“Offering the individual plug-ins from our PCM Native Effects and PCM Native Reverb Bundles represents our commitment to provide Lexicon users with greater flexibility and ease to obtain exactly the sound quality they are looking for from the specific plug-in(s) they need for any project,” says Rob Urry, vice president Harman Professional Division & GM of Signal Processing and Amplifier Business Units.
The PC- and Macintosh-compatible plug-ins are designed to work with popular DAWs like Pro Tools, Logic and Nuendo, as well as with any other VST, Audio Unit or RTAS-compatible host.
Each plug-in can be run in mono, stereo or mono in/stereo out, and on-screen input and output meters are provided for precise level setting.
All Lexicon plug-ins are Native only, and require iLok2 authorization. The individual plug-ins will be available in February 2012.
Ells has long been recognized as one of the finest engineers working today and has a shelf full of industry awards (five Grammys, four Surround Music Awards, Surround Pioneer Award, Tech Awards Hall Of Fame and too many total award nominations to count) from his work with The Eagles, Beck, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Sting, John Fogerty, Van Morrison, Toto, Queen, Faith Hill, Lenny Kravitz, Natalie Cole, Doobie Brothers, Aerosmith, Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand and many, many others to prove it. He’s also one of the nicest guys in the business.
In this interview, Elliot talks not only about his approach to mixing but about some of his projects as well. ——————————————————————————————————- Do you have a philosophy about mixing?
Elliot Scheiner: I’ve always believed that if someone has recorded all this information, then they want it to be heard, so my philosophy is to be able to hear everything that was recorded.
It’s not about burying everything in there and getting a wall of sound. I’ve never been into that whole concept. It was more about whatever part was played, if it was the subtleties of a drummer playing off beats on the snare drum next to the backbeat, obviously he wants that heard. So I always want to make sure that everything that’s in that record gets heard.
If you were able to accomplish hearing every single instrument in the mix, that was a huge achievement. Granted, maybe there wasn’t as much information when I started as there is now. I myself have come across files that have been a hundred and some odd tracks, so it’s not as easy to do that today.
I have to admit that the way some people record things today is a bit peculiar. All of a sudden you’ll be dealing with 7 or 8 different mics on the same instrument. Like, for example, an acoustic guitar will all of a sudden have 7 different viewpoints of where this guitar’s being recorded.
It’s mind boggling that you have to go and make a determination and listen to every single channel to decide which one you want to use. And if you pick the wrong ones they come back at you and say, “Oh, we had a different combination” or “It doesn’t sound quite right to us”, but they don’t tell you what they did! So granted, it is a little more difficult to deal with those issues today, but I still take the same approach with every mix. If you have a hundred tracks, will you try to have them all heard? Or do you go in and do some subtractive mixing?
Elliot Scheiner: Well, it depends if that’s necessary. I don’t usually get those kind of calls where they say “Here’s a hundred tracks. Delete what you want.” It’s usually not about that. And I have to say that I’ll usually get between 24 and 48 tracks in most cases and hardly ever am I given the liberty to take some of them out.
I mean if something is glaringly bad I’ll do that, but to make a judgment call as to whether background vocals should be in here or there, I generally don’t do that. I just assume that whatever an artist and producer sends me is kind of written in stone. They’ve recorded it, and unless they tell me otherwise, I usually don’t do subtractive mixing. How long does it take you to do a mix on average?
Elliot Scheiner: Depending on how complicated it is, it usually takes anywhere from 3 hours to a day.
3 hours is really fast!
Elliot Scheiner: Yeah, well a lot of time you just get a vibe and a feel for something and it just comes together. Then you look at it and say “How much am I actually going to improve this mix.” I mean if it feels great and sounds great I’m a little reluctant to beat it into the ground.
For me it’s still about a vibe and if I can get things to sound good and have a vibe, that’s all I really care about. I still put Al Schmitt on a pedestal. Look at how quickly he gets things done. He can do three songs in a day and they’ll be perfect and amazing sounding and have the right vibe. So it’s not like it can’t be done. Some people say that you can’t get a mix in a short time and that’s just not true and Al’s my proof. Where do you usually start your mix from?
Elliot Scheiner: Out of force of habit, if there’s a rhythm section I’ll usually start with the drums and then move to the bass and just work it up. Once the rhythm section is set I’ll move on to everything else and end with vocals.
How much EQ do you use?
Elliot Scheiner: I can’t say that there are any rules for that. I can’t say that I’ve ever mixed anything that Al has recorded, but if I did I probably wouldn’t have any on it. With some of the stuff done by some of the younger kids, I get it and go, “What were they listening to when they recorded this.”
So in some cases I use drastic amounts where I’ll be double compressing and double EQing; all kinds of stuff in order to get something to sound good. I never did that until maybe the last 5 years. Obviously those mixes are the ones that take a day or more.
When you’re setting up a mix, do you always have a certain set of outboard gear, like a couple of reverbs and delays, ready to use or do you patch it as you go?
Elliot Scheiner: Usually I don’t start out with any reverbs. I’m not one for processing. I’d like to believe that music can survive without reverbs and without delays and without effects. Obviously when it’s called for I’ll use it, but the stuff I do is pretty dry. The 70’s were a pretty dry time and then the 80’s effects became overused. There was just tons of reverb on everything.
Most of your Steely Dan stuff is pretty dry, isn’t it?
Elliot Scheiner: It’s pretty much dry. What we used were plates usually.
Real short ones?
Elliot Scheiner: Not necessarily. In the days when I was working at A&R [studios in New York city] we had no remotes on any of our plates there. Phil [Ramone - producer and owner of A&R] wanted to make changing them difficult because he tuned them himself and he really didn’t want anybody to screw with them.
There would be at least 4 plates in every room. Some of them might be a little shorter than another but generally they were in the 2 to 2 1/2 second area. There was always an analog tape pre-delay, usually at 15 ips, going into the plates. The plates were tuned so brilliantly that it didn’t become a noticeable effect. It was just a part of the instrument or part of the music. You could actually have a fair amount on an instrument and you just wouldn’t notice it.
Is the sound of the A&R plates something that you try to get today?
Elliot Scheiner: Oh, I’m always trying to get that reverb sound If I’m using plates either at Right Track or Capital, I’ll still use an analog tape delay going into it.
Bobby Owsinski is an author, producer, music industry veteran and technical consultant who has written numerous books covering all aspects of audio recording. For more information be sure to check out his website and blog.
Community Delivers Sound Throughout New Salvation Army Kroc Center (Includes Video)
McDonald’s founders Ray and Joan Kroc were known for supporting a variety of charitable causes, and their legacy continues with a multi-billion dollar donation to the Salvation Army for the construction of several community centers in cities across America.
The latest Kroc Center, recently opened in North Philadelphia, is one of the largest facilities of its kind on the East Coast, with 130,000 square feet that includes a world-class aquatics center, fitness center, worship and performing arts facilities, café and culinary education center, as well as a wide range of programs for kids, adults and senior citizens.
Quality sound reinforcement was also a big part of the plan for the facility, explains Joe Zamborsky of RTS Unified Communications, which specified a selection of Community Professional Loudspeakers for the project, including R-Series, WET-Series and CLOUD6 in-ceiling systems to cover the pool areas, worship center, fitness center gymnasium and numerous other areas.
“In any major project like this one, there are a number of challenges,” says Zamborsky. Clearly, the project’s tight six-month schedule was a demanding one, as was the need to be exceptionally flexible in the face of numerous logistical challenges.
“On more than one occasion, plans had to be altered due to unforeseen surprises during the construction process. “The number one most important thing is communication,” he observes. “We maintained a daily, ongoing dialogue with everyone involved in the project, and that was key to our ability to keep things moving.”
The Community loudspeakers fit the bill on multiple levels, says Zamborsky, “particularly in the pool areas, which combined a tremendously reverberant environment with an exceptionally high humidity, the R-Series was the only choice. Not only do they look great, but they sound terrific.”
The competition pool area offered up additional challenges as well. “Aside from having to cover the pool area itself, we were tasked with creating a separate system to cover the stands, which are tucked away in their own alcove,” Zamborsky adds. “We chose the Community WET Series to cover that area, because they provided both a tight, focused coverage pattern and a high degree of intelligibility.”
Dynamics Of Product Procurement In The Commercial Electronic Systems Industry
The latest Market Intelligence Briefing (MIB) report from the National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA), Channel Trends and Issues: Dynamics of Product Procurement in the Low Voltage Commercial Electronic Systems Industry, examines the continually evolving product procurement opportunities many systems integrators face in today’s way of conducting business.
The report provides a distinct difference in the varying methods – including sales representatives to two-step distributors – and outlines the trends of purchasing, product sourcing, dealer business programs, and how systems integrators evaluate their supplier sources.
An evolving distribution channel is causing systems integrators to make decisions on product procurement, providing challenges to the traditional marketplace in the low voltage systems channel.
As businesses streamline and become more efficient, the number of brands of products carried and installed has become more specific, driving the relationships between suppliers and integrators to become an important factor of the distribution model.
The relationship between these suppliers, be it from manufacturers (nearly 50 percent of the respondents purchased gear directly from 6-25 manufacturers) or distributors, (76 percent of integrators purchase from 3-10 distributors), is becoming more important.
However, in 2007, integrators purchased an average of 38 percent of their equipment/supplies through two-step distributors, and in 2011 only 34 percent of total equipment/supplies purchased came from distributors.
Interestingly, smaller firms who procure more products from distributors cannot compete with minimum order and annual purchase requirements, allowing two-step distributors to pave a way for smaller firms to be viable and competitive.
Further, the report shows that some integrators have purchased equipment from distributors to gain advantages such as special pricing, reduced or free freight and other incentives despite having dealer relationships.
Understanding the benefits of a dealer business program are critical to the relationship regardless of which distribution model you choose. Of most importance to the integrators were product/technical training and support and “live” customer service (aka, talking to a real person).
Price also proved to be an important factor, but training and customer service remain the top two factors when determining your partners and providers in business. A strategy applied to all factors of your business from sale to installation to maintenance.
Beyond the business programs, integrators were asked to rate their favorite suppliers, and while there were similar responses, the highly rated distributors featured easy access to “people;” a warranty tied with products, technical training, support; system design assistance tied with a good return policy; and finally sales/training support.
Of least importance were incentives, mobile apps with technical data and coop advertising or “key city money” programs.
The report also shows a majority of integrators prefer field sales reps for audio equipment and for control and interface, security and life safety, telephony, racks, mounts, furniture, accessories, lighting and lighting controls equipment a more direct link to the manufacturers is preferred. Two-step distributors ranked higher in data cabling, security and life safety, telephony and other accessories.
Of other importance is the difference from 2007 to today in the ratings of both local sales reps and distributors in general. Reps in general were rated higher in 2011, and while the ratings for distributors also were higher in 2011 than in 2007, sales representative still ranked higher than distributors.
More detailed information is included in the report showing the important factors used in rating the various distribution models, dealer business programs, how suppliers are chosen and the preferences of product procurement.
NSCA’s MIB reports provide members with current data on key industry issues complete with statistical results, interpretation, implications, market knowledge and implementation goals. NSCA members can access the full report at www.nsca.org/mib.
PreSonus Adds New Control Options To StudioLive Mixers
PreSonus has announced new updates to its StudioLive Series digital mixers, including a number of features not found on any other digital mixer from any manufacturer.
New features include:
QMix. Up to 10 musicians can simultaneously control their PreSonus StudioLive monitor (aux) mixes using an iPhone or iPod touch and PreSonus’ QMix app, a free download from the Apple App Store. QMix/VSL is the only solution that allows multiple users to each control their own aux from separate iPhones.
Smaart Engine Technology. PreSonus has begun incorporating Rational Acoustics Smaart Measurement Technology for sound-system analysis and optimization directly into PreSonus Virtual StudioLive remote-control/editor/librarian software.
With Smaart technology and VSL, you’ll be able to precisely identify nasty feedback frequencies and get your loudspeakers to play nicer with the room-all without having a degree in acoustical engineering.
The first version of VSL to incorporate Smaart technology will be part of PreSonus Universal Control 1.6, which is expected to be available later this spring.
Universal Control 1.5.3 and StudioLive Remote 1.2. Universal Control 1.5.3 features an improved version of Virtual StudioLive that supports the new QMix iPhone app, including QMix permissions (so that each user controls only one specified aux mix) and the ability to name aux buses.
Universal Control 1.5.3 also adds VSL features that work with PreSonus StudioLive Remote 1.2 for iPad to enable SL Remote permissions so that iPad users can only control front-of-house mixer features or a specified aux. Tap tempo has been added to both VSL and StudioLive Remote.
VSL adds the ability to copy and load channels, copy main mix to aux mix (and aux to aux), link channel faders so that they can move together, and make your StudioLive mixer default to Fader Locate Mode once a fader has been adjusted in VSL or in StudioLive Remote for iPad.
From the archives of the late, great Recording Engineer/Producer (RE/P) magazine, this feature provides an interesting look back at quadraphonic recording. This article dates back to September of 1970. (Volume 1, Number 3). The text is presented unaltered, along with all original graphics.
As a complete oversimplification, a microphone is an instrument which measures differences in air pressure.
It is not surprising that somebody would, in light of the interest in Quadraphonic sound, experiment and perfect an instrument which would measure and transduce the differences in air pressure around a full 360 degrees - to effectively create a quadraphonic microphone.
Figure 1 (click to enlarge)
Such a truly Quadraphonic device, developed by engineer Carl Countryman and producer Brad Miller, is in external appearance no different than the several models of standard microphones (Figure 1).
This Quadraphonic microphone has been designed and built using the case and chassis of a Neumann SM-2, into which four independent microphone heads have been built to provide full 360-degree pick-up.
The pick-up patterns (Figure 2) are cardioid, front and back, and figure-8 at the sides.
Although the obviously complicated matrixing data are proprietary, and unavailable for publication, the discussion of pickup patterns, generally, yields an understanding of how the design provides excellent separation and naturality of sounds.
Cardioid, also sometimes called unidirectional, is a heart-shaped response. It is resultant of an omnidirectional and figure-8 pickup.
The signals are superimposed on each other; at the very rear they are anti-phase, and so cancel out.
At the front they are in phase, hence the tapering hear-shaped response toward the rear.
Figure 2 (click to enlarge)
Figure-8, or bi-directional pickup-patterns, are the result of two directional pickup patterns, one in phase and the other anti-phase.
The output at the front and the back are equal, although opposite,.
As the input signal moves to the side, the output is gradually reduced until at 90 degrees, the two patterns have, for all intent and purpose, canceled each other out.
Figure 3 shows microphone capsules as they are arranged in the microphone head.
“Front to Back” and “Left to Right” are one above the other at 90 degrees to each other.
Three demonstrations, on very spontaneous, served to convince that development of the unit is very nearly complete.
Figure 3 (click to enlarge)
The microphone was hung in Miller’s back yard garden, surrounded by about 200 degrees of sound source emanating from a waterfall with various small tributary streams flowing from it. It presented an excellent opportunity to “hear” the complete environment; the waterfall in stereo on the two speakers in “front,” and from behind, the beautiful ambiance of the total environment and the reflected sound.
Several minutes into the demonstration, on the Southern Pacific tracks bordering on the rear of the Miller garden, a slow-moving freight train ambled by. The completeness of the sound, the way it engulfed the listening room, is difficult to describe. It was totally complete… almost frighteningly so.
Figure 4 (click to enlarge)
Miller completed the demonstration by playing a 4-track tape of his “Mystic Moods Orchestra” on an especially adapted Sony. The machine (Figure 4) has been adapted for 4-track, in and out, and will be able to accommodate 10-inch reels of 2-inch tape.
The machine is the forerunner of a new design from the Countryman/Miller collaboration which will weigh in the vicinity of 20 pounds.
The “Mystic Moods” piece only served to further impress that Quad or Multi is certainly on the way… with an endless spectrum of sound combinations and tonal effects.
Editor’s Note: This is a series of articles from Recording Engineer/Producer (RE/P) magazine, which began publishing in 1970 under the direction of Publisher/Editor Martin Gallay. After a great run, RE/P ceased publishing in the early 1990s, yet its content is still much revered in the professional audio community. RE/P also published the first issues of Live Sound International magazine as a quarterly supplement, beginning in the late 1980s, and LSI has grown to a monthly publication that continues to thrive to this day.
Take the PSW Photo Gallery Tour of audio equipment ads appearing in RE/P magazine, circa 1970
Our sincere thanks to Mark Gander of JBL Professional for his considerable support on this archive project.
Please send all questions and comments to ProSoundWeb Editor .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Unit Audio Announces Affordable New Line Of Passive Summing Mixers
Unit Audio has introduced the Milli-Unit and Micro-Unit, two new 8-input by 2-output compact passive summing mixers for studio/recording applications.
Both units are outfitted with eight balanced line-level inputs and two balanced microphone level outputs, all with Neutrik TRS connectors.
Input impedance is 20 Kohms, while output impedance is 220 ohms. Resistors are hand-selected, metered Xicon 1/4-watt, with 1 percent tolerance.
The units are hand-wired at the company’s headquarters in Nashville, TN, and are housed in rugged aluminum cases.
The Micro-Unit is also outfitted with two pan switches that allow for placing channels 1 and 2 in monaural (center), or hard left (channel 1), or hard right (channel 2).
“Is analog summing going to make your recordings sound like a Nashville studio with a billion dollars worth of equipment? Probably not, but you will notice a difference in your mixes using a Unit Audio summing mixer,” states Terry Auger, Unit Audio design engineer.
“Loosely quoting Shakespeare, one might say ‘To analog sum or not to analog sum?’” Auger continues. “This has been a point of controversy with digital recording for quite some time. With modern DAW software, mixing within the computer has resulted in some great sounding recordings, but I have long been intrigued by the concept of analog summing. I was not prepared to pay $800 or more to test that theory, so I engineered and built my own.
“Then to test the theory, I set out to see if there was any difference in the mixed sound. Much to my amazement and pleasure, I did notice a subtle but very pleasing difference in the stereo separation and placement of the instruments compared to my ‘in the box’ mixes.”
The Milli-Unit is priced at $149, while the Micro-Unit carries a price of $189. Both units can be ordered directly from the company website.
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