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Harvesting the Right Sound

Harvesting the Right Sound

Audio and video are not only gaining acceptance among churches, they are rapidly becoming integral components of the worship experience, as they have proven themselves adept at making the teachings of the church a more engaging experience — particularly among a younger generation of worshippers. Recognizing the significance of this, the Harvest, a non-denominational, contemporary church located in Lexington, S.C., recently completed a new sanctuary where music and sound are key components of the worship experience.

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Regional Slants

We recently did one of those shows where the budget is weak and you have to drive three to four hours to get to it. But it was a Wednesday night and the client — an agent and a personal friend of mine — needed a favor.

This was a gig that should have paid $7000 plus travel and meals, but it was paying more like $4500 plus travel and meals. We came to terms on what he would get for the money, with a little "gimme" for the act on my part to make everyone happy.

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On the Bleeding Edge

The sound reinforcement industry will soon face a serious issue of which many people are not even aware. I am referring to legislation brought before the United States Senate and House of Representatives, specifically known as The Communications, Consumer's Choice and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006 (S. 2686, H.R. 5252). Introduced early in 2006, this amendment to the Communications Act of 1934 incorporates proposed telecommunications reform, including FCC adoption of new rules to increase competition in sports programming, Internet Neutrality allowing 'Net users to access lawful content of their choice and connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network, and legislation designed to speed transition of TV broadcasting from the current analog system to digital transmission. These and other aspects of the bill do not directly impact those of us working in sound reinforcement. However, part of this bill (and its subsequent revision) is a provision called the Wireless Innovation Act of 2006 ("WIN Act"). This portion of the bill proposes freeing up so-called "underutilized" broadcast space for wireless broadband use.

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Years Pass, But the Mysteries Remain

December 31, 2006, 8 p.m. Four more hours, and I will be heralding in a new year with hope, faith, renewal, good cheer and great expectations for the next 365 days. I have resolved to transform my negative behavior into a positive force that will change the world and enrich all of mankind. Believe you me, I have some lofty ideals for a guy who is home alone on New Year's Eve, but it wasn't always like this. As a matter of fact, I took great satisfaction in my own personal record of having worked 15 straight New Year's Eve events. Quite frankly, it was a matter of pride to know that I had a gig on New Year's Eve, since the money was always good and the party always fun, but in 1999 I decided that it was more important to welcome in the New Year with my family than to be out mixing a show and drinking with strangers. Ironically, seven years later, my teenage kids are out at parties, and my wife, who is an OB-GYN, is on call delivering babies, which means that I will be welcoming in the new year with my computer and a cold beer. That said, I probably won't even make it past 11:00, but that's OK, since I now take pride in the fact that I have not taken any New Year's work for the past seven consecutive years. Things change.

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Disturbing Turns

It's one man versus 10,000 fists and one of the most rambunctious rock bands that hit stages last summer — Disturbed — yet FOH mixer Scott Canady doesn't look worried. It might be because he spent a number of years with the quartet — singer David Draiman, guitarist Dan Donegan, drummer Mike Wengren and bassist Fuzz — working as their monitor engineer, taking them from wedges to personal monitors, or it might just be that he knows what he's doing.

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I Love You, Mommy Dearest

Our 400-seat theatre often plays host to children's theatre productions requiring lots of sound reinforcement for the child actors involved. In addition to having to try to get the kiddies to understand that they don't have to grab the lavaliere capsule and shove it into their mouths to be heard, we also have to make sure that they don't step all over any boundary microphones that we might place on the front of the stage.

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The Peavey 32FX, TC Electronic C300 Compressor and Behringer UL2000M Wireless Mic and Receiver

The Peavey 32FX

By Roddy Pahl

Greetings! I'm Roddy Pahl, sound engineer of 20 years — long-time reader, first-time reviewer. I have done everything from duos to orchestras, rock to country, punk to jazz, full-on production shows to my daughter's 2nd grade school production and 10 years of touring. I am currently the lead audio engineer for the Fremont Street Experience 3rd Street Stage, and I am an audio tech for the New York New-York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Since this is the first time I have written for FOH, I thought I oughta clue you in and let you know who I am. After working with some of the FOH crew at a Fremont Street gig a few months ago they asked me to review some gear, and the first piece they gave me was the Peavey 32FX mixer.

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Not Getting Paid in the Worship Environment

As we get into the new year, most of us are planning how we can make 2007 more financially profitable than 2006. Now don't get me wrong. I really, really enjoy making good sound, regardless of how much money I make. However, money does make life more satisfying (especially getting the bills paid on time). So, I want to make great sound and get paid buckets of money for it.

This leads me to the subject that I will be discussing during this installment. This is a subject that I am definitely uncomfortable with, but it needs to be discussed. The question is: What do you do when that house of worship that you worked so hard on, or that religious organization for whom you (and your crew) set up a sound system for their big revival or awards event, doesn't pay you? If this happens with a secular organization, individual or producer, I make the appropriate phone calls, have my attorney send a letter and ultimately go to court to get my cash. But when you add God to the mix, the dynamics change for me. I'll let you in on what may seem obvious. I work in the worship sound biz because I believe in a God and I believe that God wants me to do this work. In other words, I am very sympathetic to the mission that many of these religious groups have. So when I get stiffed for a worship gig, it puts a different spin on the whole job.

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Using Speaker Processors

In the past couple of years, digital speaker processors have gone from early adopter stuff for the rich and touring to too economical not to have. Not so long ago, good soundcos were racking and stacking analog crossovers, signal limiters and equalizers to create the secret sauce known as a drive rack. And in that chain of processing, everything had to be set just right or the show had no headroom and speaker drivers were in peril of death-by-amplifier.

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New Kids in Town

North America comprises an estimated 50% of the world's market for professional sound systems; it's even a bigger piece of the pie if you include installed sound, which increasingly blurs the borderline with the also-expanding high-end residential audio sector. No wonder everyone wants in.

Three European speaker and system manufacturing companies have secured beachheads in the U.S. in the last couple of years, and each has their own strengths. Outline Audio, based in Brescia, Italy, brings with it products for all of the major market sectors, including three line array systems for touring sound, architectural and cinema series and an array of DSP, mixers and amplifiers that make it look a bit like Harman with a light dusting of Parmesan on top: a comprehensive, selfsupporting solutions set for a wide variety of applications.

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PROEL Group Acquires Turbosound Assets

WEST SUSSEX, UK — Italian manufacturer PROEL spa has announced that it has acquired the assets of Turbosound Ltd in an effort to add depth to PROEL's position in the marketplace, allowing it to benefit from an international company that has specialized in the design and manufacture of sound reinforcement products.

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Prince Rains Down with Sennheiser

MIAMI, FL — Sennheiser provided Prince's chrome-plated wireless vocal microphone for the Super Bowl XLI halftime show, which took place under very wet conditions in an outdoor arena with no roofing or material to cover the stage.

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