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.

This is not news in itself, but the willingness of these CEO’s to make a commitment to have a program in place in 2013 is a very positive development.

The presidents of Duracell, Energizer, Kodak, Rayovac and Panasonic began discussions in 2010 regarding getting a nationwide recycling program in place and now finally seem willing to commit to a date for a program roll out.

Certainly, the logistics and science in getting a program into place are complicated, but it is hard to see how plans and discussions could be going into their fourth year.

We would love to be able to point our customers towards a reliable recycling option in their community, regardless of where they live.

Check back here and also at Recyclebattery.org to track their progress.

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 prod to feature extension cords from Hosatech.  Our Duracell Procell batteries are the real thing and we sell them “Satisfaction Guaranteed”.

I had written several articles about stage collapses this summer and had been one of many in the production community who called for a re-examination of the standards applied to temporary stage structures.

I only realized recently that one very important part of the impacted community had not really spoken up.  This was because Cheap Trick guitarist and manager Dave Frey visited Congress to lobby for increased regulations on temporary stages.

As you may remember, Cheap Trick was set to perform on the stage that collapsed at the Ottowa Blues Fest on July 17.  Obvioiusly, these two have a unique experience in this area and speak with a voice that needs to be heard.

Nothing would bring about changes in this critical area more quickly than to have performers refuse to play in structures that did not meet strict codes and undergo thorough inspection.

A contract that specifies “no brown M&M’s” in the dressing room but says nothing about the safety of the stage is over due to be re-written.

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 and OnStage Stand mic stands.

Maybe this model is used in other industries, but this is the only one I am familiar with. These magazines are filled with dozens of really useful articles, and, many times, the advertising is filled with good info as well.

I use these journals regularly to find new products for our catalog. Its also really great to come across articles about our customers. I even saw one of our products in a photo accompanying a story about the NFL Playoffs.

Any student or hobbyist in sound, lighting or theater tech can easily begin receiving these journals by simply making up a business name. The magazines base their ad rates on the number of subscribers, so they are happy to add you to their subscriber list. They rarely do much to insure that you are a legitimate business with a large purchasing budget.

Journals like Pro Sound News, Sound & Video Contractor , Live Sound International, Church Production, and FOH Magazine are yours for the asking. They have great columns, handy “how to” articles, and honest equipment reviews. The photo quality is first good and the editorial content, while advertiser driven, is still useful. Most of the writing is first rate.

Interested? You can sign up for regular subscriptions at any of the publication web sites in this article.

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.

I spent a lot of time spinning knobs for spoken word and televised events, and this thing would have been a life saver. It eliminates (or at least reduces feedback), provides automatic gain control when the presenter moves too close or too far from the mic, provides proximity effect equalization, controls popping “p” sounds, and, most important, includes an infrared noise gate.

The noise gate automatically turns the mic and and off, depending on how far a presenter is from the mic position. This sensor can be detached from the rest of the preamp and taped somewhere like the top of a podium if that suits your needs better.

the “Phantom Mic Rider” is phantom powered, so no battery is needed. It will work with a stand mounted or podium-style mic, and Sabine claims that its internal digital signal processing will improve the overall sound of almost any microphone.

Only one problem that I can see. The infrared noise gate is activated by body heat, and some of the presenters we’ve worked with over the years appeared to have been dead for some time!

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, and lots of other great products for the audio visual industry.

Every trade magazine I pick up these days has an article about yet another Ipad, smart phone  or tablet computer app that is designed to wirelessly interface with a piece of sound or lighting equipment so that it can operated through an internet interface.   These are exciting developments and certainly give production pros a great new set of tools for managing their shows.

The article I am expecting to see next month, or the month after, is about how some 20,000 seat arena concert or major corporate media event has been hijacked by someone who has been able to hack one of these sound, lighting or video controllers and bring the show to its knees.  It seems inevitable to me.

All sorts of recent revelations regarding how much energy black hat hackers apply to cracking financial networks and major e-commerce sites show us time and again how vulnerable these interconnected resources are.  If major credit card and online sales  web sites that spend millions on security can be hacked and taken over, even briefly, by outside parties, it seems highly likely that wireless internet-based show controllers, subject to little or no security, must be quite vulnerable.

No kisses are going to be blown when this prediction comes true!

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.

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.

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.

One of my favorite song writers is the late Steve Goodman, composer of The City of New Orleans,  You Never Even Call Me By My Name, and lots of other memorable tunes from the 1970′s and 1980′s.

I got to work with him once before his death, when he performed with John Prine at Virginia Tech.  Steve began his show and was about half way through the set when I started hearing a high pitched buzzing, sort of like a mosquito, that seemed to cycle on and off.  It got progressively louder and more prominent and I pretty quickly realized that I was facing the sound man’s nightmare of a complete console failure.

The crew scrambled to come up with a fix, and, rather than take a break and let us troubleshoot, Goodman continued his show,  leading the audience in a chorus of a song he wrote on the spot.

The name of the tune?  You Better Fix It Mr. Soundman!

He never shared any of his royalty checks.

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.

There’s not really a lot that can be done to improve this braided cotton cord. Or that’s what I thought until we received our first shipment from a new supplier for this product. For years, the tie line we sold had been wrapped on cardboard spools. I have used this product a lot myself over the years, and it seemed like before the tie line was gone that the spool had ripped, collapsed, or completely disintegrated through rough handling and packing into road cases and tool boxes.

This new tie line supplier had spooled their product on a heavy-duty plastic spool and it works much, much better. The spool can stand up to rough handling, sweaty palms and a little rain on an outdoor event site. The product is the same but it is now offered in a much better package.

This new vendor is also supplying us with new smaller 300 foot spools, so now you can buy a spool that will fit in your tool box or under the seat of your truck. No need to lug around a lifetime supply if you only need a small amount.

If you need tie line, but aren’t sure whether to buy the glazed or unglazed version, here’s a little info that might help. If you intend to tie and untie the knots over and over againg (say, for cable ties) use unglazed. It does not hold a knot as tightly. If your use is for something more permanent (e.g. tying a drape onto a truss or batten) use glazed. Knots tied with glazed time line remain tightly bound over a long period of time.

I never cease to be amazed at how a simple change in packaging can dramatically change the way I look at a product.

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 supplies for cable management.

Unfortunately, I now have my own battery problem to relate. I periodically blog about wireless microphones, since we are the host of wirelessmic.net and because we were in the audio visual equipment rental business for many years. We still occasionally rent wireless mics.

I was preparing a rental package for a local sound company and discovered that two of our wireless transmitters contained corroded batteries. These were Everready Energizer Industrials, not the Procell batteries we sell. The offending batteries were well within their “use by” date code but they had leaked acid all over the battery contacts. Fortunately, the damage was limited to the battery contacts, but there was damage nonetheless.

If you are a regular user of wireless mics, the Energizer Industrials certainly don’t get the GoodBuyGuys.com seal of approval.

If you are interested in some more tips about batteries for wireless mics, click here.

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 microphone accessory and battery needs.

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.

The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) is in the business of recycling recharageable batteries and cell phones. Rechargeable batteries are commonly found in cordless power tools, cellular and cordless phones, laptop computers, camcorders, digital cameras, and remote control toys. The mission of the RBRC is to keep these batteries out of the solid waste stream while preserving natural resources. When you see a battery recycling bin in a retailer like Radio Shack or Circuit City, it is probably a part of the RBRC network. Participating retailers display this seal.

The rechargeable batteries that RBRC collects are sent to a state-of-the-art facility where they are recycled to reclaim reusable materials that are used in stainless steel production (nickel and iron) and to make new batteries (cadmium). This organization collects cell phones as well, and refurbishes them or recycles the material in an environmentally sound manner.

If you would like to sign up your organization to participate in the RBRC recycling network, here’s a link to the sign up page.

I began my career as a an audio techncian, and spent many years building, setting up, configuring, and repairing concert sound systems. People who design computer peripheral wiring could learn a lot from the audio industry.

While the performance and compatibility of computer peripherals continues to improve, the interconnections between these devices never catches up. I can’t think of a single data-type connector that comes close to matching the performance of the lowly audio XLR connector, a design that is well into its second half-century of use.

I just spent 15 frustrating minutes trying to replace a computer monitor in the office, only to be reminded that there are at least three (if not more) different pin configurations for a D-sub connector, even though they all have the same physical shell. Maybe, it’s just me, but I almost always have to try to plug in a USB connector at least two times, as there is nothing visible on the outside of the connector to indicate which end is up. I guess there are savings involved in making ethernet connectors with with almost useless plastic locking pins, but the savings quickly evaporate when you spend a half-hour trying to pry one out of a computer port after the release tab snaps off. The list goes on and on.

Audio connectors, on the other hand, are designed to be patched in the dark, repaired (when necessary) in the field, and to be common to hundreds and hundreds of different manufacturers equipment. The Shure SM57 microphone ( probably the most popular and common in the world) uses the same connector now as when it came to market in 1965. A 40 year old SM57 works with a brand new Chinese-made microphone cable right out of the box.

We’re depending more and more on computer-based devices all the time, and the portability designed into these items means that they are constantly having to be cabled and uncabled. Hopefully, manufacturers will consider adopting some connector standards that are up to the task.

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. Count on us to meet your cable needs.

I’m sitting and staring at two glowing flashlights on my desk as I write this blog-one flashlight is using a couple of Duracell Procell AA batteries and an identical light contains a fresh pair of AA from a company called Permalife.

Unfortunately,it looks like the “Permalife” is going to be considerably less than “Permanent”. It’s already starting to dim.

We were excited when we got pricing information about the Permalife brand, as these batteries had real potential to save our customers some money. The savings evaporate in a hurry if it takes three or four batteries to match the performance of one ProCell.

It’s bad when a flashlight fails in use, but you usually get some warning. It gradually fades out rather than failing all at once. A wireless microphone is very different. Once its voltage in the transmitter falls below a certain point, the receiver becomes vulnerable to all sorts of outside interference. This can be disasterous or funny. Usually the former. Rarely the latter.

As the sun sets on this blog, the Permalife-equpped flashlight fades to black and our quest for a good no name battery continues. If we ever find one, I’ll let you know.

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. We’re your source for honest battery information.

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.

For their summer residency in New York City, the Royal Shakespeare Company is building a reproduction of their stage at Stratford On Avon inside the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan. The Shakespeare company has sent 46 shipping containers by boat to the Upper East Side of Manhattan to build the stage they will need for a six week residency beginning this week and running into August. Rather than have to locate storage facilities for the shipping containers, this innovative stage actually incorporates the containers into the stage construction.

Building a replica of their stage in England means that performers will feel right at home on their temporary stage.

This presentation of six of Shakespeare’s works runs through August 14.

You can see a slide show of the construction process here.

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 read a lot of audio, video and special events trade magazines (most of them are free) and I have been struck lately by the apparent age of the technicians that are profiled. The average age of most of these technicians seems to be getting much older, an oberservation that is confirmed by my own real world experience. It seems odd that an industry (concert sound) that was only really invented in the 1970′s is graying so fast. It seemed so exciting back in the early days and the desire of young college students and musicians to be part of something with such great potential seemed insatiable. How quickly things have changed.

For many years, our offices were located in a Main Street (literally) storefront, only a few blocks from a major university campus. Just like April showers, I could count on a steady progression of job seekers (both new gradutates and summer job hunters) looking for some opportunity to be in the entertainment business.

During our last several years at that location (we have since moved to larger quarters) this flow slowed to a trickle. With all the opportunities afforded to bright people to make more money in fewer hours with less physical demands really seemed to take the luster off of an opportunity that seemed so exciting to me and many others only 20 or so years earllier.

If the willingness of a young person to get on the tour bus or behind the wheel of a truck is still the path to real innovation in the concert production industry, then we may be in trouble. Most of the innovations that have been realized today (intelligent lighting, line arrays, etc.) came from the real world experience of hands-on techs.

Without the need to solve problems on the fly (the way so may innovative ideas came into being) then new ideas may really become scares.

Got ideas on this subject? Let me know.

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.

In the summer of 1987, about a year after Harrison Bros. got its start, we had the opportunity to provide a sound system for the July 4th Celebration at Camp Lejeune, that gigantic Marine Corps base on the North Carolina coast.  These events are usually pretty generic, but this one turned out to have a nice back story.

The main entertainment was the Marine Corps band based at Camp Lejeune, and it was conducted by a Marine captain named William Clemons.  It turns out that Capt. Clemons was Clarence Clemons’ brother.  Guess who showed up to play a guest spot with band-the Big Man himself.

We got to spend some time together back stage and I had a chance to take a picture of Clarence & Bill together.  But that’s just the beginning of this story.

The next winter Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band brought their “Tunnel of Love” tour to the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, and since I was a regular on the stage crew there, I was on the call for both shows.  I got a prime assignment as a truss follow spot operator and my “home” position was Clarence Clemons.  I spent both shows hanging right over his head.

Between shows, I was able to get back stage to his dressing room and give him the picture I had taken of him and his brother. He remembered me and broke into a huge grin when he saw my photo.  He had a handshake like a grizzly bear!

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“.

An article in yesterday’s New York Times brought to light how overbuilding, overselling and problems in the broader economy have brought some of these arenas to the brink of bankruptcy.  Unfortunately, since most of them are owned by municipalities, simple bankruptcy is not a real option.  The whole town would have to essentially go out of business to do that.  Not really very realistic.

Towns all over America were sold on the idea that building an arena would revitalize their downtowns or allow them to drive development to a new area where they wanted to focus future economic growth.  The companies that took the lead in making these sales have failed to deliver the promised fans in the seats and the money they were supposed to bring with them.

Now they are having to do things like put off  employee raises and leave other bills unpaid to service the debt on their new buildings.  Layoffs probably come next.

Even in good economic times, the demand for tickets to second tier sports teams is limited and there are not enough concert and entertainment acts that can make money in these mid-size performance spaces.

We wish the best for these towns that are now struggling to afford their new palaces but realize that they are not all going to survive.

Anybody want to buy an arena?

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“.

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“.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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There was still an abundance of new equipment manufactured to use these frequencies on sound equipment sellers shelves in June when the new law went into effect and they continue to make their way into the hands of unsuspecting buyers.

Online auction sites like Ebay are full of these now illegal mics.  If you encounter one, you should notify Ebay, who has said they will remove the offending item.

The FCC ruling makes clear that the sale, manufacture or import of wireless mics operating in the 700 MHz range is now illegal.  If you have been sold one of these units at any time after January 15, 2010, you should return it to the seller for a full refund.  If the seller is not cooperative, you can report them to the FCC.

While you can expect that the FCC will deal swiftly and firmly with the offending vendor, that does not mean that the unsuspecting buyer of a 700 MHz mic is off the hook.  Even if you were not aware that it would be illegal to use the microphone you were sold, you are still subject to both criminal and civil actions if you continue to use the device.

Nobody should become a member of the “700 Club”.

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That prediction was that the FCC would let those major telco companies that had bought exclusive access to these frequencies do their own policing on this issue.

It seemed that it was time to look at this issue again, to see if there was any record of the FCC taking actions against wireless mic users.  A quick scan of enforcement-related “Field Notices” at the FCC web site did not turn up any actions related to wireless mic use.  I guess that that is not really surprising after only ten weeks.

I did turn up a document, however, that would seem to confirm my June prediction.  It is a form letter issued by Verizon Wireless (one of the companies now controlling the 700 MHz spectrum) that is being sent directly to wireless mic users who are considered to be in violation of the FCC ruling.

In the letter Verizon claims “exclusive” license to the 700 MHz spectrum and, thus, a right to “protection” against harmful interference that might be caused by wireless microophones.

Verizon then refers to a specific “violation” of the new law and demands that the recipient of the letter “immediately cease operations of such devices”.

In the final paragraph of the letter, Verizon Wireless refers the recipient of the letter directly to the FCC with any questions they may have.

What happens next?  Check back here, or better yet, let us know if you have actually received one of these letters.

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