Article

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

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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Monday, February 06, 2012

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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Thursday, February 02, 2012

Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless Benefits Live Production Of “Gypsy”

The use of wireless technology from Lectrosonics provided benefits for the recent production of the musical “Gypsy” by the University of Evansville Department of Theatre.

“‘Gypsy’ is a story about vaudeville performers turning to burlesque to make a living,” explains Richard Ingraham, a Cleveland, OH-based free-lance sound designer operating under the name RBI Computers and Audio who was brought in to work with the production. “There’s a strip routine in the show and the main character—Gypsy—had the most revealing part. To make this work, we outfitted the actress with a Lectrosonics SM super-miniature transmitter, which was placed inside her bustier, or bra.

“Fortunately, Lectrosonics offers the RM remote for this transmitter. With its ability to remotely adjust audio input gain, the RF operating frequency, lock/unlock the transmitter’s controls, and sleep mode on/off status, we had a high degree of ‘hands-free’ control, which was essential for this project.

“The RM remote and the SM transmitter’s small size enabled the wireless system to go unnoticed while simultaneously facilitating a considerable amount of adjustment from a distance.”

The wireless system count for the show consisted of six Lectrosonics SM transmitters, six SMD transmitters, and twelve LMa transmitters. On the receiving side of the equation, four Lectrosonics Venue VRMWB receiver mainframes—each fully stocked with six VRS receiver modules (for a 24-channel count)—were deployed.

In addition to the RM remote control, a Lectrosonics ALP650 LPDA (Log Periodic Dipole Array) shark fin antenna was used to ensure optimum signal strength. Countryman B6 lavalier microphones were mated with the Lectrosonics systems. All equipment was rented through Page Daniel Wireless Sound of Little Rock, AR.

“In addition to the RM remote and the diminutive size of the SM and SMD transmitters, Lectrosonics sound quality is exceptional,” says Ingraham. “The company’s Digital Hybrid Wireless technology eliminates use of a compandor, which is common to competing wireless systems. The result is higher dynamic range and freedom from sonic artifacts. Similarly, the build quality is terrific. I’m also very fond of the Venue receiver’s battery monitor function that enables you to check how long the transmitter has been on. This handy feature enables you to monitor battery life, and this helped us immensely in terms of dealing with the logistics of ensuring battery longevity throughout the shows.”

Lectrosonics

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Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Oslo Audio First Rental Company In Norway To Invest In L-Acoustics KARA

Oslo Audio has become the first rental company in Norway to invest in L-Acoustics KARA WST line source loudspeakers, ordering 24 cabinets from local distributor Scandec Systemer.

The KARA loudspeakers are powered by L-Acoustics LA-RAK amplified controllers and supplemented with SB18 subwoofers.

“KARA has a flexibility that will enable us to use the system for pretty much all venues in Norway,” says Paal Klaastad of Oslo Audio. “For us the audio performance of the KARA system was never in question. As a long-time L-Acoustics user, we are confident that the sound quality is first class. The reputation of the brand ensures that the end users are also confident of the system’s performance.

“The scalability of the system, its integration with the LA-RAK platform and the ease of rigging and handling makes us confident that this will provide a good return on investment for years to come. We look forward to putting the system to use, and to collaborating with other network agents in Scandinavia.”

Oslo Audio’s new KARA loudspeakers were used for the first time at the 10-year anniversary concert of Crystal Canyon Studios, with a lineup of Kåre & The Cavemen, Ulver, Paperboys, Kitchie Kitchie Ki Me O and André Holstad.

That system consisted of the 24 KARA cabinets with 12 SB118 subs and six 115XT HiQ coaxial monitors, powered by LA-RAKs.

L-Acoustics

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Compact iLive Selected For Stripped Down Rodrigo Y Gabriella Tour

Internationally renowned guitar duo, Rodrigo Y Gabriella, recently embarked on their EU tour, cutting out the big production and stripping back to just two people and two guitars. Performing in a handful of intimate venues across Europe, the tour also carried a compact Allen & Heath iLive digital system, comprising the iDR-16 MixRack and iLive-R72 rackmount Control Surface, with a Dante audio interface card for virtual soundcheck.

“We kept all the gear down to just what we could carry,” comments production manager, Mike Taylor. “You might think that two guitarists can’t need much but we didn’t want to compromise quality just because we had to fly from venue to venue. Both Rodrigo and Gabriella have two set-ups each - a full electric and an acoustic - so in reality we are taking 4 guitar rigs. We are carrying a total of 9 cases of guitars and production equipment, plus luggage, so ‘small’’ was the watch word for this tour. Allen & Heath has nailed it with this iLive system - there is absolutely no compromise, not even slightly!”

As well as being compact, FOH engineer, David Marchant, also wanted a desk that he could call on at a moment’s notice, and supplement what was in-house.

“Rodrigo and Gabriela are extremely high energy and dynamic. We needed a small desk with a big desk capability and we certainly found that in the iLive-R72,” explains Taylor. “We have been turning up at venues and putting our small desk next to these big format analogue consoles and hearing a few sniggers from the local crew but that all stops the second the sound kicks in!”

We managed monitors and FOH from the same console, and also a number of matrix outputs for additional areas. Using inputs and outputs on both the Surface and MixRack we were able to adapt to everything the venues threw at us,” he concludes.

Rodrigo Y Gabriella will return to Europe and on to the US in 2012 with their project “C.U.B.A”, performing all of their hits with a full Cuban band.

Allen & Heath

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Prospect Theater’s “Iron Curtain” Takes Advantage Of Lectrosonics Wireless

Prospect Theater Company in New York frequently re-interprets classic plays and musicals when creating new works, and such is the case of The Iron Curtain, a new musical comedy set in New York City, Moscow, and Berlin in 1954 about two struggling songwriters kidnapped by the KGB to fix a clunker propaganda musical.

Performances of The Iron Curtain late last year took place in The Rose Nagelberg Theatre at the Baruch College Performing Arts Center, with Andy Leviss, a New York-based freelance audio engineer, serving as the show’s sound designer.

Leviss deployed a 16-channel Lectrosonics wireless microphone system consisting of three Venue Series receiver mainframes, four SMQV dual battery beltpack transmitters, eight LMa beltpack transmitters, and four UM400a beltpack transmitters. All equipment utilizes Lectrosonics proprietary Digital Hybrid Wireless technology.

“Prospect Theater Company is just transitioning into the large scale use of wireless microphones,” Leviss explains. “They previously relied on performers’ voices to project or overhead miking. They’re relatively new to this level of reinforcement, so the ability to maintain natural sound quality was vitally important. I’ve used Lectrosonics equipment on a number or previous projects, and I find the equipment’s sound quality is far more natural than other competing wireless systems.

“The company’s Digital Hybrid Wireless technology doesn’t employ companding, so you don’t experience the sonic artifacts common in other wireless equipment. Sound quality is right on par with cabled microphones. Knowing this, I felt the Lectrosonics system would be ideal for this show.”

Leviss selected the SMQV, LMa, and UM400a transmitters and the Venue receiver system because size was yet another important consideration on this project.

“Most of the transmitters were placed in the small of the performers’ backs,” Leviss reports. “The SMQV’s are particularly compact, so they were a great choice. Similarly, both the LMa and UM400a transmitters are relatively small and easy to conceal in wardrobe. The combination of these transmitters with the Countryman B3 Omni Round lavaliere mics—placed in the mid center of the performers’ forehead among the hair or over the ear— resulted in a wireless setup that was essentially unnoticeable.”

“Backstage space—where we positioned the wireless receivers—was at an absolute premium on this project,” he continues, “so the ability of the Lectrosonics Venue receiver system to house sixteen wireless channels in three rack spaces was a tremendous help. For this show, we had two fully stocked Venue mainframes—each with six VRS receiver modules—while the third unit had four modules. The ability to have that many wireless channels occupying so little space is really impressive.”

Lectrosonics

 

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Jackson Rancheria Casino Upgrades To Yamaha Digital Consoles

GJM Sound and Lighting of Placerville, CA recently installed a sound and lighting system for the Jackson (California) Rancheria Casino ballroom that is used as its indoor concert hall, and it is also designed for use with the casino’s outdoor event center.

Owned and operated by the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwok Indians, the ballroom concert venue seats approximately 600, while the outdoor venue seats 1,000. Both venues offer a variety of entertainment for their guests from rock and blues bands, to reggae and jazz, as well as comedy acts.

“The casino wanted to go digital for both front of house and monitor consoles and were sold on the Yamaha M7CL-48ES and LS9 digital consoles working together as a team,” states Greg Mace, owner of GJM Sound and Lighting. “The ES version of the M7CL was chosen because it is a more cost effective and convenient solution than having to purchase and install a splitter for an analog snake.”

The Yamaha M7CL is used primarily as the casino’s front of house console, and the Yamaha LS9 console is used in the “crows nest” which is located in the a/v booth overlooking the entire casino ballroom.

The LS9 is also used for front of house when events require a smaller amount of channels; for example, presentations, speeches, or comedy acts.

Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems

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The Old Soundman: Dealing With Indoor & Outdoor Venue Issues

Think it’s a picnic running sound inside a club? Think it’s nothin’ but a party running sound outside? The OSM has news for you!

Old Soundman,

Yes, Stip!

I occasionally run sound for a band that tends to play local hole-in-the-wall venues.

Okay, we feel sorry for you, now move on!

The “stage” for the band is always in one of 2 places: in a nice boomy corner, or, better yet, right in front of that brick or paneled wall.

These are the times that try men’s souls!

I guess you might be a female, so no offense intended. I don’t know what “Stip” is short for. I am pretty sure that Jacquie (below) is…

One of many problems I run into (including the lead guitarist who insists he hears better with his knees)...

I know that guy! and I think half our readers at home do, too. He must have cloned himself a dozen times in each and every state of the union!

...is cymbal bleed-thru on the vocal mic’s. If I try to spare the audience the shrill ring of these upper frequencies by pulling back the highs on the board, I seem to lose clarity in the vocal.

That is not an illusion, Stip. That is, indeed what is happening, you are perceiving it correctly.

This problem gets worse when the guys are playing at a particularly loud stage volume, and I need to crank a little more vocal, which of course starts to feed back when the ring of the cymbals hit the mic’s, then come thru the monitors and hit the mic’s again…

You know the sad, sad story.

Help!!!

Stip

I do indeed know the sad story. And even sadder is the fact that the list of remedies is a very short one. I’m a straight shooter, Stip.

Move back the drum riser. Can’t. You’re stuck in this little club with a stage the size of a saltine.

Now that you mention it, some cheese and crackers would really hit the spot right about now! Wait a minute, you were saying something about cymbals …

The drummer can be asked to use lighter cymbals with a shorter decay time. But since he is a club guy, getting paid very little beyond the endless chain of longnecks he consumes, he probably only has his local music store’s finest, thickest bang-a-langa models.

Don’t tell me he wears those warm-up things on his wrists? You do have it rough, Stip.

I would be fired if I mentioned a brand name here, but it is kosher for me to tell you that you want a hypercardioid mic for your singer, and he needs to stay right on top of it.

The most radical thing you could do would be to ask the band to buy an infrared gate device to put on the mic, so that when his head moves away, it mutes the mic.

However, this has the undesired effect of really changing your mix, since that is the loudest mic on stage.

When that cymbal noise becomes the evil frosting on the cake of a monitor mix, isn’t that just the worst? You can try to identify as narrow a band as possible to reduce, on the graphics for the affected mixes.

I’m not gonna lie to ya, Stip, everything I have said boils down to band-aids. I am pretty much doctor dan the bandage man here. Stip, it is hellish there where you are. But the bigger gigs are hellish in different ways.

Okay, I’m just trying to cheer you up! on the big stages, it is really fun, sonically, when the drum riser is a mile behind the singer.

Would it make you feel better to hear how Jacquie gets treated? Sure it would!

Just had an outdoor gig. Singer was freaking out, saying “the sound sucks” when in actuality it didn’t suck at all. Tried to tell him (from my limited experience) that running sound outdoors is quite a bit different from running sound indoors.

Since I’m a rank amateur at this, is there anything specific I can tell him to shut him up? He’s a great singer, but like most musicians, he has high end hearing loss.

Thanks mucho. Dig your site. You crack me up.

Jacquie

Thank you, Jacquie! My, what excellent taste you have in humor. I am a much funnier man than others, am I not?

What you are going through reflects the agony of having a limited number of clients. If I read between the lines correctly, you don’t want to just tell this guy to take a hike.

Most of the self-righteous hornblowers over on the live audio board would be real quick to say that you should proudly tell this character off, and then march off into the sunset, with your pride intact, and your wallet quite empty.

Well, I guess some of the more sensible ones who read a lot of self-help books would advise you to talk to the guy when he is calmer (since right after a gig is a notorious time for musicians to make ludicrous remarks, usually due to their lack of confidence in their own abilities.)

In the past, I believe that the lads and lasses of the L.A.B. have recommended gently informing your yodeler that there is no “suck” knob on your console. And, that the way for him to win in life is to express himself as clearly as he can, to the limits of his ability.

He may continue to say “wull, I dunno, Jacquie, it just sucked, y’know?” most of us would shake your hand if you just hauled off and slugged him then. But we live in a very litigious society, so it is best not to.

What you are digging for is him saying something like “there was too much low end” or “it was too trebly.” Precise technical terms like that. Is he criticizing the monitor sound or the house?

Hey, you know what? You sound like you have your head on straight. I think you’re gonna go far, with or without this dullard! You rule, Jacquie!

Luv
The Old Soundman

There’s simply no denying the love from The Old Soundman. Check out more from OSM here.

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Martin Audio MLA Boosts Brixton Academy For Chickenfoot In Concert

When Brixton Academy was built in art deco style during the cinema boom of the late 1920s, it was never expected to be hosting concerts for high-octane rock bands like supergroup Chickenfoot (led by former Van Halen legend Sammy Hagar).

Ghosts of Brixton’s cinema past remain within this Grade II-listed building, and the bulging balcony facade has proved the downfall of many a sound system, returning the firepower off the stage and bouncing the sound waves back at the band.

But Martin Audio was able to pull off a rare feat when the Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array (MLA) made its debut there, provided by Capital Sound.

To the benefit of front of house engineer Michael “Ace” Baker, Martin Audio R&D director Jason Baird and system tech Mark Edwards simply notched out this chunk of the coverage pattern in the dedicated optimization software.

“Chickenfoot is one of the loudest bands that have played through the system, so we stood onstage and switched the MLA’s DSP from a setting that didn’t notch it out to one that did, using the tablet PC over the WiFi link,” explains Baird. The difference was plain to hear, with an obvious reduction in reflections off that deep balcony front.

Baker had wanted to pilot the MLA since hearing it in demo Las Vegas last summer. Knowing that his monitor engineer Jim Jorgensen was about to join Martin Audio he applied pressure, so that by the time production arrived in Brixton, there were nine MLA elements and an MLD downfill ready to be rigged each side, with six MLX subwoofers ground stacked on either flank.

“I had been hugely impressed with MLA and could see the math behind it, but there’s only so much you can learn under demonstration conditions. I had to get the system out there,” Baker says. “Some people were doubting whether this was a true rock ‘n’ roll box––but this is one of the most rocking boxes I have ever mixed through.

“In fact it is a true concert arena PA, capable of producing a ‘big’ PA sound rather than just pumping out pure volume. I noticed it particularly around the kick drums and toms and yet I’m barely tickling it, there’s just so much headroom.”

He was also impressed that despite the consistency of coverage in the house, none of it was blowing back at the band onstage. “That’s what got me so excited. Initially, all that computer stuff looked like something I wouldn’t be able to handle, but then Mark showed me how simple it was––all you need to be able to do is measure correctly and you are done.”

Baker says that MLA has given him the freedom to exploit “extra places where it can go, the incredible spatial and panning effects that I was running through.”

The engineer started working with rock legend Sammy Hagar four years ago––who in this configuration was fronting a top line-up comprising Joe Satriani (guitars), Michael Anthony (bass, vocals) and drummer Kenny Aronoff (filling in for Chad Smith, who was off with the Red Hot Chili Peppers).

At Brixton, he was able to mix the sound flat on a Yamaha PM5D and that, according to Mark Edwards, is because MLA sets itself up to produce a neutral, balanced sound. “Because the system is so responsive to system EQ, if there’s a bit too much sub in the room it is easy to notch a tiny bit out.”

“There are a lot of good systems out there but only a few have been truly groundbreaking;” Baker concludes. “Right now, this is the one that has everyone talking about it. There will be a lot of touring ahead this year and MLA is the system I want to use from now on.”

Martin Audio

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Clair Global Deploys Unique Solutions For NHL Winter Classic

The NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day, held at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, had the hometown Flyers playing the New York Rangers before a crowd of 47,000, in addition to a television audience on NBC.

Clair Global provided house sound and a broadcast mix for the between-period performances by The Roots, using three unique solutions: mobile loudspeaker carts that allowed the line arrays to be lowered and flipped out of site lines as needed; custom modular diffusion/absorption panels that were used to convert an equipment room at Citizens Bank Park into an acoustically favorable studio control room environment; and the Clair CF 1090 Fractal Antenna for the RF system.

“The NHL and broadcasters in general have strict height requirements so as to maintain sight lines and a clean broadcast image,” explains Kevin Sanford, president of Wireless First, a Clair Global subsidiary. “With only two week’s notice, we engineered and constructed a brilliant solution to meet these guidelines.”

“We brought in ten rolling carts that allowed us to lower and flip the PA out of site lines as needed and that allowed us to easily roll them into position on the field,” says Jason Spence, music engineer with Clair Global. “The NHL team was very impressed by how well we stayed out of their way. The ability of Clair Global to conceive and construct such an involved solution in just two weeks is, to me, as impressive as the solution itself. I don’t know of any other company that could pull it off.”

“A music truck wasn’t part of the plan at the NHL Winter Classic, so we needed an acoustically-controlled environment in which to prepare a broadcast mix,” Spence adds. “Again, Clair Global rose to the challenge and constructed modular mobile acoustic panels that we could use in whatever space we encountered. It turned out to be an equipment room. Where others may have thrown a bunch of packing blankets around to simply suck the life out of the room, the Clair panels offered frequency-balanced absorption on one side and diffusion on the other. We turned the equipment room into a well controlled room that sounded really nice.”

But the line array trucks and custom sound panels weren’t the only Clair innovations at the NHL Winter Classic. The new Clair Global CF 1090 Fractal Antenna provided transmission to the Sennheiser 2000 Series wireless personal monitors worn by Patti LaBelle, who sung the U.S. National Anthem, Melanie Fiona, who sung the Canadian National Anthem, and, of course, The Roots. The CF 1090 Fractal Antenna is so small that it did not offend the aesthetic sensibilities of television crew. Additional wireless equipment included Shure wireless microphones for the performers.

The team deployed by Clair Global included sound designer and FOH engineer Tommy Holmes; system engineer Monty Curry; music mixer Ron Reeves; monitor mixer Chris “Koz” Costello; RF engineer Jeff Briggette; and technicians Anson Moore, Richard Schoenadel, and Paul Cervenansky. They used Avid Profile consoles at front of house and in the broadcast mix room and a Yamaha PM1D at monitors.

Because of the challenge of firing line arrays upward from the ground to the tiered stands at Citizens Bank Park and because they tied into the stadium’s house PA system, the Clair technicians were careful to time align the entire system for maximum impact. “It took time and expertise, only the latter of which we had in spades,” concludes Spence.

Clair Global

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

DiGiCo SD9 Sees Constant Use By Dutch Company Soundlink

Soundlink, a Dutch audio company which added a DiGiCo SD9 digital console about 18 months ago, reports that the board has been in constant use since joining the inventory.

Owned by Bas Jansen, Floris Roelfzema and Hugo van Meijeren, Soundlink is based near the town of Roden, just west of Groningen. After five years of providing sound reinforcement as a hobby, in 2008 they turned Soundlink into a full-time business.

“In the summer of 2010 we were in the market for buying a new analog console and multicore,” says van Meijeren. “We contacted TM Audio in Utrecht and they suggested that we look at digital consoles because of the advantages in size, weight, the convenience of a fiber optic multicore and the many other possibilities that digital consoles offer.

“Although we are a relatively small company, we’ve always had high standards. After looking at all the available options, we agreed to do a side-by-side comparison between the DiGiCo SD9 and one other digital console. Once we had done the comparison, we all felt the SD9 was the best option. It is very user-friendly - it’s really easy to understand if you’re used to an analogue console - and the audio quality is excellent. Within a few days of the test we contacted Martijn Verkerk at TM Audio to order an SD9.”

A year and a half later, the SD9 has been used by Soundlink on every show where more than 20 inputs are required.

“We use the SD9 on a lot of our smaller shows, where an analog console would be impractical because of its size and the requirement for outboard gear,” says van Meijeren.

Recent examples have included one of the many stages throughout Groningen at Groningens Ontzet, a celebration of the Dutch victory at the city’s siege in 1672; Rodermarkt, a festival in Roden which begins with an open air concert, and the two-day Christmas in Harmony, a festive show with orchestra, choir and rock band.

“We also do a lot of community and amateur theatre,” adds van Meijeren. “We will be using the SD9 next summer for one of the largest open-air plays in the northern part of the Netherlands. This takes place over three days and needs around 20 radio microphones for speech and live music. The ability to use snapshots on the SD9 comes in very handy to do these kinds of shows.”

DiGiCo

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Monday, January 23, 2012

Meyer Sound UPQ-1P Loudspeakers Help Spread Cheer At Houston Improv

Now settled into its new purpose-built theatre, the Improv Comedy Club in Houston, TX., has cemented its reputation as one of the country’s premier showcases for comedic talent.

A fan-shaped room with raked seating ensures that everyone gets a clear view of both the stage and the 16-foot-wide projection surface by Stewart Filmscreen, while Meyer Sound loudspeakers deliver all the punch lines with crisp intelligibility to 510 seats.

“It’s a great sounding room,” asserts Houston Improv general manager Raymond Cook. “The sound is so much more crisp and clear than what we had at the old location. Performers love it, and we’ve had more than one say, ‘I want to come back and film my special here.’”

Designed by Bill Schuermann of HFP Acoustical Consultants and installed by the Whitlock Group (both Houston-based), the main system comprises two UPQ-1P loudspeakers, three UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers for delay, two UPM-1P loudspeakers for front fill, and a single 500-HP subwoofer.

One UM-100P stage monitor provides artist foldback, and a Yamaha M7CL digital mixing console anchors the front of house mix position.

“The under-stage sub is awesome,” continues Cook. “In the pre-show video segments, when it wipes from one segment to the next, the sound effect shakes the whole room. It really gets your attention.”

“For comedy, intelligibility is paramount,” notes Schuermann. “Meyer Sound’s phase-coherent self-powered loudspeakers deliver uniform intelligibility regardless of level. And by using the MAPP Online Pro acoustical prediction program I could guarantee seamless, uniform coverage.”

A separate system for the outer bar area sports eight MM-4XP self-powered miniature loudspeakers and a UMS-1P subwoofer, all suspended from the ceiling grid. “The sound quality in the bar is great,” states Cook. “And I can’t believe there is so much sound coming out of those tiny little speakers. It’s amazing.”

The new Improv theatre was designed by Rhonda Woodall and Todd Arenz of Hermes Architects of Houston. Houston Improv is one of 24 Improv-branded comedy showcases stretching from coast to coast.

All trace their roots back to The Improvisation, a club started by Broadway producer Budd Friedman in New York City in 1963. A dozen years later, Friedman planted a second iconic Improv club in Hollywood, and celebrated performers who launched their careers at the two showrooms represent a who’s who of American comedy talent.

Meyer Sound

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PreSonus Announces QMix App: Monitor Mix Control Via iPhone/iPod Touch

Up to 10 musicians can simultaneously control their StudioLive monitor mixes using an iPhone or iPod touch and Presonus’ free QMix app. QMix builds on PreSonus’ original Virtual StudioLive (VSL), which provides bidirectional computer control of PreSonus StudioLive-series mixers via FireWire. Next came StudioLive Remote for iPad, which provides wireless control of StudioLive mixers.

“SL Remote is very useful for the front-of-house engineer but it’s overkill for onstage performers, and the cost of iPads can add up. That’s why we created QMix,” noted PreSonus Chief Technology Officer Bob Tudor. “The iPhone and iPod touch offer enough screen real estate to comfortably manage an aux mix, yet are relatively inexpensive and ultra-portable. QMix is designed for musicians and can be used in parallel with an engineer running StudioLive Remote from an iPad.”

QMix works by networking one or more iPhones wirelessly with a Mac or PC, enabling QMix to remotely access Virtual StudioLive to control one or more FireWire-connected StudioLive mixers. As each iPhone connects to the network, its copy of QMix will discover all StudioLive mixers on the network, enabling each musician to quickly and easily create an aux mix that includes all mixer channels. And QMix lets the engineer set permissions so that each iPhone on the network only controls a specified mix.

QMix will be a free download from the Apple App Store and is expected to be available in January 2012.

Presonus

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Alesis Announces Three New USB MIDI Keyboard Controllers

Alesis has introduced the Q61, QX61 and QX25 USB MIDI keyboard controllers. Alesis unveiled the trio of new controllers at the 2012 NAMM Show in Anaheim, California.

The Q-series USB MIDI controllers are the no-nonsense way to add expressive MIDI control to any production or performance. Each controller features USB MIDI for easy connection to Mac, PC, iOS devices* and traditional MIDI hardware modules, samplers and synthesizers.

The Q61 is a 61-note keyboard controller that works with virtually any music software and MIDI hardware devices. With velocity-sensitive keys, the Q61 offers a five-octave range of expression in a sleek, portable controller, built for the studio or stage. A full array of essential controls is onboard, including pitch and modulation wheels, octave up and down buttons, an assignable data slider, and the ability to send program changes from the keys.

The QX25 and QX61 are 25-note and 61-note keyboard controllers, respectively, that deliver powerful tactile control over any parameter of any favorite music software. Both controllers enable musicians to punch out a drumbeat on great-feeling pads, open up a filter with smooth, tight knobs, or adjust volume and playback of sequencing software with long faders and snappy buttons. The QX25 and QX61 bring immense parameter control and velocity-sensitive keyboards that get the composer’s hands off of the mouse and into the action for a more efficient, visceral music-making experience.

Whether someone is looking to trigger drum samples, tweak a software synthesizer or adjust individual tracks in a mix, the QX25 and QX61’s extensive layouts ensure appropriate feel and proper response thanks to their eight sliders and rotary knobs, four backlit drum pads and dedicated transport controls.

“What began with the Q49 has now grown into a family of controllers with sizes and configurations for any musician to capture their performances,” said Dan Radin, Product Manager, Alesis. “Whether you need the simplicity of the Q61, the power of the QX61 or the compact punch of the QX25, there’s a perfect Q-Series companion for every musician.”

The Q61, QX25 and QX61 will be available in Q2-2012 from musical instrument and pro audio retailers with U.S. estimated street prices of $149.00 (Q61), $199.00 (QX61) and $99.00 (QX25).

*Requires USB adapter, sold separately as part of the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit. iPad and iTunes are trademarks of Apple, Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Alesis

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Crown HiQnet Band Manager 2: Connectivity And Control For Portable PA

Harman Professional has introduced Crown HiQnet Band Manager which provides audio professionals, musicians and enthusiasts with advanced system set up and design capabilities coupled with a highly intuitive user interface,

According to Andy Flint, Business Segment Manager Portable PA, Crown Audio, the introduction will make DJs, engineers and audio rental professionals more efficient and effective at their job and will enable musicians, venue owners and managers to enjoy better performance — and better value — from their systems investment.

“If you’re going to invest in an audio system and you’re genuinely interested in getting the best possible sound for your business or performance, then HiQnet Band Manager 2 is a must-have,” Flint said today.  “HiQnet makes great systems sound even better without the hassle, without the programming and without the requisite setup time that traditionally comes with preparing for a gig!”

Harman HiQnet Band Manager is an iteration of Harman’s industry-leading HiQnet system configuration and control protocol.  The core systems integration and connectivity capabilities of Harman HiQnet have been customized and packaged for the systems integration, tour sound and MI markets respectively in HiQnet System Architect; HiQnet London Architect, JBL HiQnet Performance Manager and Crown HiQnet BandManager 2.

Band Manager 2 will include control and monitoring for Crown Audio’s XTi 2 product line. Users will be able to manage up to eight XTi 2 amplifiers via quick and simple USB interface. Crown will also have a brand new set of JBL presets for the XTi 2 product line that take full advantage of the enhanced processing and Peakx Plus limiters.

HiQnet Band Manager 2 will also include presets for all the JBL JRX, MRX, SRX, and VRX product families and continued support for the original XTi Series, now discontinued.

“Our first challenge in making HiQnet Band Manager valuable was first to make it accessible,” Flint notes. “We worked closely with target end-users and also modeled it on a browser paradigm and some good ideas from consumer interfaces to make Band Manager 2 easy to understand and quick to learn.  We put this front-end on a powerful, scalable engine and we’re offering it for free. This adds up to a very accessible, attractive proposition and I encourage interested parties everywhere to download Band Manager 2 and try it for themselves.”

“No other manufacturer can offer this scale of integration, system performance or price leadership,” Flint adds.  “In today’s challenging economy, we’re not simply giving more — we’re also empowering MI customers everywhere to demand more of their systems and system manufacturers!  In meeting with customers and dealers around the globe, I am consistently told that the investment that HARMAN made in developing HiQnet has paid a considerable efficiency dividend to our end-users in how they do their job and craft their art.  We’re equally grateful for their input, ideas and adoption and we look forward to Band Manager 2 extending the franchise and usefulness to new communities going forward.”

Harman Professional
Crown Audio

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