Live Sound

Establish secure, tidy network cable connections without all that cramming and jamming, with Wireworks MCAT5 cables. Their rugged design is meant to withstand years of abuse from studiomongers, roadies, and dancers.  

Designing sound systems for various venues and locations require a significant amount of cost; therefore careful designing must take place to balance out good sound quality with budget limitations. The Electro-Voice LAPS V2.2A is a good predictive design guide for the sound system designer who plans on using Electro-Voice line array and related subwoofer products.  

Theaters, places of worship, and conference halls all benefit from installed sound applications. Setup, however, can be a hassle as it can consume a lot of time, notwithstanding the stumbling blocks in your way. To be introduced at InfoComm 2009, the EAW DX1208 DSP Matrix Mixer may be your best bet for a hassle-free installed sound setup.  

Network Sound adds the X2C 16-Channel Patch Bay to its Mamba line. It's reversible. Watch: .enil abmaM sti ot yaB hctaP lennahc-16 C2X eht sdda dnuoS krowteN  

New for 2009, Furman already shows their Winter NAMM cards with some Prestige series products. The P-1800 PF is a power conditioner while the P-1800 AR and P-1400 AR E are voltage regulators, aiming to clean up your tone anywhere you go.  

Individuals allergic to dust: you don't have THAT much to complain about. You get stuffy sinuses, headaches, watery eyes, irritable. . . yes, yes, I empathize, believe me. At least dusty build-up won't permanently hinder your ability to effectively communicate with co-workers, like is does to 2- and 4-pole Speakon connectors. The new Neutrik Dummyplug is like Allegra for your unused jacks (and is available without a prescription).  

The last part of your gear you'd typically think about is the first part that comes in contact with your power supply, but don't worry, Furman's got your AC covered. Their new "Classic" series of power conditioners continues their 25+ year legacy.  

It's finally arrived: a D.I. box that's designed for, and takes it name directly from, the Apple iPod. The Whirlwind PodDI may ruffle the feathers of some, but this simple summing box actually has practical uses beyond its ostensible target audience.  

It's simplest to call the Radial H-Amp a headphone amplifier, but that's not truly accurate. It more so enables you to draw signal and feed it through headphones from sources like solid state amps, power amps, floor wedges and the like.  

Future Sonics rocks and shocks the world with the unveiling of two new Atrio headphone models at AES. The m3 in earthy beige and the m9 in ruby red don't stray from Atrio quality to add some more style to your in-ear monitoring setup.  

If John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin had gotten together with Dave Smith Before Recording "In Through the Out Door" with his Yamaha GX-1, this might have happened. If you've ever wondered what Lord of the Rings would have been like if Gandalf had thrown down his staff and joined a prog-rock band, look no further.  

You've searched high and low for instrument and microphone cabling that will deliver actual sonic transparency and RF-immunity, but still haven't found them. Will the new Gepco X-Band cables be your Holy Grail? Your Rosetta Stone? Your 3am drive-thru taco joint? You'll just have to wait 'till AES (tomorrow) to find out.  

Furman has been at the top of the power-conditioner game -- and the top of most equipment racks -- since 1974. In this, their 34th year of operation, they release the "Classic" series of power and lighting modules, offering a new look and some new design features.  

Slash gives some advice to Midas on how to celebrate the PRO6 Live Audio System's release:

"Get a f*%@&#g gold grill for your teeth, man. I don't wear a lot of gold, but it does look good on guitars. You can get some gold sneakers and some other stuff, and if you really want to take it to the extreme get yourself some gold bling, a gold grill, some gold tennis shoes, a gold jacket and just really do it up"

 

Suncrest Christian Church Sound Engineer, Mike Ward, notes that their are obviously differences between working live sound in bars and churches. For one, most of the musicians he's dealt with at Suncrest Christian Church aren't drunk off of backstage booze.  

Let the severed hand of an alien mic your speaker cabinet without the hassles of floor stands. Don't worry about the aliens, their limbs grow back after they're severed.  

Mike Ward takes us up to the mixing console at Suncrest Christian Church where he shows us the gear he uses not only for live performance, but also for recording sermons as well. Right now, he's running DigiDesign Pro Tools, Adobe Audition and an Alesis Masterlink ML-9600 for both CD and iTunes distribution.  

Mike Ward, the sound engineer at Suncrest Christian Church, is faced with the task of keeping a full band under 95 DB. After all, it's a house of worship, not a Stryper concert.  

Patrick Ogle and Rob Thomas seek shade for an interview about FOH engineering. Rob, who works FOH for Sister Hazel, talks about the hazards of the job.  

Q: What are two ways to piss off a production manager?

A: Do anything or do nothing.

 

For a while, McDonalds suggested that you "pound one" in reference to one their most gourmet of sandwiches, double quarter with cheese. In Never Enough Hope, an amorphously gigantic mega-band, Toby Summerfield tries to reconcile the fact that his string section is being voluminously pounded by other instruments.  

As de facto leader of Never Enough Hope -- a thirty member instrumental rock / experimental group -- Toby Summerfield is saddled with the enviable responsibility of scheduling rehearsals. Think it's hard getting all five members of your band together once a week? Looks like it's "no more excuses" time!  

Never Enough Hope has over 30 members, so in some respects, they're like the Polyphonic Spree. They don't wear robes though, and I wouldn't describe them as "cult-like."  

We talk with Phil "The Pianimal" Ferlino of New Monsoon about tips for bands about to embark on their first road tour. Most of his advice should be common sense (key word: should), but he did have one oft-overlooked recommendation.  

Travis hits along with New Monsoon to provide live sound engineering, and he has advice for other bands. Sound check time isn't noodling time -- you should've practiced your part before the show, and nobody's impressed that you can play whatever's blasting through the PA in the meantime.  

DJ Puzzle Jason Donnelly has Atomizer up and running on his Virus TI, and he gives us a taste of the many applications for this handy looper / sampler / granular synth/ live-remix wündertool.  

Much like Bill Holland, Kill Memory Crash survived the mid-90s Detroit rave scene before eventually landing in Chicago. Both parties head back to Detroit for Movement 2008 and presumably to catch a Pistons playoff game with Kid Rock.  

Bill Holland and his trusty sidekicks Joe Vortech and Hilary Rawk stormed the Detroit Movement festival last week. Here's a sneak peek at what the team covered.  

Joshua and Joe continue where Mountain and James left off in our last interview discussing their own gear. These gents have some powerful instrumentation in their corner including a brand spanking new Fender Jaguar and an upgraded Pearl Masters kit.  

In this first video with New York's Nightmare of You, Brandon, Joe, Michael and Ryan talk about all the gear that they use -- pretty much every piece they're bringing with them on the BANGTOUR!