January 31, 2005
Digico Training DVD available
On the Digico site they are offering a "7 Title, 64 Chapter" training DVD for the line of control surfaces though offer no other specific info. To register for one, hit the Digico site and click on the banner when it rolls by which will take you to the signup site where they take your basic info and presumably will send the DVD. I'll post more when I get mine.
Posted by Dave at 04:13 PM
The Password Is....
How many of you are old enough to remember that? I ran across what looks to be a great little tool for storing multple password and log on info. It's called PC-Mac Password Vault. It uses USB flash drives, just like the new iPod Shuffle. I almost picked one up but I've got a 15GB second generation iPod that's only about half full. Though if I'm able to use the Shuffle not only as a password safe but also as way to store the settings of, say, a Digico D5 or D1 that would make a great deal of sense. Too bad most other surfaces aren't USB hosts. Now if I could record to that flash drive or playback via USB that would be deluxe. You could playback through the headphone out as I do with my iPod but that wouldn't be as slick as going direct from the device.
Posted by Dave at 03:55 PM
Finding a Business Model for Podcasting
Another great Gillmor Gang Podcast is posted at IT Converstaions. Fresh from the Public Broadcasting New Media Summit this installment looks at various content and business models for Podcasting with many comparisons to the current PBS/NPR models as well as traditional broadcast models at one point asking if NPR is the Clear Channel of public radio. If NPR or the CPB was anywhere near what Clear Channel was, they wouldn't have to beg for money a couple times a year.
Good stuff particularly for folks that are trying to brainstorm business models for content sites with high value technical information. Hey, I know a guy that's been working on that lately. ;-)
Posted by Dave at 02:28 AM
January 30, 2005
I'm All Ears
Looks like the digirati elite as well as iPod toting masses are finally getting hep to personal monitors. The pro ear monitor market has been all a buzz about selling pro quality product to the millions of iPod toting school girls and their parents for the last couple of years. Looks like it might finally be reaching critical mass.Scoble's just posted a link to a Buzz Bruggeman post raving about his Etymotic ER-6i mons. FWIW, I've used ER15 and ER25 plugs for several years. Pro sound guys and musos using ears have long been using personal monitors, or "ears" for high fidelity playback of music long before the iPod saw the light of day. On many tours artists or crews carry an additional set for the sole purpose of recreational playback.
The cool thing about the Etymotic is that they match the iPod though in terms of fidelity I think either Shure E2c or Futuresonics EM3 (also marketed as the Sennhieser IE3) are a much better value and in the case of the EM3, a better sounding product for less money though they don't match the iPod like the ER 6i does. On the high end of the scale we're using either custom moulded Ultimate Ears, Futuresonics or Sensaphonics. Those are available in a variety of configurations in the US$550 to US$850 range per pair compared to the US$100 (EM3 and E2c) to US$150 (E3c and 6i) for the generics. I've been using Ultimate UE5 and UE7Pro for the last several years though use EM3s for non work related playback as well as Shure E3s and E5s from time to time.
Once you start using high fidelity ear sets, you'll never go back to those crappy stock buds again.
Posted by Dave at 03:47 PM
January 29, 2005
Which Funny Barbie Are You?
I'm either Goth Barbie or Exotic Dancer Barbie.... Hmmmm
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Posted by Dave at 12:18 PM | Comments (1)
January 28, 2005
Followup to "End Of An Era?"
A few of weeks back I posted this story about the closing of the only remaining open reel tape manufacturing plant in the US.
There is an article on SPARS that is an inteview with Quantegy President and Chief Executive Dick Lindemuth. The Reader's Digest version is that they have resumed limited production, are going through Chapter 11 reorganizaion and plan on continuing operations.
To paraphrase Twain, "The death of open reel tape has been exagerated."
Posted by Dave at 08:36 PM | Comments (1)
January 27, 2005
NAMM III: Well, it is a King Leisure...
I was all set to check in at the Holiday Inn Express, or so I thought. Due to circumstances beyond my control (they screwed up) I traded my HI Express room with free high speed Internet and breakfast for a Days Inn and Suites that was really a low budget weekly on the doorstep of Little Saigon that was lucky to have electricity or even phone service. In other words, some place I might have stayed during my "formative years" about a quarter century ago. When I came home from my first real tour in the early 80s I did a stint in the weekly rental scene in the shadow of the convention center, none of which exist anymore. I grew up in the area surrounding the Anaheim Convention Center and it's quite a different place these days. They say you can't go home again and that's true. The people living in those houses now have no idea who you are and would probably have you arrested for trespassing.
I got into doing sound because all my friends at the time were playing instruments in punk rock bands while we weren't skating at the likes of Skatopia, The Big O, Del Mar Skate Ranch or The Marina Del Rey Skatepark, among many others. I couldn't play an instrument at that time except for french horn from my years in school band, so I became the sound guy. While french horn is a fine instrument there's not much of a call for them in a rock band. Initially in the band at Van Horn Elementry there were about 15 drummers, a few violins, some clairnets and trumpets. They only needed at most four percussionists, two of which played snare. This was pre Stomp and Blueman Group so they didn't see the need to have a bunch of people beating on things as the primary instrument of the band. Too bad, we would have been way ahead of our time. They threw all of our names into a hat and picked four for the percussion section. The rest of us had to pick other instruments and by the time they got to me it was french horn or cello. Had things gone the other way, I could have easily been a musician, or worse yet, a drummer. I rounded out my playing background with two semesters worth of piano at the Recording Arts program at Golden West College. Personally I would have rather played a B3 as Highway Star doesn't have the same impact when played on a piano but the point of learning was to be able to read charts (check) know chord progression (check) and be able to name the notes we were hearing (not so check) though I could name the frequency.
A wise NAMM attendee will try to get in and out before the weekend. It's difficult to do as it's one big ass show. To see everything and do follow ups will take the entire four days. Even though it's billed as "Trade Only" many that operate on the fringes seem to be lurking and this is particularly true over the weekend. Most of those "in the know" start to leave by the weekend and by mid day Sunday most have bugged out basically staying through the Saturday night parties. Sunday then becomes what I call "guitar players and their girlfriend day" though that's not so accurate these days as there are a significant amount of women in the MI biz or in bands much more so than at other industry shows like NSCA or AES. Sunday is a a zoo. Those in the booths are tired from working all day and partying 'til the wee hours and many attendees are getting in with borrowed badges or guest passes. That's not to say the weekend traffic is all bad. The culture of rock provides for a pleasurable veiwing experience.
I've been threatening to start playing bass for a while and the Tascam line of CD trainers just might be the thing to push me toward doing it. It's a CD player you plug your cans or molds into as well as your axe, put your favorite learning CD or CD of a tune you're trying to learn. The box has got effects, a tuner, a control footswitch and the best part is that you can slow the parts down and not have the pitch affected. Street price between US$130 and US$150. This and a cheap P-Bass is going to get me started playing some bass.
M-Audio (formerly Midiman) had a bunch to show. I'm a fan of both the small, low budget computer speakers/monitors and the USB/MIDI controller keyboards . They also have a complete line of USB mic preamps and a variety of devices to get audio in and out of your computer. I'm currently trying to decide weather to get the 4s or the DX4 monitors for my Final Cut/Garageband system. They basically look like the same product except for thee balanced input on the DX4. I hadn't heard until then that Avid bought M Audio last fall when I was out of the country. That explains the lack of Apple product in that booth and the lack of M Audio product in the Apple booth. Apparently Avid is still pissed at Apple for both Final Cut and Logic as they see that cutting into their sales. I have it on good authority that there are Microsoft engineers working directly with ProTools engineers to supplant the Macintosh as the primary platform for ProTools and have been working on it for a few years now. My experience with PT, or Alsihad as Eric Serafin likes to call it is pretty limited but I can see that using it in Windows isn't quite as clean as it could be. In fact, there wasn't a Mac to be seen at all in any of the Digi booths. There were Dell and Intel logos displayed prominently in some parts of the display.
Apple Computer was an exhibitor I didn't expect to see at the show. They had a large booth appointed with the latest and greatest Cinema displays and dual G5s. They were there primarily to promote Logic and Garageband though I stopped by hoping to get a peak at the reported "Asteroid", the firewire audio interface rumored as a companion to Garageband. It's reported to be a low cost two channel interface with mic (xlr no less) and line inputs, and possibly an SP/DIF output to be specifically marketed for use with Garageband though useable with any Core Audio compatable software including Soundtrack, Logic, Final Cut and others. It sounds a great deal like Miglia's Harmony Audio and Apple is going to great lengths to protect leaks surrounding the product going as far so to sue rumor sites under the guise of leaking so called trade secrets. Rumored to be about US$150 retail it's at a good price point. No one in the Apple booth would confirm much less comment on the rumored piece and one person seemed somewhat uncomfortable at my even mentioning it.
The demo for the recently released upgrade to Garageband I thought was good. I've been a Garageband fan since I got my last Mac late in the summer when my aging Powerbook bit the dust on tour. I've been using it to do loops for my video projects and like the ease of use and ability to get pro quality loops out of what is basically a consumer audio package. The new version, bundled with new Macs or available as part of the iLife suite offers the ability to record live to eight tracks as well as manipulate the tempo and pitch of each track. The new version will also auto notate, creating charts on the fly. an M-Audio MobilePre USB and Garageband will give MBox and Protools LE a run for the money, and then some for most songwriters and garage studio types.
That was my NAMM in a nutshell. I didn't go to any of the evening functions, it was a quick in and out, the shortest NAMM I've done in several years. It was fun, but it's good to be home.
Posted by Dave at 05:05 PM | Comments (1)
January 25, 2005
NAMM II: Control Phreak
Back in the cramped spaces of the Orange Umbrella was a neat little addition to the Vertec family. The ability to add power amp and controller modules to the Vertecs you already own to turn them into self powered boxes. The module is basically an iTech that was roughly the same size as the rear panel. The panel is removed exposing a preinstalled molex connector to which the module attaches. Because the Vertec rigging is a stiff pivot point, the change in center gravity effects only the weight dispersion at the bumper at the top of the hang. It's a pretty slick retrofit. I'm not a JBL dealer so I wasn't able to get prices and the pics I snapped are aweful, not useable. I thought JBL might have info and pics on the site by now but they don't. They'll be ready to ship soon I was told by a rep so I'd reckon the info will be posted soon. I've always liked the Vertec and thought is was a great box and this is a dandy addition.
The modules come in a couple of configurations of both power amps and signal processing. Each type of module has a pair of Powercons to provide AC power. They say two modules can be powered from a single Powercon circuit. There is a Powercon in and out on each module. The amps are based on the Crown iTech line. There is a module for the three way boxes (VT4889, VT4888), the two way box (the little guy VT4887) and the subs (VT4880, VT4881). Independent of the amp modules is the control module and it comes in two flavors. The first is a sort of no frills input module based on the dbx DriveRack series of processors and accepts analog input only. Except for a horn shading control, there are no changable parameters on the controller. The second option made me sport a little chub. It's based on the iTech DSP and will accept a Cobranet input. The digital sample piece was crowded and I didn't get as good a look at it as I would have liked. Harman has taken the Crown IQ system, added some devices and rebranded it HiQNet. It basically ties all the Harman product together using what once was IQ. I wasn't able to make it back to get a better demo. Hopefully they'll post something soon with some details. I asked how interoperable the protocol was and open it would be and the rep giving me the tour wasn't sure. I never made it back to the booth to follow up on it.
The module will change both the weight and geometry of the hang so if you have preexisiting configurations you'll need to recalculate. According to the rep giving me the demo, under the watchful ear fo the factory guy, they couldn't tell me how many inputs one could chain together before the system suffered impedance mismatch problems though both guys picked up right away and understood what I was talking about. Obvisouly that won't be a factor with Cobranet inputs. There didn't seem to be any provision for distributed power or signal along the lines of what Meyer has been doing but it's not that difficult to fab something for the task.
The concept of curvelinear or line array has made it to MI now in the form of the JBL SRX 932 LA. Also not yet listed on the site. The first thing that struck me was they looked like small Clair I-4 arrays. They're little bitty guys, about 24" x 18" though I didn't write down the component sizes. They're passive but have a shading control on the back and have the ability to be stand mounted. There are actually two stand mounts, one allowing a down tilt while they other is more toward a traditional flat deployment. The demo had two stacked on each other on a stand. A self powered version of that might make a killer little box for industrials, TV shows and corporates.
Community was showing, among other things, the M12 stage monitor. That could be something of interest to regionals that can't afford the big name stage mons but still need something that can move some air and not sound like ass at higher SPL. I think Community is still perhaps the most underrated manufacturer in the space. That's too bad because not only do they offer a great price/performance, much of the product line outperforms the often higher priced options from manufacturers with much larger marketing budgets. If you need some mons they would be worth checking out. Also of interest could be the Radian Micro Wedge designed by the original punk rock sound dude, Dave Rat.
Electro-Voice is the latest, and one of the last, to jump into what I call the mini line array concept. Hung next to the new Siena and the Helix was a cluster of EV XS 212 with XLE 181 and XLD 281 subs. It's nice and small, the rigging package looks nice. The subs can hang as well on the bumper. Based on the XLC rigs I've used and the X-Line it should be a pretty good little rig. No word of it on the EV site as of yet.
QSC seemed to be making a statement as they only had two amps on display in the booth. They were all about speakers this year. I had stopped to get a look at the Basis QSCControl/Cobranet box. I've been wanting to build another touring rig with full remote control and wanted to spec out a couple of pieces first hand. No such luck. The presenation in the booth was a video of the manufacturing process for both the amps and the speakers.
On the system controller/crossover front dbx rolled out the Driverack 4800. It's a four in, eight out DSP box. It operates and looks like the rest of the Driverack line, though I had a difficult time manuvering through the demo unit and gave up after a couple of minutes. While it appears to be a capable box, what interests me is not the product so much but what Harman seems to be doing with the dbx and BSS brands. We haven't heard a peep out of BSS and the Omnidrive line in quite sometime. Most of what is coming from BSS these days is in the form of Soundweb products. What appears to me to be happening is that dbx is now taking the role of providing the controllers for most portable applications. i don't know that it's just a coincidence or a plan but it looks to me that before too long, dbx could replace BSS as the contoller system of choice not only among the Harman brands but in the industry in general. Though there is too much about the product to get into it here, Soundweb London looks pretty good though to configure it for most portable SR apps might not make sense for many operators.
Another thing that interested me in the dbx corner of the booth, and it was a cramped corner, was the dbx 162SL comp. I've used the 160SL comp quite a bit and like it a great deal. I put the 160SL right up there with Summits and Distressors. The 160SL had a street price of about US$3000 while the 162SL has a street price about a grand less. I'd be interested to try one and see what the difference might be and why it's a grand cheaper than the original. Could be a good value for those looking for a box for mission critical apps.
They didn't have a booth but Lake was at the show in the form of a suite at the Hilton showing latest version of the Lake software used in the Contour and Mesa boxes. I got to get much deeper inside the box than I have on my limited experience with them. It's quite the box and I'm more convinced than ever that at this point it's the pinicle of system controllers for portable apps. Though some have tried, for example KT/Telex, no one has yet to reach the integration with wireless based pen tablets. There are a couple of downsides though. The system is expensive compared to other solutions though they might not posess the same sort of integration as the Contour. It's also not easy for less experienced operators to configure. You can't just hand a blank tablet to someone and expect them to take right to it if they have no prior experience. To deal with this, vendors using the Contour or Mesa have defined presets and once those screens are defined, using the device is as easy as using any other device. it's the same sort of issue that most mixing control surfaces have, if you haven't been on them before, the learning curve could be steep. If you are serious about system controllers and remote operation, this is the box to have.
Whirlwind was showing a nifty little device called the E-Snake. It's been out for a while, but there is now a direct interface to PM5Ds and DM2000s. You use Yamaha MY 16C Cobranet cards to interface Esnake to the console. I'd have to hear it and work with it for a while before I speced it for anything but it at least looks promising.
I was hoping Shure would launch the long rumored upgrade to the PSM700 ear mon rig and they did launch an upgraded PSM700. I was somewhat disappointed that it retained the same packaging but offered some new features. They did announce upgrades in the audio quality, a different companding scheme, an easier to read frequency selector on the transmitter, a frequency locator feature and two more banks of frequencies. They did have a big ass paddle antenna on display which is good news for those of use that use multiple rigs in multiple locations. The new bands are in the 524-554 MHZ and 632-662 MHz while the original PSM700 series were all in the 700 Mhz band. I would have liked to have seen a more robust rack mount method, for example a full sized chassis with two units per chassis. An LED readout of the frequencies would be nice as well as the ability to store multiple presets or name the devices in plain english. Shure did a nice job of taking the ear mon market from niche using the non mainstream Garwood units to mass market where even musos in tavern bands could afford them but in the upper end Shure has not been able to best the effort by Sennheiser with the Evolution series.
Next up, final thoughts and muso stuff.
Posted by Dave at 12:00 AM | Comments (4)
January 24, 2005
Two New Milos
While we are on the subject of new product news from NAMM (these guys didn't show at NAMM), Meyer Sound Labs has introduced two new Milo boxes, (Milos have been a fav of mine for almost a year or so now) a narrow horizontal box 60 degrees x 10 degrees nominal and a wider Milo 120 degrees x 10 degrees nominal. I'd reckon they are priced in line with regular Milo so bring a Varsity sized wallet if you're interested in getting some.
The Meyer site has the info...
Posted by Dave at 02:42 PM
January 23, 2005
NAMM Part I: The Ghost of Tradeshow Barbie
It's a few hours after another edition of Winter NAMM has been put to bed. I left the show floor two days ago. My last NAMM was 2002 where I was an exhibitor, not just part fo the cattle. Prior to that I had at least attended most years and in my former life did several gigs there over the years. During the few years I was exhibiting the dynamic with what were once my suppliers and vendors changed to one of being my colleagues. Over the years changes in personnel and losing contact with many folks left me knowing far fewer people than in years past over the last couple of decades. This year on the floor I knew hardly any of the people working in the booths and I doubt any of them knew about either me or more importantly the LAB. Of the people I did still know, most of them are now in senior positions at various manufacturers so I'm still able to get a door or two kicked open if required.
Like most other tradeshows, most of the deals happen off the show floor in the smokeless bars in host hotels, prime restaurants in the area or sequestered in suites surrounding the convention center. This year I was fortunate enough to be involved in a few of these demos and conversations that take place under "The Cone of Silence". That's the really juicy stuff I'd love to share, as there were a couple of "Really? No Shit?" kind of moments. If I want to be able to keep peaking into the cookie jar I can't blog the details. That's just the price of poker. For the most part they were all real products in development and within the next year or so it's likely you'll see them or hear about them before long. (Hint...NSCA)
I had initially planned to shoot a bunch of video and stills and I did shoot a fair amount, but most of what I shot was available publically on the manufacturers sites. Besides, most of the people that read A Barking Dog have been to the big time trade shows and know what they look like. My trolling of the show was limited to what I saw in the exhibitor guide or that people had told me about prior to the show plus my personal favorite areas including amp control systems; system controller/crossovers and equalizer systems; measurement systems; consoles , particularly control surfaces and any other overpriced processing or mics in wacky colors or with big knobs. I heard from more than one manufacturer a new mantra with regard to showing products. If it's not done and ready to ship in the next month or two, you can't show it. Finally a sane, self imposed rule from the manufacturers that should do something to stem the disappointment when engineering prototypes are displayed as beta product. With the advent of communities such as the LAB, word travels fast. In the olden days they could show prototypes because word would be slow to get out. Nowadays, if you show it on the floor to the general public, you better be able to ship it PDQ.
The console department, particularly in the low end market is alive and well and may perhaps reach a saturation point here soon as everyone has something in at least the sub US$10k mark, if not the US$5k mark. Most of the stuff looks like it was designed and priced with churches in mind. This has been a huge force driving the market and has undoubtedly kept more than a few manufacturers that might have otherwise fallen on hard times or possibly gone tits up the ability to remain in the game.
What I thought were notable to mention was my first look at the Crest HP series. Not bad, but nothing to really set it apart from any of the others. Except perhaps for the flex on the surface of the console. Pressing down between any of the two module sections produced a fair amount of flex. There were no facilities for me to critically listen to the console. That would be readily available set of cans or mic. That was the case with most of these low end consoles.
Soundcraft had the GB series in the booth and was showing it. It was too crowded to get a good look at the two times I was there. The Orange Umbrella room was a zoo. It was a conference room off the arena floor that was stuffed with too much gear and too many people. There was one way in and one way out and at one point I thought if they were going to get any more people in the room, they need to use some sort of lubricant. Yamaha used the same sort of single point of entry room (in a ballroom at the Marriott) though it was devoid of any pro audio gear at least they were able to arrange it in a way where it wasn't assholes to elbows.
Mackie has updated the low end by adding the Tapco line, or should I say reviving the Tapco line a couple years back to deal with the low cost knock off artists. The Mackie product that caught my eye, I plan on picking one up, is the Onyx 1220 mixer with the firewire card. Now that I'm into Final Cut, Garageband and getting into Logic this makes total sense. I've been using a Mackie 1202 for my video post and recording to vid but the Onyx makes much more sense. At the price point it seems like a pretty good deal. I was about to pick up a couple of M-Audio USB devices when I saw this was much more what I needed. I was considering some sort of surface but needed something where I could pick up analog inputs and outputs if required. They were also showing a larger frame Onyx which is what the SR series should have been in the first place. I only have the dealer pricing but looking at it compared to other similar offerings from other manufacturers, the low end is getting crowded and there will be new round of price/performance based consoles for the low end from which to choose.
While not exactly low end, Midas was showing the new Siena. Basically the mon console partner to the Verona. Looks pretty good for a mid range desk, though as is the case in all lower cost desks, the tactile feel of the controls feel a bit weak, flimsy in fact. This is true I think for most every manufacturer that offer consoles with this price/performance. There are probably as good or better consoles in that price/performance group but young turks with wood for the Midas name will likely flock to this. It seems like a nice desk, but it's not a Heritage or even XL250. There is a cute little control link that allows one to select Helix slave channels as the out cue buttons are depressed. Nice touch, though I think it's doubtful that users of the Siena or Verona will have the budget for a Helix rig. Speaking of Helix, saavy readers will recall some issues I had with a Helix couple months back. The most recent upgrades take care of all the issues I had. Current owners are advised to upgrade to the latest version firmware.
Control surfaces continue to gain traction at all levels of the biz. Since NAMM is primarily an MI show and not pro audio show, not all the surface makers are represented though they have people attending. Soundtracs/Digico wasn't exhibiting, the only PM5Ds I saw were rentals in the other booths and the only surfaces I saw in the Yamaha booth were the MI line, though the 01x looks pretty neat. InnovaSON was showing in the Sennheiser booth what appeared to be a Sy 48. Mackie was showing the completed TT24, recently shipping about 200 in the channel with orders for several hundred more. Mackie was also showing a 32 x 32 remote stage box for the TT24 that operates over ethernet to a card in the TT24 with the console encoders remotely controlling the mic gains. The remote box is not yet shipping.
Digidesign's first foray into professional sound reinforcement and more than three years in the making is called the "Venue". The same name Soundcraft used for a lackluster performing mid range console less than ten years ago. A mixer buddy of mine used a prototype of this new console for a leg of a tour he was on last fall. He was giving it rave reviews when I saw him a couple months ago. The specs on are on the Digi site, but basically it's a multi layer topology surface with remote racks and digital snake. A couple of things that stand out to me is the ability to use the surface mutes and faders in the event of a console controller failure, use of Protools plugins and the ability to record directly to Pro Tools. On the minus side, the kiss of death is the ability to do only a max of 16 aux outputs according to info I downloaded but the presentation made no mention of such a limitation. This is a huge caveat in terms of using the console as not only a traditional monitor console, but as a high performance ear monitor console as you have to use the auxes to drive the plugin effects as well. The aux routing is in software so hopefully with tweaks and adding a few I/O cards they can fix it, depending on how the software uses the soft knobs to display the master section of the auxes could make a software only fix problematic. If it's going to compete with a PM1D or D5 (or even PM5D or D1) it's got to be able to be used as a high capacity mon console as well as FOH. They also showed an Aviom like remote control monitor system. This is owing more to the heritage of Digi/Protools as a studio recording application company. Artist mixed remote mons are a neat concept, but not widely used in concert touring and I don't think that's likely to change anytime soon, if ever.
We're not done yet kiddies. We still got system controllers, speaker systems and a few other tidbits to cover in the next installment.
Posted by Dave at 09:36 PM | Comments (6)
January 22, 2005
Namm
Just heading back to Seattle at the moment. I've got some notes with my highlights from the show that will be up sometime before Monday evening or so. I decided to delay my trip for a day and stop at the flagship Apple Store in San Francisco for the launch of the Apple mini (that's right kids, small "m"). I decided rather than to try and get a room in SF in the early hours of the morning (wouldn't have made it until 3 or 4 am) I'd stop at the TA in Santa Nella, CA, get some of the cheap WiFi they sell the truckers and grab a bit of shut eye before heading to the city for breakfast at the Pinecrest Diner, catch a glimse of the mini and perhaps kick the tires, attend the Garageband workshop then dinner at Brandy Ho's, a visit to City Lights books then head back home.
I got the Powerbook, WiFi, Sirius is finally working (and I found out what happened to Dusty Street and Freddy Snakeskin), I'm all set for a swinging night at the TA. Now if I could just find my No Lot Lizards sticker I'd be set.
Posted by Dave at 02:19 AM | Comments (2)
January 21, 2005
Driverack 4800
Posted by Dave at 03:06 PM
January 18, 2005
Rigging workshop, my observations
Quick pic from the Rigging Seminars workshop presented by Washington Association of Production Services and hosted by my buddies that own a bit of sound gear. Big thanks to Dansound, Dan Mortensen for organizing the whole thing.
There was much to cover. It was intense, if not overwelming at times. It's easy to see how this could be a four day festival of knowledge. Lot's of great info both hands on and theory. I've been doing this for a while (some may say too long...) and thought I had a pretty good handle on rigging, considering I've done more than my share of being PA hanging boy. This made me realize how much I DIDN'T know. I knew my bowlines were pretty sucky and my skills wouldn't have killed anybody, but there was so much advanced knowledge that I had little exposure to it was simply fascinating. Unfortunately, many of the riggers I have worked with over the years didn't have this knowledge either.
Harry was in fine form, explaining techniques and concepts in a way roadies can understand. Since it was only one day, we were at a breakneck pace though there was alway time for questions. Harry really knows his stuff and is a real no bullshit guy. If he explains a concept or shows you how to improve on your hands on work, if you try to BS him or tell him it can't be done the right way he'll call you on it and show you a couple of ways to fix the problem. Total old school, you gotta respect that.
Here's the Reader's Digest version of what we did...
From morning until early afternoon we covered text book topics presented from the Entertaiment Rigging book included with the class. Lots of good info. Basic rigging, safety, common terms and applications of hardware. Plenty of theory, safe working loads, calculation of loads employing dynamic loads and ways to deal with a variety of situations.
Lunch was available from the awesome Pecos Pit BBQ, conveniently surrounded by the compound of audio my PA pals operate. BTW, don't ask for spciy if you can't hang with the burn. Some of the best BBA anywhere.
I chose a visit to the local chain burrito joint that was across the street in the food court of the world HQ of the local coffee joint.
After lunch we started the hands on portion. My bowlines still suck. Our first task was to work around a pipe rail fashioned in the shop. We went over many knots and my bowlines stil sucked, but were getting better. It's a joke that I've been doing this for this long and still not be able to tie a good bowline. We then struck the rail and broke into groups of two where we were given a sheet with five different bridle configurations that we were to assemble one at a time as if we were working on the arena floor. Very good stuff. We split into teams that have worked with rigging before with those that were new to rigging. John was my partner. We've worked several gigs together before, most recently he was a tech on the dates where I mixed FOH for the classic rock star. My FOH skills were a tad rusty (after all, I've been ear boy for several years now...) but not as rusty as my bowline skills. Anyhow, it made a great pairing. We built our five bridles and easily finished the task, though not without some good pointers from Harry.
Our next task was to simulate a real life hang. We simulated working with three teams of two. Two pairs each of up riggers and a single pair of down riggers. One of the up rigger pairs would specify the two bridle lengths and configs while the ground riggers would fabricate the assemblies. I wish I could have got a picture of it though my camera was 100 feet away and we were too busy for me to take five and fetch the camera or phone. We were all on the ground for safety reasons, but were able to simulate a two point bridle in a horizontal fashion that was an excellent learning experience.
All in all it was a packed day with much to learn. I'm even considering taking the four day course. That is, when I get my shit together with my bowlines.
Off to NAMM in a few hours. I'll touch base from there.
Posted by Dave at 10:40 AM | Comments (1)
January 16, 2005
NAMM Show Reminder
Just a reminder that if you want me to check anything out at the NAMM show, be it a manufacturer booth for info or if you have a booth with something you wish me to see, let me know. This year it appears that most of the newer pro audio stuff will happen behind the scenes and not on ths show floor. Friday the 20th is still pretty open so if you have anything you think I should check out let me know.
Posted by Dave at 02:07 PM | Comments (2)
January 13, 2005
Audio Compression Primer
In case you missed it on /. there is a pretty good primer on audio compression at Sudhain Media.
Posted by Dave at 04:34 PM
New Console Company On The Way
A little bird just told me that the core part of the team that upset the mid range console market in the mid to late '90s is making a comeback in an independent company. Chuck Augustowski, John Petrucelli and Taz Bgogal have formed APB-Dynasonics, Inc. I'm told the company will publically premier at NSCA.
Chuck and his team at Crest, pre Peavey, turned the mid range console market on it's head. They pioneered the concept of good sounding, full feature consoles in the mid range market. I expect more of the same from this new company. In my book Chuck is one of the "Ass Slappin' Daddies" (tm) of console design and marketing.
Congrats guys!
Posted by Dave at 01:06 AM
January 11, 2005
Hello Moto
Test of publishing to a moblog using a Motorola RAZR, Movable Type and Flickr.
How he do 'dat? First, set up a Movable Type blog and enable remote publishing. Second, get an account at Flickr, the basic account is free. As in beer... Enable your Flickr account to post to your blog. Third, get a phone that can send the pix it takes via email. The RAZR uses GPRS to send the photo to Flickr via email, using the email subject as the post title with the photo and the body of the email being the photo caption/ story text.
Posted by Dave at 03:04 AM
January 10, 2005
HEI And Shure Offer Free Hearing Screenings At NAMM
All you deaf sound guys go get checked. From a press release at PSN...
Los Angeles, CA (January 7, 2005)--The House Ear Institute (HEI) and Shure Incorporated will partner to provide free hearing screenings to attendees and exhibitors at the 2005 NAMM Winter Show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. The free hearing screenings will be available in Booth #1196 in Hall E between 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM on Thursday, January 20th through Saturday, January 22nd and 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM on Sunday, January 23rd.
A certified health technician will conduct the screenings based on the regulatory guidelines established by OSHA, and House Ear Institute personnel will provide hearing health education and resources.
The screenings are a part of the House Ear Institute's Sound Partners' hearing conservation program and Shure's "Bid for Hearing" program. Sound Partners raises awareness among audio and music professionals and the listening public about the permanent hearing health risks associated with excessive exposure to sound volumes at or exceeding 85 decibels (dB), and practical protection methods to encourage the lifelong enjoyment of sound. Shure's "Bid for Hearing" program is the company's hearing conservation program dedicated to teaching consumers and audio professionals how to enjoy sound responsibly.
"Shure is a strong advocate of hearing conservation education and partner of the House Ear Institute's educational programs for pro audio and recording professionals," said Marilee Potthoff, director of marketing and outreach, House Ear Institute. "Through their sponsorship, we are able to offer professional hearing screening services and the Institute's extensive hearing health and science expertise to thousands of music industry professionals whose careers depend on hearing well."
Posted by Dave at 10:25 PM
Danny Sugerman dead at age 50
Manager of The Doors in the late part of thier career Danny Sugerman has died from lung cancer at age 50. Pollstar has the story.
Posted by Dave at 10:12 PM
January 07, 2005
WAPS Offers Screamin' Deal on Rigging Workshop
Don't lame out and miss it... I've been to two of Harry's workshops and well worth the time.
The following is from Dan Mortensen, Executive Director of Washington Association of Production Services, or Dansound as I call him.....
The Washington Association of Production Services (WAPS) will be presenting a one day rigging class in a little over a week. The class will be taught by Harry Donovan, who also offers a more extensive four day class through his company Rigging Seminars. This will be an abbreviated version of that class.
There will be two presentations of the class, on Monday, January 17, and Tuesday, January 18. The presentations will be identical. There is a maximum class size (set by Harry) of 24 per day.
We have had enrollment open to members for a while, and there may be a couple of places open; rather than letting the places go unused, I'm presenting this here in case there are some LAB folk able to be in Seattle on one of those days, and able to afford the class (costs are near the end of this post).
Here are some details about his 4 day class,
http://www.riggingseminars.com/operate.html
Our class will be his first attempt at a one day class, and he is doing it by request so that it will be less costly. There will be no climbing involved; four hours will be spent in a classroom situation, followed by four hours of hands-on workshop (with a no-host lunch break in the middle).
Attendance at this class will NOT qualify you as a rigger, BUT it would provide a significant knowledge base. (It should be noted that the 4 day class ALSO does not qualify anyone to be a rigger.)
All attendees will receive a copy of Harry's definitive textbook on rigging
http://www.riggingbooksandprograms.com/arenabook.htm
as part of the deal, which is a $100 value by itself.
As you can see
http://www.riggingseminars.com/signup.html
the normal fee for the 4 day class is $990 plus travel and lodging.
The fee for this one day class is $235 per person for 2005 WAPS members, and $275 per person for those who do not want to be members. Membership for Individuals is $35, Company members pay $125. (No travel, food, or lodging is included.)
There is no functional difference between membership categories, except that Company members get 4 votes at election time vs. 1 vote for Individual members, and Company members get the good feeling of knowing they are supporting our organization.
We are doing this as a fundraiser and membership engine for WAPS.
Some background:
WAPS' statement of purpose in our by-laws reads
"1) WAPS was created by companies in the live event production industry in the State of Washington. Specialties of those companies include: Sound, Lighting, Audio-Visual, Motion Picture, Convention, Trade Show, and Special Event services.
"2) WAPS exists for the following purposes:
"a) to raise the level of professionalism and safety in our industry;
"b) to make members of our industry aware of issues that affect us;
"c) to represent our industry when required;
"d) to ensure that laws and regulations affecting our industry are being enforced in a fair and uniform manner;
"e) to provide an opportunity for companies in our industry to interact in a non-competitive forum."
We appreciate the support of those who fund us, and the interest of those who don't.
WAPS is very odd in that there is little concrete benefit to being a member, other than the knowledge that you are contributing to support a group which is trying to do good for our industry, regardless of the membership status of any particular person or company in the industry. We have made a conscious decision to have few secrets, and to share whatever useful information we have with anyone in our industry who can benefit from it, to the limits of our capacity.
Our website at
http://www.w-a-p-s.org/
is over 6 months out of date, largely due to me not having time to write a new newsletter (I'm about 4 behind), but we are working on getting that back on track. You can get an idea of what we are about by downloading the pdf newsletters.
If you are interested, email me directly at dansound@att.net and I will tell you how we can get you involved.
Like I said, there are literally a couple of places open for each class, and, frankly, I hope they don't stay open for long.
Best wishes,
Dan Mortensen
Executive Director
Washington Association of Production Services
Posted by Dave at 07:55 PM
January 05, 2005
End of an Era?
In this report from the Opelika-Auburn News Quantegy (the old Ampex guys) have closed the remaining plant in the US producing open real recording tape. And they did it in a rather shitty fashion. The employees clocked out for Christmas break and returned after the holiday to no trespassing signs and changed passcodes. There was also a report this morning on NPR Morning Edition. (which IMNSHO hasn't been the same without Bob Edwards)
A check with the usual suspects for 2" tape up here revealed that they haven't had any Quantegy 2" in a while and demand was falling rapidly over the last several years. I'd imagine an offshore concern to pick up the slack as the NPR story indicates, there is still possibly a niche demand for open reel tape.
Posted by Dave at 08:29 PM
January 04, 2005
Syn Aud Con Training Note
I haven't talked to Pat and Brenda in a while but got something today that some of you might be interested in. Syn Aud Con is now offering what looks like real world system operator classes. They've always done well with upper level training but really haven't offered something like this before.
Details at http://www.synaudcon.com/operators.htm
The next thing I saw there was something that is very near and dear to my heart. Power, grounding and noise troubleshooting. The panel looks like a Who's Who of Buzz Killer dudes. Neil Muncy, Bill Whitlock, Jim Brown and Bruce Olson. A real "Buzzapallooza" if you ask me. It's in July in the prime of touring season so I'm hoping I can make it. Has the brainpower to be one of the most informative tech events all year if not the decade.
Details at http://www.synaudcon.com/Workshop05.htm
Posted by Dave at 12:39 AM
NAMM
I'll be at NAMM this year blogging the show and reporting anything that's real interesting, to me anyway, directly from the show floor. If anyone has anything they would like to show me, drop me a line and I'll swing by and check it out. I'll be there Thurs 20th and Fri 21st. If anyone wants to meet up, let me know.
I hear the OSM might leave the mountain and come out west to check it out.
Posted by Dave at 12:35 AM
January 03, 2005
The Glamor of Show Business
The video montage from the last leg I was on is up at http://www.roaddog.com/video/glamor_low_bandwidth.mov for low bandwidth (3MB) and at http://www.roaddog.com/video/glamor_broadband.mov (20MB). It's nearly 9 mins long, has a soundtrack and is in Quicktime .mov format.
I shot nearly four hours on miniDV in September and October in about 10 countries as things exactly as they were happening.
Dave
Posted by Dave at 10:52 AM
January 02, 2005
The Blind Leading the Blind
One fo the great puzzles after the LAB gained critical mass was how to nurture folks new to sound reinforcement so they don't drag down the signal to noise in the higher level forums. After much debate, we came up with the LAB Lounge which Dave Dermont (Another Dave or AD) has run in an impeccable manner given the complexity of the task. The Lounge was intended as a place where there was a more relaxed attitude than the LAB that was more tolerant to beginners and those with less experience. The idea was to nurture or mentor these people as to the ways of professional audio. In spite of the hard work of AD and others, we've failed on a massive scale.
A primary mission of the LAB, at least the LAB I started, was to dispell audio myths and promote a more informed professional audio community and network with like professionals. As the LAB gained critical mass in the late 90s, established pros started being outnumbered by hobbiests and part timers that lacked the experience and basic knowledge to comment on anything outside their limited scope of experience. In about 2000 the number of total participants at the LAB were eclipsed by a factor of two the number of persons thought to be involved in professional sound reinforcement as a primary living. Given the unlikely premise that every person involved in professional sound reinforcement was reading and posting to the LAB, would mean there was a 2:1 ratio of pros to hobbiests and enthusiats. The reality is, it was really more like 4:1 as not all SR pros in the biz were reading the LAB. Many of these non pros are smart and hard working, but just because they max out a credit card or two on Pacific Rim knockoff gear that they do a few shows a month with does not mean they know what they are talking about. Many, if not most of them don't. This was the premise for my last editorial, "The Only Constant is Change".
The real problem occurs when these persons start debating with authoritive figures in the pro audio biz with myths and inaccurate information. That's not to say some ideas or methods shouldn't be debated or questioned, but those that do so need a basic experience and knowledge set in order to be able to debate points in an intelligent manner. What happens after time is that the experienced people tire of getting shouted down by those that don't know any better and stop posting. This is what harms the entire community. Instead of hearding the less experienced posters and practictioners into a community that fosters knowledge, we've created a subset community for further propagating myths and untruths in spite of the fact there are several "citizen moderators" working to keep the forum accurate.
There are just too many noobs and part timers to keep up with without a full time staff of knowledgable moderators to ride heard on much of that noise. Part of the problem is keeping "the numbers" up to generate sponsor interest. The fact is, the PSW sites garner several times more persons than all the pro and semi pro audio trade mags, COMBINED. A sad thing is that many of the high profile pro audio advertisers still don't see the value of supporting the online community, though fortunately enough do that it still makes ventures like this viable. The result is you have to make the communities accessable to all in order to produce a business model that works. I'm just glad I'm not doing it full time any more. I was horrible at the business part. I could make a great online community but couldn't deliver the requisite advertising revenue or foster sustainable business models. Others can deliver the revenue, but not operate the community effectively thus requiring a symbiotic relationship where both types of persons need to be involved. This adds increased costs making it even more difficult to make such a thing into a money making operation, or at least one prosperous enough to pay the bills and make a bit of money. There is much more to this than slapping up forum software on a box and letting it rip.
The question is, how do we remain all inclusive, promote and foster knowledge and learning without forcing those that are less experienced into another community or creating a situation where experienced posters are shouted down by those that don't know any better? My answer? I haven't a fucking clue, not right now anyway but I think with a bit of hard work and elbow grease we can do better than what we're doing right now. Or maybe we can't and this is working. you tell me.
I'd be interested to hear other opinions on this. I could be hardcore and limit access and posting to those with experience, but that hardly fosters the sharing of knowledge and training and I think is counter productive to what I have in mind, growing the knowledge of those practicing sound reinforcment on any level. I could read and moderate every single post but those that own the site can't afford that and it would take a full time staff to do. Not to mention that I'm hardly a knowledgable source for all things sound reinforcement and many times require the support of other individuals to make technical decisions of which I don't have the requisite expertise or experience.
So gang, what the hell do we do to fix this?
Dave
Posted by Dave at 02:18 AM | Comments (10)