What I had not really thought about, until now, is that there is potential for uplink speeds at the same sort of rate.  Most wireless network users stick almost exclusively to downloads, beyond sending a simple email or calling up a web page.

It is the uplink speed that is now revolutionizing electronic news gathering.  Using the commonly available 4G wireless networks, it is now possible for a reporter or camera man to upload high definition video in real time using nothing more cumbersome than a cell phone.

Combine that with a portable HD video camera and a wireless mic, and you have the ability to get real time video on the air from anyplace where there is a 4G cellular signal.  It can actually replace a satellite uplink truck!

Since the signal path is local (phone to tower to network) there is less latency (delay) than you experience with a satellite uplink, where the signal travels for hundreds of miles.  Power consumption is minimal and everything a reporter needs in the field can fit into a small backpack.

Satellite uplink trucks may well be the next victim of the internet.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and HB  extension cordsand OnStage Stand mic stands.

We were talking about in-ear-monitors, those little ear pieces that you see lots of performers wearing.  In may cases, they have completely replaced the bulky and loud floor monitors that have been in use for many years to help musicians hear themselves and each other.

My friend was ordering batteries for his company’s in ear monitoring systems (iem’s) and I told him that I was surprised that they owned any, since I had been under the impression that most musicians carried their own systems.

He told me that performers still get their own custom molded ear pieces, but that fewer and fewer of them were carrying complete systems.  Instead, they were choosing to have the sound companies provide most of the hardware.

One of the reasons that pro audio has become such a big business is because musicians were simply never very good at dealing with the technical side of the performance.  They have a completely different set of skills.

I migrated from performing to being a sound person because I was the only one in the band who was interested in setting up speaker arrays, wiring stages and driving trucks. Being “first in and last out” is not  high on the list of most performers priorities.

This attitude seemed to have extended itself into the area of  personal in ear monitoring.  My friend shared with me how often musicians were showing up with broken monitoring equipment, mismatched components and systems that they did not understand how to operate.  It finally dawned on him that the only way to solve the problem was to invest on some systems himself and make them available to touring performers.

Problem solved and a new revenue stream created.

As long as concert performers require complicated technical systems to communicate with their audiences, the place of the pro audio company is safe.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and HB  extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

While it turns out that what the audience saw was just some clever computer generated editing and projection by a company called Digital Domain.  The producers and the event promoters attempted to convince the audience that Tupac’s appearance was a hologram, but in reality, it was just a very clever projection produced by a company called AV Concepts.

This virtual performance was the latest take on 35 mm film presentations like Natalie Cole’s live film duet with her father Nat on her version of the hit song “Unforgettable” back in the 1990′s.

After seeing how much attention has been devoted to this re-purposing of a 19th century magicians trick, it is probably time to consider whether a concert going audience would actually accept a “virtual” performance and pay for it.

Since the Coachella show was such a hit, there is not talk about an arena tour that would feature Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog in a full blown concert with a virtual Tupac.

Read more about how this show was put together by clicking here.

____________________

Quick update-Two morons explain how this was done.  Skip  to 3:30 to bypass the mindless discussion.

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When you are producing concerts and other outdoor events you find yourself either using a noisy and smoky construction generator, a too small extension cord run from the nearest building, or waiting forever for an electrician to install a temporary (and very expensive)service panel.  None are a good solution.

Kleege Industries, a long time player in mobile staging, has created a new and potentially revolutionary solution to this problem with their Helios 250 mobile stage.

This 32′x24′ mobile stage and load bearing roof is equipped with a 5000 watt solar array that generates enough power to operate a full size concert sound system.

It was tested extensively on last year’s Country Throwdown Tour with Willie Nelson, and according to a Kleege press release, it performed flawlessly.  It is also equipped with a backup biodiesel generator, but the genset was not needed a single time.

The Helios 250 is a collaboration with Sustainable Waves, a leader in the field of alternative energies.  They adapted their solar array technology to Kleege’s mobile stage to create a staging solution that works for a show anywhere the sun shines.  Onboard battery storage even allows the show to continue after dark.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and HB  extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

Future mics need to be more digital and more controllable.

The article goes on to point out the obvious, that sound is inherently analog, involving the moving of air and that there is no electrical signal to digitize until the physical energy of moving air is converted into an electric current.

While there are seemingly unlimited opportunities to digitally manage and manipulate sound after it has been converted to electricity, the beginning of this signal chain is going to stay analog until it is possible to capture the electrical impulses in our brains that turn into sound before any air is actually moved.

Consequently, it does not seem possible for “future mics to be more digital“, since whatever a device may do to sound after it is digitized, that device is not a microphone, no matter what you may call it.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and HB  extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Yes, we do sell analog microphones.

I had resisted using the online versions of some of these journals because they were cumbersome and did not lend themselves to being used in the way I normally like to read.

Recent upgrades in the subscription version of  Mix Magazine (Mix Online) have made me rethink how good digital magazines can be.  This journal for audio professionals has a cover price of $2.95 for the printed version, but is available free to those in the trade.

The  internet subscription version of Mix is different from their web site, Mixonline.com, and you must subscribe in order to access the full blown digital journal.  It’s still free, but instead of simply going to the Mix site, you access the online journal through a special url that arrives through email.

This adaptation is fully searchable, has an active table of contents, and can be scrolled page-by-page the same way you would read the printed verson.

It even has a handy “help” feature that lets you set up the pages in the manner that works best for your reading style.

Mix is a big magazine with lots of good original content, and while it is advertiser supported, their editorial policy appears to be one that does not unfairly favor the companies whose ads appear along with well generated content.

It even has a zoom feature that keeps from from having to reach for my glasses.

If you want to take a look before you  subscribe, just click here.

Goodbuyguys.com is a collection of web sites (including buytape.com, buybattery.com,buymicstand.com, buyextensioncord.com, buyaflashlight.com and buywireties.com) designed to deliver a great selection of production supplies.

The end of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament last night brought another revelation regarding where the television is headed.  Here’s one more reason to not count on the future of tv manufacturers.

I signed up for the NCAA  “March Madness” computer app (the first smart phone app I have ever bought) so that I could watch UNC play their first round game from my office, where I have no television.  I ended up watching another one of their games online in the round of 16 as well, since CBS opted to not broadcast it.  The app was not particularly well designed, but it was better than the radio, and I made it through the game.

Last night I was doing some work at home at my desk when I realized that the championship game was about to start.  Even though there is a big screen high def television in the same room as my desk, I found myself logging on to my NCAA “March Madness” account and watching the game (buffering, countless ads, jerkiness and all) rather than turning on the televison, because I needed to continue working.

It seems that convenience and content trumped high quality.  I didn’t even realize what I had done until the game was over.

As more and more content becomes available online, whether free or paid, the use of a dedicated device that only does one thing, like a television, seems doomed, regardless of the quality of the viewing experience.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and HB  extension cordsand OnStage Stand mic stands. Need an extension cord for your obsolete big screen tv?  We got ‘em!

Now the offer is set to end.  The last day for a qualifying purchase is March 31.

This offer is part of a larger campaign that Duracell has developed to promote its sponsorship of the 2012 Olympic games in London this summer.

Their latest effort, “Rely On Copper To Go For The Gold” will feature athletes in training for the London games.  The elite athletes will share their personal stories and appear in video and print ads that let the world know what it takes to make the Olympics.

You can see some of these athletes in training at the Duracell Youtube Channel, and don’t forget about the gift card promotion.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and HB extensioncordsand OnStage Stand mic stands.

Recently, I have completed a home security system using four internet-enabled robotic cameras that cost about $60 each and can be controlled remotely by my smartphone.

I can’t believe how well it works, and once the cameras are purchased, there are no monthly charges.

Here’s what I did.

The wireless security cameras can be placed anywhere within the range of your home computer network’s wireless router (usually a range of up to about 100 feet). Data connection  to the router is wireless, but the cameras will need power from a standard wall outlet or extension cord.

Once the router is configured (a complicated process, but it only has to be done once), the cameras can be accessed through a standard web browser that can be run on any desktop computer, smart phone or tablet computer.  That means that you can see what the cameras see from any internet enabled device.

After downloading a free app (advertising supported), to your mobile device (works on both Apple and Android smart phones and tablets) you can see what the camera sees on your mobile device screen, pan and tilt the camera and set it to automatically record for a preset length of time if its motion detector senses activity.

It even sends me an email with an image of what it is seeing when the motion detector is activated.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and HB extensioncordsand OnStage Stand mic stands.

I told him that I was in the business of selling extension cords, and the conversation quickly turned to his assessment of how China was moving to become the world’s dominant player the copper trade.

A recent article in Bloomberg Business Week brought me back to that conversation.

The article was titled “Copper: China’s Red Gold“, and it lays out in detail how China is aggressively moving to control as much of the world’s supply of this common metal as they can and how no other governments seem to be paying attention.

China has spent over $100 billion buying up mining and energy companies since 2008 and at least $5 billion of that has been for copper mining reserves all over the world.

Why should you care?

If you are in the sound, lighting, concert or special event industry, copper cable is central to your life.  While it is possible to move the transmission of low voltage data to fiber, the only practical method for moving the high energy required for lighting stages and pushing speakers is copper.  If you need to move high amperage electricity from one place to another (like a dimmer rack to a lighting fixture or an amplifier to a speaker cabinet), then copper is your only choice.

Modern large scale concerts and major theatrical events depend on tons and tons of copper cable, and it looks like that in the future this is a market that the Chinese will control.

Back to my airline seatmate.  His company was so focused on their African mining project that he expected to be on the job for at least two years before he was given a break to visit his family back in China.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties.  We sell copper cables from Hosa, Mitee and Century Wire & Cable.

The teleprompter tech was the last to show up, got to spend his time working directly with the corporate executives, and had his gear packed up and was on his way to the airport an hour after the show was over.  It might have not been the most exciting job in show business, but it definitely was the easiest.

I came across a new application for the IPAD today that puts a whole teleprompter into a brief case. Using the Ipad with some proprietary software and something as simple as a microphone stand, anybody can create a prompter on their own.

Even better, you can download a free app from the Apple Store and with a piece of glass, you can make your own for about $5.00.  It even makes use of the IPAD box!

And, of course, you’ll need duct tape.

Here’s a video that shows you how.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and HB extensioncordsand OnStage Stand mic stands.

An article I read today might just turn me in to a skeptic again.  It details the decision of a Tennessee church to upgrade their sound system by using a computer (PC) based digital mixer that they put together by assembling components themselves that use the processor and other capabilities of a standard desktop computer to control their sound system.

The director of audio for the church estimates that they saved about $15,000 by taking this route, getting a high end digital mixer with 48 inputs and 48 outputs for just $6000.

It all sounded great until I got to the part where they talked about using a Dell computer for the heart of their system.  I’ve never used a desktop computer that didn’t deliver up the “blue screen of death” or otherwise do something that demanded rebooting at least once a day.

I’ll be surprised if this solution to sound system upgrading proves to be workable.

“He Is Risen” takes on a whole new meaning if life after death requires a three minute boot cycle.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and HB extensioncordsand OnStage Stand mic stands.

I think that Apple is missed their opportunity and this will never happen.

I remember how excited my family was when we got our first high definition tv.  I hooked up a computer, interfaced a dvd player and our old vcr, subscribed to satellite tv and installed an antenna on the roof to get broadcast HD programs. We even have surround sound with a sub-woofer!

The thing hasn’t been on in weeks and I can’t remember the last time either of my kids sat down in the family room to watch television.

It is clear that they would all rather watch whatever they are watching on their laptops, their smart phones or their IPads.  The ability to watch what they want, when they want to, and wherever they are is clearly much more valuable than a big screen, good quality audio, and a high definition image.

That is not going to change, and no matter how “smart” and interconnected an Apple television might be, they are too late.

And the high definition tv in our family room  that cost $900.  You can now by a comparable unit for $199!

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and HB  extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Need an extension cord for your obsolete big screen tv?  We got ‘em!

It is good to see that line array speaker cabinet technology is now widely embraced by system installers (both new and upgrades) and the overall improvement in sound quality is quickly evident.

What is also evident, unfortunately, is how ugly many of these installations are, especially those that are retrofitted into existing spaces.

I can understand how an installer (i used to do sound system installations myself) might think that a half dozen black speaker cabinets hung against a white or light colored background might look “beautiful”.  After all, he probably risked life and limb in a personnel lift to get the system in place and knows that the sound in the room has been dramatically improved.

How difficult would it have been to paint the new cabinets in a matching or complementary color?  Apparently, pretty difficult, since nobody does it.

I realize that I’m not just talking about a can of Krylon spray paint here, but the results of a good quality paint job can pay off for years.  A smart installer knows that he can gain a competitive advantage at bid opening time if his proposal is the only one that takes how the new speaker hang will look when the install is finished.

Metal speaker grills instead of fabric and recessed rigging hardware and connector plates both make doing a quality paint job easier and there is inexpensive spary equipment on the market that is easy to use.

Next time you are listening to one of these “in your face” sound system installations, close your eyes for a minute and see how much better it would sound if you could just hear it instead of seeing it.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. We are proud to feature speaker cables from Mitee Cables.

I subscribe to a lot of them, and no matter how hard I try, I get behind in my reading.

I picked up the July edition of Front of House to read over lunch and was pleased to see two prominent North Carolina companies featured.

Special Events Services, from Winston-Salem, provided their new Martin Audio MLA sound system to support Oprah’s final television shows-Oprah’s Surprise Spectacular-at Chicago’s United Center Arena.  This was one of the most highly anticipated television broadcasts of the year, and SES and Martin Audio made sure that the audience heard every word.  Click here for the details.

SE Systems, headquartered in Greensboro, was featured in celebration of their 24th year as the exclusive technical support vendor for Merelfest, a major bluegrass and traditional music festival.  Click here to read the article.

We’re proud to call these two great companies customers and tip our hat to Front of House for their recognition.

Goodbuyguys.com is a collection of web sites (including buytape.com, buybattery.com,buymicstand.com, buyextensioncord.com, buyaflashlight.com and buywireties.com) designed to deliver a great selection of production supplies.

More and more lawyers offices and courts are struggling with the technical demands of media coverage and the need for tech savy technicians in the courtroom. Many courthouses date back to the earlier half of the twentieth century and they are woefully behind when it comes to providing the kind of support that is now expected by the legal profession, the media and the public. Its not unusual to enter a courtroom now and find mic cables and extension cordsheld down with gaffers tape all over the room. If the proceedings are high profile, this tangle of cables may stream out the door, down the stairs and out into the street.

The need for audio visual supplies now often extends back to the attorneys’ offices as well. Many law firms have whole departments that are involved in preparing presentation materials for courtroom work. This now extends far beyond the realm of flip charts to include professionally produced videos, wireless mics, enhanced audio recordings and computer-based presentations.

While it is unfortunate that these technical demands may be overwhelming the courtroom, its a great thing that high tech tools are available to participants in the cases.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties,Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.Look to us first to meet your audio visual supply needs.

I have always been amused at how the live events industry has allowed such practices as referring to sound persons as “engineers“, and this is a good example of how the special events production industry has evolved outside of the mainstream.  Real engineers have college degrees, face rigorous testing and must be licensed before they ply their trade.  All a sound “engineer” needs is a Sharpie and a Maglite!  You need an architect, a licensed contractor and a building permit to add a bathroom to your house, but you can build a six story tall temporary structure in the midst of 10,000 people by just being lucky enough to win the bid.

I was in the outdoor staging business for many years, and must disclose, upfront, that I was guilty of more than one questionable decision, because we are all so deeply committed to the concept that “the show must go on“.  I am now amazed that over a period of more than 20 years no one ever asked me who designed this roof, who built this stage, and what are their qualifications?

Somewhere along the way, our commitment to hard work and quick thinking have managed to allow us to escape the scrutiny (government and otherwise) that similar industries must submit to every day.  Those days are likely nearing an end.

We used to joke that building stages was like having a construction job without a lunch break.  The joke should have also included “and without a permit“. The building of temporary structures puts performers and audience members at the same sort of risk they would be exposed to when shows are in permanent buildings, but the fly-by-night nature (I don’t mean this in a derogatory manner, since we literally do “fly-by-night)  of what we do has allowed it to escape the inspection and permitting process.

The evolution of stage roofs from being a tent over a flat bed truck to massive structures like that one in Indiana has happened in rapid fashion, and the notion that an unlicensed contractor can hang thousands of pounds over the heads of audience members and performers without being subjected to formal training, licensing and inspection now must come to an end.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords, OnStage Stand mic stands, and lots of other useful production supplies.

We enjoy working with our local schools and are particularly proud to be involved with the arts curriculum at Northwood High School, the school my daughter attends.  They are finishing up a series of special events this week and we applaud them for their hard work.

Periodically, I have pointed out the phenomenon I call the “graying” of the concert production industry.  Lots of hands-on techs who got their start in sound and lighting began their careers in the 1970′s and ’80′s and are now looking at retirement or career changes.  Unfortunately, there are not a lot of kids ready to take their places.

If you read the trade journals that cover the concert production industry,  you know that a very high percentage of the articles feature technicians in their 50′s or even 60′s.

My work at Northwood High confirms this trend.  Northwood has a newly renovated auditorium with state of the art sound and lighting systems.  Twenty years ago, there would have been students crawling all over each other to get a chance to learn to operate this equipment.

Not today. Northwood has hundreds of kids involved in band, dance and drama but almost no students who want to work backstage or in the production booth.  They simply don’t see it as a college or career track.

We have recently developed a series of “how to” animations related to teaching technical theatre skills, along with a set of printed guides.

It is our hope little things like this, along with our involvement in training students and teaching tech skills, will open the eyes of some of these high school students to the possibilities of an exciting career path that will soon have lots of employment opportunities.

If you have technical skills and are making a career change, give some thought to sharing all you’ve learned with your local high school arts program.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords andOnStage Stand mic stands. We’re passionate about arts education in the public schools.

Dell has joined giants like Google and Microsoft in the fight to control wireless spectrum, but it appears that they are trying to come in the back door.

Forbes reports that Dell founder Michael Dell is quietly buying up bankrupt local television stations.  It seems unlikely that Dell will be hiring weather girls and operating traffic cams, so the speculation is that they are attempting to acquire the broadcast spectrum that the FCC licences to these local broadcasters.  As the value of allocated frequencies continues to rise, Dell may be trying to position itself as a “player” by acquiring rights to spectrum not through FCC auctions like the other major players, but rather by buying into local markets one at a time.

It is difficult to see how this may work in Dell’s favor in the long run, as their attempts to move into consumer broadcast businesses like television and cell phones has not met with much success.

Even less obvious, but perhaps more important, Dell may become a major player (or at least a thorn in the side) as the FCC continues work on a database that can be used by wireless microphone users to locate available spectrum in the locales where they are operating.

You can read more about this discussion here.

Over the last 25 years we have continued to see consolidation of manufacturing and brand names in a process that should have made information easier to obtain, but, instead have made it more and more difficult.

In the early years of our company a roll of tape (gaffers, duct, cloth, paper, you name it) was two inches wide and 60 yards long. Seems like it had been that way forever.

The first major change was reducing roll sizes to a metric dimension (55 mm) from imperial (2 inch), but the industry continued to refer to the products as two inches.

Following that change came a number of consolidations among manufacturers and converters who held on to parts of a product’s name or description but not others. Perhaps the most obvious example came when Shurtape (which already made and branded gaffers tape) bought the rights to Permacel’s line of gaffers tapes. In addition to making their own brand of tape, Shurtape was also the maker of Permacel 665 and Permacel Professional Grade gaffers tape. A couple of years later, the Shurtape’s rights to use the Permacel brand expired, but they continued to make the product, rebranded as Shurtape A&E Gaffers Tape while continuing to make the Shurtape brand as well.

As if that was not confusing enough, lots of vendors (primarily online) continue to call these products Permacel years after the brand was gone.

Now, to add to the confusion, Shurtape and their distribution partner, Pro Tapes & Specialties, have downsized the standard roll of gaffers tape from 60 yards to 55 yards. Most web sites that sell these products still describe them as 60 yard rolls, even though they have been shipping the 55 yard rolls for almost a month.

With so much information in control of so many providers, some of whom don’t seem to think the details really matter, it is unlikely that there will ever be a “standard” roll of gaffers tape ever again.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

I was disappointed to learn that her television show was ending, but I came across an article in Front Of House magazine that made this a little less painful.

It seems that one of our long time gaffers tape customers, Special Event Services in Winston-Salem, NC was involved in producing Oprah’s last televison shows, taped at the United Center in Chicago.  SES, along with On Stage Audio put together the largest Martin Audio MLA speaker system ever assembled to provide audio support for the tapings.

If I couldn’t be there in person, its good to think that we might have insured that Oprah didn’t trip over a cable.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

Tape is a great tool and we’d never get the show open without it, but prices for products like gaffers tape have reached the point where some new strategies are in order.

In doing some research for my writing on this subject, I came across a great idea for a velcro-backed cable cover that replaces the task of taping a cable down across carpet with a reusable cover that will last for years.

We are looking for a manufacturer who could help us add something like this to our product line, but, in the meantime, you can make your own.

Here’s a link to an excellent YouTube video that will show you exactly how to do it.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Every speaker cable we sell is “Satisfaction Guaranteed“.

There are three versions of the NL series connector, and you can find out more about those here.  The confusion comes from many manufacturers choosing to use the NL4 style connector (4 poles) in applications where only two conductors are needed.  This has led to a sort of “de facto” standardization based on the fact that the Speakon standard has been slowly accepted as the way to go by most speaker cabinet and amplifier manufacturers.

By using the NL4 standard, speaker manufacturers have been able to create a product that can be either “mono-amped”(single signal for all components in the speaker cabinet) or “bi-amped” (separate amp signal for the two different components in the cabinet).  The ability to choose whether a speaker is mono-amped or bi-amped based on internal wiring in the cabinet creates lots of flexibility and this makes the confusion worth while.

Speaker cables from buyspeakercable.com are all two conductor but use the NL4 connector standard.

Best of all (even with yet a little more confusion), the NL4 male connector will fit into the same female connector as the NL2.  They are completely interchangeable.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Every speaker cable we sell is “Satisfaction Guaranteed“.

The most recent edition of Front of House magazine (one of my favorite trade journals) highlights how some of those concert production pros are redefining their careers in the information age.

Front of House, or FOH is published by Timeless Communications, the leader in trade journal publications for the sound and lighting industry.  They touch just about every aspect of hands on production with good articles, equipment reviews and industry news.

In their current edition, FOH announces the hiring of Mark Frink as the new editor.  Frink is well known to the pro audio community, having worked with acts ranging from Tony Bennett to Jessica Simpson.  He’s worked at the Super Bowl and was involved in Pope John Paul II appearance at Giants Stadium,  so he obviously knows what producing a big event is all about.

Congratulations to Mark in his new position.  We look forward to reading his contributions.  And a tip of the hat to Timeless Communications and FOH for turning to the industry that supports them to provide new talent.

In an business where a retirement plan is about as elusive as perfect sound at every seat in the house,  it’s great to see new ideas for a “second act.”

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Every extension cord we sell is “Satisfaction Guaranteed“.

After spending a few days in a very nice New York City boutique hotel and constantly plugging and unplugging devices, I knew exactly what they meant.  My wife’s Ipad ended up plugged into an outlet under the sink in the bathroom and we had to take turns charging our cell phones.  What few outlets that were provided were obscured by heavy furniture and having to unplug the reading light to plug in a computer made less sense every time I did it.

The Times writer even speculated that even more than the big flat screen tv, travelers wanted the outlets concealed behind it!

Here are a couple of items you might want to consider adding to your overnight bag to help solve the problem.

A Tri Outlet Cube Tap lets you turn one outlet into three with a device that you can hold in the palm of your hand.

A Right Angle Adapter allows you to make an outlet that is otherwise inaccessible because there is not enough space between it and a piece of furniture usable by turning the outlet 90 degrees.

A Three Way Splitter also lets you turn one outlet into three, but has the additional advantage of ten inch cable extensions on each outlet, so that there is plenty of room to connect chargers, power supplies or other bulky items designed to plug directly into the outlet without a cable.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Every extension cord we sell is “Satisfaction Guaranteed“.

]]> http://buygafferstape.com/blogs/extension-cords/2011/05/16/what-do-travelers-want-more-holes-in-the-wall/feed/ 0 http://buygafferstape.com/blogs/pro-sound/2011/04/22/can-you-hear-electricity-what-does-159-99-sound-like/ http://buygafferstape.com/blogs/pro-sound/2011/04/22/can-you-hear-electricity-what-does-159-99-sound-like/#comments Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:11:54 +0000 Jeff http://buygafferstape.com/blogs/?p=634 Continue reading →]]> One of my regular reads is a trade magazine called Pro Sound News.  I’ve been a loyal reader for many years and have written before about the educational value of these free, industry supported publications. I even look at the ads.

An add for Essential Sound Products caught my eye, as advertising for something like a basic power cord really stands out among full page adds for the latest digital mixers and speaker line arrays.

A quick look at ESP’s web site made it clear that this ad wasn’t about a simple power cable. Not when you’re talking about $159.99 for a 7 foot power cable.

We like to think that we know a little about power cables, so Essential Sound’s claim that standard heavy gauge power cables cause (their words)

-High Frequency Roll Off

-Blurred Imaging

-Bloated, Sluggish Bass Response

caught us by surprise.

There may be some small truth to the possible ability of a well engineered cable to deliver measurable improved audio performance (we use the word “may” here). There is absolutely nothing that a cable that delivers power for the last two meters of its travel to an amplifier (wall plug to audio device) can do to address possible deficiencies in the building wiring, wall plug, service entrance cable or the miles of wire that the power company runs to get to the point where ESP’s cable takes over.  It’s a passive device and  can’t put something into available power that is not already there.

Money spent on a well made extension cord or power cable with a large enough gauge to not dissipate power as heat is money well spent.  Any additional expense would be better spent on upgrading your audio equipment.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Every extension cord we sell is “Satisfaction Guaranteed“.

This involves churches that hold services in spaces not normally intended for worship. Holding church services in a storefront, a school auditorium, or a hotel meeting room is nothing new. It has been going on for years, and it is the way many churches get started. Building a church is expensive, and until there are enough members to sustain the cost, some temporary space is necessary. This is not the trend I am talking about.

What I am talking about is a church service focused on youth that is done as a full blown concert experience. This means a full band with a concert quality sound system, high end lighting, video image magnification and special effects. The whole set up loads into a local arena or amphitheater like a regular show and is run by church staff members who are experts in various areas of special event production.

Having to set up full sound, lighting, video and staging is a tremendous amount of work, but bringing their message into an environment where young people are open to new ideas is proving to be really effective.

We salute these technicians in their efforts and are proud to be a part of what they are doing.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

When we started selling expendable audio visual supplies over 20 years ago, I didn’t really expect that I would someday find myself closely tracking agricultural commodity prices.  Little did I know.

Apparently, that gaffers tape we sell by the pallet load is made of the same cotton as the pair of Levis you are probably wearing.  Well, it seems that the cotton that Levi Strauss buys for their mills to make your pants has increased in price by 80% since July and the cotton futures market suggests that more increases are in the pipeline.

You’ll see this price increase reflected in any cotton clothing you buy and it is going to impact the price of cotton cloth tapes as well, probably before the end of the year.

Flooding in Pakistan, poor crop yields in India and bad weather in China all impact the price of this raw material.  Things are so bad this fall that even veteran cotton traders are surprised at what is happening in the market.  They now think it may take a couple of years before world supply can again match demand.

Oh, don’t let me forget the rest of the story.  The other major component in gaffers tape is a synthetic adhesive made from oil.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

This weekend I got to witness something that could change that in a really positive way.

I had the pleasure of attending an entertainment technologoy conference at the UNC School Of The Arts in Winston-Salem, NC, which featured presenters for Cirque du Soleil and some of their suppliers.

Cirque provided some of their highest profile technicians and administrators and presented training seminars and “hands on” training for UNCSA students and students from a number of other university technical training programs.

In addition, there were workshops on resume preparation and arts administration careers, again taught by Cirque staff.  Representatives from Cirque du Soleil made it clear to student attendees that they would be looking to college technical theatre programs as an important source for new techs for all their shows.

Until this weekend, I had been unaware of the connection between North Carolina university theatre programs and Cirque du Soleil.  Alumni from The School for The Arts, UNC Chapel Hill, and others were represented among the presenters and Cirque representatives let student attendees know that they were hoping to strengthen these ties.

While it is true that our company has ties to a number of Cirque vendors (and Cirque itself) as an expendables supplier, my interest in attending was primarily in the capacity of a volunteer at our local high school.  I am interested in helping high schools develop technical theatre training programs and can’t wait to share what I learned this weekend.

Thank you, UNC School Of The Arts, for being such a great host. And for opening my eyes to a great new opportunity for students to develop a relationship with one of the greatest entertainment presenters in the world.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Click here for unbeatable deals on Shure wireless microphones.

Hoping to promote the development of what is being called “wifi on steroids” as well as other new wireless technologies, the FCC has ruled that additional frequencies no longer needed by broadcast television (now that television has gone digital) can be used without licenses for development work on new wireless devices, new wifi included.

Since this access to new frequencies will exist at many different points within the spectrum, the possibility that  devices in development will intrude on frequencies now used for wireless mics is very real.  Using these frequencies will not require a license, and wireless mic users will have no idea what might be going on close by that could conflict with their wireless mic signals.

The important part of this new rule for wireless mics is that the FCC intends to set aside two broadcast  channels for exclusive use by wireless microphones.  That would mean that developers of new wireless technology would have to stay away from those yet-to-be determined channels.

Since many wireless mic owners have abandoned (as required by law) the spectrum in the 700 MHz band, we can only hope that the FCC will respect this compliance and make sure that at least the 500 MHz band that the majority of wireless mic users have migrated to will be reserved for their continued use.

Expect a big fight on this from the deep pockets of wireless players like Google and Verizon who have no intention of giving up access to even a couple of broadcast channels if they can prevent it.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Click here for unbeatable deals on Shure wireless microphones.