Editor’s Note

Welcome to 2014. I’m not sure where 2013 went, but around here, time moves much faster than 1,126 feet/second, and it seems like yesterday that I was penning some kind of welcome address to 2013. This is always the time when journalists everywhere reflect on the past year, but I’m mostly gonna skip that and get to the chase. That said, you don’t want to miss our annual look back at the “Top Tours of 2013” in our expanded “Showtime” edition starting on page 22. (Click HERE to scroll down to the tour listings)

There’s a well-known old Irish saying: “When you are right, no one remembers; when you are wrong, no one forgets.” It’s often quoted and usually… Read More »A Little Parnelli Magic

Somebody out there doesn’t like us. Actually they like part of us — the wireless spectra many of us have been using for our RF mics, intercoms and IEM’s — and they’re bringing some deep pockets to the table to make sure we get left out of the picture. But to be perfectly fair, that statement isn’t quite accurate either, because what AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and other wireless services providers are currently lusting after is what’s known as the 600 MHz band. Occupying the 608 to 698 MHz — the previous UHF TV channels 36 through 51 — these are destined to wind up on an FCC auction block in 2014. This of course, follows directly on the heels of the FCC’s previous “reallocation” of TV channels 52 to 69 (the so-called 700 MHz band from 698 to 806 MHz) in 2008, from which we were summarily kicked out of after June 12, 2010.

There are a lot of pro audio-oriented tradeshows, with some events cropping up somewhere almost every month throughout the year. In fact, this month, we’re privy to several such conclaves — PLASA in London, Oct. 6-9, and AES in New York, Oct. 17-20. Problem is, despite the size and relatively robust health of the sound reinforcement industry, there still is no tradeshow specifically catering to the live audio community.

These days, the once-common huge stadium music shows are less of the norm, except for the occasional special events (such as the Oklahoma Twister Relief Concert spotlighted in last month’s FRONT of HOUSE) or the rare mega-tour. Even The Rolling Stones’ last outing hit more arenas than stadiums. For some reason, stadium shows are more common overseas — perhaps because certain popular artists only come through on a far less frequent basis, so fans may consider such events more like once-per-decade events rather than annual occurrences, thus providing a larger draw.

From our earliest days, we are constantly warned about various dangers in our lives, and we can all remember advice like the “stop, look and listen” before crossing train tracks or avoiding taking candy from strangers. And each of these have obvious physical signs, such as being wary of people you don’t know or hearing the clanging bells, flashing/swinging semaphores and the unmistakable Doppler shift from the roar of an approaching freight train. All good reasons to think twice.

You can call it “The Big Show,” or perhaps “The Main Event,” and for a great many pros in the sound reinforcement industry, all eyes and ears will be on Orlando for InfoComm 2013. This year, the convention kicks off its conference program on June 8, with the not-to-be-missed exhibit floor opening its doors on June 12. The audio demo rooms begin a day earlier, on June 11, giving attendees more time to focus on actually hearing products in a live and up-close environment.

Every season has its distinct harbingers or signs of change. Most of us are familiar with the multihued colors of fall leaves, the first snowfall of winter (except in Las Vegas), the flowers of spring and the sizzling heat of summer barbeques. Equally important — if not more so — is the arrival of the sound season, which traditionally kicks off with school graduations.

People often say that FOH mixing more and more resembles studio production, which is true in some ways, yet in other aspects is about as far from the truth as you can get.

These days, more often than not, you’ll find a recording system at the mix position, whether it’s a hardware capture device like the JoeCo BlackBox recorder or a DAW running Pro Tools, Logic, SONAR or PreSonus’ Studio One. And other than vocal microphones, many of the instrumental mics used onstage are pretty much the same as you’d find in any well-stocked studio, with the exception of the studio technique of doubling-up with a second distant mic (usually a large diaphragm condenser model) used for room ambience. Not much need for that in a live situation, where we have so much ambience that somebody needs to figure out a way to seal it in a can and sell it to our studio counterparts. Meanwhile, back at the console, on-board effects and a plethora of plug-ins take the place of outboard racks in many cases — although not always so, as evidenced this month’s cover shot of the impressive FOH setup for the 2013 Muse tour.

After returning from this year’s NAMM show, I’m finally starting to recover. No, this year I didn’t succumb to the dreaded NAMM-fluenza, or whatever they call that mysterious malady that comes from shaking the hands of 10,000 infected people, but NAMM is set up as a non-stop rock ‘n’ roll party packed into a four-day weekend. That isn’t to say that in-between the fun, there isn’t business (and a lot of hard work) squeezed in there as well, but for anyone who’s never been to a NAMM show, well, let’s just say it can be an intense experience.