Higher Ground: The Winans Live' - World Radio History

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Higher Ground: The Winans Live'

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May/June 1990

magazine

Sec page 38

VOLUME 24 NO.3

serving: recording, broadcast and sound contracting fields

404,41%I. 44,4444a4i (4154%etil

HIGHER GROUND: THE WINANS-LIVE!Ed Learned

A SPECIALIZED SYNAGOGUE SOUND SYSTEMShelley Herman

AUDIO FOR THE CHURCH: MULTI -TRACKINGBrent Harshbarger

16

26

35

LAB REPORT: SOUNDCRAFTSMEN 900X2 POWER AMP 43Len Feldman

SOUND REINFORCEMENT: STAGE MONITOR SYSTEMSRobyn Gately

HANDS ON: CROWN IQ SYSTEM 2000 COMPUTER PROGRAM

46

55

leke, ette, e4%c;vpsttA

NEW SOUND, NEW SONGSJohn Barilla

MOVIE MAKING IN CHINARick Shriver

TI r 0 im-ITTAIII_ L.L1-11.... I I\11-11 1_.1_1 I I

HOT TIPS: THE ART OF EQUALIZATION: PART 2John Barilla

AD VENTURES: EQUIPMENT CONCERNSBrian Battles

30

52

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BROADCAST AUDIO: AUDIO FOR HDTV: THE PRODUCTION SYSTEM 6Randy Hoffner

GRAMMY TIMEMurray Allen

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SPARS (The Society of Profes-sional Audio Recording Services) willhost a weekend technical conferenceand interface with leading manufactur-ers of digital audio work stations onMay 19 and 20 in Nashville, TN. Thisgathering follows last September'sChicago conference. SPARS presidentDavid Porter will chair the events, withExecutive Director Shirley Kaye andSPARS board members participating.Manufacturers giving presentationsand offering hands-on demonstrationsinclude AMS, DAR, Dyaxis, Lexicon,New England Digital, Solid StateLogic and Waveframe. On Saturday,May 19, the day -long meeting will in-clude in-depth presentations by eachmanufacturer, a working lunch andcocktails/dinner. Attendees will havean opportunity for hands-on demon-strations and interfacing with manu-facturers during the evening. Therewill be a panel discussion Sunday, May20 with the manufacturers, followed byfurther opportunities to experiencehands-on operation of the seven differ-ent audio workstations.

A Call for Papers for the 132ndSMPTE Technical Conference andEquipment Exhibit has been issued byFrank J. Haney (Capital Cities/ABC,Inc.), Ed itorialvice president. The con-ference will be held at the Jacob K.Javits Convention Center in New YorkCity, Saturday, Oct. 13, throughWednesday, Oct. 17,1990.

Kerns H. Powers (consultant) hasbeen appointed program chairman.John L. Baptista (Consolidated FilmIndustries) and Alan S. Godber (Na-tional Broadcasting Co.) are the pro-gram vice chairmen. John Erwin(Eastman Kodak Co.) is coordinatingthe film papers.

The 132nd conference's theme is"Film and Iblevision-One World?"Authors are asked to submit a 500 -word synopsis and a completedauthor's form to SMPTE headquartersby June 15 to have a paper consideredfor the conference.

magazine

Editor/PublisherLarry Zide

Associate PublisherElaine Zide

Senior EditorJohn Barilla

Editorial AssistantCaryn Shinske

Contributing EditorsBruce BartlettBrian BattlesDrew DanielsLen Feldman

Brent HarshbargerRandy Hoffner

Robin Gately

Graphics & LayoutKaren Cohn

BPA Audit applied for May 1989

db, The Sound Engineering Magazine(ISSN 0011-7145)is published bimonthly by Sagamore Publishing Com-pany Inc. Entire contents copyright 1990 by SagamorePublishing Company Inc., 203 Commack Road, Suite1010, Commack, NY 11725. Telephone: (516)586-6530.db Magazine is published for individuals and firms inprofessional audio recording, broadcast audio-visual,sound reinforcement -contracting, consultants, video rec-ording, film sound, etc. Application for subscriptionshould be made on the subscription form in the rear ofeach issue. Subscriptions are $15.00 per year (528.00per year outside U.S. Possessions, $16.00 per year inCanada)and payable in U.S funds. Single copies are$3.50 each. Editorial, Publishing, and Sales offices areat 203 Commack Road, Suite 1010, Commack NY11725 Second Class postage paid at Commack, NV11725 and an additional mailing office Postmaster:Form 3579 should be sent to db Magazine. 203 Com-mack Road, Suitt 1010, Commack, NY 11725.

Trademarked names are editorially used throughoutthis issue. Rather than place a trademark symbol nextto each occurance, we state that these names are usedonly in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of thetrademark owner, and that there is no intention of trade-mark infringement

N


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E1.04.444 4.40Audio for HDTV: The Production System

High definition television(HDTV) production systems will ul-timately afford viewers improveddefinition, wide-screen aspect ratioand improved audio. Howevei thetelevision viewer is not the only an-ticipated beneficiary of HDTV pro-duction systems. The promoters ofHDTV production envision that avideo production system with resolu-tion comparable to 35 millimeterfilm will, to some degree, replacefilm as a production medium for tele-vision and for ultimate transfer tofilm for theater projection.

As I have previously stated, im-proved audio to complement theHDTV production system's im-proved video is an important aspectof the total HDTV production pic-ture. The expanded uses of HDTV

production generate audio consider-ations beyond the traditional con-cerns of the television productionand broadcasting community, andthe higher resolution and wider as-pect ratio of high -definition videosystems make greater demands onaudio than those exacted by the cur-rent NTSC system as well.

HDTV FOR A FILM FRONTEND?

Several HDTV endorsers envisionthe use of an HDTV system for theproduction and post -production of avideo product which may be trans-ferred to film for theater projection.If that scenario becomes reality, thenthe HDTV production system usedmust be capable of providing the

RANDY HOFFNER

proper audio parameters for suchapplications. This implies quantita-tive and qualitative improvementsin audio for high -definition produc-tion, including that traditionallyweak link in the television audiochain, the video tape recorder.

Just as 35 -millimeter film's widevideo dynamic range demands com-mensurate dynamic range perfor-mance from a high -definition videosystem used to produce a product itwill be transferred to, film's wideraudio dynamic range will likewiserequire audio dynamic range im-provements. Such an application re-quires full audio frequency responseof 20 Hz -20 kHz as opposed to thetraditional broadcast frequency re-sponse of 50 Hz -15 kHz, and distor-


ooking for a certain article? Are you missing information to completeyour research? db Magazine indices are available for the years

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tion levels as low as possible. Fortu-nately, these attributes, plus absenceof interchannel phase or timing er-ror, are inherent qualities of state-of-the-art digital audio recording meth-ods, which HDTV productiondevices will almost certainly employ.

A major issue regarding audio forhigh -definition production is thenumber of audio channels required,and whether these channels shouldbe discrete or matrixed. In the pro-duction stages of the process, all au-dio channels will necessarily be dis-crete to permit editing. There may bematrixing of certain signals for thefinal release version of a production,as there is now. Film production fortelevision often employs six audiochannels; two each for music, effectsand dialogue.

Although standard practice in tele-vision and cinematic stereo produc-tion is to generally keep dialoguecentered, there are exceptions.When someone is speaking from off -screen, for instance, that dialogue isusually panned to the appropriateside of the sonic image.

AUDIO IN HDTVThe end product of stereo -televi-

sion audio production is usually twoaudio channels, left and right. Whilesome theatrical release prints arealso in this form, many consist ofmore than two channels. A commonmultichannel film sound format isthe 4.1 channels of surround sound,in which the left and right stereochannels are augmented with ahard, center speaker for centered el-ements of the sound track, ratherthan relying on a phantom centerimage. This is necessary in wide-screen presentation situationswhere many people are not seated inthe "sweet spot" where they willproperly hear the phantom centerchannel generated by left and rightspeakers.

There is also a surround channelcontaining ambience sounds whichis diffused through the rear of thetheater using a number of speakersand a sub -woofed which accounts forthe "0.1" channel. The sub -wooferpermits the augmentation of thelow -frequency audio spectrum fromaround 100 Hz down. It is well-

known the human ear is lPss sensi-tive to sounds in the low -frequencyregion than to those in the midrange.The use of separate sub -woofersdriven only by the low frequencycomponents of the sound track per-mits these sounds to be played at ahigher level than would otherwise bepossible, overcoming the humanear's deficiencies in the lower regis-ters. Fortunately, there are virtuallyno directional cues in the low -fre-quency range, making it quite prac-tical to combine all low -frequencysounds into one audio signal.

The format for carrying the signalsdescribed above varies with the me-dium. For 35 millimeter film, thefour channels of surround sound arematrixed into two to facilitate theirinclusion into the two availablesound tracks, and they are subse-quently decoded into four signals onplayback. This format is also used onsome programs broadcast on televi-sion. For 70 millimeter releaseprints, the separate components ofthe surround system are recorded ondiscrete audio tracks, and indeed,

there may be more than four chan-nels. Common supplemental signalsinclude left and right surrounds re-placing the single surround channel(five channels) and for projection tovery wide screens, augmentation ofleft, center and right signals withleft -center and right -center signals,producing five front and two rearchannels for a total of seven.

A high -definition production sys-tem that generates product fortransfer to Elm for theater projec-tion must accommodate all audiosignals required for the chosen pro-jection format. In current film -pro-duction practice, this is often doneusing a double -system approach, inwhich audio is stored on a separatemedium from video and the two aresynchronized for playback. In addi-tion to audio signals, channels mustbe made available to accommodatewhatever ancillary data it may be de-sirable to include with the audio sig-nals, and multiple languages mustalso be accommodated. The multi-ple -language factor is becoming animportant one not just for Europeanfilm producers and broadcasters, but

in the United States as well, as anever-increasing amount of U.S. filmand television production is mar-keted around the world.

STILL MORE TO BE WORKEDOUT

Once all the above questions areanswered, there are other details tobe worked out. These include devis-ing a channel -assignment schemeand the determination of monitor -speaker arrangements for produc-tion facilities.

The goal of the architects of HDTVproduction systems is to produce sys-tems that deliver the video resolu-tion of 35 millimeter film, a widescreen aspect ratio and audio of thehighest passible quality. The particu-lars of an audio system for HDTVproduction are still in the formativestages.

SUMMARYCurrently, there are several groups

working on the standardization ofaudio parameters for HDTV produc-tion. On an international se -ale, the

International Radio ConsultativeCommittee (CCIR) has recently con-vened an International WorkingParty, MT 10/12, MultichannelSound Systems Especially Suited toAccompany High -Definition andEnhanced Television Systems. [WP10/12 is charged to make recommen-dations regarding optimum ar-rangements for audio productionand presentation fpr HDTV. Here inthe United States, the Society of Mo-tion Picture and Television Engi-neers (SMPTE)'s Working Group onHigh Definition Electronic Produc-tion has an ad hoc group addressingHigh Definition Electronic Produc-tion Audio Systems.

There are a great many facets tothe high definition audio problem,and at this point in its development,there are definitely more questionsthan answers. The future should,however, see the development of anexcellent high definition audio pro-duction system to accompany highdefinition video.

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JOHN BARILLA

The Art of Equalization : Part 2 In Part one of this article, I sur-

veyed some of the "tools" we can useto craft the tone color (or timbre) of asound. I also introduced the idea of"conceptual EQ" where one deducesfrom known information the sonicregions where equalization will bemost effective.

But on what basis do we makethese deductions? Knowing some-thing about the physics of sound canbe very helpful, but before we cantruly appreciate the various "tricks"used in the art of equalization, weshould first take a look at the theorybehind them.

THE COMPLEXITY OFSOUND

Real sounds are tremendouslycomplex, but they can be analyzedand reduced to basic elements: lay-ers of pure sine -waves. Sine -wavesare to sound what atoms are to mole-cules; they are the elemental build-ing blocks from which a foundationmay be constructed. The sterileblandness of a droning test -tone gen-erator is an everyday witness to theelemental nature of the sine -wave.Plug the test -tone into an oscillo-scope, and you can see the utter sim-plicity and purity of a sine -wave as it

traces its smooth bell -shaped excur-sion on the screen (see Figure 1).

But plug in a real musical sound (avoice, a violin, anything), and thescreen will look like a spilled plate ofspaghetti. Examine the waveformclosely, and you will see an intricate"dance" of sine -waves; various sizesine -waves all woven together intoone cohesive fabric. "Size," ofcourse, is merely a descriptive term.I am referring here to amplitude (thegraphic depiction of relative loud-ness) and "frequency" (the numberof times per second the waveformgoes through a complete cycle which

THE FIRS!' CHOICE OFNq STUDIOS IS THEIR

SE O.There's been an interesting phenomenon developing since the

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discover, is that feature for feature, dollar for dollar, no other 16can compete.

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There's also incredibly fast lock -ups, at speeds limited only bythe quality of your other equipment.

So, get into your Tascam dealer and see the machine that hasthem coming back for seconds. The ATR 60/16. It's the industry's firstand second choice, because it's second to none.

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is correlated to pitch). In otherwords, what we are seeing is a multi-plicity of sine -waves, each having acharacteristic pitch and loudness,but somehow, perceived by the ear asa single, unified sound.

THE OVERTONE SERIESDepending on the nature of the

sound, many of these interwovensine -waves may bear a predictablemathematical relationship to eachother. This is particularly true formusical sounds or any sound with adefinite pitch. This relationship,known as the "overtone series," de-scribes the reality we can see on theoscilloscope. For sounds of definitepitch, there is one main sine -waveresponsible for identifying that pitchto the ear, and numerous other sine -waves which are weaker in intensitythat give "color" to the sound, but donot contradict the basic pitch. In-stead, they support it much like a pic-ture frame highlights a photograph.

Sine -waves can do this withoutconfusing the ear because they areharmonically related and therefore,"masked." They fulfill what the hu-man ear naturally perceives as har-

Simple sine wave

T

Complex waveform

T

Resolution ofcomplex waveform intosinewave components

Figure 1. The progression from a simple sine wave to complex waves

monious (rather than alien) to the"fundamental" sound, and they areable to blend into a total oneness,giving it a unique character.

To illustrate this, you can listen toa violin and a viola play the sameconcert pitch, or do the same with atrumpet and a flugel horn. Sametype instrument, same note, buteach has an easily identifiable sound,with the differences not being in thefundamental pitch, but in the over-tones. This harmonic overtone seriesfollows a simple mathematical rela-

tionship; the harmonic overtones arealways whole number multiples ofthe basic pitch (known as the "fun-damental").

For example, a second octave A -note on the piano vibrates at a fun-damental frequency of 110 Hz (seeFigure 2).

If we mic'd the sound, ran itthrough a tightly -cued parametricand swept the center frequency up-ward from 110 Hz, we should expectto find a distinct resonance at two,three, foul; five, six, etc. times the

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17- 770 Hzfe = 660 Hzf5= 550 Hz

14- 440 Hz13= 330 Hz

two octaves + minor seventhtwo octaves + perfect fifthtwo octaves + major third

two octavesoctave + perfect fifth

f7- 220 Hz octave

f = 110 Hz fundamental

Figure 2. Harmonic overtone series for an A=110 Hz fundamental.

fundamental frequency. In otherwords, a harmonic overtone residesa 220 Hz, 330 Hz, 440 Hz, 550 Hzand so on.

As we swept the equalizer; wewould be able to identify an area ofharmonic activity and accentuate ordiminish it, thereby changing the"timbre" or tonal color of the instru-ment to suit our needs. Since you aremaking music rather than conduct-ing a controlled experiment in aphysics laboratory, you are not goingto do your equalization by computa-

tion. Nevertheless, being aware ofthe harmonic overtone series, andthat you are looking for whole num-ber multiples, can be very helpful infinding a region where equalizationcan be most effective. Knowing, forexample, that the first harmonicabove the fundamental (2f or twotimes the frequency) is an octaveabove can be very useful. If you findan active frequency, you should auto-matically try twice, and perhapseven one-half that frequency, to de-termine which harmonic region can

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best be manipulated to the desiredeffect.

Sometimes EQ can be done in aless obvious way in an alternative oc-tave. If you have found one octave,then PssPntially, you have access tothem all, because they are harmoni-cally related.

Another item worth noting aboutthe overtone series is that generally,the harmonics decrease in intensitythe higher up they go (there are just afew notable casPs where an upperharmonic might have a greater in-tensity than a lower harmonic, but ingeneral, this is not to be expected).Theoretically, the harmonic seriescan stretch out pretty far-to the16th harmonic and beyond-butpractically speaking (in terms ofequalization), there are limits towhere equalization will be effective.Beyond those limits, we may be fish-ing for harmonics, but what will bedredged up will mostly be noise.

FORMANTSOne very powerful way to accentu-

ate a sound through equalization isto locate the formant regions andboost them. A little bit of boost can beeffective here, because formants arenot necessarily related to harmoniccontent. In other words, a vocalistcan be singing up high, or down low,on any pitch whatsoever; but therewill be a formant region which reso-nates throughout. The same phe-nomenon is true for other instru-ments as well. The formant orresonance band is a constant factor,adding an important component tothe characteristic sound.

Formants can be unharmonic be-cause they are closely related to theinstrument's architecture, ratherthan the relationship of overtones.For example, in a stringed instru-ment, the harmonic motion of thestrings will be responsible for creat-ing harmonics that change with thelength of the fretted string, whereasthe body, the resonant structure,would contribute the formants. To il-lustrate this further; let's draw onseveral acoustical factors. Rooms,for example, are said to have certaintonal colorations to them. Much ofthis has to do with the dimensions ofthe walls, ceiling and so on. Since au-dible sound waves have discretewavelengths ranging from morethan 40 feet to the tiniest fraction ofan inch, it seems clear that whenwavelengths of a sound approach


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room dimensions, resonances maybuild up, giving definite coloration tothe sound (it is for this reason thatacoustically designed recording stu-dios utilize tuned bass traps and allmanner of damping devices to ironout the inherent resonances in theroom).

Similarly, other shaped spaces,from a partially -filled drinking glassto the back of a guitar, to the humanchest, head and throat, all have realdimensions which vibrate in a char-acteristic way. Because these instru-ments have so little mass (relative toa studio wall), they vibrate quite eas-ily, irrespective of harmonic content.

While a resonant harmonic mightreally be accentuated by the for-mant, the formant will neverthelessrespond to any kind of stimulation-striking the glass, plucking the gui-tar or the passage of wind throughthe throat, even if the note playedbears no whole number relationshipas harmonic overtones do.

Due to the complexity of the struc-tures, there is usually more than oneformant area-at least a low for-

Epiglottis

Esophagus

I

Sinus

Nasal cavity

Hard palate

Nasal passage

Oral cavityTongue

Soft palate

Trachea

Figure 3. Resonant chanzbers of the human voice that are responsible forvocal fornzants.

mant and a high one-of practicalvalue in the art of equalization.

Formants are still an area some-what veiled in mystery, particularlyfor flexible instruments like the hu-man voice in which the shape of thesound chamber changes to form dif-ferent vowel sounds (see Figure 3).

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However, research has shown anextremely strong vocal formant formens' voices centered around 2800Hz (plus or minus a few hundred Hz,.to compensate for individual diffet-ences). The region is more or lessaround E00 Hz for females. Thereare other formant areas for the hu-man voice. Eve hundred Hz formales and 100Hz for females hasbeen pointed to as a low formant re-gion. It is a good practice to pokearound in these regions when look -

in an area to EQ a vocal. "Natu-ral" musical instruments all haveformant areas that help characterizethe sound.

It is for this reason that some digi-tally sampled grand piano soundsdon't quite cut it. Unless the samplewas so carefully done that each notewas recorded at the proper pitch,with formant in tact, playback atother pitches will cause the formantto be shifted, thereby breaking thenatural continuity of the sound.

SUBJECTIVE FACTORS INEQUALIZATION

So far, we have been dealing withobjective factors-quantifiable factsabout the structure of the soundsource itself. But there is anotherside to the coin. The inherent biasesof the human ear, or the subjectivefactors, play an extremely importantrole in how we ultimately approachequalization. Since the aural -per-ceptual network is the final arbiterof sonic experience, it is very impor-tant we understand the typical waysit interacts with a given sound.


140 Phons120

120100

100 80

En- 80 60

13- 60 40

40 20

20

0

-20 I I I Ili50 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 10,000

Frequency (Hz)

Figure 4. Equal loudness contours.

A classic study in this area done byFletcher and Munson resulted in aseries of curves which depicted"equal loudness contours" for thehuman ear. While these curves canseem, at first glance, like mere irrel-evant academics, the fact is thatsome great practical lessons can begleaned from carefully evaluatingthem.

Each equal loudness contour rep-resents the typical human percep-tion of equal loudness throughoutthe frequency range (relative to aknown standard). In other words, a60 phon equal loudness contour indi-cates if a person were to listen to a1 kHz tone at 60 dB SPL, and wereallowed to compare and adjust thevolume of other tones throughoutthe audible frequency spectrum un-til sounding "equally loud" to the 1ktone, the results would be far fromlinear.

Very low and very high frequencieswould have to be pumped up to amuch higher SPL in order to be per-ceived as equally loud. At differentreference levels (from 0 phons to 120phons), the "shape" of the curvechanges, indicating that at lower lis-tening levels, substantially more lowand high frequencies would have tobe added (in order to be perceived asequally loud) than at high listeninglevels.

At 120 phons (the ear-splittinglevel frequently reached at yourneighborhood disco), the bass re-sponse becomes nearly linear, andthe treble response is also somewhat

less curvaceous than at lower listen-ing levels (see Figure 4).

There are many producers,however, who care little

about repeated listenings.These people want your

attention for 15 or 30seconds on prime -timetelevision, so midrangeexcess is often the rule.

The result is that the sound pres-sure level in the studio while mixing,and that in the listening space of theend -user; is interactive in some verypredictable ways.

For example, if a dance -music re-cording was mixed at an unrealisti-cally low SPL, it would seem horriblylow -end heavy when played at thetypical high SPL of a dance -club.Likewise, if your generic "dentist'soffice music" was mixed at a highSPL, it would sound cold and aus-tere, grotesquely lacking in thewarmth and brilliance of both lowand high frequencies if played backat the typical low SPL of the dentist'soffice.

These examples all point to the de-ceptiveness of trying to attain "true"equalization. While the relativity ofit all can be a little confusing, the saf-est hedge seems to be to periodicallycheck a mix at the level it is likely tobe played by the typical end -user.

The equal loudneqs contours alsodemonstrate one factor not quite sorelative. You can rely on this realityno matter what your mixing level:"the ear is hyper -sensitive to mid-range frequencies between 2.5 kHzand 5 kHz." Herein lies a blessingand a curse. A gocd example is inmixing.

Chronically buried tracks, thosethat never seem to 'sit" right in themix, can easily be made to rise abovethe pack with a moderate boost atthese frequencies. But do that sameEQ on too many tracks, and the en-tire mix will sound edgy and un-pleasant. The ear is apparently quitetitillated when it hears these fre-quencies. In proper ratios, these fre-quencies spice up a meal just like saltdoes, but in excess, they become cloy-ing. The initial titillation can giveway to a subtle, non-descript annoy-ance for the naive listener, such thatthe recording will not bear repeatedlistening.

There are many producers, how-evel who care little about repeatedlistenings. These people want yourattention for 15 or 30 seconds onprime -time television, so midrangeexcess is often the rule.

These commercial producers cancram more "apparent loudness" intoa TV commercial by loading up onear -sensitive frequencies, with theeffect being universally observable;commercials invariably sound muchlouder than the program, eventhough they do not exceed broadcastspecifications for loudness. The im-portant academic research of Fletch-er and Munson really comes to lifehere, for it becomes clear that everydecibel of sound is not equal to an-other, in terms of human perception.

This discourse on the art of equal-ization will continie in the next issueof db Magazine. Having surveyedboth the tools and the theory ofequalization, we will move on tosome very practical tricks of thetrade-some "how-tos" for variousstages of the recording process, fromtracking to mastering.

For the uninitiated, we will also in-clude a Berlitz-like manual forspeaking "EQeez," including suchjargon as "that's a little too fat forme. Trim up the low -end and give mesome shimmer on top. While you'reat it, try and get rid of that boxi-ness...." A couple of lessons, and we'llhave you speaking like a native.

Stay tuned.

BRIAN BATTLES

pQ t/e444414

In our ongoing discussion of howto produce great radio commercials,we have made a distinction betweentwo major categories of productions:jingles and voice spots. If your pri-mary interest is in music, you'remore likely to be successful in writ-ing and producing jingles.

With all the MIDI equipmentavailable today, and the number ofserious recording artists who haveready access to such gear, it has be-come more profitable than ever toprepare customized musical adver-tisements. When I began writing thiscolumn about six years ago, MIDIwas still fairly new, and few smallerstudios could afford the hardware.The larger studios, whose clientscould afford to pay live musicians,were the only ones who could takeadvantage of much of the existingMIDI technology. Today, however,MIDI has become almost a con-sumer commodity, and thousands ofmusicians, studios and hobbyistsown impressive setups, often con-nected to rather advanced personalcomputers, and completely config-ured to handle all but the most exact-ing recording projects.

Most of the time there is little needfor SMPTE code capability, compu-terized editing and digital soundstorage in radio production. Unlessdozens of commercials are producedeach month with complexsoundtracks (and a big budget),high-tech disk -based computer edit-ing workstations with hypertextstacks will not be needed. Two sim-ple multi -track (two or more) analogreel-to-reel decks, a rudimentarymixing board, one or two good micsand assorted accessories will workfine. If you can afford any additionaloutboard processing "boxes," that'seven better. It can certainly come inhandy to have a nice reverb unit,

Equipment Concernsequalizer, compressor/expander andwhatever else you like to play with.

If you're primarily geared towardsrecording voice spots, your audioproduction equipment needs list isthe same. If you know how to bouncetracks for taping music, understandhow to arrange your mics for the bestresults and your equipment is main-tained properly, you should be able toproduce just about any commercialyou need. It's not an array of extrav-agant appliances that distinguishesyou from the competition; your cre-ativity, marketing savvy andcopywriting skill will be your mostmeaningful advantages.

In the rage of dialogue, humor anddramatic ads, however, you mayneed to add one more item to yourlist-sound effects. These are com-mercially available on conventionalLPs, compact discs, open -reel tapes,eaggPttes and even DAT. You'll needthe hardware to play them, but gen-erally, the largest investment is inthe "software," or the sound libraryitself.

Sound effects packages can rangefrom unbearably pitiful to star-tlingly fabulous. It depends on thesource. Prices vary considerably, soyou should shop around carefullyand talk to as many other people aspossible about the sfx libraries theyhave used.

The point is that you can easily be-gin a successful and profitable com-mercial production business with alimited amount of equipment. Sinceyou're in the recording industry, theodds are good that you'll be able toget the most out ofyour facility whenproducing commercials.

NOISY RADIOI've spent a lot of time over the last

few months doing unscientific sur-veys of commercial radio station en-gineering folks to find out what is the

real state -of -the -industry in noise re-duction. I receive a hefty stack ofprofessional broadcasting maga-zines every month, and I read manyadvertisements and product re-views. Of course, most of the audiosuppliers exclaim how their gear in-corporates the latest in dbx, Dolbyand whatever other noise reductionsystems are around.

The area I see as most in need ofnoise reduction improvement is inbroadcast cartridge (cart) equip-ment. Cart machines are commonlyknown for low fidelity and highnoise. There are many reasons forthis. Inferior or badly worded tape,misaligned heads and guides, ,defec-tive cart housings, infrequent clean-ing and so forth, all contribute to theproblem. Cleanliness is of utmostimportance in a recording studio orradio station. Constant scrubbing ofheads, rollers, guides and other asso-ciated parts must be done regularly.This is your best and cheapest formof noise reduction. Proper headalignment and degaussing is critical,too.

Yet, advantages can be gained byusing noise reduction devices. Thebetter -engineered units are abso-lutely amazing, while the worst onescan butcher your work. The 24 or soradio station engineers I've con-tacted make it clear that most of thecountry's stations are not using anyform of noise reduqtioji in their audiochains. Radio broadcasters seem toagree that cart machines would ben-efit from a simple, standard type ofnoise reduction scheme. The prob-lem is that the lack of technicallycompetent or experienced equip-ment operators makes it a headacheto implement. For example, dbx andDolby systems require periodicalignment, calibration or adjust-ment to ensure proper performance.It's quite a chore to train radio sta-

tion staff members to handle thesetasks, so sometimes the gear inevita-bly goes "out of spec" through ne-glect, abuse, hardware failure or im-proper operating.

Regardless of what equipmentmanufacturers may want you to be-lieve, the use of commercial out-board noise reduction processing isnot a universal practice in radiobroadcasting today. Maintenanceand cleaning must still serve as theprimary means of minimizing tapehiss and other problems at the sta-tion. As providers of recorded radiocommercials, private recording stu-dios should strive to keep tapes asnoise -free as possible throughout therecording/editing/mixing/dupingstages, understanding and expect-ing broadcasters to introduce a per-ceptible level of noise in their owntape playback equipment.

AUDIBLE FEEDBACKIf you are a broadcasted or if you

have experience or a question relat-ing to producing or airing radio com-mercials, or if you would like to senda photo and brag about your stationor studio, send a letter to me in careof db. For debate, discussion and ar-guments, you can get in touch withme via your personal computer andmodem. Just log on to any local pri-

Support America'scolleges. Because collegeis more than a placewhere young people arepreparing for their future.It's where America is pre-paring for its future.

Give tothe college ofyour choice.

vate bulletin board system (BBS)that carries the Fidonet BroadcastEcho or Fidonet Media Echo, andsend me a message. If you happen tobe an amateur radio operato4 send apacket message to my station,WA1YUA @ N1API. By the way,

fellow recording/broadcasting hams,just before Christmas, I becameCopy Editor for QST, the journal ofthe ARRL, so I'll be exploring waysAmateur Radio experimentationmay be of value in commercial pro-duction and audio.

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Higher Ground:The Winans-Live!

ED LEARNED

The 80s saw a dramatic increase in the general public's awareness of gospel music. Music once rel-egated to the church is now enjoyed in the concert hall by both secular and religious listeners. Atthe forefront of this performance boom is the Winans family of Detroit, Michigan.

This talented family hasowned the gospel Grammyawards for the better partof the 80s. The Winans

(Marvin, Carvin, Ronald and Mi-chael) have won five Grammys, withBeBe and CeCe Winans picking upone each this year.

One need look no further than theWinans to understand the technicalsophistication demanded by today'sgospel artists. I've had the pleasureof working with the Winans severaltimes, both as front -of -house andmonitor engineer.

THE INTERVIEWI recently spoke to Steve Fisher,

the Winans' current house engineer,prior to their proposed spring tour.Besides a lengthy discussion of theWinans sound requirements, Stevealso offers sage advice on the han-dling of one-nighters and the impor-tance of "making do."

db: In 1985, I worked a Winansperformance in Washington, D.C.They appeared as part of a largeshow sponsored by a local Baptistchurch. I ended up mixing the group,as they didn't carry their own engi-

neer. Obviously, a lot has changed infive years. How did you get the job asWinans' house engineer?

SF: I'm a staff engineer with Ae-rial Enterprises Inc., the large soundcompany in southeastern Michigan.Aerial was contracted by theWinans' promoter to provide soundfor their 1987 fall tour. I wore twohats, as Aerial house engineer andWinans mix engineer. Eventually, wedropped the production due to bud-get considerations, but the Winans

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asked me to stay on as their travelingengineer.

db: You have an extensive pop mu-sic background with artists such asLionel Richie and Al Jarreau. Howdifferent are the technical require-ments of a contemporary gospelgroup such as the Winans from a popgroup?

SF: The Winans' show consists ofa high-tech pop group that backs anexceptional vocal group singing gos-pel music. So their requirements arevery similar to any high-tech popgroup today. The quantity of gearmay not be as extensive, but we havethe same keyboards-the DX -7, theD-50, even an Emulator-that thebig pop groups have. The levels in-volved are not as great as rock, butthe audience is looking for a pump-ing, funky sound, and the band doesdeliver that. So you need to have asound system that will reproduce it.

db: What do you feel is the mostimportant element in your gospelmixing?

SF: Gospel is a vocal -oriented mu-sic: you have the word, and the wordneeds to be heard and intelligible. Iconcentrate on the vocals as the ma-jor thrust of a mix.

db: Describe your most recentdates with the group during the lastfew months.

SF: Typically, the Winans go outonly on weekends, doing little re-gional jumps by plane. We fly in theday of the show, rent all our bandgear, do it and leave the next day. Theonly gear we carry are the guitars,saxophones, a snare drum, kickdrum pedal and a few cymbals. It's acarry -on luggage band all the way.

db: In addition to stage gear, youmust also procure your sound equip-ment locally. What are your mini-mum channel requirements for theWinans?

SF: We use a real 22 channels fromthe stage, sometimes 24, so we canfit the group into a 24 -channel deskif I use returns instead of inputs foreffects. It's much easier with a 32,which I ask for, but don't always get.Often, we do a lot of church concertswhere production is not somethingthat has a high priority due to bud-get. If we do a show where multipleacts are involved, we are prettymuch stuck with whatever is there."Make do" is quite often the order ofthe day.

db: Can you give us some idea ofyour range, from best to worst?

SF: High end would be a 40 chan-nel Yamaha PM -3000. Low endwould be when a church acted as pro-moter, and things were deleted out ofignorance, not because of budget.The church technically didn't under-stand the stuff that was needed;somebody told them the stuff they

did have was fine, and they wereready to go with it.

The gig I recall was in Baltimore.We showed up at a major downtownvenue that was part of a gospel festi-val. We were the headliner for theday; the only other artists before uswhere choirs who didn't demand the

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sophisticated equipment we did.There was a 16 -input Yamaha con-sole on stage, intended for use as amonitor desk. Another console wassupposed to be rented for house use,but it never showed up! We had totake the 16 -channel desk out into thehouse and interface into a house PAsystem that was medium, to be po-

lite. The monitor sends on this deskhad to run our monitor system,where we usually have a separatedesk and multiple mixes, and thenwe had to reduce our input list to 16channels. All this took place at 4 p.m.for a 7 p.m. show, so there was somereal scrambling involved. That wasdefinitely the worst.

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MONITORSdb: By the way, what are your cur-

rent monitor requirements?SF: If we carried production, we'd

be using 10 mixes. Howeve4 for one-nighters, eight mixes are plenty. Wetry to keep it as simple as we can, be-cause it's difficult to do one-nightersif your audio needs are complex;there's just not enough time. Ourmonitors break down to mono sidefills, drum monitor and six floormixes.

db: Let's talk about the individualband setup; start with the drums.

SF: Our drummer, Dana Davis, isa heavy hitter, but his fills are neveroverbearing and he does leave plentyof space for the other musicians.Typically, we look for a professionalYamaha kit. It's not a huge mondosetup or anything, after all, these areone-nighters and you have to tunethe drums and make the setup work.But we do look for two mountedtoms and one floor torn in addition tokick, snare, hi -hat and cymbals.

MICROPHONESdb: How many mica do you use on

his kit?SF: The normal number is seven,

although that can change with theactual size of the set. Dana does a lotof nice cymbal work, so an overheadis a must. He mounts his cymbalshigher up off the drums than a lot ofdrummers, so bleed isn't as great afactor as it might be. From there, it'skick, snare, hat, two rack lilies and afloor torn mic. I can get away with asingle mic between the two mountedtoms, but if the channels are there,I'll use a separate mic on each torn.

db: What mic do you use on eachdrum? Start with the kick drum.

SF: I've been using an EV RE -20for a long time, and I'm very satisfiedwith it. It doesn't overload, doesn'thave proximity effect and it picks upthe necessary depth. You can turn upthe bass EQ on the kick channel withan RE -20, and it won't sound over-loaded or mushy; it's still tight. Insome instances, depending on thedrum's sound and the sound system,I've found a Sennheiser 421 to be ef-fective because of the way it tailorsthe low end.

db: How about snare drum?SF: Snare is as much mic place-

ment as anything. Or, you don't havemuch time for mic placement and itgets jiggled around to a degree. Weusually use a heavy-duty dynamic,


KEYS 2STEVE FORD

KEYS 1BENJI LOVE

SAXSKIP PRUITT

SIDEFILLS

8

DRUMSDANA DAVIS

BASSLANAR"KERN'

BRANTLEY

MARVIN CARVIN MICHAEL RONALD0 0

1 1 1

AUDIENCE

1

Figure 1. The stage setup used by the Winans.

like a Shure SM-57 or SM-58. Bothmics have that enhanced presencepeak in the high end that seems towork well on a snare drum.

db: Hi -hat conies next. Would yoube likely to use the same type of micon hi -hat and cymbal overhead?

SF: Not necessarily. For overhead,you'd want a condenser, because itpicks up high frequencies extremelywell and works at a distance. With ahi -hat, you can get the mic real close.If I only had one high -quality con-dense4 I would use that for over-head. I'd then use a dynamic withgood high end on the hi -hat, closemic'd. But if there were enough con-densers, I'd use them on all the cym-bals.

db: Which specific mics do you fa-vor here?

SF: The AKG 451 or 460 is some-thing I see a lot, and they work verywell; also the Shure SM-81. A micthat I don't see all that often, but onethat is excellent for both cymbalwork and hi -hats, is the Beyer 160ribbon mic. Aerial used it extensivelyat the Montreux -Detroit jazz festivallast year, and it sounded fabulous.But you don't often find anyone whowill hand you some 160s.

db: Are you using the same type ofmic on all your tom-toms?

SF: Yes, and it's what probably hasbecome the industry standard, theSennheiser 421. Most sound compa-nies have them as their one specialty

GUITARGEORGE

BELL

SIDEFILLS

8

m -FLOOR MONITOR12L.1 (MIX # INSIDE)

mic. It does do a great job, and it alsoworks well on percussion: congas,timbales, that sort of thing. We actu-ally used to have some percussion inthe Winans, but we no longer do thesongs that require it live. Anothergreat mic for toms is the Beyer 201.However, it's a mic that you justdon't see that often.

db: We now move to electric bass,played by Lanar "Kern" Brantley.What's he like?

SF: Kern is extremely quick; hislines are melodic and funky at thesame time. He is a young player whowill be making a big impact verysoon. The people in gospel certainlyknow who he is. A lot of people comeout to see the players in this group aswell as the Winans. Kern also plays aRoland D-50 keyboard in addition tohis electric bass.

BASS RIGdb: What kind of bass rig do you

prefe4 and how are you takingKern's different instruments?

SF: We try and use Gallien-Krue-ger stuff whenever we can. Theirstuff is reliable, it has good tone con-trol and it sounds good with a bassguitar. That gives us a constant,which is important, because we'rerenting. If the channels are there, Itake the D-50 on a separate D.I. Thebass guitar is also a D.I., usuallytaken off the amplifier line output.On a Gallien, that's an xlr-out on the

back of the amplifier. If the bass rig islousy, then I have to take the D.I. offthe instrument. In those situations,we have to over-EQ the amplifier toget a good sound or. stage, so the rawbass guitar ends up sounding better.We do a lot of multiple -act shows, sothere really isn't a lot of time to dealwith this stuff.

db: You're hitting and running.SF: That's right. You plug in where

you KNOW it's going to work, whereyou know you'll get a clean signaland you deal from there. If we reallyhit and run, we will Y the D-50 intothe Gallien-Krueger along with thebass, so it's all in one D.I. out. We'reassured that by making one linework, we've got everything he's do-ing out in the house. He has to hearthe D-50, so he turns it up to matchthe bass guitar as he hears it, andthat gives me a fairly balanced mixbetween them.

db: What about electric guitar?SF: We usually mic the guitar amp,

using a general purpose mic like aShure SM-57 or SIR -58. If I have thechance, I'd use a Beyer 88 or EV RE -20. We use a Roland Jazz Chorus am-plifier, and our guitarist, GeorgeBell, carries his own pedals and gui-tar, so essentially he's got his own"sounds" with him. Again, the Ro-land amp is something that mostband rental places anywhere in theUnited States are likely to have.

KEYBOARDSdb: We now come to the keyboards,

played by Benji Love and Steve Ford.Let's start with Benji-what partsdoes he play, any what keyboardsdoes he use?

SF: Benji plays a digital piano,midi'd to a DX -7. We use a digital pi-ano for its ease of setup and the factthat there's no roam on our stage foran acoustic pianc. Then we have thesound quality issue. We don't carry amonitor enginee4 so now you'd havean acoustic instrument on an elec-tric stage, and have to count onsomebody you haven't worked withtrying to engineer that for you. Wetake these concerns right out of thepicture by using an electronic piano.The midi'd DX -7 adds a couple ofovertones to the piano sound. Some-times he plays the DX -7, but its pri-mary role is tonal enhancement. Itake both the piano and DX -7 withindividual D.I.s.

db: As I rece.11, Benji is a realchurch -oriented player.

SF: When the Winans depart fromtheir planned program to sermonizeor ad-lib between songs, they look toBenji for musical background.

Benji knows the gospel reper-toire-he knows all the songs playedin the church.

So for background behind preach-ing, the band looks to Benji for musi-cal direction.

db: What about Steve Ford, theother keyboardist?

SF: Steve is an exceptional key-board player who gets great sounds.He uses lots of keyboards midi'd to-

1990 Editorial CalendarJAN/FEBThe Professional Electronic Cottage andBroadcast USA-a Synergetic Combination!Winter NAMM and NAB Show Issue. GUIDE: Speakers: performance & moni-tor.

MAR/APRSound Reinforcement: Theory, and Applica-tion for various venues.NSCA Show Issue. GUIDE: Power Amplifiers.

MAY/JUNEBroadcast, Recording & Sound Reinforce-ment in Houses of Worship, Summer NAMMissue. GUIDE: Consoles & Mixers.

JULY/AUGLive Sound-Producing it and/or Record-ing it. GUIDE: Tape, tape recorders andaccessories, Microphones.

SEPT/OCTAudio Post-Production-Television andFilm-AES in L.A. Show issue GUIDE: Signal Processing Equipment,Part I.

NOV/DECThe Recording Studio-What's happening,what's ahead. GUIDE: Signal Processing Equipment,Part II, Studio Accessories

gether: two DX -7s, two D -50s and anEmulator. He carries his own soundson discs, and uses the Emulator tocall those up. He plays the DX -7s andD -50s for individual stuff The Emu-lator is really the only piece of gearwe have to rent that's proven to bedifficult to find in some places.

db: Do you take all of Steve's key-boards D.I.?

SF: When we carried production,we took individual D.I.s. But sincethen, we had to change, due to thequick -hit situation that we were of-ten in. We incorporated a mixer andamplifier into Steve's setup, so Stevecould get his own sounds without amonitor engineer and monitor sys-tem. His stuff is heavily midi'd, so ifyou were dealing with him for thefirst time, you might have stuff com-ing at you from different angles thatyou wouldn't necessarily grasp. Weuse a typical stereo system: one sidedrives his stage system, the otherside drives a key mix D.I. It's beenvery successful for the limitations in-volved. He's very good at what hedoes, so it's pretty well pre -mixed bythe time it gets to me.

db: Our last band member is saxo-phonist Skip Pruitt. How manyreeds does he play?

SF: He plays a soprano and altosax. Mic-wise, we've done a numberof things. Initially we used a wiredmic, which was an AKG D -58E, amic originally designed as a controlroom talkback mic. Its small sizelent itself well to this application, al-though its frequency response wasnot what you'd call warm. Nowa-days, he's got a medium-priced Sam-son radio rig with a small Shure mic;I'm not certain what the mic's modelnumber is. It does take a lot of EQ,but the advantage to a clip -on mic isconstant proximity; Skip movesaround on stage a lot, and the micmust travel with him.

db: Does he change the mic fromone sax to the othei or do you have achannel for each sax?

SF: He changes it himself. Skip isthe kind of guy who's audio inclined;he's aware of the mechanical trans-mission of sound, and is adept atchanging the mic without generat-ing a lot of handling noise. I think hemutes his wireless before he makesthe switch, but whatever he does, Iknow I don't have to worry aboutnoise through the system.

db: Now we come to the Winansthemselves. Do you have a specific

vocal mic of choice for them, and doyou carry these with you?

VOCAL MICSSF: At some of our jobs, the ones I

can advance, I do get a choice of vocalmics. But not all our jobs can be ad-vanced. If I'm in a strange place,working on a strange system, I'll askthe local engineers what they nor-mally use for a vocal mic. If they havea mic that works well for them, ontheir gea4 that's what I'll throw upthere. I don't want to put a lot ofchanges into their sound system. If Iput up a bunch of esoteric mics withextended frequency response, all of asudden, the monitor engineer has todeal with a whole new situation andchange a bunch of EQs. You (the au-thor) mixed monitors for some of ourshows, so you know how that is. Un-fortunately, we just don't find manyengineers of your competence outthere. I find I get the best results bythrowing the fewest curves at the en-gineers. If you minimize the vari-ables, you can get consistency wherethere might not be any.

db: When I first worked with theWinans, I felt they had the mostbeautiful blend of male voices I'dever heard. Each also has his ownpersonal slant on vocal styling. Whatcan you tell us about that?

SF: The Winans have all -encom-passing voices, and really put it outthere! They are all strong singers,but there are dynamic differencesbetween them. Michael has the soft-est voice, and the loudest is probablya tie between Ronald and Marvin.Carvin contributes a lot of beautifulfalsetto work and high notes. BothMichael and Carvin can hit the highnotes, and often sing the high partsin four-part harmonies, but there is alot of switching around in who singswhat part from song to song. Itmakes it difficult to track, but it cer-tainly lends different sounds to theensemble blend from song to song.

db: Do you feel you've got a goodhandle on who's singing what at thispoint?

SF: I've been mixing these guys fortwo years now, and there are stillthings that surprise me. When wewere touring steadily, I had it in myback pocket: you were doing it everynight and could get a good groove go-ing. With these intermittent one-nighters, it's not that I forget words,phrases, or harmonies. It's like"where are they in this mix?" Things

come and go, and it takes a while tofind that comfort zone. These guyswork the mics well, and they knowhow to sing together. So as far as vo-cal blend is concerned, they make myjob easy.

MAINTAINING A VOCALBLEND

db: What do you feel is the mostimportant technical considerationfor maintaining a good vocal blend?

SF: Good monitors! We take greatcare to set the vocal monitoring situ-ation so they can sing within them-selves and keep the harmonies bal-anced on stage. I can recall twoshows with these guys where I didn'treally have time to walk through themonitors and check vocal balances.As a result, the vocals fell apart on-stage, which meant they fell apart inthe house.

db: The Winans' setup keeps thewhole downstage area clear for thesingers. The downstage wedges andside fills are primarily vocals, as I re-call.

SF: That's right. The downstagewedges are predominantly vocal,with a bit of Benji's piano for thebrothers to sing against. Sometimeswe do two mixes down there: a mixfor Marvin and Carvin, and a mix forRonald and Michael. Marvin's andCarvin's voices would be slightly hot-ter in the wedges in front of them, forinstance. These wedges are never allthe way downstage; we keep them atleast three feet upstage of the frontedge of the stage so the brothers canwork the downstage area if theywant to.

db: You keep the monitors tight tothe mic stands, leaving a downstageapron in front for them to work.

SF: Someone might say "why usewedges at all?" Because it gives themall something to go back to. If theyare struggling for level, or they wantto harmonize in a very tight manner,they can go back to their mic stand,put the mic in and have tight harmo-nies right in their face. Side fills arevery important because they do wan-der all over the stage, and they wantto hear a good mix of their vocals asthey travel around. The wedges arereally used as spot monitors.

db: Besides vocals, what else doyou have in the side fills?

SF: Again, we have some of Benji'spiano. If we're playing a large showon a big stage where sounds don'ttravel well, we will put a taste of

snare and hi -hat through there fortiming purposes. When we carriedproduction, we ended up with a lot ofdrums and other s-,uff in there, butfor one-nighters, we want to keep itsimple. We don't want a lot of soundsgoing in a lot of different directions.We take some of the bass out of thepiano to improve its clarity, and dothe same with the snare.

db: With respect to the othermixes, each musician gets his ownmix.

SF: And those get pretty extensivebecause of our stage setup. The bandis not tightly packed; they are stand-ing away from each other and thecenter is open. It looks great, but it ishard for the musicians to hear eachother acoustically. So they need tohear a lot of each other in their re-spective mixes.

db: Is there much vocal in these in-strument mixes?

SF: Not really. The side fills throwenough back there to do the job, al-though we might throw a little vocalinto the drum mix because Dana isthe furthest back.

SPECIAL EFFECTSdb: What do you use in the way of

effects?SF: I use reverb on the vocals in al-

most any situation. It really en-hances the Winans' voices; we don'toverdo it, but it's there to be heard. Iusually ask for two digital reverbsand a digital delay I like the delay tobe capable of one second at fullbandwidth. I take the highest qualityreverb available and use it on thevoices. The delay is also used on thevoices. We use some very decayedlong echoes and, one song, a dou-bling effect. The first is around 630ms, the second around 100 ms. Thesecond reverb is used on the drums.We do a lot of poppy stuff and withthe way Dana plays, there is room forthat.

db: What sort of reverb programsdo you favor?

SF: I try and set up the reverb bymyself in headsets, with the vocalmic du -jour. Then I listen to it overthe sound system. I'm looking for thebiggest, most lush sound I can getwith a crystalline high end. I'm notlooking for a small room. I really likethe Yamaha REV -7; with the on-board EQ I can tweak the reverb andbe very successful in enriching thesound without losing clarity in agiven room. On a REV -7, I would use N-4

ci

the large hall program, varying thereverb time in response to room re-verberation. The stock decay timefor this program is 2.6 seconds: Iwould never go longer than that, andif the room was really live, I mighthave dialed down to around two sec-onds. I'm happy with the stock 30 msof pre -delay. On the drum reverb, Iuse gated reverb, early reflectionprograms and some regular reverbfor cross -stick snare on ballads.

USING VOCALCOMPRESSION

db: Let's talk about patchablecompres-Sion a bit. I'm sure you usecompression on the vocals -withthese guys, you'd be crazy not to.

SF: It would be too much, becauseof the dynamics of the Winans'voices, not to compress. It just helpsthe levels stay in control. The bestthing that's ever worked is to have aDBX 900 rack, and insert compres-sors on each vocal channel, becausedynamics are totally different fromvoice to voice. Of course, I don't oftenhave that many limiters available.I'll sometimes use two submasters,

The following input list shows thecomplexity of a full Winans produc-

CHANNEL #

with limiters inserted in each, andput the lead vocal in one, the back-grounds in the other. If I only haveone high -quality compresso4 I'll in-sert that on a single vocal sub and as-sign all the vocals there.

db: How do you handle compres-sion ratios and threshold settings?

SF: The obvious reason for com-pression is control. If somebody de-cides to scream, we don't want toblow the audience away. But I'm notlooking to compress the stuffing outof it -there are a lot of dynamicchanges in these songs, and I reallydon't want to change that too much.Often I come up with a 2:1 with aslightly lower threshold than I'd usefor pure scream protection. If youwatch it, you can see it working mostof the time, but the signal can stillrise and fall. If I can keep the vocaldynamics in a tighter window, so tospeak, I'm better off for it and so isthe audience.

db: Do you use compreccion onanything else?

SF: I definitely need one on thebass guitar, and also on the keyboardrigs: two for Benji and one for Steve.

WINANS INPUT LISTtion. This is what the Winans woulduse if they carried production, and

INPUT

These guys can funk with the best of'em, and when the band really getscranking, those compressors come inreal handy.

db: Speaking of cranking it up -how is stage volume with these guys?

SF: It's quite good, which is proba-bly our saving grace. Kern, the bassplaye4 has a tendency to go over-board and really turn it up, and theother guys tend to follow him be-cause he's a natural leader. Fortu-nately, the Winans have an excep-tional grasp of the feel of gospelmusic, and really are adept at con-trolling dynamics. Whenever thevolume starts coming up, Marvin orCarvin will turn around and ask"what's going on? We need to look atwhat we're doing here -we need torelax and regain our balance."That's great, because I'm in thehouse and don't always have time totell them that myself. It is importantto have powerful music, but in gos-pel, the word is more important.Keeping stage volume at the appro-priate level for singers is a big part ofour suceiss.

does not reflect the trimming re-quired for one-nighters.

MICROPHONE/D.I,1. Marvin Vocal EV ND -8572. Carvin Vocal EV ND -8573. Michael Vocal EV ND -8574. Ronald Vocal EV ND -8575. Off-stage Announce EV ND -8576. Sax Radio Clip -on Mic7. Key #1 -Digital Piano D.I.8. Key #1 -DX -7 D.I.9. Key #2-D-50 #1 D.I.10. Key #2-D-50 #2 D.I.11. Key #2 -DX -7 #1 D.I.12. Key #2 -DX -7 #2 D.I.13. Key #2 -Emulator D.I.14. Key #2 -Mix L D.I.15. Key #2 -Mix R D.I.16. Bass Amp Line Out D.I.17. Bass Key (D-50) D.I.18. Guitar Amp EV RE -2019. Kick EV RE -2020. Snare Shure SM-5821. Hi -hat Beyer M-16022. Rack Tom #1 Senn. MD -42123. Rack Tom #2 Senn. MD -42124. Floor Tom Senn. MD -42125. OH L Beyer M-16026. OH R Beyer M-16027. SPX -90 L Return28. SPX -90 R Return29. DDL Return30. REV -7 L Return31. REV -7 R Return

NOTLINE

DUPING AND BUSINESSI have been a subscriber of yours for

some time now, and havejust openedmy own demo recording studio inGastonia, N.C. Several people haveasked me about cassette duplication.There are several companies innearby Charlotte, N.C. that dupli-cate, but I would like to have my ownduplication machines to make theclients' copies myself Can you giveme the names and addresses of indi-viduals or companies that I couldwrite to about purchasing new orused duplicating machines?

Also, are there any books on themarket that deal with the start up ofan independent record company? Ineed sample recording contracts,guides to record distribution, how tocopyright songs, how a publishingcompany works, etc. Any infornta-tion you can supply is appreciated.Doug HenryTornado RecordingGastonia, N.C.

Replies from Senior EditorJohn Barilla:

To answer your question abouttape duping, I contacted Ed Adamsof Amphion Recording in Rockville,CT. Ed has been involved in large-

scale duping for over a decade, andwas able to offer some sage advice.He mentioned that the field can bedivided into two types of systems-high speed (which dupe at the rate offour or eight times normal speed)and real-time or near -real time sys-tems (which may go up to two timesnormal speed).

While acknowledging there aremany good systems on the market,Ed did have a few recommendations(he assumed, of course, that youwant professional equipment, whichis much more rugged and also moreexpensive than consumer gear). Ofthe possibilities in high-speed dup-ing, Ed recommended both Otariand Telex as quality/cost-effectivesystems. Both offer master withmultiple slaves (the master can ei-ther be a reel or caggette).

Ed's personal choice was the sys-tem offered by KABA Research,which runs at two times normalspeed. The KABA system is a four -track system (meaning it recordsboth sides simultaneously), and eachslave has two transports. KABA alsooffers integrated start-up systemswith cabinets and shrink-wrap ma-chines all tied in. To find out moreabout KABA, Ed suggested calling

Kenneth Bacon at 1 -800 -231 -TAPEand mentioning Ed Adams.

The question about starting yourown record company is more diffi-cult to give a definitive answer. Tomy knowledge, there is no one re-source strictly dealing with this is-sue. There are, however, severalbooks that can offer some valuableinsights on the music business as awhole. The classic volume is "ThisBusiness of Music" by Shemel andKrasilovsky. Other good resourceswould be "The Encyclopedia of theMusic Business" by Harvey Rachlin,"Making It In the Music Business"by James Riordan and "How ToMake and Sell Your Own Record" byDiane Rapaport.

AUDIO EDUCATIONAs a college sophomore interested

in pursuing a career in sound engi-neering, I am looking for a univer-sity where I can graduate with such adegree. Would you please send me ashort list of popu;ar colleges and thecourse curriculum names I should belooking for.Carl WareWimberly, TX

Well, Carl, we can't send you alist of colleges featuring recording

Write to HOTLINE!, db Magazine, 203 Commack Road, Suite 1010, Commack, NY 11725. All letters becomethe property of db Magazine.

N

arts, music technology and record-ing engineering (or whatever theywant to call it).

However, we do know where youcan get a list. The Society of Profes-sional Audio Recording Studios(SPARS) has an educational com-mittee. Since 1985, SPARS has of-

fered a National Studio Examina-tion to prospective recording engi-neers, so employers may have agauge to measure competency.

Colleges, universities and tradeschools have different approaches tothe curriculum, some featuringmore music, more mathematics or

Puts the others in perspective.Community's new RS880 loudspeaker system flys heads above allothers with its trapezoidal, three-way Wave front Coherent"' horn -

loaded design. Dynamically controlled from a single rack spacewith our 880EQ, the RS880 additionally features unique feedback -

loop sensing circuitry, and reinforced D -rings which can get youoff the ground quickly and smoothly. For room -shaking bassresponse, our VBS415 subwoofer can also be added to extend thesystem.

CommunityPROFESSIONAL SOUND SYSTEMS

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more hands-on. So pick a schoolcarefully! But if anyone can give youa comprehensive list, SPARS can.

Contact them by mail or phone:SPARS, P.O. Box 11333, BeverlyHills, CA 90213. Tel:(213) 651-4944.

RECORDING SERMONSI am in charge of recording, edit-

ing and duplicating my pastor'sSunday morning sermons. My prob-lem is this: The pastor is a wonder-ful, dynamic preacher, but he some-times goes from a barely audiblewhisper to an extremely loud deliv-ery. He also moves on and off micquite a bit. I can't really ask him tochange his method of preaching asthe message is the most importantcomponent, but I'm not ver), happywith the quality of the recordings I'mgetting. In order to record the ser-mon without distorting the tape, Ineed to run it at a relatively low over-all level, which, unfortunately,makes for a very noisy tape. I did trycompressing the mic signal, butfound that compression made itsound quite unnatural and it seemedto actually add noise. Do you haveany good ideas for upgrading thesystem without bankrupting thechurch?Eli GrandefieldCanyon City, OR

Your problem is not unusual, andI believe it can be solved fairly inex-pensively. I am assuming you are us-ing a quality microphone and ca-bling. That being the map, thesetting you are using on your com-pressor may be part of your noiseproblem. Most compressors canfunction also as limiters, so I suggestyou rethink the settings in this direc-tion. A typical mistake people makeis setting the threshold too low socompression is almost constantlyworking. This can give an audiblepumping action which sounds a littlecontrived for a sermon. Also, since itis reducing the gain of the micro-phone so radically, the noise inherentin the system is, in effect, being exag-gerated when you compensate forthe loss by increasing your recordinglevel. It would be better to operatethe compressor in a "hard limiting"mode: high ratio (10:1 or more) andhigh threshold. This way, the gain re-duction would occur radically on ex-treme peaks only, but would be negli-gible at all other times. I am sure this


kind of setting would improve theoverall performance of your com-pressor.

I would also look for an improve-ment of the sound at the source,rather than relying totally on down-stream signal processing. That'show you will get your best signal-to-noise ratio on tape. Most pulpit mi-crophones are stand -mounted cardi-oid pattern mics. The narrowness ofthe cardioid pattern may be thewrong choice for a speaker whomoves around a lot.

The sound of this type of mic alsochanges radically when someone isfar away or close. You really need tohave a pretty stationary speake4 orone with consciously good mic tech-nique, to get a good recording thisway.

Perhaps you might best switch to aPZM microphone mounted on thepulpit (PZMs are manufactured byCrown and several other companieswho license the PZM concept). PZMsexhibit a wide pattern that doesn'tchange much in frequency responseeven if the speaker turns off axis.One contingency: if your pastor isfond of pulpit pounding, you shouldmount it on a stand independent ofthe pulpit.

Another way to go is with a lava-liere (tie -clip mounted) microphone.These pick up, predominantly, vibra-tions from the chest cavity, so theyare relatively immune to the kind ofneedle pinning a direct blast of aircan give to a conventional micro-phone. One contingency here as well:tripping over the wire can some-times be a problem, so most pastorsprefer to use a wireless system.

Finally, suppressing noise fromyour analog tape recorder can alsoimprove the quality of your tapes.Since you say you are editing, I as-sume you are recording on a reel-to-reel system. I would highly recom-mend an encode/decode noisereduction system like dbx Type I (orsimilar systems made by other man-ufacturers).

The difference in sonic quality canbe truly inspiring. Let us know how itgoes.

Peabody Conservatory of MusicRecording Workshops

MIDI AND ELECTRONIC MUSICJune 25 - 29 M2Gregor Boyle

ADVANCED MIDI APPLICATIONSJuly 2 - 6 McGregor Boyle

AN INTRODUCTION TO RECORDING TECHNOLOGYJuly 9 - 13 Alan P. Kefauver

THE PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION OFMAGNETIC SOUND RECORDINGS

July 16 - 20 Alan P. Kefauver and E izaheth Schaaf

RADIO PRODUCTIONJuly 23 - 27 Charley 11. Thompson

RECORDING AND MIXING POPULAR MUSICJuly 30 - Aug 3 Alan P. Kefauver

All workshops are M -F 9 a.m. -4 p.m.Tuition is $300 per workshop and graduate credits are available.

Peabody Conservatory of Music1 E. Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD 21202-2397

(301) 659-8136


NEpo

That's right! No fluff, no hype. db Magazine is for readers who are inter-ested in solutions to problems, new techniques and technology, and learn-ing from the experiences of others.If you're serious about your profession, don't you think you should readthe serious magazine?

I'm serious! Send me db magazine for (U.S. rates)1 year @ $15.00 2 years @ $24.00 3 years @ $30.00

Checks must be in U.S. Funds drawn on a U.S. bank

or CHARGE TO El MASTER CHARGE 0 VISASagamore Publishing Co. Inc. 203 Commack Rd.,Suite 1010 Commack, NY 11725

My account number is

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Name Title

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SHELLEY HERMAN

coC\1

A Specialized SynagogueSound System

1n 1962, the building com-mittee of Valley Beth Sha-lom in Encino, Calif. de-cided to erect a Sanctuary

appropriate for what was to becomethe largest and best -attended syna-gogue in the San Fernando Valleysection of Los Angeles

Being in the sound business, al-ready maintaining the existingequipment and singing in the choir; Iwas approached to design and installthe sound system.

I examined the plans and sug-gested they be examined by a compe-tent acoustics firm to ensure theacoustics were correct before asound system was installed. Theleading acoustics firm at that timewas Bolt, Beranek and Newman,and they made the neePsarychanges. They did an excellent job,and many people feel the Sanctuaryportion of the building is the best -

sounding small auditorium in thecity. I also convinced VBS to removethe sound system from the mainbuilding contract and out of thehands of the electrical people, exceptfor conduit runs, a.c. to the correctplaces and necessary support devicesfor speaker hanging.

The building is a 130 -ft x 50 -ft.room divided into three sections.The largest section is the Sanctuary,at the south end of the building. TheSanctuary houses the Holy Ark, twochoir -lofts, pulpits and other neces-sary items to conduct services. Thisarea, a raised stage, is called theBinza. The Sanctuary has about 600fixed seats, with a sloping floor in theclassic three -aisle auditorium lay-out. The second largest room, theAuditorium, is at the north end of thebuilding. It has a full stage, a flatfloor with movable seating and acoverable dance floor. The thirdroom, the Foyer, is between the Sanc-tuary and Auditorium. The threesections are divided by two move-able, sectored walls made of wood,

which when fully extended, arenever straight. They present a zig-zag pattern to oncoming sound so itis never reflected directly back to themicrophone positions (this was aBBN suggestion). The moveablewalls do not have very much isola-tion, but that was not a design cri-teria, and "Air Walls" had not yetbeen invented.

ALTERNATE ROOM USESThe building is used in several dif-

ferent modes. For regular Fridayevening and Sabbath services, theSanctuary section is used alone. Ifattendance exceeds Sanctuary ca-pacity, the Sanctuary/Foyer wall isopened, and the two sections areused. For the High Holy day services(Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur),when maximum capacity is needed,both dividing walls are opened andall seats are faced to the Bima, in-cluding about 100 seats on the Audi-torium stage. This gives a maximumcapacity of about 1,150 for services.

If there is a stage presentation, thechairs in the Auditorium are facedtoward the stage. If the crowd islarge enough, the Auditorium/Foyerdoors are opened for a 550 -seat ca-pacity. Because the seats in the Sanc-tuary are fixed and cannot be turnedaround, the Sanctuary/Foyer doorsremain closed.

WHAT THE SOUND SYSTEMMUST DO

The sound system has to cover allaforementioned situations, includ-ing the added problem that the choiris situated behind the Cantor andcannot see his face nor hear him, yetit is necessary for the choir to re-spond to the Cantos; preferably inrhythm and on pitch. The three sec-tions of the facility demand severalsets of loudspeakers which areturned on and off, with the resultantecho and Haas effect. It must be an

unattended system, able to be usedby non -technical personnel.

The original proposal was to installa Big Green system. However, bud-get constraints dictated a Bogen sys-tem be installed. Bogen constructedthe rack at their factory, to our speci-fications, and shipped it to the siteready for installation. The mixerswere Bogen MXMs and the amplifi-ers were M060" and M0100s. Therewas no equalization, as that technol-ogy was only academic then. Allunits were vacuum tube devices, be-cause the transistor had not yetfound its way into sound reinforce-ment systems. The only device ableto supply delay at that time was atape loop system which was too ex-pensive and insufficiently reliablefor an unmanned system. We had tolive with the echo and Haas effectproblems until something bettercame along.

The Cantor/Choir problem alsohad to be solved. In 1962, nobody hadever heard of anything calledfoldback, so the simple expedient ofproviding a separate mixer for thechoir -loft microphones and the Bimamicrophones was used. Both mixersfed the main amplifier system, whilethe Bima mixer also fed an amplifierconnected to the speakers in thechoir -loft. By judiciously positioningthe microphones and loudspeaker inthe choir -loft, the choir was able tohear the Cantos; while being ampli-fied without amplifying the soundemanating from the choir -loft loud-speakers.

In the mid -70s, the tube equip-ment started to tire, and all amplifi-ers and mixers were replaced withsolid state devices. At the same time,another dual room building was ad-ded to the complex, and similarequipment was used in that building,ensuring exchangeability of equip-ment in case of failure.

The loudspeakers used in the origi-nal design were University Sound

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Figure 1. (Left Side) The complete Sanctuary layout. Bima seating has speakers located between the seats.

Columns. Twenty-eight years later,this does not seem to be a very goodchoice, but at the time, sound col-umns were the hot speakers. Today,two of them are still in operation, do-ing an excellent job.

As the years went by, and the con-gregation became more sophisti-cated in their listening habits, thesound columns were replaced withtwo-way systems, with the resultantincrease in quality. Of course, whensolid state delay devices becameavailable, a Lexicon 92 was immedi-ately installed to handle the Haas ef-fect problems, which it still does verywell.

SUDDEN RADICAL CHANGEIn the early 1980s, the entire

sound system was stolen. The miclines were unplugged, speaker linescut and the whole rack was gone. Af-ter the initial shock, I arranged for atemporary system to handle Sab-bath services and set aboutdesigning and building a new sys-tem. In designing the new system, I

was handed a clean sheet of paper,but was unable to improve on theoriginal 20 -year -old design philoso-phy. I was, of course, able to usenewer equipment, add processing tothree of the main microphone chan-nels and add the latest power ampli-fiers, but the basic layout remainedthe same. It is the system as it existstoday, that I will describe.

The system, like the building (andGaul), is divided into the SanctuarySystem, the Auditorium System andthe Foyer system.

THE SYSTEMS

SANCTUARY INPUTSThe Sanctuary System has 10 in-

puts: Rabbi's Mic (AKG 451);Cantor's Mic (AKG 451); Holy Arkmic (PZM); Radio Mic (Vega); Choiroverhead mic (PZM); Choir soloistmic (SM58); Bima Wedding mic(SM58); Tape playback; Local rackmic plug, and one unused input. TheRabbi, Cantor and Radio mics areeach processed by a Valley People de-

vice that provides compression, ex-pansion and equalization.

SANCTUARY MIXERSThe mixers are a Shure M67 with a

M677 expansion device. These aresufficiently quiet devices, and by us-ing the M677 expander for all of theBima mics, and the M67 for thechoirloft mics, the necessary split isaccomplished by using the micro-phone level output on the M677 todrive the choirloft system.

AUDITORIUM MIXERSThe mixers are a Shure M67 plus

M677, through a small jack bay to in-put connectors around the stagearea. Appropriate microphones areused for most small productions.When a major production is at-tempted, a console is connected tothe system.

LIMITERSThe limiters used for both main

systems are UREI LA -5s. They wereN

Sound systemroom located

here

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Figure 1. Right Side.

chosen because they were specific-ally designed for this type of service.

EQUALIZERSThe Sanctuary main system equal-

izer is a UREI 527 27 band. Theequalizers for the Choirloft, Over-flow and Foyer are Shure 107 octaveband equalizers. The Auditoriumequalizer is a White 4001 with a500Hz crossover built in.

DELAYLexicon 92 two -output delay is

connected to the main mixer outputafter the limitei but before theequalizer. The outputs go to theFoyer and Overflow systems. No de-lay is necessary when using theFoyer with the Auditorium.

AMPLIFIERSThe amplifier for the main Sanctu-

ary speakers is a BGW 250D. TheFoyer and Overflow amplifier is aBGW 320B, the Choirloft amplifieris a BGW 2125 and the Stage Over-head and Hallway speakers are

driven by a Crown D75 through 70Vtransformers. The Auditorium am-plifiers are Altec 1594 solid state am-plifiers, which are scheduled for re-placement.

LOUDSPEAKERSThe Sanctuary loudspeakers are

two Altec 9844 two-way 800Hz sys-tems with self-contained crossovers.It was the original intention to uselarger units, but space and budgetconstraints dictated this unit, andthey work very well in this service.

The Auditorium speakers are Altectwo-way 500Hz systems, biamp-lified, with the crossover located inthe equalizer.

The choir -loft and Foyer speakersare 8 -inch University devices, inBBN specially designed boxes. Theyhave been used since 1963. Thechoir -loft amplifier also has severalsmall 'box' speakers attached to al-low people seated on the Bima be-hind the Rabbi and Cantor to hear.

The Overflow speakers are Uni-versity CS4 sound columns, also

from the original installation. Thedrivers have been replaced as a re-sult of a well-known brand of ampli-fier with no speaker protection. Thestage overhead and hallway speak-ers are consumer units.

SWITCHING PANELAll switching is done at line level.

There are no switches at speakerlevel.

A three -position switch allows theFoyer system to be connected to theAuditorium system, to be silenced, orconnected to the Sanctuary systemvia the first delay output.

A two -position switch connects theSanctuary program, via the seconddelay output and an amplifier, intotwo speakers facing the Sanctuaryend of the Auditorium for fill whenthe Auditorium is being used as partof the Sanctuary. This is called Over-flow.

Two three -position switches con-trol the inputs to two halves of asmall amplifier. One allows eitherprogram to be heard in an outside

BGW 2125

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Figure 2. The tape -switching system used.

hallway, and the other allows eitherprogram to be heard in two speakersmounted overhead in the stage area;the Sanctuary program, via the sec-ond delay output for High Holy dayServices; the Auditorium programfor cues when being used for stageproduction.

Two switches route the inputs andoutputs of two cassette recordersinto both systems. I have selectedTechnics RST 80R dual cassettedecks as the ideal machine for this

OUT

SB1

SB1

service, as two 90 -minute cassettescan be inserted in the deck, and theunit will record for 180 minuteswithout interruption.

One additional switch allows con-nection to a system in another build-ing. XL Connectors are provided onthe switch panel to access the inputsand outputs of both systems.

CONCLUSIONThe design and construction of

this system proves it is not necessary

100

70V tostage

70V tohall

80° HF

Auditorium

80° LF

M67 (2) #4

M67 (4) #4

to use the very latest, fanciest de-vices in every system, especiallywhen they are not required.

The old KISS principle works verywell; the less there is to the system,the less there is to fail. If the quantityof devices is kept to a minimum, thesophistication does not exceed thelevel necessary and the equipment isof the highest quality, you will be as-sured of a reliable system.

ryco

JOHN BARILLA

0co

New Sound, New Songsn the past decade,churches may have cometo view audio technology inan entirely new light. Once

the intention of installing a publicaddress system was simply to allowthe minister's message to be heardthroughout the congregation,whereas today, a much more exten-sive sound system is generally therule.

Why do we have this shift in priori-ties? It is certainly a reflection of amovement within the Church itselfto restore authentically Biblicalmodes of worship. The scriptures-especially the Psalms-fairlyabound in prescriptions for worshipwhich call for powerful, jubilant cele-bration using diverse musical instru-ments. The modern Church has, in asense, rediscovered these ancient di-rectives and appropriated them as aword for today. The result of thistheological emphasis has been the el-evation of music to an extremely im-portant position in the worship ser-vice.

One church which exemplifies thismovement is Redeeming LoveChristian Center (RLCC) in Nanuet,New York. Located in a beautifulsuburban setting less than 30 min-utes from New York City, RLCC is aministry that has long understoodthe power of music as a vehicle forspiritual instruction. The church,which is co-pastored by ClintonUtterbach and his wife, Sarah, hasgained a reputation for its excellencein music-most of which is writtenand performed by Pastor Clinton. dbMagazine recently visited RLCC,and was fortunate enough to spendan afternoon with Media Manager,Ed Pfundstein, and Sound SystemDesigner Wally Duguid.

IIISTORY OF RLCCComing upon a hill crest in

Nanuet, one can see from the mainroad the silhouette of a large, domededifice located on a sizeable campus.Aside from the obvious symbolism ofa steeple, the clean modern linesemit none of the architectural cues

we normally associate with a church.As I visited with Pfundstein, I real-ized the building was designed forpurposes other than worship, andyet how these original purposeswere, providentially, to be trans-formed into a worship space.Pfundstein recounts the history ofthe building RLCC now occupies:

"It was a former dinner theater-actually (first) a theater-in-the-round-mainly for Las Vegas -typeentertainment during the early 70s.That went bankrupt and was pur-chased by another company andcalled The Coachlight Dinner The-ater," Pfundstein said. "They modi-fied the interior replacing the bucketseats with flat levels for dinner ta-bles and they put on off-Broadwayshows. That didn't pan out for morethan a couple of years, and it was amess-vandalized and so forth," hesaid.

The saga unfolded as Pfundsteindescribed how the defunct dinnertheater was then purchased by theRKO corporation who intended tomake this sizeable facility into a 10-plex theater. RKO, however, had pur-cha'wd the facility without gainingfinal approval of the town planningcommittee in Nanuet. The town didnot see it in the public interest tohave a multi -theater complex at thatlocation, and the building permitwas denied. So the facility lied emptyonce again. Upon hearing of thechurch's interest in the property,RKO was eager to negotiate. Thechurch purchased the building in1985.

Of course, the ministry of Redeem-ing Love Christian Center was notformed overnight. Pastor ClintonUtterbach, a well-known choir direc-tor since the 1960s, became a record-ing artist and is still under contractwith a major record company. Dur-ing this time, he and his wife at-tended a Bible college and upon re-turning home, began teaching aBible study group in their livingroom. This grew into a 1,000 -mem-ber congregation in Hackensack,N.J., and subsequently, the 3,000-

member Nanuet congregation-allin 10 years.

Pfundstein has been with the min-istry for most of their stay. Having abackground in electrical engineeringand computer programming,Pfundstein was aptly suited to hisposition, although he admits the"hands-on" aspect of running an au-dio ministry is something that re-quired much learning and growing.Today, Pfundstein is not only incharge of sound system operations,but is also responsible for the radioproduction which reaches an inter-national audience. Herein lies the fo-cus of this article. While the newly -installed sound system at RLCC isnow a model of excellence and easeof operation, this was not always thecase.

THE SONIC PROBLEMDEFINED

RLCC inherited an obsolete soundsystem when they bought the build-ing in 1985. The components weremostly 16 -year -old Altec "Voice ofthe Theater" speakers, and whilesome improvements had been madein terms of power amplification, thesystem was still fraught with engi-neering problems. The system wasdesigned for theater, not music; cer-tainly not the powerful gospel musiccreated by Pastor Utterbach and thevarious other music ministers andartists who frequently concertized atRLCC. What appears as a barely no-ticeable acoustical problem whendistant mic'ing dialogue (as in a the-atrical presentation), becomes ex-tremely aggravated when dealingwith complex contemporary musicfeaturing both traditional (grand pi-ano, drums, guitar and bass), elec-tronic instruments (the Kurzweil250 and Roland D-50), soloists, vocalensembles and a large choir.

Ivory Audio, of Lindale, Texas,which specializes in designing andinstalling church sound systems,was called in to analyze and remedythe problem. I was fortunate to catchIvory Audio's chief engineer super-vise the implementation of final

Figure 1. The former revolving stage of the dinner theater is now themain Sanctuary.

"bells and whistles" on the newsound system. Wally Duguid (pro-nounced "do good") has a back-ground in broadcast and studio mix-ing, as well as maintenance, havingbeen chief engineer at Cherokee Re-cording and several other studios inLos Angeles prior to moving toTexas. He has also done live soundfor an assortment of touring gospelgroups, and has done television mix-ing for the Billy Graham Crusadesfor the past 16 years. Six years ago,Duguid decided to focus on soundsystem installation, and found him-self doing a lot of retrofits on grow-ing churches. On typical installa-tions, such as RLCC, Duguid designsthe renovated system, and then hasAcoustical Consultant George Au-

gspurger of Perceptions, Inc. of LosAngeles, offer his feedback on theplan before laying a single cable.This redundancy in the design pro-cess enables Duguid to install sys-tems that conform quite well to thedesign specifications, with a mini-mum of hassles.

As previously mentioned, the ma-jor problem with RLCC's system wasthe obsolescence of its components.But there were other considerationswhich impacted on designing therenovated system. The original sys-tem was operated from a tech boothone story above the congregation,which was essentially out of thehouse's sound field. While this mayserve adequately for dialogue mix-ing, it is impossible to get an accurate

Figure 2. The choir section. Note the plastic baffle to prevent feedbackfrom the choir monitor.

mix at this location. High frequencysound components, which are ex-tremely directional never make itup to the sound booth. Hence, amixer might naively assume that themuddy woofiness he hears in thebooth actually portrays what is beingheard in the house. If he does nottemper his perceptions, he will prob-ably fall to the folly of making themix sound good to his own ears-andconsequently, unduly harsh to thecongregation below.

As a stopgap measure, some con-gregations rely on "plants"-strate-gically placed people who report tothe sound booth via transmitte butthat procedure is never satisfactory.Duguid's first task was making acase for putting the mixer in thehouse where a single person couldbecome accountable for the mix.

That being agreed upon, the taskwas to select a su.table console tohandle the various sub -mixes andcue mixes necessary for live musicmixing. A 40 -input TAC Scorpionboard was selected. The Scorpion'seight auxiliary sends were an impor-tant feature for the church, sincethey required five sends just for vari-ous monitor mixes. This left them acomfortable three aux sends for re -verb and effects. To make room forthe mixing station, a few of the seatswere removed and replaced with avery unobtrusive, and aestheticallypleasing mixing platform with cus-tom-made hardwood cabinets.

Acoustically, Duguid says, the fa-cility posed very little problem. Thehemispherical ceiling and circular(actually octagonal) periphery of theroom made coverage a rather simplematter. Speakers were flown alongthe perimeter of the circular prosce-nium ring (above the stage area) anddirected toward the rear walls in linewith the eight "wedges" of the circu-lar space (See floor plan, Figure 1).The seating being on progressivelyelevated platforms, and the rela-tively short throw (about 55 feetfrom the speaker ring to the last rowof seats) made mar and side fillspeakers unnecessary.

Duguid chose to replace the agingAltec speakers with a state-of-the-art processor based system: theReinkus-Heinz Smart systems. Be-hind the translucent veil of the pro-scenium ring hang seven SR -1 (fullrange) cabinets and four LR2A sub -woofers (each with double 18 -inchspeakers). The eighth wedge, which

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Figure 3. At (A) Block mic position, new system with final EQ. (B) showsOld system before gutting and (C) you see the final EQ with the BBE 822processor inserted.

faces the choir, was given its owndedicated Smart system (a smallerSR 121) for reasons we will exploreshortly. The amplification waspunched up with additional CrownMacrotech 1200s, bringing the totalsystem power up to about 15,000watts.

HOW DOES THE SMARTSYSTEM WORK?

According to Duguid, the proces-sor stage of the system is "placedbefore the amplifiers in the typicalposition of an electronic crossover-tweaking for particular horns (align-ment of delay between components)and system protection as well. Itsenses the output of the power am-plifier. If the operator loses it, or ifthere is any extremely high signalthat would damage the voice coils, it(automatically) pulls that signalback in the protection mode,"Duguid said.

It was mentioned earlier that cov-erage was considered to be good. Itwas also true that intelligibility wasalso good due to the short reverbtime of the room ( 0.8 seconds)-since the room was acoustically deadwith carpeting and other treat-ments. The flown speaker cabinets,however, were shown to be inade-quate to cover the front rows, so sep-arate horns and drivers (matchingthose in the Reinkus SR1 cabinet)were mounted, pointing down to-wards the first four rows.

There were no time -delayedspeakers in the house, except for onedirectly behind the choir section."The old system had a house speakerpointing directly into the choir sec-tion and they always had a problemwith gain -before -feedback," Duguidsaid. "So we put in a choir monitorspeaker on a dedicated auxiliarysend -for the choir to hear whatthey needed to hear, without hearingtheir own mics in that speaker, andthen behind the choir (about halfwayto the back), we put one delayedhouse speaker for the people in theaudience," he said (Obviously, sincethat house speaker was emanatingsound from a different location thanthose behind the proscenium ring, adelay was necessary to synchronizethe sound from both sources).

One interesting problem that hadto be dealt with was an extremely an-noying build up of low to low -mid fre-quencies towards the center of theroom. This resonance was maximal

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Figure 4. At (A) response at the mix position, while at (B) we see responseat row 6, section G.

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at dead center (where the pastorplaced his pulpit). It seemed that ev-erything from 60-200 Hz was hot,but the chief resonance was exactly

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Figure 5. Media Manager Ed Pfundstein and Audio Consultant WallyDuguid at the TAC Scorpion board.

parabolic microphone, focusing thesound towards the single point in thecenter of the room. Duguid has dealtwith this by strapping in a tunednotch filter on the choir bus, and hemay end up doing so on the speechbus as well.

BELLS AND WHISTLESOne interesting modification im-

plemented by Ivory Audio is sort of aconfidence light built into the wire-less microphone system. RLCC usesa number of wireless mics for thesake of convenience (no tripping onwires) and aesthetics (the roundstage offers no place to hide cablesfrom view). In fact. virtually every-thing is on wireless except for the mi-crophones stationed at the musicalinstruments and the choir micro-phones. There are at least six wire-less mics potentially operational atall times. The dipole receivers arekept close to the stage to get the bestreception and the signal forwardedto the mixing console with distribu-tion amplifiers. With a possible sixwireless mics up at the same time,the mixer and the speaker/singerneed to have confidence that thetransmitter/receiver is poweredproperly and receiving signal.Duguid wired relays into the squelchindicator which turns on LEDs atthe mix panel (and also at the micro-phone) when the system is workingproperly. This facilitates quickertrouble -shooting, in case of failure.

TAPING FOR BROADCASTThe tech booth does not stay idle,

now that the sound mixer resides inthe house. Pastors Clinton andSarah Utterbach have a daily radioministry entitled, "Listen To Jesus"that airs on 33 stations in NorthAmerica and is also broadcast intoAfrica, Russia and the Eastern Blocnations via a four million watt short-wave transmitter located in Indiana(LESEA Broadcas-Ing). These 15 -minute segments are recorded in thetech booth which is divided into astudio and contrcl room. Here,Pfundstein records, edits and pre-pares duplicates for the various radioaudiences they seek to reach.

Pastor Clinton Utterbach also con-tinues his ministry in song by writ-ing and recording his compositions.While the actual recording of his al-bums may occur in an outside profes-sional recording facility or some-times in the church utilizinga mobile

recording service, the most interest-ing part of the production process oc-curs during the Sunday worship ser-

Figure 6. EdPfundstein in theproduction studioediting a tape forPastor Utterbach.

vice. Here, the Pastor frequently de-parts from the normal songs, sitsdown at the piano and spontane-

ously plays and sings an unfamiliarsong. This creative process finds itsinspiration in a scriptural exhorta-tion from the 98th Psalm whichstates "Sing to the Lord a newsong..."-(a new song being taken asspontaneous musical praise towardsGod). Many of Pastor Utterbach's"new" songs are very nearly com-plete compositions, though some arepieces which can be later put to-gether into a finished work. Thesesongs are recorded and cataloguedfor later use. His most recent albumfeatures an entire collection of songscreated in this manner.

So as one can see, audio plays an in-tegral role in the quality of worshipat RLCC. The system installed byIvory Audio is sonically all it hadpromised to be.

A quick glance at the "waterfall"plots in Figure 3 will give some indi-cation of the overall system improve-ment, with a remarkable increase inhigh -end smoothness. In fact, aquick audition indicated the systemis very clean, powerful, bright-butnot fatiguing, and very consistent inits coverage irrespective of location.

The usage of audio technology atRLCC may well serve as a model forother ministries who seek to propa-gate the gospel message with excel-lence and power.

Tech Notes From Wally DuguidThe final system check at RLCC

was made using a Tek 2225 oscillo-scope, Ivie IE-30A with an Ivie IE2Pmicrophone, DRA MaximumLength Sequence System Analyzer(MLSSA) and a Leader 120-B audiogenerator. Printouts of the data weremade on -site with a small ink -jetprinter.

Data acquisitions were made atfour locations in each of the eightseating sections, as well as specificlocations relating to the choir moni-tor, delayed rear -fill speaker; mix po-sition and center stage.

The geometry of the room gener-ates a significant low frequencybuild up which is very pronouncedwithin a three foot circle at dead cen-ter. This is the pulpit location. Com-plicating the matter was a large, un-damped pulpit resonating freely atabout 200 Hz with the least possiblestimulus. One -inch -thick pieces ofwood were secured to the undersideof the offending surfaces in the pul-

pit, dramatically reducing the reso-nance. Several acoustic treatmentsto the room are being considered atthis time.

The Reinkus-Heinz Smart sys-tems have proven to be incrediblysmooth in the installations we haveused them in. Measurements of theunequalized system response indi-cated no need for dramatic equaliza-tion on the speakers. A Rane SP -15notch filter originally intended foruse on the house mix was removedand installed near the mixing con-sole on the insert point of the choirsubgroup. This was adjusted formaximum gain from the choir.

The only other challenge gain -wisewas on the pastor's wireless lavalier.The low -end bump previously men-tioned was handled sufficiently withthe TAC Scorpions' input channelequalizer for this microphone. Con-sequently, a miniscule amount of EQwas used on the house Rane GE -30,allowing the operators to mix full -

range program material withouthaving to compensate for majornotches in the house system (SeeFigure 4).

George Augsburger of Perception,Inc. did a review of the system designand calculated the predicted 2 kHzcoverage to be plus or minus 2.5 dB,which was proven to an accurateprediction in the final testing.

MLSSA Calculations for distortionwere made at 91dB SPL. THD wasfound to be 0.553 percent. TR60 us-ing the Schroeder method was 0.8seconds. Speech intelligibility usingMLSSA's RASTI was 0.764.

The pastor has been involved insolo and choral gospel music for anumber of years, and the level of ex-pectation for the system's perfor-mance was high. After several weeksof use, the staff has indicated a greatdeal of satisfaction with the sonicand functional performance of thesystem. Elb

BRENT HARSHBARGER

4444 (04 74 CIAkva

With the decreasing cost ofmulti -track machines, it is becomingvery affordable for churches to takeadvantage of multi -track systems.Multi -track in the church makes itpossible for choir directors to makecustom tracks for the choir, the mis-sionary group to make effective slidepresentations and for the soloist tohave tracks of currently unavailablesongs. Multi -track machines come inall shapes and sizes, from four -trackon cassette to the monster digital 48 -track recording machines, and rang-ing in price from several hundred tothe thousands of dollars.

Multi -track works through simul-sync, making it possible to listen toone track while recording on an-other. Moreove4 multi -track makesit possible for a few people to recordthe majority of the music on a proj-ect. For example, two people withdrum machines and samplers canorchestrate and record an entire ar-rangement.

USE AN 8 TRACK MACIIINEAn eight -track could help increase

the gain of a choir or ensemble bymixing a choir live with a pre-re-

corded choir. If using an accompani-ment track, re-record it to tracksseven and eight. Next, record thechoir on the remaining tracks, re-cording each part separately. Whenthe choir sings, play the tape and mixthe parts with two or three choirmics open. Do not put any of the mi-crophones into the choir monitors;run only the pre-recorded choir. Thiswill allow some room to increase thegain before feedback.

One of the most effective ways fora church to use a multi -track is tomake multi -media presentations.Motivating people to work in Bibleschool, or to show the church howmissionary funds are being spent areapplications that may make positivelasting impressions for everyone.

A minimum of a four -track, twoslide projectors and a programmabledesolve unit are needed to make sim-ple, but impressive, multi -mediapresentations. Multi -track has twopurposes: music with voice-ove4 andsync control to lock the slides withthe audio. The system would looklike Figure 1.

Figure 1. Layout of a slide -control system.

AUDIO WITH- - SYNC TONE- AUDIO

SLIDE PROJECTORCONTROL SIGNAL

ED ED 1;;I0 0a a P

Z00 1-2 > 0

4IPMIX OUT TOSOUND SYSTEM

WORK UP A THEMEMaking a multi -media presenta-

tion needs a theme. To make such apresentation, plan which slides willbe used, and in what sequence, orwrite a script and select slides to fitit. Afterwards, record the narrationon track one. The music, whichshould fit the mood of the text, andsound effects will gc on two of the re-maining tracks. The last track willbe what is recorded with the synctones. Sync tones a -_-e also known ascue tones, and are made up of 60hztones which tell (or cue) the desolveunit to advance to the next slide.

Now that the groundwork is done,the multi -track can be transferred toa stereo cassette or reel to reel. Thisis purely for convenience. I 'used tomix it live from the four -track, butyou will find as you get more cre-ative, your mixes will be intensive,and by adding outboard effects, willbe difficult to mix live.

If a service is broadcast, or a radioprogram is made around a Sundayservice, multi -track can add flexibil-ity and make professional soundingprograms. Using the multi -track asan editing unit will help createsmooth transitions from theprogram's music introduction, witha voice- over, anc fading Into themessage of the radio program.

Several churches are installingfully operational n-iulti-track record-ing studios ..anging from four to 24tracks. One such church is the Sa-lem Church of God in Dayton, Ohio.The 2200 -seat church has an in-house 16- track studio. Although thechurch does not own it, the studio in-teracts with the sanctuary.

CHURCH OF GOD STUDIOThe studio is owned by a church

member who started a recordingstudio at another location. Heopened a studio after going to Nash-ville and spending almost $3,000 re-cording a song. After considering the

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Figure 2. Floor plan of the church.

amount of money he spent to record,and how much the average albumproject will return in the gospel mar-ket, he started Logos ProductionsRecording Studio.

Meanwhile, the church's music de-partment was growing, the churchhad a trio and brass ensemble thatwas gaining popularity in the regionand the music minister at the timewas interested in having an in-housestudio. Therefore, Studio OwnerJimHazelwood decided to locate his stu-

dio at the church, giving the churchits in-house studio for recording spe-cial projects and its Sunday services.During the week, the studio is rentedto artists for reasonable rates.

The church uses the studio for cre-ating accompaniment tracks, spe-cial group album projects and pro-ducing Celebration Music, a dailyradio program highlighting thepastor's Sunday message in a fiveminute mini -sermon surrounded bycontemporary Christian music.

IT BEGAN MODESTLYThe studio started as a modest 16 -

track facility, consisting of an Allen& Heath System 8 16 -channel mix-ing console, a Fostex 16B multi-track, two keyboards and outboardgear.

As money allowed, the church ex-panded to a 32 -channel TS -12Soundcraft mixing console and hasincorporated the Fostex 16B to lockto a Macintosh and an Emulator III,expanding the track capacity to 32.The studio recently produced two ra-

SOUTH PARKING LOT

NORTH PARKING LOT

Figure 3. Layout of the recording complex.

Figure 4. It's a traditional -looking recording studio.

dio commercials entirely on the Em-ulator III, including voice-overs.

The studio is inter -connected tothe church, meaning the studio canbe used in conjunction with thehouse sound system or be indepen-dent of it. This is done through apatch bay, which makes the studiocapable of recording, without inter -

STUDIOCONTROLROOM

CHOIRREHEARSALROOM

ference, what is going on in the sanc-tuary Sunday morning, Wednesdayevening and while the church choirrecords in the studio.

STUDIO RATESLogos Productions Recording Stu-

dio has hourly rates starting at $35for basic analog 16 -track recording

and mixing, including an engineer.The rates are slightly higher for theuse of the EIII, producers and se-quencer programming. The studiocurrently uses a Mark of the UnicornPerformer sequencing package forthe Macintosh, whi:th can be syncedto the Fostex 16B 16 -track recorder,using the Fostex 4050 SMPTE toMIDI converter. The Macintoshdrives a bank of synths which in-cludes the EIII, Yamaha TX616, Ro-land D-110, Ensonic Mirage,Yamaha TX802 and Yamaha RX5drum machine.

The outboard gear and mixing fa-cilities are excellent, including thein -line Soundcraft TS -12, T C Elec-tronics 2290 delay unit, two YamahaREV 7s, Yamaha SPX90, Eventide113000, Lexicon PCM 60, Orban422A, Symetrics quad noise gate,Aphex Aural Exciter Dbx 160x and aRodman rackmounted for directguitar work.

The studio is wired for a 24 -tracktape machine which is availableupon request, but to keep costsdown, the Fostex 16B is the maintape machine. Considerable thoughtwas taken to purchasing a 24 -trackmachine, but it was decided that the24 -track machines could not offer asignificant gain in sonic quality forthe price. Therefore, purchasing theEIII and adding Dolby SR for mixingwas a more flexible alternative.

DIGITAL RECORDING TOCOME

Logos is looking to a digital future,with current efforts looking towardsa DAT machine. The Fostex D-20and the Panasonic 3500 are beingconsidered for this purchase.

To round up the digital recording,serious thought is going toward get-ting the Studer Dyaxis hard -disk re-cording system, which will comple-ment the existing EIII and Macsystem.

Although not every church can af-ford state-of-the-art equipment, orto dedicate a room as a recording stu-dio, multi -track in the church can bea valuable tool. Today, multi -trackprices are such that any church canafford even a modest multi -tracksystem.

In the next issue, we will look atwhat goes into 6.esigning a soundsystem, and how to go about pur-chasing one for your church. 7f7

MURRAY R. ALLEN

Grammy Time

This year's Grammy Awards show was the most complicated television show in which I have everbeen involved. There were eleven live performances, four live to tape and some very fast stage move-ments (we had fifty seconds for the Stevie Wonder set-up).

To give you an idea of whatis done to get this show onthe road, let me describethe opening act, per-

formed by Billy Joel. Two weeksprior to the show, Joel decided toillustrate his nominated hit WeDidn't Start the Fire. In order to dothis, the production company rentedtwo large video walls. The producers,Walter Mille4 KenEhrlich, Joel'sSound Man BryanRuggles and I had aconference call. Itwas decided Ishould record Joelperforming thisnumber. To make iteasy for the videotape editors, we de-cided to record Joeland his band onone-track in mono.We would put aclick track on tracktwo.

The only avail-able time to makethis recording wasduring a soundcheck while theband was on tour.Luckily, they werecoming to the Rosemont Horizon, avenue in Northwestern Illinois. Wewent to the Rosemont with two DATrecorders and used the P.A. board asour console. As the band was warm-ing up, we set our levels. Joel cameon stage. We let the click track ma-chine run for about 30 seconds (I willexplain why later on), and since we

Figure 1. Left to

Murray Allen is Universal Studiosin Chicago.

only had one chance, we did it rightthe first time.

TRANSFERRING THE DATAfterwards, we brought the DAT

back to the studio and transferred itto a one -inch video recorder, addingtime code locked to house sync. Weplaced a graphic in the picture pathexplaining everything we had done,

right, Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, and Sting.

and then rushed it to Hollywood sothe video editors could start their an-imation. Every time Joel mentionedsomeone's name, their face wouldappear on the video wall. The editorsmade the edits right in time with theclicks.

Since this was the opening act, wedecided to start running the ani-mated video tape with click track 15seconds before the show went on theair. This would give the musicians

plenty of time to lock into the tempo.We played the click through speakersplaced right next to the drummerand synthesizer players. We then ad-ded a count -off on the track so theband would know when to start play-ing.

I met with the drummer and syn-thesizer players just before rehearsalto explain the process and the count -

off. The first re-hearsal went per-fectly. Every cue hitat the right time.

Everybody wasquite relieved withthe exception of theFire Department.We had live fire cuedto the end of thesong. During thenext rehearsal, welit the fire. It washot on stage, but noone was hurt.

Our crew consistsof eight men in thebroadcast truck, in-cluding three mix-ers, a mixing assis-tant, a sweetener,two maintenancemen and a tapeplayback operator.

In house PA., we have three mixers,an equalization expert, a P.A. assis-tant and an executive in charge ofP.A. equipment.

In the monitor section, we havetwo mixers. In addition, we have oneman dedicated to all the RF micro-phones, keeping them on frequencyand in good working condition. Wemay use as many as 24 RF mics dur-ing a show.

MEETINGSWe had our first tech meeting Feb.

7, 1990 at the Shrine Auditorium inLos Angeles. At this time, we decidedwhere everything was going to goand who was responsible for what.As always, the next day everybodywas faxing their requirements toanybody whose path they mightcross during the show to make surenothing would slip between thecracks.

The actual selection of personnel isusually handled way in advance bymyself; Greg Sills, the executive incharge of production, and ProducerJohn Cossette. We pull in the bestpeople from L.A., San Francisco,Chicago and New York. There aremany mixers who are afraid of doingthis show because of its complexityBut our regular crew is thick-skinned and can stand the gaff offour 18 -hour days finishing with alive show that ran over three -and -

one -half hours.Our next meeting was Feb. 14

where we actually talked our waythrough the show, seeing if the stagemoves and changes are possible. Wecame out of the meeting ready to do ashow.

That night, Ed Greene, head musicmixer, and I went to CBS Radford torecord the orchestra cues and prere-cords. We had 84 songs and cues torecord. Jack Elliot, the musical di-rector, and orchestra ran from 6 p.m.to midnight, and we did not finish.We decided the unrecorded numberswould be picked up at the Shrine dur-ing rehearsals or we would performthem live on the show. As it was, wealready had a list of numbers wewould perform live in any event.

We handled all the music mixing inthe Greene/Crowe truck. On Feb. 15,right after the truck was parked atthe Shrine, Greene started to set upthe mix of the previous evening'sprerecords. Arranger Jon Charlescame in to act as producer for thesemixes, and the mixing was com-pleted late that night.

In addition to the regular mixingconsole, we added several more mix-ers and consoles to this truck to han-dle all music needs. This truck han-dled the house orchestra (41musicians), all self-contained groups(eight on this show), all RF micro-phones and all production mics plussome audience. We used well over200 microphones on this show. Thistruck also handled tape playbacks

Figure 2. Bonny Raitt thanks theGrammy committee.

where the act performs to a track, asdid Milli Vanilli. Hank Nuebergerhelped Greene with effects and whenthere were too many pots to grab,Nueberger helped with some of themixing. This truck also has visitingproducers and mixers helping withthe chores.

The signal left this truck and wentto the Record Plant truck. Here, Pro-duction Mixer Don Worsham han-dled the overall levels of the show.This includes the music feeds fromthe Greene/Crowe truck, the cartand video playbacks, the sweetenerplus the podium mics and audiencemics (we used 24 audience mics thisyear) and tape playbacks of bumpersand underscores.

CARTSPaul Sandweiss, the cart mixer is

in charge of carts. This year he madeevery cart from a CD. When nomina-tions were announced, he played acart. When the winner was an-nounced, he punched the winningcart. I think the sound of the cartsthis year were the best I have everheard. The presenters also spoke upin full voices, allowing us to play thecarts louder. Sandweiss also has hisown console for controlling the levelsof these carts.

SWEETENINGCarol Pratt is the sweetener for the

Grammy Awards. He adds applauseand laughter to make up for a lazyaudience. He also covers bad transi-tions, making everything soundsmoother. He sits right behindWorsham and directs himself to thesweetening needs.

One of the problems of sweeteningis when the audience claps in time tothe music, their clapping alwayssounds late because they are farfrom the band. If we bring them up inthe audience mics, they actuallymess up the band's groove. To avoidthis, I will usually sit right behindPlatt and clap in time with the band.He is very good at staying right withme. We then add just enough real au-dience down in level to give a livefeeling without really messing up the"feel" of the performance. Since thecameras only catch the front rowclappers, the slight variations insync are not noticeable (roughly one-half frame out of sync).

The Record Plant truck isequipped with the Shure Stereo -surround Forniat. We pull part of theaudience towards the rear, givingpeople with surround decoders thefeeling of sitting right in the audi-ence. The effect is really quite daz-zling.

Our stage crew is headed up by JeffFecteau. He makes sure every snake,every splitter and every mic is in theright place at the right time. He alsomakes sure that levels on amps donot get changed. We did one showwithout him, and he was missed. An-other key person who has been on theshow for many years is MurraySiegel. He is in charge of makingsure every artist gets the right mics.Of course, everybody in the crew cov-ers for everybody else. On this show,we had a switch -over from RayCharles performing with the orches-tra and four background singers toStevie Wonder on a band cart withthree background speakers. All ofthe monitor speakers had to bechanged, too. This all happened inabout 50 seconds.

It is very exciting to watch the en-tire stage crew on a big change -over.Stagehands are moving sets; otherstagehands are pushing band cartson and off stage; stage managers aresteering talent on or off stage; audiois making connections and runningthe snakes; monitor assistants arepositioning new monitor speakers;camera cranes are being moved tonew positions and no one gets inanyone's way.

MONITOR MIXINGOur monitor mixing team consists

of Mike Abbott and Kevin Wapner.They have been with the GrammyAwards show for two years now, and

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Figure 3. The Shure HTS1000 Encoder atop the HTS200SD decoder.

they have the most realistic and mu-sical approach to monitor mixing ofanyone I have ever worked with.

Another important player is AndyStraubei who comes in from NewYork to keep all the RF mica going.He has his own little station back-stage right across from "patch cen-tral," and across from Bruce Burns'nerve center. Burns, the executive incharge of PA., keeps the receiversand mica in tune and all of the mksworking. If you have worked a liveshow with rental equipment, youmust know what a mean job this canbe.

House P.A. is handled by Burns Au-dio. The mixers are Patrick Baltzellon music, Leslie Jones on vocals andsolos and Steve Kibbons on produc-tion and podiums. Of course, they alloverlap their functions from time totime. This year, we used four con-soles to handle the P.A. sound. TheP.A. gets a split on everything exceptthe house orchestra. Relative to thehouse orchestra, they get a split oneverything except saxes, trombones,trumpets, french horns, violins, vio-las and cellos. These are premixed inthe Greene/Crowe truck and fed onseven separate lines to P.A. In return,P.A. has an emergency feed goingback to the Record Plant truck andin case of a failure during the show,the P.A. consoles can handle thebroadcast and vice -versa.

ROOM EQKen DeLoria, president of Apogee

Speakers, was in charge of room

equalization. He placed several mi-crophones throughout the room andconstantly analyzed the sound on hisHewlett Packard. Using 53 para-metric equalizers, he repeatedlymade changes relative to the size ofaudience, temperature and humid-ity.

Last yea4 we designed a test forCBS to run so the affiliates couldcheck their satellite reception. This20 -minute test consisted of tones atvarious levels, pink noise and music,and it told us the integrity of the fre-quency response, the headroom andthe effect of any processing thatmight be in the signal path. The testwas so successful last year that CBSruns it every week. On the Friday be-fore the show, they ran this weeklytest. Everything sounded fine.

At 1 o'clock on show day, we ranour first network audio test. It wasless than perfect; in fact, it wasdownright bad. We let everyoneknow we needed it to be fixed. By 3o'clock, we had the feeling that no-body was doing anything to correctthe transmissions problems. I calledthe CBS vice president in charge oftransmission to let him know thatthings had better start happeningand happening fast. Within minutes,the lines between Los Angeles andNew York were buzzing with activ-ity.

FURTHER ROUTINGThe show left our trucks and went

to a TELCO truck who microwavedthe signal to the CBS Center in Los

Angeles. They set it up on the bird tothe east coast. From where it was re-ceived, it was sent over several mi-crowave links to a major building inManhattan. From here, it went toCBS on 57th Street. The commer-cials were inserted in a New YorkCBS studio. The show was then sentback to this major building, severalmicrowave links and up on the birdto the American public.

At 4 o'clock, we had access to thesatellite. Between commercials be-ing transferred, we ran test tones.Little by little, we were able to getcompressors out of the circuit andmake other changes. By 4:45 p.m.,we had a clean signal. We backed oursend down four dB to give us headroom. Signal to noise is not a prob-lem at our end. We went on the air at5 o'clock.

I have a listening room where I canhear the sends, returns and anythingrelative to our signal. When the showwent on the air, I switched aroundthe system and everything soundedfine. I continued this process every30 minutes. The show was broadcastin a first-class manner.

Two days later, CBS called me tosee how I liked the transmission. Itold them it worked, but we shouldtry to have it set up a little earlierthan 15 minutes before showtime.Outside of these problems and 10more live bands, the show went itsusual way.

SUMMARYI would like to thank Pierre Coss-

ette, the executive producer, andJohn Cossette, who paid for all of thehigh tech audio. I would also like tothank the National Academy of Re-cording Arts and Sciences for theirsupport, especially Michael Greene(president). And lastly, I would liketo thank CBS for giving us more co-operation and indeed showing a truespirit in their attempt to improve au-dio for video. It isn't many networksthat will give you a clear path to all oftheir high-level executive tech peo-ple and the muscle to back it up.

Next year, we will probably have aneven bigger show with a dozen newchallenges. We will find a way tosolve every problem. By the way, theGrammy Awards show took the en-tire night ratings -wise. There is hopefor good music that is well -per-formed, well -mixed and well -broad-cast.

Mixing Techniques for StereosurroundROBERT B. SCHULEIN

This is an excerpt from a technicalpaper by the author that was deliv-ered at the Spring 1990 NAB Engi-neering Conference in Atlanta, Geor-gia. He is General Manager of ShureHTS, Evanston, IL.

Developing a mix using theStereosurround production formatis very similar to two -speaker stereoand single -speaker monaural mix-ing, once microphones have been se-lected and placed, signal processinghas been set and the configuration ofthe mixing board and source assign-ments have been made. In a typicalsetup, the input buses and outputs ofthe encoder are connected to themixer patch bay, such that each in-put fader can be assigned to orpanned between any two inputbuses. With this condition estab-lished, the signal controlled by eachfader can then be panned in the"mixing space" to the desired posi-tion as the mix is being monitored.Based upon Stereosurround formatproductions to date, a number ofmixing techniques and observationshave emerged:

1. Due to the fact that 4-2-4 matrixsystems are not discrete, and that lo-calization problems can occum startby mixing the most dominant soundelements first.

2. When using compression or lim-iting on dialogue or a vocalist, avoidprocessing any additional ambientsignals through the same compres-sor/limiter, so as to avoid the domi-nant sound causing the ambientsounds to pump up and down. Thisresult is particularly bothersomewith a multichannel reproductionsystem.

3. Keep in mind that it is possible tocontinuously pan signals betweenthe front and surround locations,and that it is not necessary to pan aprogram element completely to thesurround position in order to get anoticeable rearward or surroundsense to the mix.

4. When mixing music, start bymixing sound elements directly tothe L, C and R positions and effectsto the interior position using sepa-rate effects devices for each element.Once the mix has been roughed in,further adjustments should then beconsidered.

5. If problems occur regarding lo-calization interactions between twoor more sound elements, considerpanning one of the signals more to-ward the interior position, alteringits timing, or reducing its amplitude.

L

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NETWORKS

SUMMING

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PANNING

CONTROL

reduce the possibility of undesiredout -of -polarity information beingmixed into the interior or surroundposition.

7. In many situations where a cen-ter oriented vocal element is compet-

PRECISION ALL -PASS

ENCODING NETWORKS

BO Kt LOW

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SHUFFUNG

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INPUT/OUTPUT

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Figure 4. Stereosurround encoder system signal processing.

6. When using multiple micro-phones in situations where two ormore microphones may pick up thesame signal, confirm the polarity of

BALANCEDINPUTS INPUT

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ing with loud ambience element(sports announcer versus crowd), itis desirable to "widen" the vocal ele-ment. This may be accomplished by

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Figure 5. Stereosurround decoder system signal processing.

each microphone between its acous-tic input and the mixing console out-put to the encoder. This will greatly

BALANCEDOUTPUTBUFFER

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-1111.- SW.-110.

OUTPUTS

either panning the element towardsthe surround position or by using asmall amount of stereo synthesis re -

Figure 6. A block diagram of the Stereosurround system for post -produc-tion.

TO VIDEO MONITOR

VIDEOPROGRAMPLAYBACK

--T-TIME CODE

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Figure 7. Block diagram for live or live -to -tape production Stereo -surround.

turned to the left and right front po-sitions. Similarly, monaural effectsassociated with sports productionssuch as baseball "bat cracks" andfootball player contact sounds can be

given more dominance in the finalmix.

8. M -S and X -Y stereo microphonetechniques can be integrated intoStereosurround format productions

provided proper selection of micro-phone patterns are made. As an ex-ample, a popular M -S microphoneconfiguration using a cardioid midpattern and bidirectional side pat-tern allows the creation of equiva-lent X -Y combinations that placesounds properly in the front and rearsound stage.

Realistic crowd or ambience mixescan be created by using multiplegroups of microphones placed so asto sample distinctly different por-tions of the production environment.

Once placed, the outputs of thesemicrophones are then positioned atdifferent points in the "mixing"space by panning between the left orright and surround encoder inputbuses.

Copies of articles from thispublication are now available fromthe UMI Article Clearinghouse.

For more information about the Clearinghouse, please fillout and mail back the coupon below.

UMUfe-aiuMghous e

Yes! I would like to know more about UMI ArticleClearinghouse. I am interested in electronic orderingthrough the following system(s):

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Mail to: University Microfilms International300 North Zeeb Road. Box 91 Ann Arbor, MI 48106

LEA FELDMAN

Soundcraftsmen Model 900X2 Power Amplifier

GENERAL INFORMATION The Soundcraftsmen 900X2, a very powerful ampli-

fier boasts in excess of 675 watts per channel when oper-ated into 4 -ohm loads in its two channel mode, andnearly 1400 watts when operated in its bridged modeinto an 8 -ohm load. While most amplifiers of such highpower rating are designed to work best into 8 -ohm loads,the Soundcraftsmen 900X2 was designed to be most effi-cient when operating into 4 -ohm loads. As a result, it canoperate with complete safety even when speaker imped-ances fall well below 4 ohms. Another interesting factabout the Soundcraftsmen 900X2 is its ability to deliverits full -rated power even if line voltages fall below the"standard" 120 volt value.

Output stages of this amplifier employ MOSFET de-vices, as are other Soundcraftsmen amplifiers we havetested in the past. Among some of the more obvious fea-tures of the amplifier are its balanced (XLR) and unbal-anced (1/4 -inch phono plug) input facilities and its re-cesses stepped input level controls that provide levelmatching from minus infinity (totally off) to +6 dB,where 0 dB is defined as a voltage gain of 20. In additionto the XLR and phone jack connectors, there is a 5 -ter-minal barrier strip for making input connections.

A rear -panel compressor/limiter switch protects con-nected speakers for those applications where the ampli-fier is likely to be pushed to its limits. Monophonic bridg-ing can be done without having to go inside the amplifier,thanks to a rear panel mono -bridging switch. According

Figure I. Frequency response.

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to Soundcraftsmen, connected speakers are completelyprotected from turn -on surges by a seven -step delayedturn -on circuit. The amplifier also features a front -panelmounted 20 -ampere circuit breaker and true clipping in-dicators for each channel. Speakers are protected frompossible d.c. currents by dual output relays.

Soundcraftsmen's protection circuitry is all solid stateand will cut off the amplifier's output when overheatingexists. During our tests, there were periods of time whenthe amplifier was required to deliver steady state powerlevels at or near rated power. Under those conditions, weheard a built-in fan goon, cooling the amplifier by meansof forced additional circulation of air. During most of ourtests, however the amplifier ran without activating thefan.

One thing I have always liked about Soundcraftsmen,and the way they present their power amplifiers, is thatthey include a "Certificate of Performance" with eachamplifier. This document lists actual test data performedby one of their technical inspectors whp signs the certifi-cate. In all the years I have been testing Soundcraftsmenamplifiers, I have never known a sample to deviate fromthose measured results by more than the tolerance of mylab test equipment. More importantly, published specifi-cations are usually exceeded by the :echnician's mea-surements at Soundcraftsmen and by my own confirm-ing lab measurements.

Figure 2(A). Harmonic distortion plus noise versusfrequency, rated output (375 WIchansel,442 loads).

THD NOISE (21 VS. FREQUENCY (HO, 0-0111.15

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Figure 2 (B). Harmonic distortion plus noise versusfrequency, rated output (675 Wlchannel, 8-0 loads).

CONTROL LAYOUTAs mentioned earlier the only control on the front

panel of this amplifier is the on/off power switch, which isalso a circuit breaker. Clipping indicator lights are posi-tioned at the lower right of the panel. At the rear of theamplifier are the XLR balanced input connectors, theunbalanced phone -jack inputs and the 5 -terminal bar-rier strip configured for balanced inputs. To either side ofthe barrier strip is a recessed input level control, whilebelow the strip, there is a mono/stereo bridging switch.Still lower down on the rear panel are color coded five -way binding posts for speaker connection. When operat-ing the amplifier in the bridged mode, connection mustbe made to the two "hot" binding posts. In the bridgedmono mode, an 8 -ohm speaker across the two "hot" ter-minals presents an impedance of only 4 ohms to eachdriving channel. While a 4 -ohm speaker could be con-nected in this mode, it would appear as a 2 -ohm imped-ance to each of the driving channels, and this is the abso-lute minimum load the amp channels can handle. Sincesome 4 -ohm speakers actually dip in impedance at cer-tain audio frequencies, we would not recommend using aspeaker whose nominal impedance is only 4 -ohms in thebridged mono mode.

LABORATORY MEASUREMENTSFrequency response of the Soundcraftsmen 900X2 is

shown in the Figure 1 graph. The left channel was down-0.1 dB at 20 kHz while the right channel was off by -0.2dB at that extreme frequency. The difference is notworth mentioning, and if you want to argue that the

Figure 3 (A). Harmonic distortion plus noise versuspower output per channel (8-0 loads). Best curve is20 Hz, next best is 1 kHz, poorest curve is 20 kHz.

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Figure 3 (B). Harmonic distortion plus noise versuspower output per channel (4-0 loads). Best curve is20 Hz, next best is 1 kHz, poorest curve is 20 kHz.

right channel is "out of spec," bear in mind the spec reads±0.1 dB, and since there was no + deviation,Soundcraftsmen is entitled to -0.2 dB.

Figure 2(A) is a plot of distortion versus frequency atthe rated output level of 375 watts per channel, using 8 -ohm loads with both channels driven. At mid -frequen-cies, THD plus noise was well under 0.02 percent, as op-posed to the 0.05 percent claimed. Figure 2(B) is asimilar plot, but this time, the load resistors were 4 ohms.We should note that while the published specification atthis impedance notes a rated power of 675 watts perchannel for a test frequency of 1 kHz, the specs are a lit-tle more conservative when it comes to power output atthe frequency extremes, with Soundcraftsmen claimingonly 600 watts per channel over the entire frequencyrange from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The amplifier easily metthose specifications.

Figures 3(A) and (B) offer another way of looking at thepower output capabilities of this amplifier. In each ofthese graphs, you can see plots of THD plus noise versuspower output levels for 1 kHz, 20 Hz and 20 kHz. As youcan see, the amplifier had no problem whatsoever deliv-ering more than its rated power even at 20 Hz, wheremost amplifiers have problems because of inadequatepower supplies.

Figures 4(A) and (B) are power bandwidth plots. Thatis, they show how much power can be delivered by theamplifier at all frequencies from 20 Hz to 20 kHz for therated distortion of 0.05 percent. With 8 -ohm loads, theamplifier delivered 400 watts per channel at all but thehighest treble frequencies where power output for that

Figure 4 (A). Maximum power output per channel forrated THD of 0.05%, 8-0 loads.

mAximun POWER FON RATED THD (0.05.) vs. PREQUSNCY: SOUNCRAFTSMSN 90002 lb500

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100 1k 104 20k

MAXIMUM POWER rom RATS,1k,

1 4 0

TNO 10.0Sx/ we. rREQUSNCY: SOUNCRATTSMEN 90002

. ; I

AO

Ap

i 1

I I I 1

1001;

i

1

; ;

ji

i

1

10. ! 1

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I

20 100 16 106 201

Figure 4 (B). Maximum power output per channelfor rated THD of 0.05%, 4-Q loads.

level of THD dropped to about 320 watts per channel. Inthe rase of 4 -ohm loads, output reached in excess of 700watts per channel at low and mid frequencies.

SMPTE-IM distortion measured approximately 0.07percent at rated output. Signal-to-noise ratio was mea-sured two ways. With 500 millivolts applied to the inputs,and the level controls adjusted to deliver one watt perchannel into 8 -ohm loads, the input signals were re-moved and the residual noise was measured. It was 78dB below the reference one watt output level. Evidently,Soundcraftsmen's engineers measure S/N differently,preferring to set the level control full open and then mea-sure S/N relative to rated output. Under those condi-tions, the A -weighted signal-to-noise ratio measured 106dB, or just a bit better than claimed by the manufacturer.Figure 5 is a spectral analysis plot of the residual noise asa function of frequency, again referred to one watt out-put levels. Notice the chief contributing components tothe noise were not noise components at all, but the low-level fundamental of the power supply frequency (60 Hz)and its harmonics at 180 Hz, 300 Hz and so on. In any

SPECIFICATION

SPECTRUM ANALYSIS Or RESIDUAL NOISE 1411/ w6. FREQUENCY; 10UNCRAITSMEN 90002 Ak-50.00

i412

-60.00

-70.00

-80.00

-90.00 ....'

-100.0'

-110.0

-120.0

-130.0130 100 lk 106 20k

Figure 5. Spectrum analysis of residual noise at 1 -watt output reference level.

ease, these components were at such a low level as to bevirtually inaudible under actual program listening con-ditions.

CONCLUSIONS

The Soundcraftsmen 900X2 is about as rugged apower amplifier as we have ever tested. To be sure, it isnot lightweight, and you are not likely to want to cart itaround for field work or remote sound reinforcementjobs. But if you install one or more of ti- ese powerful am-plifiers in a permanent setup, it is not likely you will haveto worry about it standing up month after month andyear after yea4 regardless of how long it is powered upand putting out. To most of us, that matters more thanthe minute differences in sound quality that one ampli-fier displays against another. Still, having said that, ex-tensive listening to the Soundcraftsmen revealed thatthis amplifier would be as at home in the most discrimi-nating audiophile's listening room as it would in a de-manding sound reinforcement environment.

VITAL STATISTICS

MFR'S CLAIM db MEASURED

Power Output/Ch. at 1 kHz4 ohms8 ohms2 ohms8 ohms mono (bridged)

Rated THDFrequency ResponseS/N (re: 1 Watt)S/N (re: rated output)Slew RateInput Sensitivity,Rated OutputInput Impedance

BalancedUnbalanced

Power RequirementsWeightDimensions (WxHxD, inches)Price: $1,599.00

675 watts375 watts900 watts1350 watts0.05%20 Hz to 20 kHz, ±0.1 dBN/A-105 dB50 V/,u sec1.22 V

22 k ohms32 k ohms100-125 V, 50/60 Hz59 lbs.19x5.25x16.5

700 watts400 wattsN/AConfirmed0.03% (see text)(See text)-78 dB-106 dBConfirmed1.20 V

ConfirmedConfirmed

Confirmed

ROBYN GATELY

7,4 504.4%1 C044/1.444,i

My last article on monitors (db,Sept./Oct. 1988) focused on thepremise that most monitor systemsare built with only one mix available.Now let's pretend we have moved upto the position of operating an on-stage monitor system with multiplemixes.

In that article, we covered somebasic concepts for proper monitoroperation-the 3:1 rule, placingmonitors 15 degrees off axis (notright in front of the performer),driver alignment, multiple miss andmonitors on a mix and the most im-portant concept, psycho -acoustics. Ifyou are not familiar with all of thesepoints, please review that article. Ifyou are familiar, then let's move tothe next level.

The point of multiple monitormixes on-stage is two -fold. First, itallows you to (hopefully) give everyperformer their own listening envi-ronment custom-tailored to their in-dividual needs. For example, sup-pose the bass player of Stage Left canhear himself fine, but cannot hearenough of the guitarist on Stage

Right, or enough of the drums.Meanwhile, the drummer may bedrowning in guitar volume, but can-not hear the bass or his own Kick andSnare to properly keep the rhythmsection together. Stage Right, theguitarist may need to hear the snaredrum to keep the beat, but feels heneeds to hear his guitar as loud at thefront of the stage as he does in frontof his amps. Three different people,three different monitor requests.Now imagine if we added a lead vo-calist, background singers, key-boardist, second guitarist and hornsection.

Secondly, you are now close enoughto the "action" that the performersmay communicate their requests toyou instantly. This may be in theform of shouts, hand signals orthrown beer bottles, but the per-formers will either get your atten-tion or sulk all night.

THE CORRECT TOOLSIt is important you have the tools

necessary to do a good job. Not onlydo you need a mixing console, but

Figure 1. It once was common practice to daisy -chain equipment together,one after the next as in (A). Today, most manufacturers provide inserts orpatch points that permit the signal to leave the console, go through theEQ,and return to the console before the master fader, as in (B).

OUTPUT INPUT

Monitor console

OUTPUT INPUT

Equalizer

(A)

OUTPUTINPUT

INSERT ORPATCH POINT

Monitor consoleOUTPUT

Equalizer

(B)

OUTPUTMonitor

Amplifier speaker

INPUT 'OUTPUT 1:0Monitor

Amplifier speaker

you need equalizers (V3 octave, pref-erably) that are inserted into theboard on the patch points. InsertingEQs here will allow you to hear themixes as the performer hears them(see Figure 1).

Almost all modern boards havesolo or "cue" buttons allowing you tolisten to individual channels or en-tire mixes at the touch of a finger. Ifyou plug the output of your boardinto your EQ, and from your EQ intoyour amplifier, when you solo thelead vocalist's mix, you will hearwhat you have turned up in his mon-itor; but you will not hear thechanges you have created with theequalizer. If you have drasticallychanged the EQ on the V3 octave, hemay hear a muddled mess while youthink things are fine.

Notice I have referred to you hear-ing what is going on. I do not meanrunning out on stage to listen. Theoutput of your boards' solo (cue)should feed an amplifier which isconnected to a monitor right next toyour head. This monitor should bethe same make as the monitors on-stage, so you hear exactly what isheard on-stage.

GETTING ORGANIZEDMultiple mixes on a stage require

good organizational concepts thatallow you to work quickly and effi-ciently. Just as it is important youhave the right tools for the job, it isimportant you understand yourequipment and the mind of the per-former you are working with.

Assuming you have a 24 x 8 moni-tor board (that's 24 inputs leading toeight outputs), then conceptuallywhat you have is eight little P.A.s,each with a listening audience ofonly one or two people. The first row(from left to right) of "Mix" knobs

Pad

Input gain

{Channel equalizerHigh. medium and low

Bass rolloff

Mix #1 volume

Mix #2 volume

Mix #3 volume

Mix #4 volume

Mix #5 volume

Mix #6 volume

Mix #7 volume

Mix #8 volume

Solo

Channel on/off

Figure 2. A typical monitor mod-ule.

adjusts the amount of each of the 24inputs to the performer listening tothe first "PA.," the second row to thesecond performer; and so on (see Fig-ure 2).

The more you use eight outputs,the sooner you will develop patternsthat break down into some variationof the following:

Mix 1: Downstage Right floormonitors

Mix 2: Center Stage floor monitorsMix 3: Downstage Left floor moni-

torsMix 4: Upstage Right floor moni-

torsMix 5: Upstage Left floor monitorsMix 6: Auxiliary floor monitors

(horns, etc.)Mix 7: Drum monitorMix 8: Sidefill monitorsMixes one, two and three cover all

vocalists along the front of the stage,Mixes four and five cover the guitar-ists, bassist and or keyboards fartherback on the stage, Mix six coversanything left over, Mix seven is dedi-cated to the drummer and generallyrequires a heavier duty monitorspeaker, while Mix eight is for the"Sidefills," a P.A. system on each sideof the stage turned in on the per-formers (see Figure 3).

DIFFERENT MONITORSAt Modular Sound, in Morrisville,

PA., we use two different types of

monitors, either a 12 -inch speakerwith a one -inch horn, or a 15 -inchand horn. The 12 -inch version isused for situations where the mix inthe monitor will be mainly vocals,while the 15 -inch is used when weanticipate a need to add some kickdrum, bass guitar and so on.

We have developed the conceptthat on small to medium-sizedstages, we will utilize the floor moni-tors to carry that person's vocals andother important vocals, while thebulk of the "Booming Kick Drum"and the rest of the band will be car-ried by the sidefill monitors. Gener-ally, our smallest sidefill monitor istwo 18 -inch, two 12 -inch and twohorns per side with a total of at least3,500 watts!

On larger stages (minimum 40 x20 feet), we need the 15 -inch moni-tors because individual performersare in such diverse environmentsthat they need to be able to totally ad-just their low end requirements.

Unless you are doing a "light-weight act" (Jazz, Folk, etc.), thedrum monitor needs to be a mini-mum of a 15 -inchbeen known to give drummers four15 -inch speakers with two two-inchhorns. In fact, for the bandCinderella, we recently gave thedrummer four 18 -inch speakers,

Figure 3. The stage -monitor layout.

STAGELEFT

four 12 -inch speakers and four hornswith over 4,000 watts!

It's not a bad idea t3 set up all of thespot mixes in front of your consoleand go through them before layingthem out on-stage. This allows you tobe sure all of the mixes are workingproperly before setting up the stage.It can be a major pro olem to change amonitor or speaker cable after thestage is set up. Burrowing the CDplayer from the house can be morehelpful and efficient than just speak-ing into a mic.

LABEL YOUR BOARD!Make sure all outputs are labeled

(on Duct, Maskir.g, White tape,whatever) according to the person'sname or position. Next to the inputson the left side of the board, place alabel next to the mixes (from Mix onedown to Mix eight) that tells whatthose outputs are. =t is often helpfulto repeat this in the middle and onthe right side inputs of the board.Lastly, directly underneath each in-put, label what that input is: Vocal#4, Flute and so on.

TALKBACKMost large monitor systems use a

talkback mic from the House con-sole. This is a mic that has beenplugged into a mic (or return) cableat the console in the audience and

AUDIENCE

DOWNSTAGE

UPSTAGE

STAGERIGHT

Mix #1

Mix #2

Mix #3

Mix #4

Mix #5

Mix #6

Mix #7

Mix #8

Solo

Channel on/off

IChannel equalizers

- ---..---

0 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 0

Channel Channel Channel

#1 #2 #3

(Vocal #1) (Vocal #2) (Vocal #3)

Figure 4. This is the monitor con-trol setup used.

terminates at your console. We usu-ally plug it into the second from thelast input on the console (#23).When this mic is turned up in thesidefill and drum mixes, then theHouse Soundinan is able to talk tothe band without shouting across thearena (but don't forget to turn thisoff before the show).

The last input on the console (#24)is generally reserved for the monitorman's talkback mic, so he may com-municate with the Band during set-up and sound check.

If everything works (and the lightman isn't going to drag his ladderacross the stage again), you are nowready to get some basic sounds, butyou're still not ready for the band.

The following sequence should nottake more than five minutes. First(we assume you have labeled yourboard), your inputs should have theirgains set in the approximate positionfor each input. If you can do a linecheck with each instrument, somuch the better. We don't alwayshave that luxury because we special-ize in Festivals.

Now, with your EQs still flat, un-mute (turn on, but don't turn up) allyour mixes and inputs. Setting yourmaster faders requires some experi-ence with your board. On mostboards, you are looking to set yourfaders at unity gain-whatever volt-age comes in is what goes out. I havefound that most boards want to beturned up about 80 percent thelength of the fader. Sometimes unity

gain is labeled -10dB while the labelfor 0 dB is all the way at the top.Other times, 0 dB is located 20 per-cent down. Read your instructionmanual, ask questions and wonderwhy manufacturer's haven't stan-dardized this.

Now, if everything works, whenyou turn up Vocal #1 (Input #1z0), itshould come out of the speaker la-beled Mix #1. If you have three vo-calists across the stage and threemonitor mixes (remember the mixassignments above), then Vocal #1wants mainly to be in Mix #1, Vocal#2 mainly in Mix #2 and #3 in #3.

The problem is people want to hearlots of themselves, and a bit of every-one else. The solution we use follows:if Mix #1 with Vocal #1 ends up withits input, send at 2 o'clock, then wewill add Vocals #2 and #3 to mix #1at 12 o'clock (see Figure 4). Vocalist#1 will hear some of the other twovocalists, but mainly himself. Lastly,add a bit of all the vocals to the side-fill monitors.

Now, go to the other spot mixesaround the stage and make sure youhave the mic for that player or singerin that monitor. Then make sure youcan hear the kick and snare drums inthe drum monitor and add these in-struments to the sidefill monitors.

A SECOND PERSONIt can be helpful to have a second

person at the monitor console whokeeps their hand on the correct knobwhile you listen to your monitors.

I've left EQing monitors out untilnow because it is extremely easy toover-EQ. At Modular Sound, we ap-proach this question carefully. Toooften, we see "engineers" who endup with either all of the equalizerfaders near the bottom of the EQ, orwe see the famous "U-EQ" (the EQfaders form a large U). Unfortu-nately, both EQ settings lead to "en-gineer burnout" trying to make asystem sound good, and often makegreat systems resemble trash.

For best results, observe these EQrules:

It is best to never use more thanV3 of the faders on an equalizer;

Don't use all V3 faders before theband gets on stage. Leave room forthe unexpected;

Whenever possible, try to avoidturning up EQ faders; try to only pullout what you don't want;

It is sometimes helpful to pull outthe "prescence peak" built into

many mics. To avoid dealing withfeedback caused by these built-inpeaks, we "Pre-EQ" our monitorsystem. If we know all of our vocalmics are going to be Shure SM-57s,then we will notch the EQ 2-3 dB at630, 1 k, 1.25 k and 5 k Hz beforeturning the system on. We only dothis because we have so much experi-ence working with certain mics onour system, and know in advancehow to speed up our job;

Don't be afraid to use the EQknobs on your console inputs to cor-rect "large errors" (Bassy vocal, thinsounding mic, etc.);

Break these rules only when ab-solutely necessary! But remember,certain situations require you tobreak rules. For instance, the"punch" of a Kick Drum is from 80-125 Hz, so it may sometimes becomenecessary to turn up these EQ fadersin your drum or sidefill monitors.

For the simplest EQingpossible, use the best

equipment you can and set itup properly.

THE RIGHT QUICK FIXNow that you know the rules,

stand at Vocal #1 and speak into themic. If it is on and sounds good, thenturn it up a bit. If it doesn't soundgood, fix the EQ on the input beforetouching the 1/3 octave EQ. WhenEQing your monitors, if you have agood ear for identifying frequencies,then it can be much quicker for youto stand at the mic and tell someoneelse what frequency to change.

Once the mic sounds good, turn itup until it starts to feedback a littlebit. To do this, you must stand at thesinger's position. EQing your moni-tors without a face in front of it doesnot give you real -world conditions.Turn up the mic until you start tohear your own voice talking, andthen slowly make it louder.

When you start to hear the slight-est feedback, turn down that fre-quency about two dB. Turning itdown 6 or 8 dB doesn't fix anything,but it does remove quite a bit of thesound. Now, turn the system upslowly until you hear the next feed-back. Turn down that frequency,even if it is still the same frequencyas the first time.

Repeat the process until you'vedone it four to five times. We gener-

ally figure that if you've touched fiveEQ faders on a V3 octave EQ, thenyou should turn it down a little bit,listen to it and make sure it soundsgood and then leave the other fourEQ faders for when the band is on-stage.

For the simplest EQing possible,use the best equipment you can andset it up properly. This means use thebest miss, EQ and speakers you canafford. Plan to upgrade to bi-ampmonitors from passive crossoverswhen you can, but most importantly,have your system as aligned as possi-ble.

Now that you are done with theset-up, you are finally ready to mixfor the band on-stage. Dealing withthe band is where you either make itor don't. The most important wordsare confidence and psycho -acoustics.

I have watched many competent"House" engineers get fired whenthey got behind the monitor board.The reason for this, if they are famil-iar with their equipment, is becausetheir attitude caused the band to loseconfidence in them.

There is nothing more importantto a band than how they feel onstage. If they feel great, then you'regreat, but if they don't... Please real-ize that the most important thing toa musician is feeling confident in youand your equipment.

Unfortunately, if the houseengineer refuses to fix his

mix, then the only remedy isa bazooka-pointed fromthe monitor desk to the

house desk.

If the "Nuclear Fission Gyro -meter" has just stopped, don't yellacross the stage in a panic, "Every-body run!" Call your assistant overcalmly, and then work on the prob-lem quietly. It's ok if the band seesyou sweating bullets working onsomething, but if they hear a screamfor help followed by a string of swearwords, then they're going to worry. Ifa band member asks for somethingto be changed, they are looking for"instant gratification."

Monitor engineers talk all the timeabout So&So-famous-artist whoasked for more vocals in his monitor,"but before I could touch the knob,said "Thanks, it's perfect." The im-

portant thing is that the monitor en-gineer moved towards the knob assoon as the request was made, andtherefore boosted the artist's confi-dence.

RULE # 1Move towards the knob quickly;

the problem may be fixed before you

get there. If someone asks for morevocal, and you know the vocals arelocated on the right side of the board,then start moving zo the right beforeyou even look down to see whereyour hand is going. I know of onemonitor engineer who always"searched the board" looking for theexact knob to turn before moving to

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reach it. This constant delay cost hisjob, because performers labeled himas "slow."

RULE #2Look at the performer when turn-

ing up the knob. Don't just turn upthe knob a bit and ask "How's that?"Turn the knob up and keep turning itup steadily until the performer saysstop. There is no time to waste, so dowhat you're told; don't try to out -gums the performer.

RULE #3Appear organized. After setting up

the monitor system, every bandmember will try to tell you all at oncewhat they want. It helps to be able tolisten to three people at once, but theconfusion factor is absurd! I havefound that it is quickest to first goacross the stage and make sure eachperson has their own vocal/instru-ment in their own mix.

Don't get trapped into doingeveryone's everything in the first 30seconds. Introduce yourself in a loudvoice to everyone on stage, and bringeverything to a stop (your talkbackmic can help with this.) Then explainto the band that you want to makesure everyone has their vocal and/orinstrument in their own mix.

After everyone is satisfied, then ex-plain you are going to work from oneside of the stage to the other witheach performer. Start with the leadvocalist and give him whatever heneeds. If drums are needed in themonitor, obviously the drummer willneed to play for a minute; if theyneed keyboards, then the keyboard-ist plays, and so on.

When the first mix is done, move tothe next player and repeat the pro-cess. Completing the process shouldtake no more than 15 minutes. Whendone, ask the band to play a song.While they are playing, take a strollto each player and ask what needs tobe changed.

RULE #4You must become personable with

everyone on-stage. I have seen moni-tor engineers lose their jobs becausethey were too timid to stroll confi-dently onto the stage to ask about thesound. This is your job and privilege.

Once the band has all of theirmixes together your job is 90 percentdone for the day. This means thatduring the rest of the sound check,you should regularly check in with

each person, making sure nochanges are needed. Establish a setof hand signals so each player cancommunicate with you during theshow without you going on-stage.

Five minutes prior to the show, gothrough all of your mixes. Make sureall mics work in their monitors. Playthe keyboards and drums so youknow they are on and work. Nothingis more embarrassing than for theband to go on stage and no monitorsare on because you forgot to un-mutethe mixes. It's happened to every-one.

About the only recourse youhave is the knowledge thatyou did all you could, and

that plenty of other nationalacts have not given you this

problem.

Once the show starts, it's a goodidea to keep your eyes constantlyroaming across the stage so not aminute goes by that anyone can'tcommunicate with you. In a festivalsituation where everything's morerelaxed, it's not a bad idea to zip outon stage and ask. After the first cou-ple of songs, everyone will hopefullybe comfortable, and the roaming eyetechnique will suffice.

NO FEEDBACK!The most important part of doing

monitors is not to let them feed back.Nothing destroys an artist's perfor-mance more than having to con-stantly cringe because their vocalsare suddenly a squealing mess. If youhave to turn down the monitor thendo it, but don't leave a performerconstantly battling the sound sys-tem. It's embarrassing to have theperformer and audience go hometalking about the bad job the monitorengineer did.

Obviously, there are times wherethe Main P.A. is the cause of feed-back. Although there is very littleyou can do about it, make sure it isnot you feeding back. Turn off yourmonitors momentarily. If the feed-back continues, immediately contactthe house soundman and let himknow it has been confirmed that thehouse system is the problem.

If the problem continues, the bandis going to get upset. Unfortunately,there is no way of showing them the

problem is not you. We've learnedthat in festival situations, if we usethe same monitor engineer and themonitors have worked fine all day,and one act is plagued by feedback,then it is probably that acts' houseengineer.

Unfortunately, if the house engi-neer refuses to fix his mix, then theonly remedy is a bazooka-pointedfrom the monitor desk to the housedesk. You may laugh, but rememberthis: the band has no way of knowingwhat's going on. All they know isthey have feedback, their monitorsappear to momentarily "cut out" (asyou make sure it's not you) and thatthey are being disturbed on-stage.They have good reason to be upset.

It's awfully hard to prove to theband you had nothing to do with theproblem. About the only recourseyou have is the knowledge that youdid all you could, and that plenty ofother national acts have not givenyou this problem.

You may want to explain to theband what has gone on. Don't expectthem to immediately "cool out" andgive you sympathy. If the housesoundman admits to the band thathe was the cause, that's one thing.But if he's covering himself and re-fuses to discuss the matter yourname will have a cloud over it untilsome future date where you can fi-nally clear your name.

After a show with ClarenceClemons, I once had to wait fiveyears to clear my name. When I fi-nally worked with him again, I madesure he left that night thinking he'dbeen to visit the monitor god.

Once the show is half -over, your jobis 99 percent done. Hopefully, you'lllearn something every day. Don't beafraid to look and see how many fad-ers you really used on the EQ. If youused more than nine out of 27, see ifyou can figure out why. Was the mon-itor positioned badly? Did the michave a large prescence peak thatused a lot of EQ to get rid of?

After you've examined your joband figured out how to improve itnext time, relax, but don't take youreyes off the performers until theband leaves the stage. Make a note ofany damage (on paper and makesure it gets taken care of back at theshop) and then pack it up and take ithome.

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John Eaigle

The Books You Need To Be A Better Professional John Eargle'sHandbook of Sound System

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The New Recording Studio Handbook byJohn Woram and Alan P. Kefauver is foreveryone involved in recording. It is alreadyestablished as the "bible" for learning all thebasics of the recording studio operation.This includes the latest in the many kinds ofnoise reduction, analog recording, digitalrecording from multi -track to R-DAT, whatthey are and how you use SMPTE andMIDI time codes, signal -processing equip-ment, microphones and loudspeakers(monitors), and all about the new auto-mated consoles.

If you are a professional in audio and use

need John Eargle's definitive The Micro-phone Handbook Among the topicscovered are: Usirg patterns effectively,directional characteristics, remote power-ing of capacitor microphones, sensitivity rat-ings and what they mean, proximity anddistance effects, multi -microphone inter-ference problems, stereo microphone tech-niques, speech and music reinforcement,studio microphone techniques, and somuch more.

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RICK SHRIVER

Movie Making in China

1n 1988, I was invited toteach video production inthe People's Republic ofChina. Marietta (Georgia)

College, where I am a faculty mem-ber of the mass media department,has begun an exchange programwith the Southwest University of Fi-nance and Economics (S.U.F.E.) inChengdu, Szechuan Province. Ourdepartment was selected to partici-pate in the first year of this program,and I was lucky enough to go.

We were officially invited by theChinese Government to go toChengdu from May 1989 to July1989. Accompanying me on the tripwas a student in our broadcast pro-gram. Together, we were to conductlectures and seminars on the basicvideo production skills required toproduce programs with higher pro-duction values than the "talkingheads," as well as chalkboard lec-tures which had been the norm atSUFE.

We arrived in Shanghai May 15,but that was about the last thing thathappened the way it had beenplanned. Due to the then -happeningcivil unrest, we left China about twoweeks before we had expected to re-turn to the United States.

While in Chengdu, we had the op-portunity to visit many fascinatingsites including temples, monaster-ies, parks, zoos and the like. Themost interesting tour we experi-enced was at Emei Film Studios, oneof two major studios which producemost of China's feature films.

Like film studios in the UnitedStates, the Emei lot is a completelywalled and fenced compound, andadmittance is gained only afterclearance with the guards at thegate. Once inside, things are notmuch different than at any otherstudio. The compound is populatedwith a dozen large buildings housingsound stages, processing labs, audiostudios, editing suites, screeningrooms, offices and other requisite fa-cilities.

UNRELIABLE A C.A common feature to nearly every

building we visited in Chengdu wasthe dark, damp and dirty interior.China is on a 240 -volt electrical sys-tem, which is highly unstable andquite unreliable in the SzechuanProvince. Therefore, lighting is min-imal, and air conditioners and de -hu-midifiers are practically non-exis-tent. The result is a less -than -ideal

Figure 1. Making ready a master for playback in the tape machine room.

La

environment for electronic equip-ment in light of the fact that the cli-mate is somewhat similar to thesouthern United States or Mexico.The sound stages are in a dismalstate of disrepair. It was explainedduring the tour that almost all filmproduction is now done on location,and the studios have become nothingmore than storage barns.

SHARP CONTRASTSContrast best describes China's

appearance, for as unattractive asthe building interiors are, thegrounds are beautifully kept. TheEmei lot is landscaped with gardens,fountains, reflecting pools and lavishplantings of all sorts. The contrastextends to other aspects of Chineseculture as well. A typical sight inChengdu is a peasant farmer withhis water buffalo working a field inthe shadow of a high-rise buildingwith its roof -top satellite receiver.The streets are equally crowded withpeople whose only mode of transpor-tation is a bicycle as well as thosewho drive Audis and Mercedes.

Similarly, the contrast is apparentin the equipping of the facilities. Asdank and dreary as the buildings are,the equipment is nothing less thanthe best. China, as a developing na-tion, has received several generousgrants from the World Bank to im-prove its media systems. As a result,Emei's audio production facility isoutfitted with Studer 24 -track andtwo -track machines, Nakamichicassette decks, an ADM custom film -mixing console, JBL 4345 monitorsand an outboard rack equipped withYamaha, Lexicon, Urei, dbx, UrsaMajor and others. All this state-of-the-art hardware appears to be a vi-sual paradox in the environment andculture in which it resides (Figure 1).

CONSPICUOUS STUDIOFEATURES

A conspicuous feature of the stu-dios and control rooms is the powerconditioner. Each room is outfittedwith a device attempting to level outthe highly erratic voltages. It was ourobservation that these power condi-

tioners operated with varying de-grees of effectiveness. For example,in the video facility where weworked, the computer -assisted edi-tor regularly "lost its mind" and theedit list contained therein.

Another curious aspect of virtuallyall the production facilities wetoured was the method used for con-necting equipment to A.C. power.The generally accepted method is tocut off the plug and insert the baredwires directly into the outlet. Thiswas a bit unnerving by our westernstandards. The rationale for thispractice is based on the reality of atleast a half dozen different configu-rations of connectors at both theequipment and supply ends. Sorather than deal with the myriadadaptors which would be required...

NEWLY INSTALLED AUDIOFACILITIES

At the time we visited the Emeistudios, a new audio facility whichwill house the existing equipmentwas just being completed. The oldstudio, a huge, cavernous room fin-ished in dark woods, is of Soviet de-sign. The surface treatment yields avery reverberant quality. The studiois like a dimly -lit empty cathedralwith the acoustic characteristics of agymnasium.

The main console (the ADM) is lo-cated in the studio, versus the maincontrol room, Figure 2. How thisworks for scoring and track layingwas quite beyond our comprehen-sion. A satisfactory explanation wasnever given by our Chinese hosts.The studio also contained a screenand projection booth, serving as afilm -mixing facility as well, and itappeared to function well in thatconfiguration.

There is a small control room at-tached to the studio which houses a12 -input Studer console. This wasthe room of choice for doing more"pop" types of music. This controlroom also contained a Yamaha DX -7and limited outboard equipment.

The new studio was designed byChinese engineers from the Engi-neering University of Chongqing.The acoustic treatment of this roomis very similar to that of a Westernstudio. The surfaces feature an -echoic wedge shapes, fabric coveredforms filled with an absorptive glassfiber material as seen in Figure 3.The studio is spacious by our stan-dards and is decidedly non-reverber-

Figure 2. The ADM console. Note that it is not located in a control mom,but in the studio itself

ant. The walls and ceiling are fin-ished in much lighter colors, andconsequently, the room has a moreopen feel.

WESTERN STYLEThe new studio and control room

will be patterned in a Western stylewith the console located in the con-trol room. It will be used for tracklaying, scoring, foleying and dialogreplacement. The new facility willalso include a small studio for voice-over which will be linked to the maincontrol room.

Final mixes will be done in a newlyoutfitted multi -function theater.This room is luxuriously appointed(even by Western standards), andfeatures comfortable, spacious seat-ing. The mix position is at the rear ofthe auditorium.

The acoustic treatment featuresthousands of absorptive cells alongthe side and rear walls. The absorb-ers consist of cubes roughly 10 by 10inches, which are filled with a fibrousmaterial and covered with coloredfabric. See Figured.

Figure 3. The new main studio. The lower windows at the rear are thecontrol mom (right) and the voice-over studio (left).The windows aboveare for the future installation of projection equiment.

Figure 4. The theater. You are looking forward from the mix position.

Figure 5. Mr. Shi Yulin, Director of the audio facili-ties at Emei. He is holding a September/October is-sue of db Magazine which contained an article by au-thor Rick Shriner on the construction of his Elec-tronic Cottage studio. The photo on the cover is ofShelton Leigh Palmer, tapeless studio owner, alsofeatured in that issue.

In

Another use of thetheater is preview-ing completed fea-tures. Communistparty officials regu-larly scrutinizefilms to make surethe content is "ap-propriate."

Because China isstill decidedly ThirdWorld economicallyand culturally, re-cording has not be-come the flourishingindustry that it hasin many Westerncountries. As a re-sult, popular musicartists frequentlyfind the only record-ing facility that ex-ists is in film, televi-sion or radio studios.In fact, our guidesexplained that thestudio at Emei wasthe only one withmulti -track capabil-ity in the Chengduarea, which has apopulation in excessof one -and -a -halfmillion. As a result,music recording hasbecome a lucrativesideline.

Strangely enough,the most populargenre of music inChina currently is

"disco." It is the same form of dancemusic which dominated the UnitedStates' music scene in the 70s. Like-wise, the whole disco phenomenon isenjoying this popularity. Dance clubswith spectacular light shows, lighteddance floors and polyester -claddancers can be found in most cities.But as with many adopted westerncustoms, it's a close -but -no -cigar im-itation. A sign in the lobby of theJingjang Hotel reads Saturday Fe-ver In The Roof -top Lounge.

Another disconcerting tendency,by our Western standards, is that ofthe Chinese to select same -sex dancepartners and to openly display same -

sex friendship in a more physicalway than we are accustomed to see-ing. On more than one occasion, wewere asked by young Chinese fellowsto come dancing.

Lest this essay end with a negativeimpression of media production inthe People's Republic of China, itshould be noted that the Chinesehave managed to adapt and perse-vere, and successfully turn out a highquality product, even in the face ofthese adverse conditions. While thecontent may not suit our tastes, thequality of the recordings we heardwas excellent. The frequency and dy-namic range of films scored with tra-ditional Chinese instrumentationwas spectacular.

SUMMARYGiven time to reflect on the overall

experience, the cultural and techno-logical exchange seems to have beensuccessful. We probably learned asmuch as we taught. Certainly, wehave a life -time of stories to tell,some about being in and trying to getout of Communist China during the"civil war" of 1989.

Chengdu was the only other cityoutside Beijing to experience anylarge-scale violence associated withthe pro -democracy demonstrations.On the day we boarded the train toShanghai, thousands of protestorsbegan burning and looting the down-town district. Troops from Mongoliaquickly moved in and "quieted" theunrest. The 18 -hour trip to Shanghailasted two -and -one-half days, asdemonstrators halted rail traffic toprevent troops from moving in andout of Beijing. The train just ahead ofours into Shanghai was stopped andburned. So much for seeing historybeing made-we decided it was agood time to get out of China.

Crown's System 2000 Software for the PC We've been playing with a pre-

liminary, or beta -test version of theSystem 2000 software, long avail-able for the Macintosh, but now be-ing released for the PC.

The version 0.45 we were given forthis evaluation came with no in-structions or other writtendata-just a 3.5 -in. diskwith a program calledCROWN.EXE on it.

So we placed in an appro-priate drive and invoked thedisk by typing CROWN [EN-TER]. We were using forevaluation an AT clone run-ning at 8 meg.

Almost immediately, ascreen came up on our moni-tor informing us that sincewe had no amplifiers con-nected we were to push ourspace bar and that got us tothe main menu.

From there, the correctnext step is to go to the con-figuration screen (a single F -key stroke) to tell the pro-gram what baud rate andother parameters the con-troller requires for commu-nication. Then a single key-stroke, and we are back at the mainmenu.

THE MAIN MENUIn the main menu you enter the in-

formation the program will use tocontrol the amplifiers you have outin the field. Crown tells us, and wedid not verify it, that you can have up

to 2,000 amplifiers operational withthe present program.

Each stereo amplifier is funda-mentally treated as two separateamplifiers. But for each stereo am-plifier you can enter an identifyingnumber and zone.

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Then for each channel you canpower up or down, attenuate over awide range, reverse phase, andmute. In turn then, the Main Menuwill then tell you each channel's In,Out, IOC and ODEP ranges.

ALTERNATE MENUSThere are two alternate menus.

Where the Main Menu only showsfour amplifiers at a time (with scroll

capability down for as many as youhave) the alternate menus showeight channels at a time in actualperformance. In effect, you are see-ing VI performance of each channel.Of course, you also would quickly bemade aware of a malfunctioning

channel and then switchingback to the Main Menu youwould identify fully the par-ticular amplifier and couldthen equal y quickly changeits parameters or even shutit down.

DIFFERENTCONFIGURATIONSFOR DIFFERENTCONDITIONS

You may be using the samebanks of amplifiers for dif-ferent kinds of shows. Thisprogram permits you to saveeach program settings sepa-rately as a different file.Then you only need to loadthe correct file, and every-thing is automatically set foryour show

CONCLUSIONCrown has an effective

and useful tool available here. Themost complex setups can be con-trolled from a single PC. This is a log-ical and easy -to -use program.

Still, we would wish that Crownwould include a program guide book-let. Not everyone of their customersis necessarily sufficiently computer -literate to be able to pick this one upcold.

Altiv No444(24

SIGNAL PROCESSORS The two newest members of the

growing line of Flex Series modularsignal processors are announced: theFPS 28 Program Splitter and theFLM 82 Line Mixer. The FPS 28 al-lows two mic or line level inputs (withswitchable nuc phantom) to be splitto 8 mono or 4 stereo outputs via in-dependent level controls. Addition-ally, these outputs may be assignedpre or post master input level con-trol. The FLM 82 provides 8 mono or

WIRELESS ACCESSORIES The L2 Handheld Transmitter

has been added to the L Series line ofwireless microphone products. TheL2 is available in three different ver-sions. Model L2/58 features Shure'swell-known SM58 dynamic micro-phone element, while Model L2/96incorporates the condenser elementused in Shure's high-performanceSM96 vocal condenser microphone.

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4 stereo line inputs, each with sepa-rate level control and pre/post as-signable auxiliary send control for ef-fects processing or anotherindependent mix. This module alsofeatures master level controls, aux

A third version, L2/Beta 58, featuresShure's acclaimed Beta 58 elementand is available exclusively from au-thorized Shure Beta dealers. Sincethe transmitter "heads" are easilyinterchangeable, any of the three ele-ments may be used with the same L2transmitter. Dual -trace, gold-platedwiper contacts are used, making itpossible to change heads in seconds,with no wires to solder or unplug.

loops and the Flex Bus System forsingle -cable connection to any num-ber of other Bus -equipped modules.Mfr.-Rane Corp.Price: $399.00 eachCircle 29 on Reader Service Card

According to Shure, the L2's design-ers have devoted unprecedented at-tention to preserving the distinctivesounds of the SM58, SM96 and Beta58 in the L2 wireless versions. In ad-dition, the manufacturer is subject-ing its L2 wireless microphones tothe same battery of environmentaland mechanical shock tests its cabledmics undergo to assure the level ofruggedness and reliability associatedwith its other products.L2 users will normally get 12 hours

of operating time from a standard 9 -volt alkaline battery, and a lithiumbattery may be used if even longeroperating time is desired. The bat-tery may be replaced without remov-ing any parts from the transmitterbody. Shure L2 transmitters are de-signed to work with Shure L Seriesreceivers, and may be purchased sep-arately or as part of an L Series sys-tem. Available systems incorporat-ing the L2 transmitter include theLS23/58 (L3 non -diversity receiverand L2/58 transmitter), LS23/96 (L3and L2/96), LS23/Beta 58 (L3 and L2Beta 58), LS 24/58 (IA MARCAD di-versity receiver and L2/58), LS24/96(IA and L2/96) and LS24/Beta 58 (L4and L2/Beta 58).Mfr.-Shure BrothersUser net prices for L2 systemsrange front $532.00 to $748.50.Systems are available in six stockfrequencies between 169 and 185MHz, and other frequencies areavailable on special order.


magazine


BUYER'S GUIDE

CONSOLES AND MIXERS

On the pages that follow, we present this issue's Buyer's Guide on consoles and mixers. The info:mationsupplied is furnished by the respective manufacturers. Further, if a manufacturer you seek is not listed, thechances are strong that as many times as we tried we could not get information from them.

ALLEN & HEATHSR series is a low-cost mixer designed for sound reinforcement and 2 and 4 track recording. They are available in fiveconfigurations ranging from an 8 x 2 x 1 through a 24 x 4 x 2 x 1. Features include four -band EQ and 4 aux. sends per inputchannel, 2 addi:ional FX return sections.

Spectrum Series recording consoles are available in 16, 24, and 32 input channel and tape output configurations which alsohave features for live -sound applications. The smallest 16 -channel version has 40 -input capabilites during mixdown andfeature MIDI muting as a standard feature.

Scepter 12 -channel, 20 -input rack mixer features Alps faders, direct outputs on all input channels. Balanced outs areprovided on a left, right, and mono channels. Separate mono and stereo tape outputs are also provided.

Sigma consoles are 24 -bus in -line consoles with input configurations up to 56 inputs. Each module can process 2 separateinput signals, n-icroprocessor-controlled MIDI muting is standard, EQ is 5 -band, and there is 8 -knob aux. send into amaximum of 32 buses. Full patch -bay systems are also available. The console ranges from 16 x 16 to 56 x 24.

Saber 16 -bus consoles are designed specifically for 8, 16 and 24 track recording and sound reinforcement. All versionsinclude microprocessor controlled MIDI muting of all inputs. Input channels include 4 -band EQ with switchab e high- andlow -frequency ranges and 2 bands of mid sweep plus high-pass filtering. Aux. sends include 6 buses, all recording versionshave 16 -channel tape monitoring. 24 -channel tape monitoring as well as patch bays are available.

SC Modular Series is an advanced version of the SR series with fully modular design. Available in 16, 24, and 32 inputconfigurations.Modules can be intermixed and include stereo input, fixed frequency EQ, and sweepable EQ.

SRM Monitor Mixers are available in 18 or 24 input configurations. This series is designed specifically for on-stage monitorapplication. All units include a built-in splitter and road case.

System 8 is a recording console but can also be configured for sound reinforcement. It is 8 -bus for 8 and 16 track recordingor MIDI recording. All versions have Alps faders, direct outs on all input channels and 16 channels of tape monitoring thatcan also be used as additional FX inputs when used for sound reinforcement. Configurations are 16 or 24 input. EX7 is anoptional 8 -input expander.

AMEK/TAC (TOTAL AUDIO CONCEPTS LTD.)Bullet is a 10/4/2 modular free-standing or rack -mounting multi -purpose console with hard busing system, hyprid circuitry, 15segment LED metering, 4 -band EQ with swept mids, 6 aux. send buses with 4 stereo returns.Price:$4,250.00-$11,500.00

Scorpion II has four chassis sizes including a patch -bay version. There are recording and reinforcement versions, all with 16to 40 inputs, four -band EQ, and 4 to 8 aux sends.Price:$8,427.00-$25,504.00

Magnum is an in -line recording console, with 24 -bus, and 26 or 36 input versions, and with an optional 32-T monitoringversion. Optional MIDI muting and fader automation packages. Has LED or VU metering.Price:$29,267.00-$39,180.00

SR9000 Superconsole is for sound reinforcement and has 42 input modules (each with 2 mic and 1 line input), 16subgroups, 8 VCA groups, 8 mute groups, 16 x 8 matrix, fully parametric 4 -band EQ, swept HP filter, 16 aux. sends, in -placesolo feature and 24 -channel extender option.Price:$83,215.00

01

Angela 24 -bus in -line recording console comes in three chassis sizes, 24 to 62 inputs. Features include: on -board orexternal jackfield, 4 -band semi -parametric EQ plus HP and LP filters, 6 aux. sends, 6 aux. returns, flexible routingpossibilities, and automation options.Price:$40,581.00-$99,664.00 plus automation

Mozart multi -track recording console features 32 balanced buses, 32 to 80 inputs, in -line or all -input type modules (or acombination), integral switch grouping computer for user -configurable master status switching, 4 -band semi -parametric EQ,HP and LP filters, 16 aux. sends, 12 stereo returns, 4 floating patchable stereo faders and is available as standard with theAMEK Supertrue automation system. System is optionally available with GML moving -fader automation.Price:108,308.00-$397,231.00

APC1000 assignable production console has up to 128 all -input type modules, and is 48 -bus. Channel switching and routingis all under the control of a central assignment keyboard. Three automation computers work separately and simultaneously:Recall (knob positions), Reset (switch settings), and GML moving faders. Synchronous Rest recalls switch settings againsttime code. Optional dynamics modules also come under automation control.Price:$301,975.00-$587,110.00

ARX SYSTEMS -See our ad on page 2DI -6 is a 6 -channel DI and line mixer which permits 6 independent audio sources to be interfaced with balanced low Zsystems either a 6 individual channels or summed down to one master output. A 2 -watt headphone output is also provided.Price:$549.00

AUDIO-TECHNICA U.S., INC. -See our ad on Cover IIAT4462 is a stereo field production mixer. Its features include 4 -input channels, 1 and 2 mono pannable, 3 and 4 true stereoon a dual concentric central, headphone with cue system, phantom power, slate tone and mic, limiter adjustable (mono orstereo) built in IFB system, 3 -tone oscillator, low cut on all channels, switchable, level warning system in operator phoneswhen approaching clipping. Has Cordura'" carrying bag.Price:$1,360.00

AUDITRONICS, INC.200 Series broadcast consoles are available in 6, 12, 18, and 24 input "drop in" mainframe configurations. Each may beconfigured with any combination of mic or stereo line input modules. Each module includes dual input selection, VCA fadercontrol, dual stereo outputs, and many user -programmable logic functions. Standard features include all output amplifiers, acontrol -room monitor, headset amplifier, and a cue amplifier.Price:On request.

310 Series consoles are for radio and TV production use. Standard features include 4 aux send and returns, outputsubmastering, 4 group master faders, VCA fader control, cue, stereo solo, stereo monitoring, phantom mic power, and acomplete metering package. A wide range of optional equipment is available for custom needs.Price:On request.

400 Series on air and production consoles are available in 3 mainframe sizes: 18, 24, and 30 inputs with 4 or 8 submasteroutputs. There are 2 aux/foldback buses, VCA faders, phantom power, and many user -defined features.Price:On request.

700 Series consoles are available in 24/16 or 48/24 configurations. Custom mainframes are also available.

Price:On request.900 Series TV on -or and production consoles are available in 6 mainframes with 4 or 8 submaster output capability.Standard features include 4 aux send and returns, 4 group master faders, VCA fader control, cue, stereo solo, stereomonitoring, phantom mic powering, and a complete metering package.Price:

(co On request.

CARVIN CORPORATIONFX844 is a sound reinforcement/recording console with 8 in, 4 out capability. It has 250 watt/channel at 4 ohm amplification.Price:$1,349.00 sold directly only.

FX1244 is as above but with 12 by 4 configuration.Price:$1,699.00 sold direct only.

FX1644 is as above but has 16 by 4 configuration but no power amplification.Price:$1,699.00 sold direct only.

FX2444 is as above but has 24 by 4 configuration.Price: $2,299.00 sold direct only.MX1688 is a recording consoles with 16 inputs and 8 outputs.Price: $3,199.00 sold direct only.MX2488 is similar to the MX1688 but offers 24 in by 8 outputs.Price:$4199.00 sold direct only.

DDA-KLARK-TECHNIK ELECTRONICS INC.DCM 232/22LV are 32 -bus in line format recording consoles, including central automation of module switch functions.Console status can be stored in 30 snapshot memories. Available with VCA fader automation, Alpha Boss II editor installedas option.Price:$120,000.00 up.

AMR 24 are 24 -bus consoles with up to 44 inputs. A large number of inputs to the console is possible by utilizing all inputs,all 24 sends, and all 24 monitor returns on mixdown as inputs.Price:36/24/2 4 $69,740.00

DMR 12 is a 12 -bus, 24 -track monitor return console including a patch bay. Each input has two line and one mic input, up to112 line inputs are available on mixdown, aux send 7 and 8 are switchable to stereo EFX returns.Price:On request

Arena Series VCA 8 -bus sound reinforcement consoles are available with 16 to 40 inputs, they include 8 assignable mutegroups, 8 assignable VCA groups, and options such as stereo returns on faders which are assignable to 8 VCA/mutegroups as wPrice:40/8/2 $42,000.00

Q -Series 8 bus consoles are available with 16 to 40 inputs, mute version avai'able, all versions include 8 aux returns withEQ, aux sends with EQ, direct output with each input, 8 x 4 matrix.Price:40/8/2 mute $26,900

S -Series Standard are 4 bus recording consoles with 16 to 32 inputs, 4 aux sends, 4 aux returns, 4 -band IEQ including 2sweep mids.Price:24/4/2 $9.075.00

DOD ELECTRONICS CORPORATION820 and 1220 stereo mixer series feature high and low impedance inputs, 15 dB cut and boost EQ, RCA-type outputs,phantom power, effects sends and returns and individual monitor outputs. The 8 or 12 channel mixers can be had in basicunbalanced to full balanced configurations, and with phono or XLR inputs and outputsPrice:Dependent on configuration.

ELECTRO-VOICE, INC.8108 is a rack mounted mono mixer with four outputs.

8208/8212/8216 are 2 -bus 8, 12, or 16 channel sound reinforcement consoles. Features include equal headroom in allstages, gain -calibrated level controls for visual check of mixer input stages, transient performance not slew -rate or powerbandwidth limited under any operating conditions from 20-20,000 Hz.Price:$1,670.80

8416/8424/8432 are 4 -bus sound -reinforcement consoles with 8, 16, 24, or 32 inputs. Features include rear -panel mic inputsincluding 48 V phantom power, channel patching and output jacks on each input panel, flourescent bargraph metering,talkback, panning, solo, and subgrouping.Price:$5,481.00-$10,091.00

BK832/BK1232/BK1632/BK2432 are stereo sound reinforcement consoles with 8, 12, 16, and 24 inputs, with 4 outputs.Features include channel insert send and return, input trim, high, mid, low equalization, panning, PFL assign, LED -bar levelmeters, subgroup patching send and return left and right phantom power, sub, main and monitor output master faders.Price:$1,103.80-$2,048.80

FURMAN SOUND, INC.Rackmount mixers MM -4A and MM -8A feature four inputs, mono (MM -4A) or stereo (MM -8A) outputs, pan pots on eachMM -8A input, effects bus with send and return jacks, stereo aux. inputs with RCA jacks and level control, low-cut buttons oneach input (-3 dB at 100 Hz), master fader, headphone amp with front panel jack and volume control. This is a compactutility mixer for sound reinforcement or recording use. "-B" models have balanced ins with both phone and XLR connectorsand mic/line switches. "-BP" models are the same as "-B," plus 48 -volt phantom powering on all inputs and phantom powerswitch.Price:$335.00 (MM -4A)$375.00 (MM-4AB)$405.00 (MM-4ABP)$395.00 (MM -8A)$435.00 (MM-8AB)$465.00 (MM-8ABP)

GOTHAM AUDIO CORPORATION (AUDIO DEVELOPMENTS, LTD.)AD 160 is a mono engineering mixer with the following features: 3 mic inputs, 1 line input (all are balanced), 1 line output(balanced), limiter on line output, phantom/A-B powering on mic inputs, 1 kHz oscillator, talkback mic, VU or PPM meter,monitor output, battery or a.c.(with optional a.c. adapter).Price:$1,765.00

AD 260 stereo engineering mixer is the same as above with the following differences:4 mic/line inputs with pan pots, 2 line outputs, 2 limiters on line output (linkable for stereo), 1 stereo aux. input.Price:$2,500.00

AD 145 Pico mixer has 4-8 mic/line inputs with pan pots (all are balanced), 2 line outputs (balanced), 3 -band equalization oneach input, phantom/A-B powering on mic inputs, 1 kHz oscillator, talk back mic, monitor output, cue input. Battery or a.c(with optional adapter)Price:$4,400.00 to $6,775.00

AD 062 multi -mixer has 4-16 mic/line input modules with pan pots (balanced), 2 line outputs, 3 -band equalization on eachinput, phantom/A-B powering on mic inputs, auxiliary send on each input module. Options include stereo line input moduleto replace mic/line input module, dual auxiliary return module, communications module, stereo compressor/limiter module.Standard features include monitor level, selector controls, master auxiliary sends, A + B mixdown, battery or a.c (withoptional a.c. adapter).Price:

crcc) $6,000.00 to $20,000.00

HILL AUDIO INC.Multimix is 16 channels in a rack and can be used as a 16 x 4 x 2 x 1 or 12 x 4 x 2 x 1 or 16 x 2 x 1 console. With 16mic/line inputs, 4 subgroups, 3 -band EQ with defeat, direct outputs on all channels, 2 auxiliary sends (expandable), 100 mmfaders, 48 -volt phantom power, 4 RIAA equalized inputs, this console is designed for recording, broadcast or soundreinforcement.Price:Price on request.

Soundmix is a semi -modular console available as 24 x 4 x 2 x 1 or 16 x 4 x 2 x 1. Designed for recording, oroadcast orsound reinforcement, features include: 16 or 24 mic/line inputs, 4 subgroups, 4 auxiliary sends, 4 auxiliary returns, 4 -bandEQ, 100 mm faders (Alps or Noble), 48 -volt phantom power, direct outputs on all channels and subgroups, insert points onall channels, subgroups and masters, PFL system, and 12 segment LED display on subgroups and masters.Price:Price on request.Stagemix is a 12x6 rack -mount monitor console with a 12 -channel zero splitter (built-in), 12 transformer balanced inputchannels with 3 -band EQ, peak LEDs, PFL system and individual channel mutes. Other features include 6 transformerbalanced output channels with 4 -band EQ and EQ defeat, individual output mutes, 12 -segment LED display, PFL and AFLsystem, TRS effects loop and the console is color -coded for ease of operation.Price:Price on request.

Remix is a 24 x 8 x 16 x 2 console designed for 8 or 16 -track recording or sound reinforcement as a 24x8 :onsole with 8effects returns. Features include 24 mic/line input channels with peak LEDs, 8 subgoups, 16 -track monitoring, 6 auxiliarysends, tone oscillator, 2 -track return, 4 -band EQ with sweepable mids, 16 tape returns with EQ and aux. sends, directoutputs and insert points on all inputs, subgroups and masters.Price:Price on request.

Concept 200 and 400 Series are sound reinforcement and recording consoles. Available from 16 x 8 x 2 with an 8 x 8 matrixto 56 x 24 x 48 x 2, these consoles feature patch bays, Alps or P&G faders, 3 -way speaker select, 2 types of EQ available(6 -band with sweep filter or 4 -band sweepable), 8 or 12 auxiliary sends using dual concentric or 4/6 sends switchable to8/12, programmable mutes, A&B 2 -track returns, d.c. controlled subgroups.Price:Price on request.

INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH PRODUCTS, INC.DE -4013 automatic microphone mixer has modular construction in 2 -channel increments. Its features include: up to 12inputs in a single chassis, tandem connected chassis allows addition in 12 channel increments, 12 V phantom power,level-matic AGC. Auxiliary output and chairman override are standard.Price:Dependent on configuration.

DE -4018 is the same as DE -4013 but includes DE -208 TEQ 9 -band transversal equalizer module. 10 channels in singlechassis before tandem connecting others.Price:Dependent on configuration.

DE -4014 is a mixer with 4 -microphone input channels plus auxiliary line level input and auxiliary output. 12 V phantom poweris optional.Price:$1,467.00

DE -4016 is the same as the DE -4014 but with remote control via DE -207 remote control box. Remote functions are individualchannel sensitivity and master gain control. DE -207 box includes 10 feet of cable terminated with an amphenol 165-9connector.Price:$1,860.00

DE -4024/5 is the same as the DE -4016 but includes both auxiliary gain control on both front panel and remote box. Auxiliaryoutput is the mix of gated microphone inputs 2, 3, and 4 plus standard (ungated) microphone input 1 plus the auxiliary input.Price:$1,920.00

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INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH INDUSTRIESPM160 is a 16 input (balanced and unbalanced), two internal stereo power amplifiers -400W x 2 at 4 ohms. Built in 99program digital effects processor, graphic equalizer for stereo and mono, talkback mic, 12 -point LED meters, dimensions 321/4 W x 21 3/4 D x 6 1/2 H, 70 lbs.Price:On request.

PM80 is an 8 input (balanced and unbalanced), two internal stereo power amps -180 W x 2 at 4 ohms, built in digitaldelay, graphic EQ for stereo output, 3 EQ positions for each input channel, 12 -point LED meters, dimensions 20 1/2 W x 21D x 6 1/2 H, 35 lbs.Price:On request.

INNOVATIVE ELECTRONIC DESIGNS, INC.4000 automatic microphone mixing system is a modular, rack mount, automatic mixing system which allows customconfigurations and programmable gain control. Each frame can hold up to 8 cards creating 32 inputs and offers optionalcomputer control for room combining, and channel on/off.Price:On request.

NEVEVR series console is an automated "flying fader" multi-track recording console for the music, video post and film industries,available in 36, 48, 60 or 72 inputs, including the Formant Spectrum Equalizer, mic/dynamics unit and 8 mono/4 stereoauxiliaries. Additional benefits include a centrally positioned monitor path status indication to enable rapid console statuschecks and choice of metering options.Price:On request

DTC (Digital Transfer Console) for compact disc mastering and is used for the preparation of compact disc master tapes,the unit also provides total digital mixing and processing capabilities. All console parameters can be instantly reset underSMPTE control, also permitting the user to select or mix either of 2 stereo digital inputs and 1 stereo analog input withmanual or auto crossfade from AES/EBU or 1610/1630 inputs to compatible outputs.Price:On request

8232 console for TV production, post -production and multi -track recording has 32 mic/line input channels with 24 mixingbuses and optional stereo reverb returns. Each channel features the Formant Spectrum Equalizer, 4 mono auxiliary sendsand 1 stereo cue send, and is "flying fader automated."Price:On request

VPR series are multi -track systems for video post and film recording with total storage and recall of all console settings.Dolby matrix monitoring on switchable 4 or 8 track buses up to 48 tracks, 4 or 8 track to stereo or mono TV feeds, separatefeeds for music and effects, inset switching for Dolby DS4 matrix with solo interrupt.Price:On request

Prism series is a range of rackmount units derived from the V series console comprising a 4U 19 -inch rack with capacity for10 modules that may be powered from an existing console or by a 2U power supply. The 2 modules are the FormantSpectrum Equalizer and the mic amp/dynamics unit comprises compressor/limiter/gate/expander.

PANASONIC/RAMSAWR-C900 Series are live sound mixing consoles with a 16 -input frame expandable to 20 mono inputs, there is also a24 -input frame expandable to 32 inputs. Features include 4 groups, 4 aux groups,L/C/R panning.Price:16 input-$26,500.0024-input-S31,500.00

WR-S852 house sound reinforcement mixing console contains the following features: 52 mic/line inputs, all inputs andoutputs are balanced, 8 groups, 8 aux. groups, L/R master, 8x10 matrix, 4 -band sweepable EQ and high-pass on inputs,300,000 operation, 100mm MRP faders, discrete design using hybrid ICs.Price:$36,300.00

WR-S840 stage monitor mixing console contains the following features: 52 mic/line inputs, all inputs and out )uts arebalanced, 18 discrete monitor mixes (18 outputs), 4 -band sweepable EQ and high-pass on inputs, 300,000 c peration,100mm MRP faders, discrete design using hybrid ICs.Price:$38,500.00

WR-8616 production/post production mixing console is also suited for sound reinforcement. It contains the followingfeatures: 16 mic/line or stereo inputs, separate 16 -input tape monitoring, 4 groups, 4 aux. groups, L/R and rr ono master',3 -band sweepable EQ and high-pass on inputs.Price:less than $11,000.00 depending on configuration.

WR-T820B 8/13 -track recording mixing console contains the following features: 20 mic/line inputs, separate 20 -input tapemonitoring, up to 48 separately mixable inputs for mixdown, 8 groups, 4 aux. groups, L/R master, 3 -band svieepab'e EQ andhigh-pass on inputs.Price:$8,950.00

WR-S216 sound reinforcement mixing console has the following features: 16 mic/line inputs, last two inputs accept mic orstereo source, "A/B" (L/R), effect, monitor, send and mono master outputs, 3 -band EQ (mid-sweepable) on inputs.Price:WR-S216-$2.850.00WR-S212--$2,450.00 (12 -input)WR-S208-$1,750.00 (8 -input, rack mount)

WR-133 sound reinforcement mixing console has the following features: 8 mic/line inputs, L/R, effect, monitor, mono masteroutputs, 2 -band EQ on inputs, rack mount option.Price:$1,290.00

WR-M1OA sound reinforcement/music rack mixer has the following features: 4 mic/line inputs, 2 stereo inputs and eachstereo input can select 4 different sources for a total of 8 stereo inputs (2 are RIAA phono), automatic music mute on page(defeatable), L/R, effect, mono master outputs, 2 -band EQ on mic inputs, 2 -band EQ on left and right mast?r outputs.Price:$900.00

PEAVEY ELECTRONICSMark VIII sound reinforcement console is available in 24 and 36 channels. It also has the following features: 8 submasters, 8aux. sends, 4 -band sweepable EQ, 8 outputs with LED output level indication, 3 -band EQ on aux. returns, stereo L/Routputs, totally modular design.Price:$9,999.99

Mark IV sound reinforcement console has the following features: 16 and 24 irput channels, four submasters, mono (sum)output, transformer balanced inputs and outputs, 2 -monitor sends, 1 effect send, PFL, 4 -band active EQ, built-in heavy dutyflight case.Price:$2,699.99 (16 -channel)$3,499.99 (24 -channel)

Mark III sound reinforcement console has the following features: 16 and 24 input channels, 2 submasters, mono (sum)output, stereo, transformer balanced inputs and outputs, 2 monitor sends, 2 effects sends, PFL, 4 -band a:live EQ, built-inheavy duty flight case.Price:$2,199.99 (16 -channel)$2,699.99 (24 -channel)

MS 2421 scund reinforcement console has the following features: 24 channels, stereo and mono outputs 3 -band active EQwith sweepable mid, 2 monitor sends, 2 effects sends, four 9 -band graphic EQ (patchable), electronic crossover, built-indelay, PFL, two submasters.Price:$2,699.99

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MS -1621 has the same features as the MS 2421 but only 16 input channels.Price:$2,099.99

SRC -421 sound reinforcement console has the following features: 16 -channels, 4 submasters, stereo, 3 aux. sends (oneswitchable); 3 -band EQ with sweepable mid, LED output level indication, channel patching, PFL, 4 outputs.Price:$2,299.99

MD -11 sound reinforcement console is configured in 8, 12 and 16 channel inputs. Its features include 2 submasters, stereo,1 monitor send, 1 effects send, 3 -band EQ with sweepable mid, LED output indication, PFL, channel patching, dual outputs.Price:$799.99 ( 8 -channel)$1,049.99 (12 -channel)$1,299.99 (16 -channel)

502 dance music production mixer has 3 -channel mixing system, stereo outputs, left and right phono inputs on programchannels, low and high impedance mic inputs, 7 -band stereo graphic EQ, headphone capability for program and cue.Price:$499.99

QUAD -EIGHT ELECTRONICS, INC.The Virtuoso recording console has dual in -line I/O modules, 20 to 60 inputs, 24 mixing buses, 8 aux send buses, 2 stereooutputs, and VU or 60 -segment bargraph meters. Each module has selectable top panel plug-in EQ, and plug -n VCA.Audio, VCA, automated VCA and moving faders are all standard as are Compumix PC automation.Price:$60,000 to $225,000

The Filmstar re-recording console is available in 16 to 72 inputs. Features include 8 or 24 mixing buses, 10 aux send buses,3 -channel pan bus and a 2 -channel pan bus, film monitor system, 6 x 4 to 24 x 8 matrix speaker assign. Audio, VCA,automated VCA and moving faders are all standard as are Compumix PC automation.Price:$80,000 to $600,000

Screenmaster Post Production Consoles are available in 16 to 72 inputs. Features include 24 mixing buses, multi -trackmonitor mix or re-recording mode, 10 aux send buses, 3 channel and 2 -channel pan, or optional 4 -channel quad pan,4 -channel monitor for L, C, R and Surround or FL, FR, BL, BR speakers. Each module has selectable top panel plug-in EQ,and plug-in VCA. Audio, VCA, automated VCA and moving faders are all standard as are Compumix PC automation.Price:$70,000.00 to $300,000.00

RAMKO RESEARCHPrimus Series consoles feature inputs user selectable mic through high level, balanced ins and outs, indicating push-buttonselect switches, monitor and phones feeds with muting, rack or tabletop mounting.Price:P -4M-$634.00P -4S-$889.00P -5M-$450.00

xL Series Studio Consoles are 4, 6, 8, and 12 channel stereo units. Features include rotary or linear faders, illuminated selectswitches, dual or single balanced outs with separate mono feed, 20 watt monitor, 2 watt cue, individual solid state metering,Programmable input levels, muting, on -air lights, remote starts.Price:from $1395.00 to $4,150.00

Portable Remote Mixer/Intercom is a battery -powered 4 channel mixer with balanced ins and outs, 2 -way intercom, cuing,phantom powering, slate and line tones, limiter/compressor, VU melter with battery -life indicator, leather carrying case.Price:PM42-$560.00

SHURE BROTHERS, INC.-See our ad on Cover IVFP31 is a compact field production audio mixer with the following features: 3 inputs, 2 outputs each switchEble for mic orline level, VU -neter with lamp, adjustable limiter with LED indicator, tone oscillator, built-in slate tone and tone and mic,headphone jacks, battery or a.c. power, phantom and A/B power.Price:$1,025.00

FP32 is a compact stereo field production audio mixer, a stereo version of the FP31. It includes all FP31 features pluscenter-detented stereo pan pot for each input channel and concentric clutched stereo master gain control.Price:$1,395.00

M267 is a field production audio mixer with the following features: 4 transformer -balanced inputs, switchabl3 limiter, phantompower, VU meter, headphone jack with level control, LED peak indicator, tone oscillator, mic/line switches on each input andoutput, low-cut switches on each channel, battery or a.c. power.Price:$520.00

FP42 is a stereo version of the M267 and includes all the features of the M267 plus stereo pan pots for each channel andconcentric clutched master volume control.Price:$990.00

FP51 is a polable gated -memory compressor combined with a 4 -input, 1 output mic mixer. Up to 40 dB o' compress.on areavialable. Other audio features similar to FP31Price:$965.00

FP16A is a 1 -input 6 -output distribution amplifier for routing multiple audio signal feeds without incurring losses. Featuresinclude up to 90 dB gain, and transformer -coupled XLR connectors.Price:$570.00

SOLID STATE LOGICSL 4000 G series master studio system is a multi -track music recording and mixing system available with 24 to 72input/output channel, full dynamics processing and G Series EQ. Also G Series Studio Computer and Tot al Recall TM.Price:On request.

SL 5000 M series audio production system is a stereo broadcast, on -air, continuity and post -production system based on amodular cassette structure. Up to 96 channels, accepts G Series Studio Computer, Total Recall TM and Ir stant Reset TM.Price:On request.

SL 5000 M series film post -production system is a modular, cassette based film console system, available in configurationsfor ADR/Foley, premixing, music scoring, final mix, video post -production, and multi -operator film dubbing. Up to 96channels, optional moving fader automation, accepts G Series Studio Computer, Total Recall TM and Instant Reset TM.Price:On request.

SL 6000 G series stereo video system is a stereo music, video and teleproduction system with 24 to 72 input/outputchannels, full dynamics processing and G Series EQ. Also G Series Studio Computer and Total Recall TM automation.Price:On request

SONY COMMUNICATIONS PRODUCTS COMPANY, PROFESSIONAL AUDIO DIVISION-See our ad on page 16 and 17

MXP-3056 VF audio recording/remixing console is intended primarily for use in recording studios. It has 56 channels whichallows for interfacing with the Sony PCM-3348 digital audio multi -track recorder. Each input/output modu e features modularequalizers and mic/line pre -amplifiers. The Audio Group Master (AGM) function allows for audio grouping on the ACN busas well as conventional in -line operation.Price:up to $190 000.00 depending on configuration

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MXP-3036 VF is designed with a vacuum fluorescent (VF) light meter that displays various selectable scales including VU,BBC Peak, Din Peak, Nordic Peak and a d.c. scale. This d.c. scale indicates fader position in the automated version of theMXP-3036 VE The automated version includes Version 2.0 software and optional wild faders that permit a user to increasethe number of effects in a mix.Price:up to $110,000.00 depending on configuration

MXP-3000 series also has the MXP-3036 and the MXP-3040 in addition to the two consoles mentioned above. Featurescommon to all models include user configureable with a choice of 5 different equalizers, 4 different mic pre -amplifiers and ahard disc automation.Price:MXP-3036-up to $99,000.00 depending on configurationMXP-3020-up to $40,000.00 depending on configuration

MXP-2900 series audio consoles are available at 8, 16, 26, and 36 channel frames. These consoles are designed forbroadcast and post -production applications. Features include 2 independent stereo outputs, 4 stereo internal monitor inputs,and video editor, interface capability.Price:On request.

MXP-290 is an 8 -channel audio mixer. It can be controlled from the Sony BVE-900 editing control unit. Features include trimcontrol for each balanced mic/line input, built-in 3 -band EQ and VU meters with 15 segments of LEDs.Price:On request.

MXP210 8 -channel audio mixer is designed for audio -for -video applications. It features built-in 3 -band EQ and low-cut filter,as well as 2 -way operation (a.c. or external d.c. 12V).Price:On request.

MX-P61VU is a 12 -channel audio mixer. It is equipped with 12 mic/line inputs and 4 line outputs. Features include: built-in 1kHz test tone for precise level setting, high -cut and low-cut filters for convenient bandwidth limiting, and a.c./d.c. operation.Price:$10,675.00

SOUNDCRAFT ELECTRONICS (JBL PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS)TS12 is a 24 -track in -line recording console with each channel having electronically -balanced mic/line preamps, 4 -bandparametric EQ and 6 aux. sends with source selection. Each group module includes separate stereo effects return. Can befitted with TS12 Automation System. VU or LED metering optional.Price:range from $33,100.00 to $51,100.00

Series 6000 is 16- or 24 -bus recording console with optional MIDI computer retrofit. Each input has 6 independent sendsand 4 -band EQ with 2 sweepable mids. Features include PFL and true solo -in -place, low crosstalk routing matrix, silentelectronic muting. Consoles available in 16-56 inputs.Price:ranges from $16,300.00 to $48,875.00

Series 8000 is a live console featuring 48 -band parametric EQ, 8 aux. sends, direct routing, VCA subgrouping, LED inputmetering or three-way panning option for theater use. Consoles range from 16- to 40 -channel inputs.Price:ranges from $18,785.00 to $41,500.00.

200BNE is an 8-24 input recording consoles with balanced lin/mic inputs, assignable input channels directly to the foursubgroup buses and stereo mix bus. Four aux. sends selectable as pre-EQ/pre fader, or post fader. Has 48V phantompower, individual channel inserts, balanced left/right output separate with control room output.Price:ranges from $5,290 to $12,230

SOUNDTRACS-PLC SAMSON TECHNOLOGIES CORP.ERIC production console is a 24 bus split configuration digitally routed console with a high analog specification that isavailable in 32, 40 and 48 input sizes. It has the following features: software controlled features which include routing,muting, mic/line switching, PFL, in place solo, and record ready function (facilitating automated drop ins), all may be syncedto time code in addition the 24 groups duplicate the line inputs providing up to 72 inputs for mixdown.Price:

op(r) On request.

In line series contains a 32 bus console primarily suited to multi -channel recording with functional facilities fcr mixing. Dualline inputs are provided in addition to a mic on each channel which contains 8 aux. sends, 6 mono and 1 st areo. Mastermuting facilitates the pre-programming of 2 groups of channel mutes. Mix noise is better than -82 dB. Patchoay is standard.Price:On request.

PC series MID mixer is an "in -line" mixer available in 16 and 24 input configurations with 16 or 8 bus outs. I includes MIDImuting on all inputs, monitors, masters, and auxiliaries, which may be programmed or written in real time or as up to 100patches. Dual line inputs enable effects to be returned to the channel allowing up to 56 channels on remix. E:xternal functionallows changing of MIDI patches on remote equipment from console.Price:On request.

Prism is a 24 -bus inline with computer automation of channels and auxiliaries. Dual line inputs as well as a inic input oneach channel, 4 -band parametric EQ, 8 aux inputs, monitor fader assignable as a group fader.Price:On request.

MRX is a tradRional split console available in 24, 32, 40, 26 w/patchbay and 34 w/patchbay frame sizes. Ful 16 trackmetering and monitoring, 4 -band EQ, switchable pre/post fade, illuminated solo and mute switching.Price:On request.

STUDER/REVOX -See our ad on page 15A779 is a compact mixing console with 6 mono and 6 stereo inputs, 1 aux bus, 12 main outputs.Price:$3,995.00

961/962 is for remote recording and broadcast production. Features include up to 16 inputs, 4 master outputs, 2 aux. inputs,an optional editor interface is available, 3 -band EQ on each input, compressor/limiter on outputs. A variety of meteringoptions are available.Price:ranges from $12,500 and up

963 is a recording console available with 16 to 56 inputs, up to 8 subgroups, 2-4 masters, 3 -band EQ on each input,compressor/limiter on outputs. Alternate input modules, metering, monitor mixers, and machine remotes aie available.Price:$35,000 and up

900 series consoles can be configured for on -air TV, production use, or multi -track recording. Features inc.uded 12-60 inputswith 3- or 4 -band EQ, mono or stere inputs, stereo master, GML or Mastermix automation is available, outputs havecompressor/limiters.Price:$42,000 and up.

SUNNMX4100 Ser es stereo sound reinforcement mixing console is available in 8, 12, and 16 -channel versions with 3 -bandchannel EQ, 2 aux./efx sends, phantom power, gain and pan control.Price:MX4108-$829.99MX4112-$' ,039.99MX4116-$1,249.99MX4200 Series stereo sound reinforcement mixing console is available in 12 and 16 -channel versions with 3 -band channelEQ, 3 aux./mon. sends with pre -post assignments, gain and pan controls dual in/out channel patch, cue, phantom power.Price:MX4212-$1,449.99MX4216-$1,749.99PX2100 Series stereo powered sound reinforcement mixing console is available in 8, 12, and 16 -channel versions with 250wattsx2 at Z. ohm, 3 -band channel EQ, 3 aux./mon. sends, dual in/out channel patch, dual 10 -band grapf is EQ.Price:PX2108-$1,649.99PX2112-$1,849.99PX2116-$2,149.99

a-,

TASCAM, TEAC PROFESSIONAL DIVISION -See our ad on pages 6 thru 9M-700 Recording/Production console contains the following features: 40 -channel I/O console, 32 groups, quad (dual stereo)mix buses, 12 aux. send buses (2 stereo, 8 mono), 4 -band EQ, high/low sweep, mid high, mid low parametric, variablehigh-pass filter, 3 group mutes, integral patchbay and producers desk, automation ready.Price:$69,999.00

M-600 Series modular recording/production console contains the following features: 16 group, stereo mic modular consolethat may be configured with any combination of mono or stereo input modules, and a choice of single or dial monitormodules. It has 4 -band EQ, 8 aux. send buses, 2 -dedicated effects returns. Minimum configuration is 16 mono inputs with16 tape returns. Maximum configuration 32 stereo inputs with 32 tape returns. Third party automation available.Price:$12,999.00

MM -1 Keyboard mixers has 1 stereo line input, and 16 mono line inputs each with a trim control with 40 dB of gain. There isincluded 2 -band EQ on each channel, small rack mount or table top operation, 4 effects sends, 4 stereo returns, direct outson each channel, individual channel mute and solo, group mutes through 99 scene presets, MIDI control of individual andgroup muting.Price:$1,099.00

M-106 mixer has 6 stereo line input channels and 6 outputs, 2 -band EQ, 1 aux. send bus, 8 mic inputs, RIAA EQ on lineinputs 1 and 2, 1 effect return.Price:$699.00

M-200 Series PA/recording consoles are compact 1 group stereo mix consoles with 8, 16, or 24 -input channels, 3 -band EQ,

returns. The M-208 can be rack mounted.Price:$1,199.00 to $2,599.00

M-3500 Series recording/PA consoles are stereo mix consoles. There is a choice of 24 or 32 -input channels, 8 tape returnsin the dedicated monitor section, separate mic/line trim controls, 3 -band EQ, 4 aux. send buses, 2 effect returns, full solosystem with AFL or PFL, phantom power.Price:$7,499 to $8,499.00

M-3008 series are for recording or sound reinforcement and offer 8, 12, or 20 input channels, 5 submix systems, 8 tapereturns and 3 -band EQ.Price:Dependent on configuration.

M-520 recording consoles have 8 group stereo mix consoles with 10 input channels, 16 monitor returns, 4 aux. sends.Price:$6,999.00

YAMAHA MUSIC CORPORATION OF AMERICA, PROFESSIONAL AUDIO DIVISION-See our ad on Cover III

PM3000-24/32/40C Series is available in 24, 32 or 40 inputs and has the following features: 8 group buses, 8 aux. buses(each pre/off/post) and separate stereo bus, VCA assignable grouping with 8 submasters with automation interface, 8 busmuting master system with safety override. The XLR inputs are differentially balanced with 34 dB trim and 5 position pad foroptimizing gain structure. There is also a 4 -band parametric EQ with variable high-pass filters on each input plus 2 -band EQon the 4 stereo aux. returns, a 11 x 8 mix matrix, insert point selectable in/out on each input, extensive cue and solo system,a comprehensive talkback system with full intercom capability, VU metering, phantom power individually selectable on eachmic input.Price:PM3000-24-$33,500.00PM3000-32-$38,500.00

r- PM3000-40C-$44,500.00

PM2800M-32/40-C series is available with 32 or 40 inputs and the following features: 8 group buses, 4 aux. buses, signalassignment for the input channels via level control, 8 master mute groups with mute assign switches, 4 matrix mixes withlevel for all 8 channels, stereo L & R level and master. The XLR inputs are differentially balanced with 34 dB tim and3 -position pad for optimizing gain structure. There is also a 4 -band parametric EQ with variable high-pass filters on eachinput, extensive cue and solo system, comprehensive talkback system with full intercom capability, VU metering system,phantom power individually selectable on each mic input.Price:PM2800M-32-$31,500.00PM2800-40C-$36,000.00

PM1200-16/24/32 have 16, 24, or 32 inputs, 6 primary mixing buses, 3 -band EQ with sweepable midband, 4 mute groups,stereo input channels, 4 aux buses, switchable pre -/post -fader, interface permits 2 consoles to be connectec together.Price:PM1200-16-$6,000.00PM1200-24-$7,500.00PM1200-32-$8,500.00

DMP7 digital mixing processor has all digital mixing and signal processing with analog inputs/outputs. Feati.res include 3onboard DSPs (Digital Signal Processors), digital 3 -band parametric EQ on each channel, preset memories: 32 internal, 67external via supplied RAM cartridge, motorized multi -function faders, digital stereo output compressor, MIDI :ontrol of presetchanges and parameter manipulations, 4 bar -graph meters and LCD parameter read-out. A digital cascade input/output tiesmultiple units together.Price:On reqest.

DMP7D digital mixing processor has all digital mixing and signal processing with digital inputs and outputs, 3 on -boardDSPs, digital 3 -bank parametric EQ on each channel, preset memories: 32 internal, 67 external via supplied RAM cartridge,motorized multi -function faders, digital stereo output compressor, MIDI control of preset changes and parametermanipulations 4 bar -graph meters and LCD parameter read-out. A digital cascade input/output ties multiple units together.Price:$5,995.00

DMP11 digital mixing processor has all digital mixing and signal processing with analog inputs/outputs, 2 on -board DSPs,digital 3 -band parametric EQ on each channel, preset memories: 32 internal, 67 external via supplied RAM cartridge, digitalstereo output compressor, MIDI control of preset changes and parameter manipulations, 4 bar -graph meter3 and LCDparameter read-out. A digital cascade input/output ties multiple units together. This unit is a rack mount size.Price:$2,395.00

M406 sound mixer has among its features: 6 channels, with 3 -band EQ and 6 -position input level controls, high gain (84 dB)for full output, stereo program output with L & R master controls, echo/effects send bus with master send control, 2 effectsinputs, each with level and pan control, dual illuminated VU meters with peak indicators, right VU meter and headphoneoutput switchable to monitor program or echo output, rack mountable with front panel power switch.Price:$1,395.00

MC1204/1604/2404 series is available with 12, 16 or 24 inputs. It has the following features: 4 program mix buses, 2 effectsbuses, 2 foldback buses and a cue bus. Each input features a pad, gain control and peak LED for precise gain matching.There is also 4 -band EQ with the two mid -bands featuring quasi -parametric control, foldback 1 and 2, and ECHO 1 and 2strappable pre/post EQ, channel ON (mute), is post cue for proper cue monitoring, complete talkback system, illuminatedVU meters, each with peak LEDs, phantom power available for mic inputs.Price:MC1204-$2,695.00; MC1604-$3,295.00; MC2024-$4,395.00; MC2404M-$4,395.00 (stage monitor)

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Allen & Heath5 Connair RoadOrange, CT 06477

Amek Tac10815 Burbank BoulevardNorth Hollywood, CA 91601

ARX SystemsP.O. Box 842Silverado, CA 92676-0842

Audio-Technica1221 Commerce DriveStow, OH 44224

Auditronics, Inc.3750 Old Getwell RoadMemphis, TN 38118

Carvin Corporation1155 Industrial AvenueEscondido, CA 92025

DOD Electronics5639 South Riley LaneSalt Lake City, UT 84107

Electro-Voice, Inc.600 Cecil StreetBuchanan, MI 49107

Furman Sound30 Rich StreetGreenbrae, CA 94904

Hill Audio Inc.5002 B N. Royal Atlanta DriveTucker, GA 30084

ADDRESSES

Industrial ResearchProducts , Inc.409-415 Busse RoadElk Grove Village, Ill. 60007

Industrial StrengthIndustries13042 East Moore StreetCerritos, CA 90701

JBL ProfessionalP.O. Box 22008500 Balboa BoulevardNorthridge, CA 91329

Klark-Teknik ElectronicsInc.30B Banfi Plaza NorthFarmingdale, NY 11735

NeveBerkshire Industrial ParkBethel, CT 06801

Panasonic/Ramsa6550 Katella AvenueCypress, CA 90630

Peavey ElectronicCorporation711 A StreetMeridian, MS 39301

Quad Eight Electronics,Inc.27771 Avenue HopkinsValencia, CA 91355

Ramko Research3501-4 Sunrise BoulevardRancho Cordova, CA 95742

Samson Technologies Corp.485-19 South BroadwayHicksville, NY 11801

Shure Brothers Inc.222 Hartrey AvenueEvanston, Ill. 60204

Solid State LogicBegbrokeOxford, England OX5 1RU

Sony CommunicationsProducts CompanyProfessional Audio Division1600 Queen StreetTeaneck, NJ 07666

Studer ReVox America, Inc.1425 Elm Hill PikeNashville, TN 37210

Sunn1130 Columbia StreetBrea, CA 90640

Tascam/Teac Corporationof America7733 Telegraph RoadMontebello, CA 90640

Yamaha-Pro Audio Div.P.O. Box 6600Buena Park, CA 90622

01.444,4'

FOR SALE

"Tonmeister Technology"-thefirst book th 3: fully integrates musicand engineering in the GermanTonmeister concept. Equally usefulto recording musicians and mixers.Send $21.95 for soft, $36.95 forhard cover (plus NY tax). TernmerEnterprises Inc. 767 Greewich St.New York, NY 10014.

Ic.moincsimil sc..ticross cumociscino. SnAllsr,,.1..1

Request Catalogue 1100-343-1433 , 516-563-0633Island C 1125- I Uncoln Ay.i. Holbrook, NY 11741

SERVICES

LARSON/DAVIS ARCHITECTS Specialists in studio design &custom interiors CAD, 3D modeling & rendering onSun Microsystems workstations New construction, renovation,residential & retail services Tel: (212) 353-9005 FAX: (212)353-8444

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MAGNETIC RECORDING HEADSRELAP/REPLACEMENT for Audio,Video, Time Code, Duplication.Thirty years of head design ex-perience. IEM, 350 N. Eric Drive,Palatine, IL 60007. (708) 358-4622

Stolen: One pair E -V Sentry III Se-ries 2 loudspeakers,March 1988, possibly in MI or OH.Last seen boxed for shipping, onein original box with handmade in-serts, one in handmade box. Newcondition. One has small piece ofmissing veneer lower left rear cor-ner. Substantial reward for recov-ery. Jim DeClercq, 17144 Dawn,Roseville, MI 48066 or call (313)772-4687, (313) 825-5309 days

DAVIDSONELECTRONICS

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The Adelaide (Australia) Fes-tival Theatre has recently takendelivery of several new ARX EQ60Constant Q Dual V3rd Octave Equal-izers. House Engineer JohnMatherson extensively tested allcurrently available Equalizers andchose the EQ60s for their very lownoise and constant Q performance.Sydney FM Radio Station 2MMMhas also recently acquired two ARXEQ60 Constant Q Dual 1,/3rd OctaveEqualizers. 2MMM chose the EQ60sfor their low noise and found theirConstant Q performance ideal forcleaning up the response of several oftheir more troublesome studios.2MMM intends to update the re-mainder of their studios with EQ60sin the near future.

Courtney Spencer has beennamed vice president, ProfessionalAudio Division, as announced bySony Communications Prod-ucts Co. Spencer will oversee allsales and marketing operations andactivities of the Professional AudioDivision. He will also work closelywith and coordinate the efforts of theproduct management and servicegroups in the Sony CommunicationsProducts Co.. Spencer replaces Os-amu Tamura who is returning toJapan to assume a new position in in-ternational marketing for the SonyProfessional Products Group.

"My goal is to ensure that Sony con-tinues to improve as a company todeal with," Spencer said. "I want ourdealers and our customers to knowthat they can expect to see a highlevel of quality and support fromSony that's unparalleled in the in-dustry." Prior to his new appoint-ment, Spencer was vice president ofSales at the WaveFrame Corp., Boul-der, CO., for the past two years. Hewas also vice president and generalmanager of Martin Audio Video

Corp., a major United States profes-sional audio dealership.

David Yake of David Yake En-terprises, and the executive staff ofthe Stratford ShakespeareanFestival Theatre are pleased to an-nounce that Tannoy's dual -concen-tric loudspeakers are being installedin Stratford's 2400 -seat FestivalTheatre. A custom -coupled cluster ofsix Tannoy B50s will serve as the Fes-tival Theatre's main sound rein-forcement system. Suspended abovethe Festival's unique Shakespearean"thrust" stage, the Tannoy B50s willaddress a horizontal coverage of al-most 240 degrees. In addition to theB50 cluster, the Festival will be utiliz-ing a Tannoy T300 sub -woofer for ef-fects. The Avon Theatre has also ac-quired a T300, several B100s andB50s for their effects fan -out system.

The Indiana UniversitySchool of Music is now offering afour-year Bachelor of Science degreein Audio Recording. This is in addi-tion to the two-year Associate of Sci-ence in Audio Technology degree, of-fered since 1981. The new programseeks to fill many students' needs fora four-year Bachelor's degree andaddresses the musical aspects of re-cording, particularly the special re-quirements for recording classicalmusic.

David A. Pickett, chairman of theaudio department and director of Re-cording Arts, has bachelor's degreesin music and electronics. His doctor-ate was awarded for research on theorchestral conducting activities ofGustav Mahler. Pickett has been ac-tively involved in professional re-cording for 20 years, including nineyears as a recording engineer atEMI's Abbey Road studios in Lon-don. Wayne Jackson, manager ofAudio Operations and assistant pro-

fessor of music, has degrees in chem-istry and math, and has experience inadvanced telecommunications. Mr.Jackson has been active in the AudioTechnology program since 1978,serving as an instructor and sounddesigner for many IU Opera Theaterproductions. His sound reinforce-ment background includes work forartists as diverse as Dizzy Gillespie,Queen Ida, Jay Leno and RichardThomspson. Recording credits in-clude Focus Records releAsPs for theIU Early Music institute and fouryears as producer for the "Live fromBloomington" project, an annualbenefit for the Bloomington -basedHoosier Hills food bank. Admissionto the new degree program is com-petitive and will be based on musicand scientific skills and interests,and aptitude for recording studies inserious music. Students will be as-sessed thoroughly during their firstexploratory semester, and constantlyevaluated thereafter. The explor-atory semester has been in use forseveral years as a means of selectingstudents for the associate degree pro-grams, and has proven most helpful.Full details of the admission proce-dure may be obtained by writing theAudio Department, School of Music,Indiana University, Bloomington,IN, 47405, USA.

Sandra Hale, 10 -year advertis-ing veteran, has joined StuderReV-ox America (SRA) as a PR/CopyWriter. For the past six years, Halehas written numerous assignmentsfor the broadcast and print media. Inmaking the announcement, SRAPresident Tore Nordahl said, "Herrecent affiliation with broadcast andstudio product as well as her strongwriting and creative skills will un-doubtedly be a great asset to our com-pany."

A congregationcomes to church forinspiration. To beuplifted. Moved.

All can be lostif the people in back

cant understand the sermon. Or hear the musicthe choir has rehearsed all week.

Hence, the EMX Series Powered Mixersfrom Yamaha. Models come with 6, 8, or 12inputs and include everything you'll need to makesure the congregation gets the message in thespirit it was intended.

Like digital reverberation that will adda touch of majesty to the music. A graphicequalizer so that the system response can be

finely tailored and the feedback controlled. And alow distortion, high -power amplifier section thatwill help deliver a more powerful message.

Put all these components together in a singleunit, and you've got a sound system that's almostas easy to operate as it is to listen to.

Just contact the authorized Yamaha SoundContractor or Professional Audio dealer nearestyou and ask about the EMX Series PoweredMixer. You couldn't ask for more.

Yamaha Corporation of America, ProfessionalAudio Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA90622-6600.

YAMAHAProfessional Audio Division

We've built everythinginto our new mixer except

the speakers.

When it comes to microphones, morecongregations depend on Shure than any other brand

There's a good reason why Shure micro-phones are -he fist chcice I -congregationsaround the .vorlc. Qiite sitapIT, no one hasever matched Siluresrecord for deliveringgood sound anddependability at at_

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and is strongertoday_than ever.

Whether you needa microphone for thepulpit, the choir, vocalsoloists, the activity hall, a anything else,Shure has a model perfectly designed and suit-ed for the pixpose. A.nd D117 economical newL Series wireless mizrophone systems offer the

sound industry's best combination of reliabilityand value.

You don't have to become a microphoneexpert to make a wisebuying decision. Justsend for oar free catalogand microphone selec-tion guide. Then dowhat thousands ot con-gregations have donefor decades. Dependon microphones withthe name teat meansquality: Shure.

For your free copyof our catalog and guide, call 1-800-257-4873(in Illinois, 1-800-624-8522). Or write ShureBrothers Inzorporated, Deprunent 1563-CP,222 Harney Avenue, Evanston. IL 60202-3696.

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41.1110.1",

rjTFiE SCLND OF THE PROFESSIONALS ...WORLDWIDE


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