FOH 12_2011

RASTATT, Germany — Despite an extended period of restructuring, the French company Innovason SAS has been formally dissolved. Its products and trademarks are now wholly owned by Lawo AG, based here, which had first acquired a majority share of Innovason back in April 2008.

“I have believed in the brand from the beginning,” said Lawo CEO, Philipp Lawo. “I admire innovation — which has always been a driving force for the development of Innovason products.”

Lawo acknowledged that, “despite Lawo’s intervention in 2008, the compa-ny was still not able to realize its full po-tential.” But he added that, “now that the brand is fully integrated into the Lawo structure, I am confident that together we can achieve success.”

“We’re all excited by Lawo’s technical resources and renewed prospects for the Innovason brand’s future,” added Kevin Madden, president of NeyLex, Innova-son’s U.S. distributor.

“Now that the Innovason products have become part of the range offered by Lawo in Rastatt, it means that the continuity of the brand is guaranteed,” said Marcel Babazadeh, Innovason inter-national sales director. Babazadeh add-ed that Lawo, with more than 40 years of experience in pro audio technology, was “committed to maintaining the heritage of Innovason,” including the “continued development of the Eclipse platform,” with “more resources available to us than ever before.”

Along with Babazadeh, who remains international sales director, other key execs on Innovason’s former manage-ment team have been retained by Lawo to continue developing the brand. They include Hervé de Caro, who has been named product manager for Eclipse; Nicolas Gozdowski, who will continue

in his role as service engi-neer; and Ben-oit Quiniou in R&D.

“I’m also d e l i g h t e d to welcome the new col-leagues on board, all now key members of the Lawo team responsible for Innovason,” said Lawo. “It is the dawning of a new chapter of innovations. We’re all looking forward to a new and promising future in the live sound market together.”

DECEMBER 2011 Vol. 10 No.03

Katy Perry: The Sound and the Spectacle

PEOPLE. PRODUCTION. GEAR. GIGS.

Lawo Acquires Innovason, Retains Key Members of Former Management Team

www.ProAudioSpace.com/join

Road TestXilica Audio Design is a manufacturer of stand-alone DSP systems. We take a look at their 4x8 XD-4080.

Speaking of SpeakersWhy it makes sense to carefully place and direct cardioid subwoofers, and how to best do it in different venues.

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Self-Powered Subwoofers

Katy Perry’s taste for spectacle — and willingness to ruffle a few feathers — has helped her match Michael Jackson’s all-time record of five #1 pop-chart singles on a single album. Peter Kep-pler mixes Perry on an Avid Profile, the tour included a Clair arena system, and Erin LaReau has provided the artist with four blinged-up Sennheiser SKM 5200I wireless handheld mics to help the star strut her stuff. (For the full story, turn to Production Profile, page 20.)

This month’s Buyers Guide features gear from D.A.S., dB Technologies, EAW, Electro-Voice, JBL, K-array, L-Acoustics, Mackie, Martin Audio, Meyer Sound, Outline, Peavey, QSC (KSub pictured here), RCF, Renkus-Heinz, Turbosound, WorxAudio and Yamaha. For full details, turn to page 26.

BUENA PARK, CA — Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. an-nounced the development of the MY8-LAKE processing card for Yama-ha digital products.

The new card, to be distributed worldwide by Yamaha starting in the spring of 2012 with a target MSRP of $3,200, adds new Lake Technology to PM5D, PM5D-RH, M7CL, LS9, DM2000, DM1000, 02R96, and 01V96 digital consoles, as well as DSP5D Expander, DME24N/64N processors and TXn power amplifiers.

The MY8-LAKE includes Lake Processing features such as Mesa EQ, Ideal Graphic EQ, Linear-Phase Crossover and other tuning elements found in the DSP expansion card. While compact, the card’s process-ing power allows for up to 8 inputs/8 outputs in Mesa mode (system

EQ), 4 inputs/12 outputs in Contour mode (crossover), or combina-tions of the above to suit the application.

Flexible I/O configuration via the console’s insert points and the card’s AES/EBU connectors, along with the ability to run at 96 or 48 kHz, paves the way for the integra-tion of Lake Processing into any live sound sys-tem. Yamaha products that support multiple card slots can also make use of

Lake Processing Added to Yamaha Digital Products

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MY8-LAKE processing card for Yamaha products

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DECEMBER

2011

Vol. 10.3

www.fohonline.com

Features

Britannia Row supported two national anthems and the Goo Goo Dolls at the NFL’s fifth-annual Interna-tional Series game in London.

Bears, Bucs and Brits

What’s

hot

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What’s

hot

FOH-at-Large

With a little creative accounting, an enterprising soundco can make money the new-fashioned way: by fleecing investors.

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14 New GearFrom Celestion, D.A.S. , DiGiCo, JBL, JH Audio, NEXO, PreSonus, QSC Audio, Radial, Sennheiser, Shure and Soundcraft.

18 ShowtimeDarius Rucker/NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase, Allegan Oktoberfest, DeLuna Fest 2011, Foo Fighters tour, Longwood University Oktoberfest, Frankie Valli and The Beach Boys (Bushkill, PA)

20 Production ProfileKaty Perry’s California Dreams tour included a few tense moments as the miked artist flew around the cotton-candy clouds in her Candy-fornia world of make-believe — completely in front of the PA system.

24 Road TestXilica Audio Design’s 4x8 XD-4080, tested with the Jacksonville Symphony’s 18-year-old JBL Architectural Series PA system.

26 Buyers Guide: Self-Powered SubsFrom D.A.S., dB Technologies, EAW, Electro-Voice, JBL, K-array, L-Acoustics, Mackie, Martin Audio, Meyer Sound, Outline, Peavey, QSC, RCF, Renkus-Heinz, Turbosound, WorxAudio and Yamaha.

28 Speaking of Speakers In four easy steps, you can create directional subwoofer arrays — and give the low end a dramatic boost at weddings, corporate events and other small gigs.

31 On the Digital EdgeDigital aficionado David Morgan still pined for his non-digital tap delay — until he discovered Waves’ H-Delay plugin.

32 Theory and Practice There’s no such thing as a reject filter to weed out bad musicians, but you can target and stop other problems at the source with low-pass, band-pass and band-reject (a.k.a. “notch”) filters.

33 The Biz Times have been tough for audio engineers since late 2008, but there are rays of hope for 2012. One of them is the resurgence in mid-sized music clubs.

34 Sound Sanctuary When it comes to the holidays, sometimes the best present you can give to yourself (and others) is to just say “No” to those offering more gigs than you can handle.

4 Editor’s Note 5 News11 International News13 On the Move14 New Gear18 Showtime

Katherine Jenkins at Wembley Stadium

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Columns

Departments

Editor’s Note

DECEMBER 2011 www.fohonline.com4

By MarkFrink

Publisher & Editorial Director

Terry Lowe

[email protected]

Editor

Mark Frinkmfrink@ fohonline.com

Managing Editor

Frank Hammel

[email protected]

Tech Editor

John Murray

[email protected]

Senior Staff Writer

Kevin M. Mitchell

[email protected]

Loudspeaker Editor

Phil Graham

[email protected]

Contributing Writers

Dan Daley, James Elizondo,

Daniel M. East, David John Farinella,

Steve LaCerra, Baker Lee, Jeff

MacKay, David Morgan, Bennett

Prescott, Jamie Rio, Dave Stevens

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Garret Petrov

[email protected]

Production Manager

Victoria Scott

[email protected]

Web Master

Josh Harris

jharris@ fohonline.com

PAS Blog Master

Evan Hooton

[email protected]

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Dan Hernandez

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Sales Managers

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Front Of House (ISSN 1549-831X) Volume 10 Num-ber 3 is published monthly by Timeless Communica-tions Corp., 6000 South Eastern Ave., Suite 14J, Las Vegas, NV, 89119. Periodicals Postage Paid at Las Vegas, NV and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send ad-dress changes to Front Of House, P.O. Box 16147, North Hollywood, CA 91615-6147. Front Of House is distributed free to qualified individuals in the live sound industry in the United States and Canada. Mailed in Canada under Publica-tions Mail Agreement Number 40033037, 1415 Janette Ave., Windsor, ON N8X 1Z1. Overseas subscriptions are available and can be obtained by calling 702.932.5585. Editorial sub-missions are encouraged, but will not be returned. All Rights Reserved. Duplication, transmission by any method of this publication is strictly prohibited without the permission of Front Of House.

With the New Year approaching, we make lists and promises for the next trip around the sun.

I recently visited the shop of a major sound company where an entire room of top-shelf rider-friendly analog outboard equipment was collecting dust because most mixing now occurs “inside the box” of digital consoles on tours, in venues and at festivals, eliminating outboard gates, compressors, and, to a lesser degree, EQ and effects.

The digital workflow advantage, based on the console’s file, rather than the hardware itself, dictates that if it’s not part of the digi-tal mixing system, it is cumbersome. All the enhancements to the console must be soft-ware-based plugins so they can be incorpo-rated to file-based workflow.

In the back of that sound shop sat a row of Midas analog consoles — a stable of thor-oughbreds out to pasture. Come next July 4th (this year it’s a Wednesday) otherwise empty shops will be using a Heritage 3K to prop the door open and get a breeze. If they were all on eBay at once, the price of used analog gear would plummet. Meanwhile the day has ar-rived when engineers need nothing more to manage their event and its documents and files than an iPhone or iPad.

The new iPhone 4S has users retiring per-fectly good older iPhones. It’s easy to toss it in a drawer “just in case,” but actually putting it to use is not only smart, it helps rationalize that new 4S, providing a guilt-free upgrade. With that in mind, below are 40 apps for your old (and new) iPhone. Merry Christmas.

An app bought for one iOS device, by the way, can be loaded to another on the same account for free. Unless noted, the following are free (although some have in-app purchas-es and others require a paid version to lose the banner ad):

AKG Wireless monitors DMS 700, WMS 4000/4500 and IVM 4 IEMs. Powered By Crown ($4) controls networked Crown I-Tech, I-Tech HD, and Macro Tech I amps.

Remote controls iTunes on Macs over WiFi. AC-7 Core Mini ($5) remote controls most DAWs. Ludwig Metronome has tap tempo.

AccuWeather beat the National Weather Service in Indianapolis by 16 minutes. RTA Lite and Fourier Lite provide handy frequen-cy references. UE SPL checks concert SPL.

White Space shows TV channels for un-licensed wireless. ProAudioCalc calculates amp size, output and speaker SPL. WaveCalc ($2) converts frequency, half-wavelength and

time. TiltMeter is a bubble-level and incli-nometer.

Touch Mouse provides a WiFi trackpad and keyboard for PCs. System Status Lite monitors iPhone’s CPU. Speedtest tests WiFi speeds. WiFi Finder and Skype for WiFi make great travel companions, as does FlightAware.

Blue FiRe field recorder goes with Blue Mikey. iProRecorder ($1) one-touch record-ing from BIAS. NightRecorder ($3) stealth records while iPhone is in standby. KASB Sound Player ($2) plays sound files back for SFX, walk-ons or announcements.

Reactable ($10) plays loop-based music, used on Björk’s Volta tour. Soundrop draws lines to make sounds; good earphone fun. Songify turns recorded speech in songs.

Dozens of flashlights, but my favorite is Light. It can be strobed, and it blinks SOS when shaken. Mag Light uses both camera and light to look at small things in the dark, like serial numbers in the back of racks.

Billboard Charts tracks top 10 songs (watch Katy Perry make history). LiveMusic ($3) shows local concerts from Pollstar’s da-tabase.

PayPal and eBay are better than on your PC. Invoice2go Lite manages 3 invoices at once. Truck Loader ($1) names load list road cases and sorts them by row and layer.

JotNot uses iPhone’s camera to scan. eFax faxes. Camera Plus upgrades iPhone’s camera. PhotoShop Express tweaks images. Night Camera ($1) takes shake-free low-light venue snapshots.

Don’t forget USA Today, New York Times, and FRONT of HOUSE (pictured below) to catch up on news. Christmas® is a holiday favorite. Resolutions and iResolve organize New Year’s resolutions.

My New Years resolution is to be more “green.” Every day we make choices. Now that there are high-efficiency amplifiers, it’s pos-sible to replace old amps and save enough money on electricity to pay for the new ones. Like buying a Prius, energy savings can pay for the purchase over time. This year will see energy efficient amps begin to pay off on tours as venues start to charge for electric-ity at settlement, using meters on company switches.

Merry Christmas, friends. May your tree be lit with LEDs. Here’s to 2012.

Wish Mark Frink an appy New Year at [email protected].

Publishers of...

Appy Holidays and Recycled Resolutions

BOULDER, CO — The “X192” AES standards task group, which is seeking to expand interop-erability between audio networking products from different manufacturers, is being chaired by Kevin Gross, who conceived and developed Co-braNet and has helped QSC deploy Q-LAN.

Gross noted that X192, once implemented, could provide manufacturers with the means to remain with network technology they are invest-ed in, while also interfacing with products that support other networks.

X192-enabled devices are using existing protocols, including the IEEE 1733 variant of AVB, Dante, Livewire, Q-LAN and RAVENNA, to be interoperable — able, Gross noted, able to exchange audio data while operating under vari-ous proprietary Layer 3 protocols.

Alternately, Gross added, manufacturers may find that X192, once fully developed, will meet all their criteria and may decide to imple-

ment it as their only networking protocol. QSC Audio Products, LLC and Telos Systems’ Axia Au-dio division have become sponsoring members supporting Gross’s work.

Gross added that manufacturers and us-ers can both benefit by using Layer 3 network technology and applying existing IP protocols such as IEEE 1588, RTP and DiffServ as a way to meet the challenge of distributing high channel-count, low-latency, uncompressed digital audio, with benefits including compatibility with off-the-shelf network hardware, scalability, manage-ability and acceptance by IT professionals.

“When you’re working in the IP environ-ment, there are a limited number of ways to

mix and match existing pieces to implement an audio network,” Gross noted. “So it’s inevitable that IP-based solutions will have similarities. As I surveyed various implementations, it became apparent that these similarities provided an op-portunity for interoperability.”

The task group membership is comprised of representatives from prominent audio manufac-turers including ALC NetworX and members of the RAVENNA consortium, network equipment and component manufacturers and key end us-ers.

Gross’ experience includes involvement with the systems and network design in projects uti-lizing audio networking, including Wembley

Stadium, the U.S. Senate, the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and theme parks such as Disney’s An-imal Kingdom and Tokyo DisneySea. Gross also holds several patents, has written papers and articles and pre-sented on numerous AV networking topics. In 2006 he was awarded an AES fellowship for his contributions to digital audio networking.

2011 DECEMBERwww.fohonline.com 5

News

AES “X192” Standards Group, Led by Kevin Gross, Seeks to Expand Audio Networking Interoperability

Kevin Gross

Riedel Opens Moscow OfficeMOSCOW —

Riedel Commu-nications opened a branch office in Moscow recently. The new office, the 10th branch office

for the company, was opened in response to de-mand for the company’s products in Eastern Eu-rope, including Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The company also maintains offices in the U.S., Asia U.K., Europe and Australia.

“Now that we’re starting our own office in Moscow, we have the opportunity to establish a more direct contact with our existing customers here,” said Yevgen Khovanskyi. “This way Riedel can provide a more direct service for existing and new customers within this area.”

Recent projects in this region include the studio installation at Kiev-based broadcast net-work STB, Moscow-based broadcast network RBK and ANO Sports Broadcasting. The new of-fice’s contact information follows: Riedel Commu-nications, Petrovka st. 27, 107031 Moscow, Russian Federation; Tel. +7495 956 04 72.

Riedel at NATEXPO in Moscow

LOS ANGELES — For the fourth year, nominees for the annual Grammy Awards were announced on The Grammy N o m i n a t i o n s Concert Live, a one-hour show

that was broadcast from Nokia Theatre Nov. 30.The nominees, named by voting members

of The Recording Academy, were an eclectic mix. Fourteen-time Grammy winner Kanye West topped the field with seven nominations; Adele, Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars each gar-nered six nods; and Lil Wayne and Skrillex each are up for five awards.

Drake, producers/songwriters Paul Ep-worth, Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine, Nicki Minaj, Mumford & Sons, Radiohead, Rihanna and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) each received four nominations. Best New Artist nominations went to The Band Perry, Bon Iver, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj and Skrillex. The 54th Annual Grammy Awards are set for Feb. 12, 2012.

Kanye West Tops 54th Grammy Nominations

Kanye and Jay Z at the 2011 VMAs

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BATON ROUGE, LA — More than 200 au-dio engineers, technically-minded musicians

and media gathered at the Shaw Cen-ter for the Arts Nov. 19 for PreSonus’ first user conference, “PreSonuSphere.”

The one-day event, with a Ca-jun dinner and entertainment from L’Angelus and Phat Hat the night be-fore, included a double-track of ses-sions covering StudioLive digital mix-ers and Studio One audio recording and production software.

There were two sessions in the morning and four after lunch, followed by a closing panel discussion that in-

cluded PreSonus CEO Jim Mack, founder/president Jim Odom and CTO Bob Tudor.

Featured presenters included Ace Baker, Byron Gaither, Doug Gould, Jonathan Hill-man, Scott Harrell, Rick Naqvi, Rhett Mouton, Mike Rivers, Paul Gilbert and Craig Anderton.

Studio One lead developers Wolfgang Kundrus and Matthias Juwan, who are based in Germany, were available for questions and customer feedback throughout the day.

“The attendance at PreSonuSphere ex-ceeded our expectations” noted PreSonus’ Mack. “I would have been pleased had this been our third PreSonuSphere. For a first time out, I’m extremely impressed.” Plans are now underway for PreSonuSphere 2012.

News

continued from cover

multiple cards.Lake Controller software installed

on a compatible Windows PC offers us-ers control of the MY8-LAKE and other Lake devices in the system, and compat-ibility with Smaart sound system mea-surement software promises smooth, efficient speaker system tuning. Over 1,000 speaker presets are accessible to optimize performances in a wide array of spaces.

Lake Processing Added to Yamaha Digital Products

First Annual “PreSonuSphere” Audio Conference Draws 200+ Attendees

PreSonuSphere 2011

TORONTO — Adamson Systems Engineer-ing named MPM France and SLS as beta partners for its Project Energia program. France is a key Eu-ropean territory for Adamson, with more than 30 vendors carrying the Y-Axis and SpekTrix series.

MPM, established in 1990 in northeastern France, employs more than 30 in its warehouse and works with more than 100 freelancers. It supports more than 15 tours and provides rental services for more than 1,200 shows annually. The soundco, which also supports with festivals in-cluding Carcansonne and Les Voix de Gaou, has more than 500 Adamson cabinets in its inven-tory.

Marc Morosini, director general of MPM, got the chance to visit Canada last fall to listen to one of the first finished prototypes of the E15 system, and credited it as offering “more power than any other cabinet, in a smaller and lighter package...it is the system of the future, available today.”

SLS, with a 36,000 square-foot facility in Ales and a second location in Montpellier, has 15 full-time and 140 freelance employees, and its loud-speaker inventory is comprised exclusively of Ad-amson products. Though SLS is focused mainly on festivals and corporate events, they provide sound production for a few tours, including Les Ogres Barback (a.k.a. The Ogre) currently on tour with SLS’s new Adamson E15 system.

“We started as a small local company with some enthusiastic technicians and have since steadily attracted bigger and better jobs,” said Leon van Empel, SLS’ owner and production manager. “We were very excited to get our hands on the new E15.” van Empel also commended Adamson’s French distributor DV2 for its gear and service.

In addition to MPM and SLS in France, in-ternational Energia beta partners include Big Daddy Entertainment Group (Indonesia), Eighth Day Sound Systems (U.S./U.K.), Fluge Sonido Pro-fesional (Spain) and Wigwam Acoustics (U.K.)

MPM, SLS Join Adamson’s Project Energia in France

The crews from MPM (top) and SLS (bottom) with E15 gear

News

DECEMBER 20118www.fohonline.com

LAS VEGAS — For the recent iHeartRadio Music Festival, sponsored by Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio social media network and staged at the MGM Grand Arena, Firehouse Productions provided a full complement of JBL VerTec speak-ers and subwoofers.

The event featured performances by Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Kenny Chesney, Jennifer Lopez, Usher, The Black-eyed Peas, Sting, Rascal Flatts, Alicia Keys, Cold-play, Sting and other top acts.

Firehouse provided main left-right arrays comprised of 17 JBL VerTec VT4889 large-format line array elements each, accompanied by two flown arrays of a dozen VT4880A subwoofers. Firehouse also provided JBL VT4888 mid-size line arrays for side coverage and JBL VT4887 compact line array enclosures for front fills, plus two ground-stacked columns of three VT4889 loudspeakers, each on top of three VT4880A subwoofers. Crown I-Tech 12000 HD amplifiers powered the system using JBL’s new VerTec V5 DSP settings.

“With a show this size, there are different rehearsals taking place at different times, all with information and settings that need to be conveyed back to the main system,” noted Mark Dittmar, Firehouse’s lead design and integration engineer.

He credited the VerTec line arrays’ ease of setup for helping the production flow smooth-ly, and the V5 preset software upgrade for the VerTec system. “The high end is much smoother. The V5 presets also solve all kinds of midrange is-sues, and the low-end response is amazing,” Dit-tmar said. “Some acts used the entire headroom, pushing all the amps to the max, and even when touching the limit, it sounded linear and smooth.

“It’s always nice when you don’t have to worry about pushing a system too hard and can just let it fly,” Dittmar continued. “It’s great to have the performance upgrade without having to buy new equipment. The software upgrade was done in a half-hour, and we were ready to go.”

Firehouse Supports iHeartRadio Festival at MGM Grand Arena

The setup included an ample assortment of JBL gear

WESTMINSTER, CA — Korean First Pres-byterian Church of Orange County, a mega church with over a thousand members and a 30-year history, recently upgraded with QSC’s KLA line array.

Aviwork, Inc. of Fullerton, CA handled the installation and was tasked with designing a solution to meet the challenges of the shal-low, wide sanctuary, which has a number of balconies.

With the former system, congregation members in the corners, on the balconies and underneath them weren’t able to hear the sermons. After visiting the church several times and analyzing the audio problems, Avi-

work recommended QSC’s KLA as the solu-tion.

“I have been interested in the KLA since its recent release. It’s got an easy rigging sys-tem, a good price point and it sounds great,” said Hosung Leem, senior AV consultant at Aviwork. “Believe it or not, I didn’t even hear the KLA System before recommending it to the church. I didn’t have to. I’ve had so many good experiences with QSC loudspeakers that I already knew the KLA would be great.” The new KLA System has elicited praise from the pastors as well.

OC Mega-Church Installs KLA System

The QSC gear at Korean First Presbyterian Church of Orange County


News

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Allen Room Equipped with M’elodie System

NEW YORK — After a year spent audition-ing audio systems, Doug Hosney, director of production at Jazz at Lincoln Center, opted for a Meyer Sound M’elodie system. The new system includes two arrays of eight M’elodie line array loudspeakers each hung below two 500-HP subwoofers, with two more 500-HP subs on the floor.

The 500-capacity Allen Room — based on the design of a Greek amphitheatre — has a 50-by-90-foot glass window backdrop overlooking Columbus Circle and is one of

three live music venues at Jazz at Lincoln Cen-ter. It hosts a variety of events, and it recently became the home of Anderson Cooper’s new show, Anderson.

“We do a lot of jazz concerts,” noted Hos-ney. “It may be a big band, a solo, a small jazz combo, or a blues

concert. Many of the instruments sounded great acoustically, but we needed to lift the piano or the bass a little bit. We needed a way to do that as transparently as possible so they blended with the acoustic energy in the room. We also needed something very musi-cal that had the right texture so that it would blend with acoustic instruments; as well as handle a totally amplified performance. Our goal was an accurate representation of what was happening in the room.

“We listened to several systems over the

course of almost a year,” Hosney continued. “Overall, the Meyer Sound system delivered the highest quality and served all of our needs. The one event that probably clinched it for me was an impromptu appearance by Arlo Guthrie: It was perfectly seated right where it belonged, yet it was clearly amplified and you could hear it everywhere.”

Along with the two 8-box M’elodie arrays, two UPJ-1P loudspeakers provide reinforce-ment above to each side of the mezzanine, with two UPJ-1P loudspeakers on both sides serving as front fills and a center reference between the arrays. Six UP-4XP loudspeakers are placed on the front edge of the stage. A pair of Galileo 616 processors provides sys-tem drive and processing.

All performances produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center are recorded for broadcast on SiriusXM satellite radio and on Jazz at Lincoln Center Radio. The Allen Room also employs a Soundcraft Vi6 digital console, and a full complement of microphones including mod-els by AKG, Neumann, DPA, and Earthworks.

The flown arrays Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center

TORONTO — Duran Duran’s longtime FOH engineer, Snake Newton, supported the band’s recent North American tour with Adamson’s Project Energia. The six-week tour was a build up for Duran Duran’s All You Need is Now album, due for release in early 2012. Energia beta partner Eighth Day Sound out of Cleveland provided the system and crew for all of the North American dates.

“When Snake gave us the thumbs up to be the first on tour with Energia in North America, our team was ecstatic,” said Jesse Adamson, Adamson’s director of marketing and sales. “Snake and Eighth Day Sound pro-vided a flawless performance on the North American debut of Energia in Phase 1. The results could not have been better.”

“When I was approached to test-drive Energia in the beta phase, I had absolutely no reservations,” said Newton. “Eighth Day

Sound provided great support on the tour, and the E15 delivered every time. The mid-range definition and low mid punch is incredible, and there was no sign of power compression at any point.

“Adamson have always produced great speakers, and I look forward to seeing the next phase completed,” Newton added. “With the amp and DSP in the box, consistency will be guaran-teed in every territory throughout the world, along with many exciting array control possibilities which cannot easily be achieved by currently available systems.”

Eighth Day Sound systems engineer Kyle Walsh oversaw the daily system design, in-stallation and alignment. “The E15 rigging is very simple to use,” he said. “The angles are indicated with a combination of color cod-

ing and numbers, and all angles are set on the ground. There is no lifting required, so I was able to preset everything in the morning without the help of stagehands. The bumper and extender bar are lightweight, and they travel on the stack. Tuning was a breeze, as the box sounded great out of the gate.”

Snake Newton Supports Duran Duran with Energia

From left, Charles “Chopper” Bradley (monitors) and Snake Newton (FOH)

KNOXVILLE, TN — The engineers supporting the 2011 Alison Krauss & Union Station (AKUS) Paper Airplanes tour, including FOH engineer Cliff Mill-er and monitor team Bernie Velluti and daughter Haley, have been using DiGiCo SD10 consoles. Miller specified the dual consoles used for the tour after first try-ing them out for AKUS at Merlefest in 2010.

Miller credited the consoles for

their consis-tent, clean sound qual-ity. “Mixing an acoustic band like this is prob-ably one of the more challenging things for a digital con-sole... it’s re-ally the sum of all the parts and

what goes into the console that affects what comes out. There’s a lot of detail with stringed instruments that you nev-er hear with electric guitars and a lot of the other typical rock ‘n’ roll instruments.

“It’s important to understand the sound of these instruments, because when they’re amplified, it’s literally a balancing act to get that right blend — where the sound system is equalized and isolated enough to keep the instru-

ment resonance minimal and as natural as possible, and the low-end frequen-cies maintained,” Miller continued. “And that can change, too, depending on the facility and whether it’s indoor vs. out-doors.

“Outdoor sheds with vinyl roofs over the audience are a real challenge. There’s a lot of reflection even when you make a point of keeping the PA out of it. It’s very live,” Miller added. “I find that even in the varying circumstances, once I get the overall PA tuned the way it needs to be, then my presets work well from day to day, inside or outside, pretty consistently.

“The only thing that may change is the EQ from day to day,” Miller contin-ued, noting how Ron Block, on banjo/guitar, has the ability to change the EQ on his Fishman Aura DI, “depending on what he’s hearing in his ears. That affects what I’m getting at front of house, so I just compensate for that on a daily ba-sis. I let him get it to suit his taste, and then I set it to suit mine!”

Alison Krauss Tours with Dual DiGiCo SD10s

Audio engineers Bernie Velluti, Haley Velluti and Cliff Miller

News

www.fohonline.comDECEMBER 201110

SAN ANTONIO, TX — Known throughout

Mexico for his Norteña and Banda (brass influenced) musical styles, Es-pinosa Paz’ following is expanding on both sides of the Mexican border.

For U.S. shows, Adrian Gallegos, co-owner of Global Productions, serves as both the tour’s production manager and monitor engineer, sup-porting Paz’s performances with a D.A.S. Audio Aero 12A, Aero 8A, and Aero 50 line array loudspeaker sys-tems and LX-218A subwoofers.

“We go from arenas to theaters to nightclubs, so I have to be able to handle a wide

range of performance spaces,” said Gallegos. For many shows they fly a dozen Aero 12s per side, supported by a half-dozen stacked LX-218A subwoofers per side.

“We’ve also been using D.A.S.’s large-format, 3-way active Aero 50 line array enclosures for the largest venues like arenas and big theaters,” Gallegos noted. “When we use the Aero 50s, we typically fly eight per side, using the LX-218A subs for low-end support.” He also uses Aero 8A ultra-compact line array enclosures for front fills.

“I love the versatility,” Gallegos said, also crediting Aero Series 2 for ease of setup, tear

down, transport and sound quality. Although “nightclubs are never easy to set up,” Gallegos noted, “it’s very easy to rig six or eight boxes” of Aero 12As “per side. We can hang these loud-speakers from Genie lifts without any prob-lems, and they also work well when we need to ground-stack.

“The fact that these are self-powered makes system cabling considerably easier,” Gallegos added. “Further, the DSP capabilities for loud-speaker management are excellent and, since the power amps are built right into the rear of the enclosures, the end result is much faster and simplified setup and tear-down.”

Global Productions Tour With Espinosa Paz

From left, Adrian Gallegos and Michael Horn, president of American Audio Visual with D.A.S. gear

VIENNA, VA — For the 7,000-seat Filene Center at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Per-forming Arts, Matt Snyder and other IATSE Local 22 crewmembers upgraded the loudspeaker system with JBL VerTec VT4886 subcompact line array elements and VT4883 subwoofers.

Opened in 1984, the rebuilt Filene Center II’s existing delay system “required more and more maintenance,” Snyder said. However, it couldn’t be installed just anywhere. “Management would not allow the new speakers to intrude upon the

design of the theater, meaning they could not be placed anywhere other than the alcoves for the previous speakers — extremely limited for a modern line array. Secondly, the lack of available power precluded the use of powered speakers and limited our amplification options.

The use of existing wiring was another pri-ority to keep costs in check. “Basically, the fewer amplifier channels needed, the better,” Snyder said. “In the end, we were able to implement this system with just five circuits per bay.”

Coverage requirements also pre-sented a challenge. “We needed an array which could provide substantial vertical coverage — over 30 feet of elevation — yet also had a relatively short throw range; about 120 feet was needed for this installation,” Snyder noted.

The VT4886 line array elements proved well-suited to the task. “Their smaller size enabled us to put a large number of enclosures into each array, and we went with nine-element arrays in each of the six bays which cover the lawn area. The controlled axial shading of the VT4886 gave us the coverage pattern we needed.

“The cardioid coverage of the VT4883 sub arrays also worked to our advantage, as we had to minimize low-end spill from the delay subs into the main pavilion,” Snyder added. “The lower weight of the VT4886 and VT4883 was also a big advantage, as we could easily hang all the speakers without making any major structural modifications.”

Snyder added that JBL Line Array Calculator speaker configuration and acoustic modeling software helped “predict the response of the sys-tem,” and that, “once the speakers were installed, we did final tuning with the aid of SMAART and SIM measurement and analysis software.

“We are extremely satisfied with the results,” Snyder concluded.

IATSE Local 22 Updates Wolf Trap Delay System

The crew updated Filene Center with JBL VerTec Gear

BALTIMORE, MD — The New Light Church was heavily damaged from a fire that broke out during roof repairs. Al-though prized stained glass windows were lost, no one was injured, and during the rebuilding process, church leaders de-cided to include a new sound system.

Connectivity Group llc designed and installed the system, which includes Tan-noy VQ 100, V8 and V6 loudspeakers.

“There wasn’t much in there before,” founder/owner John Saunders says, “and they were looking at getting a new system before the fire.” Originally he intended to use a VQ 60, but EASE modeling pointed toward the VQ 100 as the better solution. It’s hung as a center fill, 20 feet high, and covers most of the room — a small but re-verberant space. A single V8 hangs from the ceiling in the rear for balcony cover-age and two V6s are mounted 6 feet high on columns flanking the stage for front fill. Additional low end is provided via two dB Technologies Sub 15s.

Other system elements specified in-clude three Crest CC1800 amplifiers, Sa-bine Navigator NAV360 DSP and an Allen & Heath ZED-436 console, placed on the main floor at the back of the congrega-

tion seating, in an enclosure custom built by the church.

The church’s new mic package in-cludes a Shure ULX-S wireless system with four ULX2 SM58 handhelds for solo-ists, a ULX1 body-pack with a WL185 lav mic, three Shure SM81 condensers for the choir and an MX218 gooseneck mic at the pulpit.

A dB Technologies Twin 128 is hung behind the VQ as an overall stage fill and is augmented by two EAW SM109z floor monitors and an Aviom system for the choir and band.

Baltimore’s New Light Church Rebuilds

Connectivity Group provided Tannoy VQ 100, V8 and V6 loudspeakers

www.fohonline.com2011 DECEMBER 11

International News

RIO DE JANEIRO — The 10th annual week-long Rock In Rio festival returned to Brazil after spending even years of the past decade in Lisbon and Madrid, draw-ing 700,000 to the site planned for the 2016 Summer Olympics to hear Guns N’ Roses, Shakira, Katy Perry, Stevie Wonder, Ke$ha, Metallica, Rihanna, Coldplay, Elton John, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and many other top artists perform.

Gabisom Audio once again provided the massive sound system, which included a main PA hang of 120 VerTec VT4889 line array elements and 84 VT4880A subwoofers and, for the secondary Sunset stage, a 12-per-side Outline GTO system, supplemented with GTO Low bass extension and GTO-DF downfill elements and eight ground-stacked Lab 21 subwoofers.

Main Stage“We had used the VT4889 and VT4880A

line arrays at previous Rock In Rio shows, and they can provide the expansive high-volume sound we need over this extremely large coverage area,” said Peter Racy, Gabi-som’s chief engineer. “We wanted to make sure that the people at the front of the stage weren’t blown away by excessive volume, but that the people all the way in the back could still hear everything clearly. The con-figuration we used enabled us to achieve this.”

Installing and operating the Goliath-sized rig was only part of Gabisom’s chal-lenge. “The festival had very little time be-tween acts, and Gabisom had to constantly change each artist’s complete stage setup including backline, stage props and monitor wedges,” noted Jaime Albors, senior director, Sales — Intercontinental for Harman Profes-sional. “When Katy Perry finished on open-ing night, Elton John went on just 20 min-utes later, with a completely different stage setup, and Gabisom pulled it off without a hitch.”

“I was extremely impressed by the SPL capability of the system,” Albors continued. “When you have 100,000 people clapping and screaming, they can literally be louder than the level of the PA, but this was not the case for this event. With 120 VT4889s and 84 VT4880As, the system had enough power to be heard well above the crowd.”

“The most impressive attributes of the JBL VerTec line arrays are their effortless power and clarity,” said Racy. “This is because of their ability to deliver high output while maintaining smooth frequency response

and high resolution without distortion. In addition, their pre-dictable coverage pattern lets us optimize their placement in any outdoor — or indoor — concert sound installation.”

Sunset StageFor the “secondary” Sunset

Stage — which still served audi-ences of up to 60,000 people — the diverse array of acts including Joss Stone, Sepultura, Titãs+Xutos Pontapés, Afrika Bambaataa, Matanza and Milton Nascimento. Gabisom employed a 12-per-side Outline GTO system, supple-menting with three GTO Low bass extension cabinets and a GTO-DF down-fill element per side as well as eight ground-stacked Lab 21 subwoofers. The system drew praise from sound engineer Fer-nando Luis Leite, who mixed FOH for the rock jam session featuring Ed Motta and Andreas Kisser of Sepultura and also for Baile do Simonal, a Brazilian act.

“The Outline GTO was a very pleasant surprise for me,” Leite said. “The two bands I mixed are totally different — one playing classic rock with five guitars, and the other a pure Brazilian sound with lots of percussion and horns. But the GTO system handled them both really well…The Rock In Rio crowds expect it to be loud, and it was — we were working at around 115dBA at the mix posi-tion,” Leite added, crediting the gear’s ability to maintain intelligi-bility at full volume.

“We didn’t have a soundcheck at Rock in Rio, only a quick line-check,” said Jorge Guerreiro, FOH engineer for local band Matanza “It was like ‘one, two, three, four and go! The GTO system really saved me, because it sounded like very good studio monitors, but for a live sound. So it was just a matter of doing a fast balance and a little bit of EQ on individual channels. We also had excellent feedback about this show.”

Stanley Soares, who mixed Brazilian metal band Sepultura, along with French industrial percussionists Tambour du Bronx,

was also impressed. “Very clear and tons of pressure,” he noted. “I had a good time.”

Rock in Rio is scheduled to alternate “sides of the pond” between Lisbon, Madrid and Rio over the next four years.

Rock in Rio Festival Supported Once Again by Gabisom Audio

The main hang included 120 VerTec VT4889 and 84 VT4880A

Sepultura at the Sunset Stage

SEOUL — For the musical, Mamma Mia!, which opened recently at the new D-

Cube Arts Center, Seoul, L-Acoustics’ Korea distributor, Dream Sound, installed a K1 WST line source and XTi coaxial system — the first such installation anywhere in the world.

Located within Seoul’s futuristic D-Cube City, the 1,242-seat venue has been equipped with two hangs of eight K1 and two K1-SB subs left and right of the stage, six KARA as downfill, and two stacks of four SB28 subs in cardioid mode positioned on stage below the K1 hangs.

Additionally, there are four under-bal-cony hangs of two KIVA WST enclosures,

while 32 8XTi coaxial speakers relay musi-cal surround effects throughout the ven-ue. The system is driven by L-Acoustics LA4 and LA8 amplified controllers.

L-Acoustics’ XTi Architectural Series has been designed and optimized for per-manent and semi-permanent fixed instal-lations, such as musicals where visual con-straints require a discreet integration. This is accomplished with low-profile rigging and custom RAL colors to match architect and designer specifications. Additionally, the sound quality matches the well-known XT range.

Dream Sound Provides L-Acoustics Gear for Mamma Mia! at D-Cube Arts Center

Outline GTO at the Sunset Stage

The setup included L-Acoustics Gear

International News

LONDON — For the fifth year since it opened in 2007, Britannia Row Productions provided live audio for the NFL’s annual In-ternational Series game seen by some 80,000 fans in London’s Wembley Stadium — a ven-ue Britannia Row has worked many times, including Live Earth, the Concert for Diana, Metallica and Foo Fighters, among others.

Before the game, which pitted the Chi-cago Bears against the Tampa Bay Bucca-neers, fans listened to performances by Goo Goo Dolls, Noah Stewart and Katherine Jen-kins. Brit Row has provided Outline Butterfly line arrays for a variety of previous Wembley events, but for the NFL event they installed an extensive distributed system, typical of enter-tainment for athletic events.

The main system consists of a dozen 4-box arrays of Outline Butterfly enclosures, each stacked on a pair of Subtech 218 subwoofers,

powered by Outline T9 amplifiers. The low, ground-stacked approach preserves sightlines for fans. Brit Row’s Dan Orchard headed up the project, with Kieran Walsh super-vising wireless, Sergiy Zitnikov as system engineer and Stefan Krista managing stage audio for pre-game entertainment. Four more Brit Row technicians dealt with set up, operations and mic changes.

Both the U.K. and American national anthems — sung, re-spectively, by Katherine Jenkins

and Noah Stewart — were heard via Shure’s Axient wireless, chosen for its audio quality and as a safeguard against dropouts. Each performer used an AXT200 handheld with a KSM-9 capsule. “Axient is a standout product in the sense that not only does it have excel-lent core audio and RF performance but it offers several new to the world features such as complete transmitter remote control and Interference Detection and Avoidance,” noted Shure UK’s Tuomo George-Tolonen.

All the transmitters on air had backup frequencies ready to go at a moments no-tice. They were also operating in Frequency Diversity mode, transmitting a single audio channel on two compatible frequencies at all times. “We could have taken a direct hit on these mics and nothing would have hap-pened,” RF technician Kieran Walsh added.

The remote control of transmitters also came in handy. They were able to remotely adjust the transmitters’ gain during soundcheck rather than physically hold them to make changes. “The time saved was noticeable.”

Roger Lindsay, FOH engineer, has mixed sound for International Series games every year since they came to London, mixing on a Yamaha PM5D. “This was the second time we’ve used Butterfly for this event, and I have to say that so far, it is comfortably the best-sounding system we’ve had,” Lindsay said. “Wembley Stadium is a difficult, reverberant acoustic space in which we have to achieve the best possible coverage across a very large area,” he added, crediting the Butterfly sys-tem for its “smooth response, achieved with minimal system EQ, and its excellent projec-tion and even dispersion around the entire stadium” along with its compact size.

An event of this type incorporates large amounts of media. This ranges from the pre-game entertainment to video feeds, replays, referee mics, PA announcements, and live satellite linkups to other games in the league. NFL home stadiums are state of the art fixed installations designed to cope with the com-plexities of the game. Wembley Stadium in London was designed as a soccer stadium, a very different game, with different demands. This means that additional infrastructure re-quired to deliver a regular season football game has to be built on a temporary basis,

and incorporated with the fixed installation already in existence.

“Signal distribution around the field was achieved using Dante-linked Lab.gruppen Lake LM 26 and LM 44 Processors,” system engineer Sergiy Zhytnikov explained. “A to-tal of 14 units were deployed,” one at each speaker array, one at the Front of House mix position in the stands and another to tie into stadium control. “The use of fiber optic ca-bling to deliver both Dante audio and remote control gave real benefit,” he adds, “instead of using over a mile of analog cabling which due to necessity would be placed in cabling conduits at field level, along with every other kind of electrical cable imaginable.”

In addition to electromagnetic immunity, Dante also solved the problem of signal deg-radation over long distances. Zhytnikov com-mented “Using Dante on the Lab.gruppen platform is reliable, presents an easier control system is faster to connect and remove, and most importantly, delivers higher quality au-dio.”

“This was the cleanest audio distribu-tion system we’ve ever used for an NFL game weekend,” said Lindsay, who also cited posi-tive feedback from the visiting NFL produc-tion team.

Though it was the second trip for the Bucs, whose owner, Malcolm Glazer, also owns Manchester United, the Bears dominat-ed the first half and won 24-18.

LONDON and STRATFORD, Ontario — Jim Neil, who has served as head of audio at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario for the past 28 years, is also sound designer for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Strat-ford, Ontario.

For the past six years, Neil has been using Countryman E6 Omni Earset and B6 Omni Lavaliere microphones for produc-tions ranging from Joseph and the Amaz-ing Technicolor Dreamcoat to Cookin’ at the Cookery.

Along with sound quality — the “first and foremost” factor — Neil credited the Countryman gear for build quality, reliabil-ity and the ability to stand up to moisture.

“I remember using Countryman E6 earset mics on the two actors in Cookin’ at the Cookery,” Neil noted, recalling the mic’s ability to perform “flawlessly throughout the entire run” despite perspiration and fre-quent costume and wig changes.

“With Joseph and the Amazing Tech-nicolor Dreamcoat, I used two B6 micro-phones,” Neil continued. The lavaliere mic’s cable and capsule were small enough to be practically invisible in the performer’s natu-ral black hair, held in place with bobby pins. (In this instance, the gear was black in color, but a variety of colors are available to meet different needs.)

Bears, Bucs and Butterflies at Wembley StadiumKatherine Jenkins sang “God Save the Queen”

Audio Veteran Using Countryman Gear for Theatrical Productions in Canada

Jim Neil with Countryman mic and LCS console

GETTY IM

AGES

Audinate and South Korea-based Inter-M are collaborating on consoles, speakers, wire-less systems, microphones and other prod-ucts that will make use of Dante, Audinate’s IP over Ethernet media networking technol-ogy. Inter-M plans using Dante end-to-end throughout their systems.

Blue Microphones named Brian Biggott chief technology offi-cer. Biggott joined Blue in 2008 in association with Transom Capital Group’s acquisition of the company. Prior to Transom Capital, Big-gott was a management consultant in the Los Angeles office of McKinsey & Co. Biggott will continue to be based out of Blue Micro-phones headquarters in Westlake Village, CA.

Cadac Hold-ings Ltd. an-nounced the de-parture of director of sales Bob Thom-as. Thomas had joined Cadac in 2005 as managing director, where he oversaw both the

broadening of its product portfolio beyond theatrical sound products and Soundking Group Company Ltd.’s acquisition of Cadac in January 2009.

dBTechnologies named Signal Audio as its new distributor in Denmark. Signal Au-dio, owned by the Matrix Group, which also owns Nordic Staging and Moto Audio Sales, serves rental, installation, live and broadcast markets.

H a r m a n ’ s Studer has named Simon Roome tech-nical sales manager. Based in Potters Bar and reporting to Karl Chapman, Simon’s primary task will be techni-cal sales support for U.K.-based systems integrators and the U.K. broadcast market and will support Studer sales across the European region as required.

Juice Goose has named DiModica Sales as its representative in Florida. DiModica Sales will market the company’s power man-agement products in music retail, commer-cial audio, sound reinforcement and related markets.

Music Group named Vishal Joshi customer support manager for India. Joshi will manage the region’s key ac-counts and custom-ers and provide local promotional sup-port for the Behring-er and Bugera brands. Prior to Music Group, Joshi worked for Harman International and En-grid Global. He also has marketing and techni-cal experience in audio and video engineering.

O u t l i n e s.r.l. named The Audio Specialists b.v. (TAS) as their exclusive dis-tributor for Belgium, The Netherlands, Lu xe m b o u rg and Germany. TAS founder and former MD of E-audio Ben-elux b.v. Axel Nagtegaal is credited by Outline with the concept of “service hatch” distribution in pro audio, where a territorial distributor ef-fectively becomes the local office for the man-ufacturers they represent.

On the Move

www.fohonline.com

Bob Thomas

Vishal Joshi

Chris Hinds, Giorgio Biffi and Axel Nagtegaal

2011 DECEMBER 13

Brian Biggott

Simon Roome

MLA Partners in Italy Take the Martin Audio Brand on the Road

VIADANA, Italy — All Access srl, the Mar-tin Audio MLA consortium formed by three Italian rental companies — Amandla Pro-ductions, Electra Service and Fumasoli Ser-

vice, with support from Martin Audio distributor Audiosales — has created a high-visibility way to transport and promote the MLA (Multi-cellular Loud-speaker Array) system.

The idea was floated by Electra Service owner Roberto Buttarelli, and soon Audiosales funded the modifi-cations to an existing 53-foot trailer, which is designed to hold a 112-enclo-sure system (including MLA tops and MLX subs).

“We knew the truck would be regularly traveling around Italy and have high visibility during shows and festivals,” noted Audiosales

owner, Stefano Rocchi.The new MLA trailer is based at Electra

Service’s Viadana headquarters, near Parma in northern Italy. It has already been put to use since the All Access consortium invested in their initial acquisition of 72 enclosures last spring for the tour for Italian rock band Sub-sonica.

It has since been seen at Bologna’s Upper Park Festival, Torino’s Traffic Festival, Lucca’s Summer Festival, as well as two Italian Elton John shows, and also for Ricky Martin at Ve-rona’s Arena, the Radio Bruno tour, Bologna’s Independent Days festival and with DJ Tiësto in Reggio Emilia.

The All Access consortium’s MLA truck trailer

LONDON — Technomedia Solutions provid-ed Abercrombie & Fitch’s flagship London store with an audio system upgrade that included a custom configuration of Powersoft Digimod amplifier modules to power a distributed and networked sound system consisting of JBL AC15 and Martin AQ8 loudspeakers.

The store’s new sound system includes 60 JBL AC15 and 20 Martin AQ8 full-range loud-speakers powered by 25 Digimod 500 and 25 Digimod 1000 amplifier modules with the low frequency sound provided by 30 Meyer Sound self-powered subwoofers.

The system redesign and install was han-dled by Technomedia Solutions, an AV de-sign, consultation and installation firm head-quartered in Orlando, FL with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and China.

“Our original objective was to redesign a sound system that would fit into the past design approach in the flagship stores and sound amazing,” said John Miceli, president and owner of Technomedia.

The London flagship store is situated in an

historic building with larger rooms and taller ceil-ings than other locations. The previous system utilized powered components that were con-cealed in the top of custom millwork distributed throughout the store.

“The new system needed to use the same cabinetry in order not to impact the aesthetic of the store while at the same time providing an evenly distributed high-end stereo listening experience,” noted Anthony Liccardi, manager of AV Systems for Aber-crombie. “The challenge was finding a small powered speaker that would fit the confines of the cabinets while providing the sound quality Abercrombie required from the sys-tem retrofit.”

Technomedia’s Miceli was already very familiar with the Powersoft Digimod amplifi-er modules, and specified Digimod 500s and Digimod 1000s to power the full range loud-speaker system. “We realized that we could hard-wire the loudspeakers to the Digimod amplifier modules and create our own pow-ered loudspeakers,” he noted.

The 2-channel 1000 delivers 500 watts per channel into 4 ohms and 1000 watts into 8 ohms in bridged mode. The 500 is the only Powersoft amplifier module with a single-channel output stage delivering 500 watts into 4 ohms.

“Building the boxes for the modules ended up being very beneficial,” Liccardi said. “We used grommet connectors and hardwired the loud-speakers to the amplifier boxes. Each module powered one or two loudspeakers depending upon the location. It worked out extremely well.”

Abercrombie & Fitch in London Equipped with Powersoft Amplifier Modules

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New Gear

Celestion CF18VJDCelestion’s CF18VJD is an 18-inch ferrite magnet, cast aluminum LF driver that delivers 1600Wrms power han-

dling with 97dB sensitivity. Its 5-inch high-temperature dual-layer inside/outside voice coil is designed for effi-ciency and to prevent sensitivity loss through thermal compression. The FEA-optimized magnet assembly provides symmetrical cone movement for low harmonic distortion, and the vented front plate increases airflow for greater cooling. The twin demodulation rings are designed to reduce flux modulation, minimizing electromagnetic distor-tion. Its double suspension and “multi-roll” surround improves linearity at extremes of cone excursion. The CF18VJD weighs 51 pounds and its Thiele-Small parameters include Qts: 0.5; Vas: 164 liters; Re: 5.51 Ohms and Fs: 33.1 Hz. http://professional.celestion.com/pro

D.A.S. Audio Aero 8AThe self-powered Aero 8A measures 10 by 21 by 14 inches, weighs 40 pounds and employs on-board DSP plus

Class D power amplification, providing 250W for the lows and 100W for the highs. A two-position array EQ com-pensation switch adjusts HF response for arrays of four or eight or more units. The Aero 8A incorporates D.A.S.’s 8MN 8-inch neodymium low frequency transducer using a 2.5-inch voice coil. An M-60N neodymium compres-sion driver is attached to a BPS-191 waveguide. Its 1.75-inch voice coil is employs copper clad aluminum flat wire attached to a urea polyamide diaphragm. The enclosure is made from birch plywood protected with Iso-Flex black paint. The 5º trapezoidal shape and rear splay adjusters maintain seamless front coupling between adjacent enclosures for improved performance. Captive rigging can be adjusted in 1º increments from 0º to 10º. dasaudio.com

DiGiCo SD10-24DiGiCo’s SD10, positioned between the SD8 and SD7 in both performance and price, now has a smaller foot-

print, with 25 100mm faders instead of the original SD10’s 37. The SD10-24’s compact frame is just 3 feet wide, helpful for remote trucks, monitoring applications, smaller venues and festivals. It retains 96 channels with dual mono inputs for fast “Main” and “Alt” channel switching, and a 24dB-per-octave HPF. Output processing includes eight bands of parametric EQ and auxes with direct talk-to-output with dim control. Like the SD7, it can con-nect to up to 14 SD or D-Rack IDs (448 channels) on a single redundant optical loop. All 48 mixes can be config-ured as mono or stereo, plus a stereo or LCR Master and 16 by 12 output matrix. Dual solo buses provide moni-tor engineers with comfort and security. It has 24 graphic EQs and 10 stereo FX. Integration with Waves V8 provides 16 stereo Racks handling up to 8 plugins each, with direct control and snapshot recall from the console. digico.org

JBL HiQnet Performance Manager SoftwareJBL’s HiQnet Performance Manager (PM) VerTec system software, a free beta download at http://hiqnet.harman-

pro.com, provides a step-by-step system workflow. Users first load array templates, then run Line Array Calculator II to determine which enclosures, and how many, are needed. The PM software automatically loads the VerTec configura-tion for each array into the application — one of many automated processes. After the Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers are defined, PM associates them with each enclosure’s drivers and programs them with the correct JBL preset data, as well as gain shading and EQ that are determined in Line Array Calculator II to optimize SPL and response. Driver band-pass symbols for each enclosure provide visualization of array configuration. PM’s GUI also offers embedded control panels for array calibration, time alignment and system EQ using I-Tech HD DSP. Attenuation, EQ, delay and band-pass controls are directly accessible, with grouping and solo/mute functionality for system testing. Once system tuning is complete, Show Mode is optimized for live performance, with controls for system EQ and monitoring of levels, loads, heat and AC. jblpro.com

JH Audio JH3A DSP Headphone AmpJH Audio’s JH3A 3-way stereo headphone amplifier is designed to work with custom-fit JH16 Pro IEMs, en-

abling a frequency response of up to 23K. The JH3A employs a multi-amp system that independently am-plifies the IEM’s dual treble, dual mid and quad bass transducers, using DSP on each band to improve clar-ity over traditional passive IEM crossovers. It provides time, phase and EQ control and compensates for earpiece imperfections. More than 18 months in the making, the JH-3A DSP Amp, paired with the JH 16 Pro IEMs, allows us-ers to digitally control both volume and bass, with a range of 0dB — 12dB. An optional 8-pin to 3.5mm adapt-er allows JH 16 use with any source, including iPods. A 2-way mode allows for flat response (flat low-end to 10 Hz). jhaudio.com/promusic

NEXO R2 Series PS8NEXO’s compact PS8 is well-suited for under-balcony, surround, front-fill or monitoring applications. The two-way enclo-

sure employs an 8-inch neodymium woofer crossed over at 1.8 kHz to a 1-inch neodymium compression driver. Employing enhancements from NEXO’s next-generation R2 redesign of their classic PS10 and PS15, the PS8 features a similar proprietary constant directivity horn with asymmetrical horizontal dispersion for graduated near-field coverage from 50° to 100° across its 55° vertical dispersion, whether used as a fill speaker or compact floor monitor. The horn is easily rotated for orientation in any direction. The PS8’s light-weight (16.5 lbs.) 2-way passive 8Ω design requires a single 200W to 500W amplifier channel to deliver 125dB peak SPL @ 1m, reducing cost, size and complexity, and a new grille design increases durability and enabling the PS8’s use as a wedge.nexo-sa.com


New Gear

PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL InterfacePreSonus’ AudioBox 1818VSL is a single rack-space USB 2.0 computer interface with 8 XMAX preamps, 8-channel

ADAT I/O and stereo S/PDIF I/O. With the included VSL software, the AudioBox 1818VSL provides a computer-based 26x18, low-latency mixer with two stereo effects buses for reverb and delay plus the same Fat Channel processing as the StudioLive 16.0.2. Engineers can use the 1818VSL as an onstage mixer, controlled from a laptop, and it can send all its Fat Channel effects directly to the P.A. while recording. VSL also provides complete editor/librarian functions. More than 50 Fat Channel presets are included for enhancing instruments and vocals. As with all PreSonus interfaces, it ships with PreSonus’ Studio One Artist DAW (Mac/Windows) and supports Core Audio and ASIO, so it works with any recording software.presonus.com

QSC Audio KW122 & KW152QSC Audio’s KW series has two 2-way models — the single-12 dual-purpose KW122 and the single-15 trapezoidal

KW152. They have the same 1000W Class D power, 1.75-inch high output HF device and extensive DSP as QSC’s K Series. Directivity Matched Transition (DMT) provides even coverage and GuardRail protection prevents its amps from clipping. Other KW features include 35mm dual-angle Tilt-Direct pole sockets, M10 rigging points for suspended installation and the KW122 can also function as a floor monitor. XLR combo jacks accept both mic and line level inputs, while RCAs allow connections from consumer equipment. Up to three audio sources can be mixed internally and summed to a balanced output for “daisy-chaining” multiple units. Separate direct outputs are also provided on each channel for additional out-put flexibility.qscaudio.com

Radial H-AmpThe Radial H-Amp interface lets users connect multiple headphones directly to a power amplifier or in-line with a

loudspeaker such as a wedge monitor or PA cabinet to safely supply headphones using a standard Neutrik speakON 4-pole connector. A second speakON acts as a throughput, allowing multiple H-Amps to be chained for larger groups such as orchestras. Designed to accommodate two musicians at the same time, the H-Amp is equipped with two head-phone outs — each with individual level control. A 3-band EQ allows users to adjust the tone for one or both sets of head-phones. The H-Amp features Radial’s familiar bookend design 14-gauge I-beam steel construction to protect switches, pots and connectors. A full-bottom no slip pad provides mechanical isolation and slip resistance.radialeng.com

Sennheiser MK 4While Sennheiser’s MK 4 large-diaphragm condenser microphone was designed for project studios, it has been used on stage for na-

tional tours such as Sade and the recent CMA Awards. Made in Germany, the MK 4 has features comparable to the higher-priced Neumann TLM-103. Its 1-inch true condenser side-address fixed-pattern cardioid capsule promises a gentle HF presence boost above 4 kHz. The MK 4 has a full metal housing and encloses its internally shock-mounted 24-carat gold-plated diaphragm, with low inherent self-noise and high maximum SPL. The MK 4 microphone comes with the MZQ 4 microphone clamp, but has an optional MKS 4 elastic suspension shock mount for studio work.sennheiserusa.com

Shure PSM1000Shure’s PSM1000 Personal Monitor System is a full-rack, dual-system, stereo IEM transmitter, networkable

over Ethernet to enable remote control of transmitter functions and comprehensive frequency coordination us-ing Shure’s soon-to-be released Wireless Workbench Version 6 (WWB6) software. Its diversity body-pack employs dual antennas. Its ultra-wide 72 MHz tuning bandwidth allows up to 9 systems to operate in one TV channel, up to 39 total systems in one frequency band, and it’s backwards-compatible with PSM 900 components. Packaged systems include one P10T Dual Wireless Transmitter and two P10R Wireless Bodypack Receivers, available with or without Shure’s dual driver SE425 Sound Isolating Earphones. At the recent CMA Awards 14 channels of PSM 1000 were put to the test, with 28 receivers covering performances on the main stage plus a B stage at the back of Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.shure.com.

Soundcraft Si Compact 32Soundcraft extends its Si Compact series with the Si Compact 32, adding to previous Si Compact 24 and 16 models.

The Si Compact 32 is capable of delivering 40 inputs to mix while maintaining the no-compromise DSP functionality of its smaller brothers. The Si Compact features 14 main buses (all with dynamics, delays and BSS graphic EQs), four matrix buses, four dedicated FX buses, four full-featured dedicated Lexicon effects and a range of option cards to interface with other systems such as Aviom, CobraNet, AES/EBU and MADI. All Si Compact models can connect via MADI to the new 32x16 Compact Stagebox, adding remote connectivity to these digital mixers.soundcraft.com


Darius Rucker/NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase

Venue

Chicagoland SpeedwayJoliet, IL

CREW

FOH Engineer: Billy HuelinMonitor Engineer: Joel StickrodSystems Engineers: Martin Bilecki, Tony TroncozoProduction Manager: Jason ParkinSystem Techs: Art Janota, John Bell, Mark Bianchin

GEAR

FOHConsoles: Avid VENUE Profile, Yamaha PM5DSpeakers: EAW KF760/761Amps: QSC PL380 PowerLight3Processing: EAW UX8800 DSP (4)Power Distro: RamtechRigging: CMBreakout/Snake Assemblies: Ramtech

MONConsoles: Avid VENUE Profile, Yamaha PM5DSpeakers/PMs: EAW SM200, Sennheiser ew 300 G3Amps: QSC PL340 PowerLight3Processing: Ashly ProteaMics: Shure, Sennheiser

Showtime

ST

Allegan Oktoberfest

DeLuna Fest 2011

Venue

Downtown Allegan, MI

CREW

FOH/Systems Engineer: Nick RoseMonitor Engineer: Jacob WilkinsProduction Manager: Al BierfeldtSystem Tech: Mike Fish

GEAR

FOHConsole: Allen & Heath GL 2400Speakers: JBL VRX932 (10), JBL SRX 118 (4), JBL SRX 218 (4)Amps: Lab.gruppen, Crest AudioProcessing: BSSPower Distro: CustomBreakout/Snake Assemblies: Whirlwind

MONConsole: PreSonus StudioLiveSpeakers: JBL SRX 112sAmps: QSC AudioProcessing: dbxMics: Shure, Sennheiser

Venue

Pensacola BeachPensacola, FL

CREW

FOH Engineers: Various band engineersMonitor Engineers: Charlie Klein/various band engineersSystem Engineers: Rick Shimer, Lee Moro

Production Manager: Clint AullSystem Tech: Ted Daniels

GEAR

FOHConsole: Avid VENUE Profile Speakers: Meyer Sound MILO (24), MICA (24), 700-HP (34), MSL-4 (1)Processing: Meyer Sound Galileo 616

MONConsole: Yamaha PM5DSpeakers: Meyer Sound MJF-212A (10), 650-P (6), MSL-4 (4), CQ-2 (2), 700-HP (2)

ST

ST

Soundco

Performance Sound/Gerard

Audio

Soundco

A&N Audio

Soundco

Blackhawk Audio

From left, Al Bierfeldt, owner, with Nick Rose, head tech

More than 30 acts, including Weezer and Jane’s Addiction, performed.


Foo Fighters

Venue

Various (tour)

CREW

FOH Engineer: Brian WorthenSystems Engineer: Phil ReynoldsProduction Manager: John BeebeSystem Tech: Scott “Scooter” Scherban

GEAR

Console: Midas XL4Speakers: L-Acoustics K1, KARA, V-DOSC, dV-DOSC, ARCSAmps: L-Acoustics LA8 RacksProcessing: Dolby Lake (3)Power Distro: Motion LabsRigging: SGPS

MONConsole: Midas PRO6Speakers: d&b audiotechnik M2s; Martin Audio drum sub, sidefillsAmps: d&b audiotechnik Mics: SennheiserPower Distro: AC PowerDistribution

ST

Longwood University Oktoberfest

Venue

Langford Mall/ Longwood UniversityFarmville, VA

CREW

FOH Engineer: Bob LipfordMonitor Engineer: Chris Buford

GEAR

FOHConsole: APB-DynaSonicsSpectra Ti48Speakers: Turbosound AspectAmps: Lab.gruppen fPProcessing: BSS, Lexicon, tc electronicPower Distro: SoundworksBreakout Assemblies: RapcoSnake Assemblies: RadialEngineering

MONConsole: Avid VENUE SC48Speakers: Soundworks SW2, SW3Amps: QSC PowerlightProcessing: BSSMics: Shure, Sennheiser, Audix, Radial Engineering

Venue

Tom Ridge Pavilion at Mountain Laurel CenterBushkill, PA

CREW

FOH Engineers: Mark Newman, Jim “Redford” Sanders, Paul DaneseMonitor Engineers: Daniel Baruch, Larry SharkeySystems Engineer: Ralph GrassoProduction Manager: Joe FeiolaSystem Tech: Vernon Perrone

GEAR

FOHConsole: Yamaha PM5D-RHSpeakers: L-Acoustics V-DOSC, dV-DOSC; dV-SUB, SB218 subwoofersAmps: CamcoProcessing: XTA ElectronicsPower Distro: Lex ProductsRigging: ChainMasterSnake/Breakoutassemblies: Ramtech

MONConsoles: Yamaha PM5D-RH , PM4000MSpeakers/PMs: L-Acoustics 112P, SB115P; Sennheiser G3; Shure PSM 900; Future Sonics budsMics: Shure, Sennheiser, AKG

ST

Soundco

Delicate/Clearwing

Productions

Soundco

Soundworks of VA

Frankie Valli and The Beach Boys

Soundco

Boulevard Pro

ST

: From left, Bob Lipford and Chris Buford. The event featured Chuck Wicks, Yung Joc and Augustana


Katy Perry rose to fame with her 2008 single, “I Kissed a Girl.” Her 2010 album, Teenage Dream, which debuted at

number one, included five number one hits (with a sixth on the way up) — a feat matched only by Michael Jackson’s Bad. She is also the first artist in history to spend 52 weeks in the top 10.

This year’s California Dreams 123-show tour began in Europe in February, ending in the U.K. in April, with May spent in Japan and “Down Under.” The summer North American leg stopped at 51 cities from June to Septem-ber, returning to the U.K. in October to hit a dozen arenas after a side trip to South Amer-ica for “Rock in Rio.” The tour’s last scheduled date was at the Staples Center in Los Ange-les, and a final show was added — with free admission — the night before Thanksgiving, called “Katy Perry Gives Thanks.”

Perry’s concert has been called a “jukebox musical,” with a storyline about a butcher’s as-sistant following her cat “Kitty Purry” through “Candyland” in pursuit of “the baker’s boy,” performed in quirky, outlandish outfits on a stage with a candy cane staircase, giant lol-lipops and cotton candy video clouds above.

The Console foh

Peter Keppler mixes the show on an Avid VENUE Profile. He’s equally comfortable in a studio control room as at Front of House, having recorded at Long View Farms and NYC’s Hit Factory and Looking Glass Studios. Previous tour credits include Steve Earle, The Eels, David Bowie’s Heathen and Reality Tours — which he mixed on a PM1D — and Nine Inch Nails, where he made the switch to the Profile, as Trent Reznor was an early VENUE artist. I personally go back to “Square One” with Keppler, having known him longer than anyone in live sound, as we both started in Northampton, MA, working at Sun Sound Au-dio and hauling our own respective PAs down

the stairs of Sheehan’s Cafe.

The Speakers foh

The Clair arena system on the tour’s final two-week run in the U.S. consists of 14-box main hangs of i5 and double i5B line arrays, with 8-box i5 side arrays and 4-box R4s to cover the last upstage section of seats, always a process with sold-out shows. A half-dozen BT 218 dual-eighteen “Bow Tie” subs are ground-stacked on each side of the stage be-low the mains in two 3-box columns, whose height helps three P2 front-fills fire over the standing audience. The system is powered by Lab.gruppen PLM series amps in Clair’s tour-standard StakRaks. System engineer Jason Vrobel also served on Paul “Pab” Boothroyd’s Paul McCartney and AC/DC tours.

Keppler stopped in mid-interview to talk about the new Clair i5 “D” prototype system that was on their three-month U.S. summer tour. Before that, it was with Bon Jovi and Roger Waters. The i5D is a 450-pound enclo-sure, and the rigging has been completely redesigned from the original i5 system to ac-commodate the size and weight. It is loaded similarly to an S4 with dual 18s, quad tens and quad 2-inch drivers. Keppler calls it the first true full-range line array box, adding that “it sounds amazing, even in the upper rear of an arena bowl, where it still delivers full impact at all frequencies, especially the low end.”

The Mics foh

A remarkable feature on the tour are Perry’s Sennheiser SKM 5200-II wireless hand-held mics, equipped with an MD 5235 cap-sules and covered in crystals by Erin LaReau, who started as “bling technician” and has since become the tour’s head of wardrobe, a daunting task in light of the show’s spectacu-lar costume changes. There are four separate handheld mics, each decorated differently to match her wardrobe in each part of the show.

“With the 5235, Katy’s voice has never sounded better,” Keppler notes. “The high end is open and clear and the overall timbre is well balanced.” Balance is especially impor-tant for the times when she’s on the down-stage thrust, especially on “Pearl,” when she’s lifted 15 feet into the air, putting her right into the PA’s coverage.

Perry also spends a third of the show sing-ing on a DPA 4088 miniature cardioid head-band mic, based on the original DPA 4066 omni, but extending 3mm to the corner of the mouth. It’s used during the ballad, “Think-ing of You,” when she flies through the air on a cotton candy cloud playing acoustic guitar and is completely in front of the sound sys-

tem, providing Keppler with a tense moment.Naturally, the 4088 is fitted to a Sennheiser

SK 5212 miniature transmitter, and all her mics employ Sennheiser’s next-generation EM 3732-II receivers, which use digitally-syn-thesized companding for reduced artifacts and natural sound. For monitoring, the show relies on 12 Sennheiser SR 2050 IEM transmit-ters — 10 in the A range and two in the G range — that work as spares.

Screaming Teens foh

Though the show enjoys a wide demo-graphic, a core fan base of young girls pro-vide the usual pop singer mixing challenge of fighting against a 2 kHz wash of screaming

Production Profile

Katy Perry

Katy Perry crew at FOH Avid Profile (L-R): Jason Vrobel (System Engineer), Peter Keppler (BE), Austin Dudley (PA Tech), Shawn Dier (PA Tech), Danny Badorine (Mon Tech) and Manny Barajas (ME).

By MarkFrink All

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teens at moments. Rather than trying to get on top, Keppler settles for gently pushing and waiting it out, a technique gleaned from sea-soned “pop-tart” engineers, but at times, the screaming resembles feedback — disconcert-ing when the singer is in front of the PA.

Keppler employs a variety of drum mics on Adam Marcello’s custom-made Q-Drums kits (fabricated by Jeremy Berman, owner of Q-Drums and also the tour’s drum tech), in-cluding a Sennheiser e902 and e901 on the kick drum and e904s on the rack toms. A trick he learned from Music Mix Mobile’s John Harris is miking the floor tom with a large-format kick mic, where he uses a second e902. Sennheiser e914 condensers are used for overheads, and due to their sound and small profile, Shure KSM137 pencil condens-ers were chosen for ride cymbal as well on

hi-hats. Another pair of KSM137s are used at FOH for audience recording mics.

Telefunken M80s have replaced the SM57 on snare, and the KSM32 on the guitar cabi-nets, though the other mic on Casey Hooper’s Matchless combo amp is still an SM57, which Keppler pans 50 percent. “Anything an SM57 sounds good on sounds better with an M80,” Keppler adds. “It’s a little fatter and more airy.” Typical for many Clair tours, Radial Engineer-ing JDIs are used on all the line-level instru-ments.

Keppler favors a pair of Genelec 1031a reference monitors over headphones at Front of House. “When you’re mixing a live show, it’s cumbersome to put headphones on to check an input, it changes the acoustic space your ears are in and takes valuable time away from mixing.”

Processing foh

Keppler uses a variety of plugins, includ-ing Sound Performance Lab (SPL) and Waves’ Mercury bundle on his Profile, which is con-figured for 64 channels, with 46 inputs com-ing from the stage. He uses Waves’ TruVerb reverb on the snare and toms and Smack! on the drums. He uses SPL Twin Tube’s modeled harmonics and saturation effects on various DI instruments, particularly the electric bass DI. “It adds a certain ‘life’ to the bass that I can’t get with an EQ, and I really like the ability to tune the upper harmonics.”

He also uses SPL EQ Rangers’ application-specific Bass Ranger modeled passive graphic EQ on bass and key bass, as well as Waves’ Ren-Desser on bass to control slapping. He uses Serato’s Rane Series dynamic EQ on vo-

cals, along with Waves C4, which he also uses on acoustic guitars along with Crane Song’s Phoenix, which he also uses on some of the drums. Lastly, he also uses McDSP’s MC2000 multi-band compressor on keyboards.

Monitors foh

Mixing monitors on a Yamaha PM5D, clocked by an Apogee Big Ben, tucked un-der the stage, is Manny Barajas from the Rat Sound family. He got his break mixing moni-tors in 2009 when The Mars Volta asked him to mix monitors for them. He’s assisted on stage by monitor tech Danny Badorine. Spe-cial credit goes to tour production manager Jay Schmit, who has taken California Dreams around the world twice from theaters to are-nas and beyond.

Production Profile

There are four separate handheld mics, each decorated

differently to match Katy Perry’s wardrobe in each part of the show.

Manny Barajas (ME) and Danny Badorine (Mon Tech) with Sennheiser EK300 IEMs and “blinged” SKM 5235 handheld mics.

Yamaha PM5D tucked under the stage Clair Global Lab.gruppen StakRaks

SM57 and M80 on Casey Hooper’s Matchless amp The mics are adorned with plenty of bling

Clair Global i5B system flies over Perry’s cotton candy clouds Katy Perry strikes a pose over Adam Marcello’s Q-Drum kit


Toronto, Canada-based Xilica Audio De-sign is a manufacturer of stand-alone DSP systems. Principal Engineer Donny

Chow is a familiar face at trade shows, as many of his best customers are OEM manu-facturers who rely on his designs for their own branded system processors. If you look closely at this processor, and then around our industry, you’ll easily recognize his work.

There are two XD models: the 4x8 XD-4080, reviewed here, and the 8x8 XD-8080, which is more of an installation piece. As such, it comes with Phoenix connectors instead of XLRs. Both products are distin-guished by digital I/O on a female DB-25 connector and by the ability to employ FIR filters.

Otherwise, the 40-bit floating point DSP and high performance 96k/24-bit converters are identical to those in Xilica’s analog-only XP models: the XP-2040, XP-2060 and XP-4080, which also employ a slightly smaller display. The analog-only XP-8080 again has Phoenix connectors for the installation mar-ket. There are two alternate models, the XD-4080M and XD-8080M, which also provide mic pre-amp inputs with 45 dB of gain in 3dB steps, useful for room-combining ap-plications.

Five-LED metering provides signal indi-cation with three green LEDs for -30, -12 and -6dB, a yellow -3dB LED and a red over/limit LED. Each input’s red LED references maxi-mum headroom, while each output’s red LED indicates the threshold of the output limiter. Below each channel’s metering are mute and select buttons, which sensibly illu-minate as red and green, respectively, when engaged. The display has a generous four line, 26-character backlit LCD and next to it are the menu navigation buttons: menu up and down, cursor up and down, enter and exit. On the front panel far left are conve-niently located USB and RS232 connectors.

Both the XD and XP processors are 9 inches deep, weigh 10 pounds and are the typical single rack-space. They all operate on any international AC from 100 to 240 volts.

All of these processors are assisted by the same XConsole Windows-based applica-tion for programming and control of the de-vices via either the front USB or rear Ethernet connection, the latter allowing wireless con-trol with a WiFi router. Using VNC or a slate PC, wireless control of the Xilica is possible.

Holding an input or output channel se-lect button and pressing another (of the same, input or output) links those channels together, indicated by their green LEDs il-luminating together, and data changed for the selected channel is applied to the linked channels as well, handy for stereo applica-tions.

Every input and output channel has a generous 8 bands of EQ that, in addition to being parametric EQ, can also be low- or high-shelf and first- or second-order all-pass filters.

Every input channel also has a 31-band graphic EQ, allowing loudspeaker designers to employ the 8-band output PEQ for enclo-sure optimization and systems engineers to use the 8-band input PEQ for array and room tuning, while leaving the graphic EQs for the artist’s mix engineer to make final adjust-ments to taste.

Both the XP and XD have an industry-standard choice of Bessel, Butterworth or Linkewitz-Riley crossovers with slopes from

6 to 48 dB-per-octave. Under General Set-tings, the EQ and crossover settings can be made in either 1 Hz increments or 36 steps per octave.

Input compressors have ratios up to 40:1 and thresholds from -20 to +20dBu in 0.5dB steps, with attack times from 0.3 to 100 ms and five release times from 2x to 32x. The outputs’ brick-wall (40:1 fixed) limiters have the same threshold, attack and release. Each output can have each input sent to it from —inf. to 0 dB, acting as a mix matrix if needed. Input and output channels have 6-character names (“L_SUB,” “R_HIGH,” etc.), while the 30 presets can have 12 character names (“JBL_AS_3XFIR”).

Hard Case foh

For this review, we chose a hard case: The Jacksonville Symphony’s 18-year-old JBL Architectural Series PA, which gets dragged out for smaller pops shows, when renting a sound company system isn’t in the budget — a pair of AS2215-64 single-15 two-way trapezoids and dual 18-inch subs with 2241 drivers. Thankfully, due to a re-cent refit, these are powered with three QSC Audio PLX amps: a 1602, a 3002 and two bridged 3402s for the subs). Unfortunately, these were crossed over with an old 48 kHz “PA” processor.

After we installed the XD-4080, it was a straightforward process of choosing our crossovers and examining the unequalized response (easy as a single-cabinet array) with SMAART. We employed Linkewitz-Riley 48 dB filters at 80 and 1800 Hz, building our first preset entirely from the front panel con-trols to get a feel for them.

Xilica’s data encoder is a distinctive ro-tary thumb wheel that employs velocity

sensing to quickly make larger changes. This unique encoder initially seems impractically stylish, but its functionality (which more products should employ) quickly becomes apparent. Additionally, when changing fre-quency (and delay), moving this encoder while pressing “Enter” changes values by 100X.

We proceeded to quickly “lop off the tops of the mountains,” especially in the full-range AS2215, using all 8 parametric filters in both bands. Anyone who remembers the Architecture Series, or is familiar with JBL’s 2225 and 2446 components in other enclo-sures, knows they benefit from precise EQ work in the mids and highs. Companies with these drivers in proprietary wedges should consider either Xilica 4080 for 4-mix amp racks.

We easily performed all this in a few hours after the symphony’s maestro sud-denly cancelled an afternoon rehearsal, and then we used the system for our show that night. It was night and day, like getting a new system for the price of new DSP.

FIR? What FIR? foh

We later went back and replaced the mid-high LR48 crossover with a FIR cross-over (Finite Impulse Response), writing a new preset so we could go back and forth. This tightened up 1800 Hz and eliminated the need for our out-of-band HF EQ at 1500 Hz. We next noticed that employing more FIR taps made the slopes steeper, choosing to go with 200 instead of 150.

The number of FIR taps assigned are paired for outputs 1&2, 3&4, etc., so when using FIR filters for stereo systems, it’s best to pair left and right bands, making linking them easier too. The sum of all taps cannot

exceed 1500, and maximum taps per pair is 1200, with a minimum of 50.

This means crossover points below 210 Hz aren’t possible with FIR, so sub-woofers will al-ways employ IIR filters, which you would want anyway, due to the latency issue. That said, there are plenty of taps for any other combina-tion of mid- and high-frequency FIR crossovers (stereo 4-way, quad bi-amp, etc.).

Like all FIR filters, there’s a larger latency penalty for using them at lower frequencies, where more taps are required. Using more taps at the same frequency provides a steeper slope, but induces more delay. For example, the maximum of 1200 taps would create a 6.25 ms delay. For our 1800 Hz crossover with 200 taps, the delay was about 1 ms — quite acceptable for monitors and other two-way enclosures.

Instead of the front panel controls, this time we used Xilica’s XConsole Windows ap-plication connected via USB. After a couple of hiccups (“O.E.,” quickly addressed by Xilica’s fast, friendly tech support), we were able to adjust the parameters more quickly on XCon-sole than from the front panel to configure our FIR preset. I’m not sure the extra cost of the FIR filters is justified in this particular case for our legacy system, but for newer systems, particu-larly line arrays, it would make a bigger differ-ence, and the added ability to create all-digital drive would be good in larger venues.

Conclusion foh

If you don’t need XD’s FIR filters or digital I/O, Xilica’s XP, analog-only processors provide the same great performance for much less, saving about a third with the 4080. An after-noon with a Xilica processor this winter might be just what you need to breathe some life into your old mains (or wedges).

Road Test

Xilica XD-4080 By MarkFrink


Buyers Guide

D.A.S. Audio

Variant 18ADriver: Single 18-inch Design: Bass reflexSize: 20 x 22.5 x 25.5 inchesWeight: 108 lbs.Freq. Range: 33 to 150 HzPower: 1250W

dasaudio.com

SUB 18DDriver: Single 18-inch Design: Band-passSize: 28 x 21 x 24 inchesWeight: 93 lbs.Freq. Response: 35 to 120 HzPower: 1000W

dbtechnologies.com

NTS250Driver: Dual 15-inch Design: “Clamshell” push-pullSize: 21 x 25 x 31 inchesWeight: 127 lbs.Freq. Range: 35 to 130 HzPower: 2x 1000W

eaw.com

Live X ELX118P

Driver: Single 18-inchDesign: Bass reflexSize: 26 x 20 x 22.5 inchesWeight: 87 lbs.Freq. Response: 42 to 100 HzPower: 700W

electro-voice.com

PRX718SDriver: Single 18-inch Design: Bass reflexSize: 26 x 21 x 28 inchesWeight: 76 lbs.Freq. Response: 37 to 130 HzPower: 700W

jblpro.com

Ko70Driver: Dual 21-inch Design: Bass reflexSize: 23.5 x 45 x 33.5 inchesWeight: 172 lbs.Freq. Range: 25 to 120 HzPower: 2x 3500 W burst

k-array.com

SB15P

Driver: Single 15-inch Design: Bass reflexSize: 17 x 20.5 x 20.5 inchesWeight: 79 lbs.Freq. Response: 45 to 100 HzPower: 1000W

l-acoustics.com

HD1801Driver: Single 18-inch Design: Bass reflexSize: 23 x 23 x 28 inchesWeight: 106 lbs.Freq. Response: 40 to 95 HzPower: 800 W RMS

mackie.com

MLXDriver: Dual 18-inch Design: HybridSize: 44 x 24 x 47 inchesWeight: 352 lbs.Freq. Response: 35 to 150 HzPower: 8500W

martin-audio.com

dB Technologies

EAW

Electro-Voice

JBLProfessional

K-array

L-Acoustics

Mackie

MartinAudio

Self-Powered

��'(&(0%(5ZZZ�IRKRQOLQH�FRP ��

500-HPDriver: Dual 12-inchDesign: Bass reflexSize: 18 x 26.5 x 22.5 inchesWeight: 164 lbs.Freq. Response: 36 to 130 HzPower: 2x 900W

meyersound.com

Lab 21 HS SP

Driver: Single 21-inch Design: HybridSize: 28.5 x 44 x 32 inchesWeight: 291 lbs.Freq. Response: 23 to 165 Hz.Power: 8500W

outline.it

PV 118D

Driver: Single 18-inch Design: Bass reflexSize: 27 x 22 x 20 inchesWeight: 76 lbs.Freq. Response: 46 to 90 HzPower: 150W

peavey.com

KSubDriver: Dual 12-inch Design: BandpassSize: 26 x 14 x 28 inchesWeight: 74 lbs.Freq. Response: 48 to 134 HzPower: 1000W

qscaudio.com

TTS18-ADriver: Single 18-inch Design: Bass reflexSize: 20.5 x 27.5 x 34 inchesWeight: 106 lbs.Freq. Response: 35 to 120 HzPower: 1000W

rcf.it

DR18-2RDriver: Dual 18-inch Design: Bass reflexSize: 48 x 24 x 24 inchesWeight: 204 lbs.Freq. Response: 32 to 120 HzPower: 2x 850 W RMS

renkus-heinz.com

Milan M18Driver: Single 18-inch Design: BandpassSize: 23.5 x 27.5 x 23.5 inchesWeight: 99 lbs.Freq. Response: 36 to 125 HzPower: 1000W

turbosound.com

TL.118SS-PDriver: Single 18-inch Design: Bass reflexSize: 22.5 x 28 x 30 inchesWeight: 135 lbs.Freq. Response: 26 to 150 HzPower: 2500W

worxaudio.com

DSR118WDriver: Single 18-inch Design: Bass reflexSize: 20.5 x 25 x 23 inchesWeight: 92 lbs.Freq. Response: 50 to 110 HzPower: 800W

yamaha.com

Meyer Sound

Outline

Peavey

QSC Audio Yamaha

WorxAudio

Turbosound

Renkus-Heinz

RCF

Subwoofers By MarkFrink


Managing low frequencies is one of live audio’s constant challenges. We deal with room nodes, archi-

tectural resonances, uneven coverage and unwanted spill. Today’s line arrays pro-vide fairly uniform horizontal coverage with adjustable vertical splay. However, an equivalent vertical subwoofer array that provides low-frequency directivity is enormous. The last decade has brought about the ready availability of digital sig-nal processing (DSP) and with the advent of digital consoles, modest DSP is included in every mixer’s outputs, allowing the easy creation of cardioid arrays with everyday means.

Powered loudspeakers are a logical ex-tension of our evolution towards improved control and precision. With amplifiers and processing integrated into each enclosure, powered loudspeakers provide protec-tion, flexibility and ease of use. Powered subwoofers, like those in this month’s Buy-ers Guide, can be used with stereo system processors’ dual subwoofer outputs, but even the DSP in digital consoles can create a simple directional low frequency array.

Low frequency arrays employ precisely controlled cancellation to provide “steer-ing” of bass energy where we desire. This extra low frequency control is nearly free, except for the time it takes to understand the physics, reconfigure subwoofer place-ment and program some DSP with polarity inversion, a few milliseconds of delay and a slight gain reduction.

In this article, we will leverage simple DSP to implement a particular type of di-rectional subwoofer configuration known as a cardioid array — named for the shape of its coverage pattern — one of the most common directional low frequency arrays1 and easiest to construct. We will show you how to quickly set up an array that proj-ects low frequencies in front, while provid-ing cancellation behind. The cardioid array requires two channels of DSP and is easily implemented with two self-powered sub-woofers.

Steering Sound: Why foh

The most treacherous enemy of quality sound reinforcement is usually the space where the performance is heard! Whether

it’s a band shell messing up monitor mix-es, balconies causing reflections at FOH, or arenas echoing for days, room acous-tics are our nemesis. We already battle the room in several common ways: system equalization to reduce excitation of trou-blesome acoustical problems; directional microphones used to isolate performers and instruments from the room and from each other; and mid and high frequency horns that aim sound onto the audience, but off the walls. Extending control to low frequencies is the next frontier in manag-ing room acoustics. And as subwoofers have grown more powerful to keep up with line arrays, the need to control the subs has grown.

In addition to wrestling with room acoustics, it is often beneficial to reduce low frequency energy for the performers on stage, or for event considerations. Re-ducing subwoofer stage wash cleans up the “mud” that normally clouds monitor mixes and has musicians asking for more level on stage. Whether indoors or out, when we keep low frequencies out of ad-jacent areas, event organizers have one less frustrated entity to pacify. Whether for acoustics, performers or logistics, the ben-efits of steering low frequency sound are substantial.

Steering Sound: How foh

Many papers and articles have been written on the science of using multiple sources in arrays to provide directional control of sound, and we won’t repeat that excellent work here. Instead, we mention the key mechanisms that these arrays em-ploy, and then move directly to the practi-cal details of setting one up.

The first factor for grasping the func-tion of directional arrays is that sound

waves combine in varying amounts de-pending on the time when they arrive at a specific location. Sound is merely regions of high- and low-pressure air that move through space. “High-pressure” means that the air is compressed above atmospheric pressure, and “low-pressure” means the air has a pressure below atmospheric. If two high-pressure regions arrive at the same location at the same time, then they com-bine to produce an even higher pressure, and greater sound volume. Two, four or eight subwoofers stacked together be-come louder and louder.

Conversely, if a region of high pressure and a region of low pressure arrive at the same place at the same time, the combina-

tion results in cancellation. For example, this can happen accidentally if a double-eighteen subwoofer has a reverse-wired driver, or if one of two banana plugs was inserted backwards in its amp’s binding post. When the cancellation is exact, the resultant pressure cancels to atmospheric pressure, and the sound volume is zero. Cancellation of high- and low-pressure regions is how directional arrays “remove” sound from specific locations.

One mechanism at work in directional arrays is that sound sources can be physi-cally spaced to arrive at different locations at different times. This seems obvious, but it is an important concept. Since the speed of sound is constant, a sound source that is farther away arrives later. We can utilize different arrivals to control sound’s cancel-lation, so the sound sources must be phys-ically spaced apart.

As subwoofers operate mostly be-tween 40 and 120 Hz, a center frequency of interest is 80 Hz, which has a wave-length of 14 feet, so a difference of 7 feet in arrival — a half-wavelength — produces cancellation. Another mechanism for pro-ducing cancellation is polarity reversal of one of two sources with the same arrival, as in the case of our dual-eighteen with one driver miss-wired.

Combining these factors allows us to employ spaced, delayed and polarity-reversed sound sources to produce loca-tions where pressures either combine to increase sound volume, or cancel to re-duce SPL.

Mathematics can be used to determine where and how addition or cancellation occurs at any point in space. Software can calculate these values and display them graphically. Fig. 1 shows the relative sound pressure level (SPL) from a typical two-box cardioid array looking down from above.

Sound Steering: Build It foh

Building a directional array begins with identical subwoofers, because while any closely matched sources can combine, it takes identical sources out of phase to

maximize cancellation. First, our two loud-speakers are separated in space, one be-hind the other. This arrangement is a good option when stage height is low, but there is sufficient depth. With one subwoofer placed behind the other, a good spacing distance between them is a quarter-wave-length, or about 3.5 feet from the front of one cabinet front to the next.

Thus, if the subwoofers are 30 inches deep, there will be a foot between the back of the first enclosure and the front of the second. The second cabinet, placed behind the main subwoofer, will be used to cancel sound behind the pair, while re-inforcing the sound in front of them both. Next we invert the polarity of the second, “upstage” enclosure. The polarity reversal causes it to create pressure opposite the main subwoofer at all frequencies. Oppo-site pressure is required for sound cancel-lation behind the array. For the rest of the article, we’ll call this rear cabinet the “can-cellation sub.”

Now that we have spaced sources, with the cancellation sub polarity-reversed, we must adjust its arrival time to that of the main subwoofer in front. We want the inverted sub to add with the main sub-woofer out in the audience, in front. Since we know that a half-wavelength offset produces maximum cancellation, half-wavelength spacing coupled with a polar-ity inversion produces maximum addition. We therefore need to a add quarter-wave-length of delay to the cancellation sub’s quarter-wavelength of physical spacing to create the full half-wavelength of offset. Adding 3.1 milliseconds (ms) of delay to the inverted sub provides an extra quarter-wavelength offset, but you may find that 4 ms will provide a more desirable result.

In front of both subs the rear cancella-tion sub arrives a quarter-wavelength late and is electronically delayed by a quarter-wavelength totaling a half-wavelength difference in arrival. This would normally create cancellation, but because the rear sub has its polarity inverted, it sums con-structively in front of the pair in the audi-ence area.

Speaking of Speakers

Cardioid Arrays Using Powered Subwoofers

By Phil Graham

Two subwoofers, a little DSP, and four

simple steps produce directional bass

response to the benefit of your audience,

musicians and management.

Behind the two subs, the front, primary sub arrives a quarter-wavelength late due to the offset, but because the rear sub is electronically delayed by a quarter-wave-length, they arrive at the same time. The rear sub’s polarity reversal causes the two to cancel behind them.

Finally, we need to turn the level of the cancellation enclosure down by 3 dB. This is because the sound level behind the main subwoofer is slightly lower than it is out front. We want to closely match the level of the rear cancellation subwoofer to the level of the main subwoofer to pro-duce the best cancellation.

Quickly summarizing our creation of a directional subwoofer array from two identical subwoofers, we perform the fol-lowing four steps:

1) Place one sub a quarter-wavelength (3.5 ft) behind the main sub.

2) Reverse the polarity of this rear “can-cellation” sub.

3) Delay the cancellation sub by a quar-ter wavelength (3 to 4 ms).

4) Turn down the cancellation sub by 3 dB.

Two subwoofers, a little DSP, and four simple steps produce directional bass re-sponse to the benefit of your audience, musicians, and management. The details of this basic low frequency array are simple enough for anyone to utilize at their gigs!

Conclusion foh

In describing the steps above we have, of course, simplified the mathematical subtleties that give the cardioid array its special sauce. We feel this a worthy trad-eoff to provide a simple process you can set up in your shop today. Try the cardi-oid array and hear for yourself how ef-fective the rear cancellation can be. Your experiment can be as simple as feeding two matching subwoofers with the stereo outputs of a digital console reversing the polarity of one channel, delaying it a few milliseconds and turning it down 3 dB.

One important final factor when creat-ing cardioid arrays is that there must be some space around the sides and back of the array. A good rule of thumb is to allow at least three feet from any solid bound-ary near the array, whether a stage or the venue’s proscenium wall. This will enable the array to work effectively.

With small digital consoles routinely used at even simple events, the live sound professional will often have the DSP read-ily at hand to direct low frequencies with cardioid arrays of two or more subs. The self-contained nature of powered sub-woofers makes this even simpler. Small gigs, weddings, ballroom talking heads and other such events can now utilize the low frequency tricks of the “big boy” pro-duction houses. Control of low frequency energy ultimately improves your custom-er’s sonic experience, adding value to your services.

1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardioid

Phil Graham is a principal of PASSBAND, llc in Atlanta, GA, a professional audio consul-tancy, and started building subwoofer ar-rays more than a decade ago. Email him at: [email protected].

Figure 1 - Simulated cardioid subwoofer pattern. Red indicates high SPL, blue indicates low SPL. Cardioid simulations produced in Ray End Acoustical Simulation


On the Digital Edge

Waves Plugins Part 8: H-Delay

Okay — I will freely admit it. There are some processors from my real-world rack of outboard gear that I

have been missing since adopting the Avid VENUE mixing platform and then choos-ing to fully embrace the digital domain by relying exclusively on plugins rather than hardware. One absent, and very much missed unit, was an easy-to-use, musical-sounding tap delay. For years, I had been accustomed to having to having one and, quite often, two tc electronic 2290 delay units that I dedicated to lead vocal effects. One would be set for a fairly tight delay time in the 160ms range and returned at a low level to add just a bit of resonant depth to a vocal. The other 2290 was cus-tomarily designated for longer delays, uti-lizing programmed special effects presets that I would change with a remote MIDI keypad.

So there I was, digitally pining, until I discovered Waves H-Delay. Other delay plugins I have previously tried out were too sterile or too glitchy or too unnatural to really feature prominently in a mix. An-other operational obstacle I encountered was trying to navigate interfaces that pres-ent an environment in which it is difficult to locate parameters and enter the neces-sary data.

Intuitive Interface foh

I am pleased to say that these particu-lar issues are definitely not the case with H-Delay. As can be seen in the screenshot, each parameter control knob on the dis-play screen is really big and very easy to find. Small movements of the mouse on individual controls do not result in vast, unwanted changes. The amber and black interface is easy to read in the dark. The extremely large size of the Tap Pad ensures that small movements of the cursor as one is tapping in time values do not result in inadvertently jumping off the button.

As the first day of rehearsal for this fall’s Joe Walsh solo tour approached, I knew I would need to employ a device that would recreate the vocal delay effects that are present on many of Joe’s record-ings. Joe himself reinforced that require-ment on the first day of rehearsal when he requested that I have delay on his vocal for every song. In my preprogramming for the show, I had loaded H-Delay into my virtual rack and set it up for a medium delay time with 2-3 repeats in descending volume.

The rest of the programming process was extremely easy. The H-Delay plugin was set to change delay time, feedback level, modulation depth, modulation rate, high pass filter and low pass filter with each different song snapshot saved on my VENUE Profile desk. All I had to do was click the desired beat on the Tap Pad for each of the songs, round up just a bit for better definition and then adjust the re-maining parameters for the specific needs of the song. These tasks were very simple to perform on the fly because the interface is so well thought out and accessible. The Avid VENUE platform makes it easy to link plugin settings to individual snapshots so that editing and saving setting changes on the fly is a simple, step by step process.

I know I barely scratched the surface

of H-Delay’s capabili-ties, but I was extremely pleased with the way the plugin performed in this particular task. Typi-cal delay times varied from 160ms to 380ms. The display can be set to read out in Millisec-onds or BPM. There is a Host option that allows BPM to be set by an ex-ternal source. LFO set-tings were either off or set to a subtle depth at a slow rate. Feedback was maintained at 2-3 repeats with a naturally diminishing volume.

I set the level on the effects return fader by listening to the point at which I heard the first re-peat distinctly and then pulled the fader down a few dB to make the ef-fect less obvious. On the song, “Rocky Mountain Way,” I did use the op-tion of linking the high pass and low pass filters creating a band pass filter that made the delay effect more distinctly “mid-rangy.” However, that was as tricky as I got.

Old-School Effects foh

I did not audition the Lo-Fi effect that emulates the original 8k bandwidth devic-es from the late 1970s and early 1980s, nor did I try out the ping-pong stereo func-tion that is also available. I checked out, but did not employ, the feedback settings from 100-200 that create repetitions that increase in level over time. I did use the Analog function and settled on “2,” the de-fault setting. That choice just seemed to bring everything together in a way that worked for me.

In my world, H-Delay represents the latest step in a long and distinguished line of delay tools that began with the Lexicon Prime Time and progressed through the Super Prime Time, PCM 42 and the tc 2290. The effect that H-Delay produces is both musically pleasing and properly present in the mix. The operation is instantly famil-iar; the settings are well-defined and com-fortably responsive. H-Delay is definitely a valued member of the Hybrid family and will become a necessary component of my touring effects package.

The H-Delay user guide offers this de-scription on page 1: From slap-back echo, ping-pong delay and tempo-sync with modulation, to filtering, flanging, phasing and more, H-Delay delivers real old-school effects, controlled by a super-intuitive inter-face.

Yessir! That’s just the device I was look-ing for.

Don’t delay. Get a ping-pong effect going with David Morgan by emailing him at [email protected].

By DavidMorgan

Waves H-Delay

DECEMBER 2011

Theory and Practice

www.fohonline.com32

Last month, we discussed the basics of filters and examined in detail the concept and application for

high-pass filters (FRONT of HOUSE, Nov. 2011, page 41). This time we’ll check out low-pass, band-pass and band-reject (a.k.a. “notch”) filters.

Low-Pass foh

As the name implies, a low-pass fil-ter cuts highs. Fig. 1 shows RTA of pink noise in Metric Halo Labs’ SpectraFoo software. You can see that the frequency response is reasonably flat — from 30 Hz to 20 kHz. If we apply a low-pass filter to the signal we get Fig. 2. This par-ticular low-pass filter is set for a corner frequency of 1,000 Hz (note that the 1 kHz band is down 3 dB) and a slope of 18 dB per octave. Changing the slope to 6 dB/octave gives us the curve shown in Fig. 3, which, as you can see, allows more high-frequency content to pass through. (The numbers at the top indicate which band has peaked —ed.)

A low-pass filter (LPF) comes in handy when you want to reduce bright-ness or remove the shrill character of a sound, like taking out some of the bite on a crunchy guitar. It also comes in handy when you have a vocal mic pick-ing up a lot of leakage from cymbals (which happens all the time). If you’re faced with a drummer who hits hard and a singer who sings softly, or a singer who does not stay on-mic, you can get as much cymbals in the vocal mic as you get vocal in the vocal mic. Careful use of the LPF will help reduce this problem, but beware — the overzealous use of a low-pass filter can make instruments sound dull. It’s an unfortunate fact that most hardware consoles do not provide low-pass filtering, which is one of the reasons I always loved the Midas XL4 console (which does). Many digital con-soles’ EQ have a high band that can be

switched from high-shelf to low pass fil-ter, which is eminently useful.

Band-Pass foh

The band-pass filter is not used to weed out bad musicians. (If only…). It’s a filter that simultaneously cuts high and low frequencies, allowing a certain mid-range band to pass (see Fig. 4). A band-pass filter is actually a combination of high-pass and low-pass filters. Most mix-ing consoles for live sound don’t have band pass filters, but you will find them in outboard processors, most often in crossovers for creating low-mid, mid- and high-mid outputs for multi-amped systems. Don’t underestimate the value

of a band-pass filter on stage, which can easily be created by using high-pass and low-pass filters simultaneously. I have found them useful in situations where you need to cut highs and low on an instrument and leave the midrange un-touched, like on a guitar amp.

Band-pass filtering also comes in handy for the side chain of a gate. By fil-tering out the low and high frequency content of the signal that triggers the gate, you can reduce the tendency for kick drum, toms and cymbals to open the gate. Ditto for the toms, where you can allow only the low-mid band to pass, thereby reducing the tendency of the tom gate(s) to open on snare

hits. Another very useful application for band-pass is on a bottom snare mic, where you definitely want the low end removed, but also want to make sure that the high hat does not bleed into the mic.

Notch Filter foh

The band-reject filter (no wise cracks about your peers, please…) leaves high and low frequencies untouched, cutting a certain range of mid frequencies (Fig. 5). Band-reject filters are seldom seen on mixing desks, but a severe form of band-reject known as a notch filter can be found in many drive rack processors or EQs intended for use on monitors. Fig. 6 shows a notch filter centered at 1 kHz. Notice the notch in the graph at 1 kHz. Also notice how the adjacent frequencies (800 Hz and 1.25 kHz) are barely touched, and how, by the time we move down to 630 Hz or up to 1.6 kHz, the filter is barely affecting the audio.

That’s because notch filters have very narrow bandwidth (bandwidth is how wide a range of frequencies are being adjusted). Most notch filters give you control over frequency and bandwidth. They are generally intended for use in controlling feedback, the idea being to notch out the frequency that is ringing and leave the rest of the audio band un-touched. In fact, most feedback elimina-tors feature “floating” notch filters that are automatically assigned by the de-vice to offending frequencies, thus re-moving the ring. Notch filters can also be used to slice out a small range of of-fending frequencies — for example, the high-mids on a female vocalist that can sometimes become shrill.

Steve “Woody” La Cerra is the tour man-ager and Front of House engineer for Blue Öyster Cult. He can be reached via email at [email protected].

By SteveLa Cerra

A low-pass filter (LPF) comes in handy

when you have a vocal mic picking up a lot

of leakage from cymbals.

Filters, Part 2: Low-Pass, Band-Pass

and Band-Reject Options

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Fig.3 Fig. 4

Fig. 5 Fig. 6

The 1970s were the golden era of the mid-sized music venue. From Max’s Kansas City, CBGB and the Bottom

Line in New York to the Troubadour in L.A., a fire code of 500 to 1,500 people seemed like just the right size for rock ‘n’ roll. The larger theaters, like the Fillmores and the Beacon, were waiting to take touring acts to the next level, but the middle tier was the night-to-night Petri dish for the era’s music, a place for artists to develop and let fans watch them do it.

The Mid-Tier foh

The mid tier was bumped from the lime-light in the 1980s and 1990s, during the reign of arena rock, when even country acts like Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks found 20,000-seaters too small. The technology that supports live stage performances duly scaled up to meet the demands of the stadi-ums — line arrays cornered the market, and their hangs grew ever longer; digital mix consoles were introduced as much for their ability to manage ever-larger I/O lists as for their sonic qualities; video screens became large and bright enough to be seen from the Space Shuttle.

The drop-off in recorded music sales seemed, at least initially, to signal that, as live music ticket sales supplanted CDs as the primary revenue source of the music indus-try, the large-scale evolution of the technol-ogy to support live performances would continue as well. But as it turned out, the underpinnings of the arena-rock era were just as vulnerable to being over-scaled. Af-ter steadily rising through the first decade of the century, live music revenues stalled. Ticket sales for the 50 biggest grossing tours globally fell 12 percent in 2010 to $2.93 bil-lion, from $3.34 billion in 2009. In the U.S., the world’s single biggest music market, the proportional drop-off was even larger, with concerts here reporting a 15 percent decline in sales and widespread last-minute discounting reported. And those same top 50 acts played eight-percent fewer shows in 2010, according to Pollstar, which blamed rising ticket costs to consumers as a major reason for the downturn.

500 to 1,500 foh

The response has been what is becom-ing a strategic repositioning away from arena-sized touring and on to night-after-night gigs at mid-sized club venues that are in that same 500-to-1,500 sweet spot that we saw emerge 40 years ago. In some cases, individual entrepreneurs are starting up new mid-sized venues, such as classical musicians David Handler and Justin Kantor, who opened Le Poisson Rouge in New York (on the site of the old Village Gate), featur-ing John Storyk-designed sound and acous-tics. In other cases, it’s the large corporate entities, Live Nation and AEG Live, that had come to dominate the big concert business in the previous decade and that are now focusing on the mid-sized tier in search of revenues.

In 2007, Live Nation took over the vener-able rock club, Irving Plaza, in Manhattan, in the process revitalizing the classic Fillmore franchise that Live Nation also represents. A

year earlier, Live Nation acquired the House of Blues chain of music clubs. Not to be out-done, in 2007, AEG Live bought two high-profile Seattle clubs, the 1,147-capacity Showbox at the Market, and the 1,511-ca-pacity Showbox SoDo. But what’s as in-teresting is the fact that some of the best-known brands in the mid-size world, like Manhattan jazz Mecca, The Blue Note, and, more recently, the Highline Ballroom, have adopted expansionist strategies, taking their mid-market expertise and marquees to new locations. For instance, the Blue Note Entertainment Group has backed new mid-sized venues in Baltimore, Richmond and Washington, D.C., with more to come.

Mid-Sized Gear foh

The scale of the technology has been responding to this trend. Some visceral evi-dence of this is found in what has become a new category in PA products, the compact line array. Bose, though better known for its consumer products, was an early player in this silo with their ingenious MA12 sys-tem. But they were quickly joined by other contenders, like Renkus-Heinz’s Iconyx, JBL’s VT4886 subcompact line array and its CBT Series line array columns, the Meyer Sound MINA compact line array and Community Professional’s Entasys column array.

Pro audio retailers are noticing the up-tick in this venue category. Dan Scalpone, regional manager for south-central U.S. for Guitar Center Professional, says the mid-sized clubs he’s seeing in the Midwest and South are looking for powered PA systems, with JBL VerTec and QSC WideLine-8 being among the most popular.

“I’m also seeing these systems going into existing businesses,” he says, identify-ing a trend that sees restaurants and other establishments adding live music to attract more revenue.

Good News for Mixers foh

All this activity around the burgeoning mid-sized music venue should be music to the ears of sound mixers. The indie-artist paradigm that increasingly dominates the record business is creating a horde of new artists who are perfectly scaled for this type of house, and that means more jobs avail-able for mixing and systems maintenance. Furthermore, after 20 years of being treated to eye-popping big-venue technologies, patrons are expecting a much more sophis-ticated experience, no matter what sized venue they’re in. So mid-sized clubs that two decades ago would never have consid-ered video and moving lights are now buy-ing those technologies, in part to support the rise of DJ-based electronica in the U.S. That will create even more employment op-portunities as club management looks for qualified operators to run them.

This isn’t pie-in-the-sky stuff — it’s happening, and it’s a nice and upbeat note to end 2011 on: more jobs in more places around the U.S. And more of you get to sleep in your own bed every night.

Give Dan Daley a virtual high-five at [email protected].


Mid-sized Music Clubs Make a Comeback

The Biz

By DanDaley

House of Blues in Boston


If you are a regular reader of “Sound Sanc-tuary” then you have probably read my holiday primers before. If this is the first

time, I will give you the outline. Whether you mix at one house of worship or a number of them, the holiday season can offer more chal-lenges than any other time of the year. Each season, I put together a list of my advice, my rules and anything else I have learned during the previous year. It is my hope that this infor-mation will help you navigate (in a sane man-ner) though the holiday season.

Ringing In the Season foh

For me, it all begins right after Halloween. However, this year, things began to rock one day after the Day of The Dead (Día de Muer-tos, Nov. 2). On Nov. 3, I received two calls

about my Christmas schedule. It is common for houses of worship that I haven’t heard from for the entire year to call me to mix their Christmas events.

Along with my worship schedule, I have a handful of clients who are planning their holiday parties and need sound systems. I know most of you are audio volunteers and only have your home church to deal with, but I am guessing that you will still have lots of additional responsibilities and will be asked to invest more time into your worship house

sound duties. Of course, if you use your spiri-tual mixing skills as part or all of your income, the responsibilities can be even greater. Please don’t get me wrong, I love the Christ-mas season. It is a great time of year. Those of us who mix for our livelihoods can certainly increase our income, but some simple rules must be kept.

Before we jump into the rules, I would like to share one thing I began to do last year before my house of worship rehearsals. I started playing Christmas music as soon as I got the sound system fired up. Stored in my iPod is everything from spiritual choral music to Frank Sinatra and the boys singing some of the holiday classics. Playing music is a simple thing, but it seems to lift the spirits of everyone involved with the house of wor-

ship events.

Holiday Rules foh

Okay, on to the rules. The first of my rules is to communicate as clearly and early as pos-sible. If I am working with more than one wor-ship house, the different houses should know this. This knowledge will make it easier to schedule the various rehearsals. I have found that most houses of worship will work with my schedule or allow me to set up the actual rehearsals around my schedule. The obvious

advantage is that I won’t be double-booking myself.

My second rule is not hard-and-fast, but, nevertheless, I try not to plan on mixing two rehearsals in the same evening. I have been in the situation where I was mixing a rehearsal at 5 pm, which was planned to go until 6:30 or 7 pm. I had an 8 pm start at another church just 15 minutes away. You can guess I was late to the second rehearsal. It is simply that “church time” is often in some other dimension. By booking one rehearsal per evening, you will eliminate a lot of personal stress.

Along with booking one rehearsal a night, I suggest you leave your Fridays and Saturdays open. Most of the worship events, parties and shows fall on the weekends. So it only makes sense to keep your weekend free. Besides, no-body wants to rehearse on a Friday or Saturday night. (Maybe a Saturday morning or afternoon.) Oh, by the way — Christmas will fall on a Sunday this year.

Take Care of YOU foh

This next rule falls under what would be con-sidered common sense. Please take extra care of your physical body. We generally don’t equate sound technicians with health nuts, but dur-ing this time of year, try to raise the bar on your personal nutrition. Obviously, every sound tech must drink buckets of coffee, but a donut stuffed with strawberry jam does not count as a serving of fruit. The reality is that a head cold or flu will mess up your hearing, and your hearing is your number-one tool. That said, take your vitamins, drink water (not soda) and eat something that didn’t come from a drive-through window.

My next rule is, don’t overbook yourself. There is no doubt that, for some of you, there will be a great demand for your time and others of

you will have an opportunity to make some extra cash. As you know, I believe that, as sound techs, we are a positive influence in the community of God. I also happen to enjoy cash. But it all boils down to proper balance. You can only mix so many events and make so much money. Don’t overdo it. Know yourself and your capabilities. And if you have family and friends, don’t forget to spend some time with them. It is the season to be jolly, after all. Remember, as much as you may want to say “Yes,” you have to also be willing to say “No.” God knows what you are capable of. You don’t have to be a hero (as a volunteer), and you shouldn’t let greed control your decision-making process.

My Holiday Plan foh

As usual, this year I have two Christmas Eve events — one early evening and one midnight service. It is simple, and I can mix both events well without any stress. In the past, I have booked three Christmas Eve services. That is just dumb and a bit greedy. Not any more. I want to have fun during the holiday season, and I want to have good will toward myself. I also plan on spending more time this year with my family and friends — even if it means I miss out on a few dollars or don’t catch my midweek church service. The idea is to celebrate the season, not burn out on it.

Personally, I celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I look at it as a huge birthday party. If your house of worship believes something different, more power to you. You are free to believe what you want. I am a sound man, not an evangelist. I hope Santa brings you everything you want. See ya next year.

Give Jamie Rio a virtual jingle at [email protected].

’Tis The SeasonSound Sanctuary

By JamieRio

Remember, as much as you may want to

say “Yes,” you have to also be willing to say

“No.” You don’t have to be a hero (as a vol-

unteer), and you shouldn’t let greed control

your decision-making process.

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JH Audio C1 866.485.9111 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-264

JoeCo 12 44 (0) 1223 911 000 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-366

Kaltman Creations 15 678.714.2000 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-355

L-Acoustics 25 805.278.5887 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-267

Lectrosonics 33 800.821.1121 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-284

Meyer 3 510.486.1166 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-112

QSC Audio Products C4 800.854.4079 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-115

Radial/Cabletek C3 604.942.1001 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-179

Riedel Communications 9,11,13 49 (0) 202.292.90 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-275

Sennheiser 6 860.434.9190 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-209

Shure 7 847.600.2000 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-312

Smarter Shows 29 44.130.687.1302 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-362

Solotech 23 702.614.8882 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-364

Soundcraft 1 818.920.3283 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-135

Sweetwater Sound 30 260.432.8176 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-247

Tannoy/Lab.gruppen 4 818.665.4900 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-133

Company Page Phone URL

Waves Audio Ltd. 10 011.972.36084113 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-195

Whirlwind Music 18,19 888.773.4396 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-187

Xilica 31 905.770.0055 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-365

Yamaha Commercial C2 714.522.9011 http://foh.hotims.com/36248-159

MARKET PLACE

Company Page Phone URL

Armando Cases 51 760.559.0909 http://foh.hotims.com/36247- 354

AVForSale 51 404.355.6147 http://foh.hotims.com/36247- 261

Gator Case 51 813.221.4191 http://foh.hotims.com/36247-364

Georgia Case 51 770.938.0707 http://foh.hotims.com/36247-325

Hitech Audio Systems 51 650.742.9166 http://foh.hotims.com/36247-127

In-Ear Systems 51 618.345.0407 http://foh.hotims.com/36247-274

New YorkCase/Hybrid Cases 51 800.645.1707 http://foh.hotims.com/36247-168

Pro Production Services 51 602.437.0221 http://foh.hotims.com/36247-332

SKB Case 51 714.685.5239 http://foh.hotims.com/36247-365

Sound Productions 51 800.203.5611 http://foh.hotims.com/36247-129

352011 DEcEmbEr

To Adver tise in Marketplace, Contact: Dan • 415.218.3835 • [email protected]

fohbookshelf.com

Assistant Head of Projections at IRIS in

Hollywood

Description: Cirque du Soleil in Hollywood, CA is searching for an Assistant Head of Pro-jections at IRIS.

Apply Online: http://bit.ly/AHODPIRIS_PLSN

This listing is also available for view-ing online at:

http://www.plsnbookshelf.com/classifieds/viewlisting.php?view=852

www.fohonline.com

Creative Accounting

FOH-at-Large

T hree guys are traveling together, and they stop at a hotel to spend the night. To save money, they decide to rent only one room,

and they ask the hotel clerk what the price of the room is for the night. Upon learning that the room is $30 for the night, they each chip in $10 and head for the room.

A little while later, the hotel clerk realizes that the room only rents for $25 a night, so he takes the $5 and hops in the elevator, intent upon refunding $5 to the three travelers. On the way to the room, the clerk decides to make a little money off the deal, and he pockets $2 of the $5 overpayment. He knocks on the door and tells the voyagers of the $3 overpayment and gives them each back one dollar.

The three men take the money without question, and are thrilled that they now have each only paid $9 instead of $10 for the room. But it appears that there is a missing dollar. If each guy only paid $9 for the room, then the total cost of the room is $27. Add this to the $2 pocketed by the hotel clerk, and the total is $29. What happened to the extra dollar?

Now, before you get out your calculator, please be aware that you are probably not smart enough to figure out this conundrum, since problems such as this one are best left to the talented elite few who sit on top of the money chain and — each year — make millions of dol-lars in bonuses coming up with ways to create profit from thin air.

These are the same people who are too big to fail and, while sitting high atop their ivory towers, they create money from nothing, as if spinning gold from straw. Fortunately for them, when there is no more straw, they can be bailed out with an infusion of real gold, with which they can line their pockets while they figure out new ways to manufacture profit from thin air. After all, who better to figure a way out of the mess than the people who ushered it in?

Please understand that these same people are so smart that they have devised new and cre-ative ways to keep their books in order. Instead of using the old fashioned analog methods of com-putation, they have actually taken a mathemati-cal quantum leap that has allowed them to up-grade their way of thinking to a modern digital means of calculation, which — in turn — enables them to utilize less to have more.

Investors Wanted foh

Here’s how I (one of the small brains) per-ceive the game to work. The banker’s commod-ity is money, and to make money, these bankers need to sell their commodity, or, in their case, lease their product, with a specific interest rate. The borrowers, or renters of the commodity, need to show the bankers that they are worthy of such a loan. The more valuable that the borrower appears, the better the rate that they will get on their lease, because the banker then sees that the borrower has collateral in case of a default on the loan. Investors seek large returns on their investments and look for companies that show growth. Therefore, if a company can attract inves-tors, the company can build collateral as well as good credit, which then attracts banks to lend at a decent rate, which — in turn — will help the company show a profit, thereby attracting more investors.

Just for fun, let’s take a look at how someone can open and run a profitable sound company in today’s selectively-burgeoning marketplace. For example, let’s say that someone invests into a small sound system. Two speakers, two subwoof-ers, a small mixing console, some microphones, direct boxes, cables, stands, a van and anything else they might need to start renting their gear and doing small shows. Their total investment is $10,000, but, in the old fashioned way of cal-culating, they are already showing a loss due to the depreciation on the equipment starting from day one.

They go out and do a few shows with the gear at a rental rate of $500 per day, and the good news is that, after 20 rentals, they will have broken even on the gear. It’s not an excessive amount of rentals before starting to turn a profit, but it does mean that someone has to care for the equipment; gas has to be bought to move the gear around; pieces will need to be replaced and repaired; and someone has to deal with the client.

Using this method, it appears that it will be hard work and long hours before this company can become truly profitable, and it will take someone with a real passion for audio to make it a success. A more modern approach might be the better way to go if turning a profit is the de-sired result.

Rosy Projections foh

Using genius computation, the more cre-ative way to express the worth of this company would be to take the $500 rental and multiply it by the projected rental period of, say, 20 times per month, or 240 times per year. Now take the $120,000 and multiply it over a 10 year period, and the projected worth of said company is now $1.2 million dollars, which is a pretty good return on the initial $10,000 investment.

Numbers such as these begin to attract investors, and pretty soon, the company has raised some capital. Let’s say 10 investors each invest $10,000, which, based upon the previous figures, boosts the company’s worth to $12 mil-lion over a 10-year period. Thanks to the recent

investments, the books show that there is about $100,000 in cash that’s available, despite the fact that most of it has gone to the CEO’s yearly salary.

Regardless of the fact that there is no dis-cernable income for the company, other than the investments and the one working system, the banks consider a company that has a paper value of $12 million a safe bet in terms of a loan, and thus grants the company a $1 million loan.

The company now has some money to play with, and pays a high dividend to their investors, which, of course, makes for happy investors, and the company then appears even more profit-able. This, in turn, attracts more investors who believe that the company is a goldmine, and the banks then extend a larger line of credit to the company.

Paper Profits foh

Through loans and investments, the compa-ny now boasts a net worth of about $15 million, with the CEO now taking home a huge yearly salary. While some of the money has been used to grow the company, most of the infused cash has been taken up by the executive salary and dividend payouts as well as loan repayment. On paper, the company credit is excellent, and again, more money is attracted through loans and in-vestments, even though very little of the cash has been earmarked for audio equipment.

At some point, the executive decides that he needs more of a salary, and that means less dividends paid to the investors. The company is still repaying their loans, but now some of the in-vestors want to cash out. The company can cover the cost of a few investors pulling out without anyone suspecting any wrongdoing, but when there is a run on the company bank, then the company starts to default on their loans. The banks and investors then step in and try to liqui-date the company’s assets and find that the only available assets were the employee’s pension funds and 401K plans that have already been liquidated to pay off a few of the disenchanted investors and several bank loans.

Aftermath foh

Although the company is bankrupt and the employees are put out on the street with noth-ing, the CEO is fortunate enough to have squir-reled away a good portion of the money in his personal account so that he can live the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed while he is negotiating a bailout of his firm.

The few sound systems that were purchased with investment cash are virtually worthless and can be stored away just in case the CEO decides to start another audio firm. Lawsuits will be filed, outrage will be noted, investigations will be launched and fortunes will be lost. Prison time and pardons may or may not be offered to cer-tain individuals and, most likely, there will never be a satisfying answer or conclusion to the rea-sons and methods of the how and why the busi-ness was run.

The geniuses behind the whole debacle will speak eloquently about collateral debt obliga-tions, sub-prime loans, adjustable rates versus fixed rates and mortgage-backed securities while deriding the involved parties as rapacious and irresponsible, but the question will still re-main — as in the story of the three men and a hotel room — “What happened to the extra dol-lar?”

Baker must have pocketed it. Email him at [email protected].

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By BakerLee

Take the $500 rental and multiply it by the

projected rental period of, say, 20 times

per month, or 240 times per year. Now

take the $120,000 and multiply it over a

10 year period, and the projected worth

of said company is now $1.2 million dollars,

which is a pretty good return on the initial

$10,000 investment.

FOH 12_2011

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Transcript of FOH 12_2011