Archive for the ‘AV’ Category

The easy part of the gig is the gig itself

Friday, March 19th, 2010

This is an excellent example of what ” The assholes at the shop ” really deal with. Far to often many of us including myself overlook the incredible amount of behind the scenes work involved just to land the show. For all the hours we are on site you can pretty much bank that at least as much and likely much more has gone into landing a gig. In my opinion the easy part of the gig is the gig itself. If you compare what the rider demands to what the budget affords you begin to understand the true complexity of this business. (more…)

Rider current as of February 2, 2010

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

THE AUDIO AND LIGHTING SYSTEM SHALL BE A CLASS “A”
SYSTEM. THIS MEANS PRO AUDIO & LIGHTING CONTRACTORS
ONLY. ABSOLUTELY NO HOBBYISTS, MUSIC STORE SYSTEMS OR
SUPPORT ACT SYSTEMS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

3. FRONT OF HOUSE AUDIO SYSTEM
A. Front of house sound system shall be an active four way stereo system, capable of producing an unequalized frequency response of +/- 3db 50Hz - 18KHz, at an undistorted signal of 120 dB SPL at
the front of house console in any venue. For outdoor events, delay stacks should be made available.
B. The FOH (Line Array Only) enclosures will be EAW, ADAMSON, V-DOSC, McCAULEY MLA-6,
MEYER M3D, or JBL VERTEC. Any proprietary enclosures must be approved by Producer/Artist’s
Production Manager.
C. The FOH speaker enclosures must be properly positioned and capable of producing a flat response for
all sold seating areas. This includes front filled position (in front of stage) driven by a matrix or
auxiliary send.
D. The FOH speaker enclosures are to be powered adequately and accordingly to speaker and driver
requirements.
E. Power Amps are to be CROWN, LAB GRUPPEN, or QSC.
Ex: Crown IT-8000 to power subs.
Crown IT-6000 to power mids.
Crown IT-6000 to power mid-high and highs.
F. Cross Overs/Systems Processors accepted are LAKE CONTOUR, XTA, KT, or BSS. (Located at
FOH)

(more…)

Behringer buys Midas / K-T? WTF?!

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

Behringer buys Midas / K-T?? WTF?
Didn’t they learn anything from BSS? I bought a new FCS-960 (post mackie buy-out made in china), and I had to return it 3 times before I got one that worked. They finally fixed it by giving me a N.O.S. unit that was one of the last made in England. Horrible. Now my beloved grey and purple boards will now be mass produced over there? Please don’t tell me that I now have to start using a PM5D!

As the whole world is regressing to compressed MP3’s, $4K digital boards that don’t know what 0dBU is, and general production values that were only acceptable when the mainstream audio media was wax cylinders, Midas and K-T stood out from the pack as 2 brands I could count on to sound as they always did - better than everybody else.

Don Lanier says:
I guess the Corporate Money didnt learn its lesson when Harley Davidson was bought by a Bowling Equipment Manufacturer, will the day come that in the back of Guitar Centers everywhere PILES of Midas consoles mass produced will be returned to the factory as Behringer did, its a sad sad day, or maybe when Fender was bought by $%#@ and On and On…..I hope they can remnain Autonomous but if Mackie, EAW, Fender, St Louis Music, Ampeg, Harley and any number of other companies succumb to the Stock market money managers, the Music Industry lets out a Loud collective MOAN (more…)

Audio-Technica ATH-M50S

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

I love these headphones, the S model means it comes with a straight cord instead of the coiled cord, so either way is available. I went with the straight because I was tired of it always getting stretched and always just looking like crap or getting caught on something so easy.

I was a big 7506 guy, used them both in the studio and for live applications, but one thing I always noticed with them was that they seemed to be a bit thin and lacking on the low end. This was very apparent to me when I would do Protools mixes on the road and than play them back on the tour bus stereo and I noticed my mixes were way too bass heavy. When I would use them to solo stuff up on the desk live, I would kinda have to go on vibrations in the room to judge along to what I was hearing inside the cans.

All that changed when I went with the AT headphones, I love them… I been using them for about 6 months now and they sound great, my mixes carry out into the real world much more accurately now and when I solo off the desk the low end is more audible for me, even when the FOH mix position is kinda close to the stage and I am getting blasted with so much low end… Unlike the 7506 with the lil wires that get pinched, these headphones have the wires inside and are not exposed, so I was very pleased to see that. So far my cans are still in mint condition, cuz I like to take care of my gear, but even when I put them in my bag they still are kicking ass!

Steve

using cheap lapel mikes in hairline or behind ears

Friday, November 6th, 2009

I’m working on a local community theater production of “My Fair Lady” and we have to mike the two leads (Doolittle and Higgins). We don’t have any decent mikes to go over the ears, so I have to use a pair of wireless lavaliere mikes. The capsules are sort of clunky and hard to hide, so we’ve put Eliza’s mike just above her ear, and Henry’s under his collar, just peeking out the front.

The sound is acceptable, but tonality is not particularly nice.

Does anyone have any tips on anything I could try to get better high end response (4-16k)?