Dealing with a similar, though perhaps not weather related, fatal stage collapse in Israel last month, authorities moved swiftly to arrest four technicians involved with the set up and charge them with negligence.

While the way this incident was handled in Israel may have been driven by the fact that the person killed was a Israeli military officer, it still points to the idea that the only way to really make any progress on this front is hold individuals accountable for their involvement in the disaster.

While the Indiana incident has led to the creation of a safety alliance and generated a report pointing to something called “ambiguity of authority” as being responsible for the deaths and injuries suffered,  the response in Israel has been to hold those who did the work accountable and to address their alleged negligence as a criminal act.

While the U.S. staging industry tries to “meet” itself into a safer way to do business, Israel has chosen to insure that those who are not qualified or not careful will simply not be able to keep their jobs (or perhaps, their freedom).

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The blog was a Clive Young interview with John Cooper, the front-of-house sound person for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

I was lucky enough to see one of their shows on the Wrecking Ball tour, last month, and it was very informative to get some insight into the person twisting the knobs.

When asked what it takes to make the leap from mixing bands in clubs to working for one of the biggest artists on the planet, Cooper’s response was both insightful and refreshing.  Instead of talking about the latest technology and how to network, Cooper’s advice was “listen to music“.  He pointed out that most musicians have little interest in the sort of “black box” immersion that most sound techs embrace. In order to gain the confidence of performers (read: employers) you need to be able to discuss music with them.

How you hear music and how you make it.  Not how you make it louder.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Unfortunately, the finding by the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration to levy $80,800.00 in fines did nothing to improve concert performers’ and audience members’ safety.  It just shifted the focus away from where it needs to be.

Particularly surprising was OSHA’s inclusion of the local stagehands union (IATSE) on the list of those that were fined.

I was reminded of a time when I was the vice-president of our stagehands local (also IATSE) when a Pink Floyd concert was held at our local arena.  It was a sort of “greatest stunts” tour, and it included the flying of a giant pig over the audience’s head.

At the time I thought little of it, as the riggers on the tour were clearly competent, and they took lots of time to test the installation and make sure that it was safe for everyone in the building.

Had I known that I was potentially putting the financial well being of our union in jeopardy, we might have been forced to deal with the flying pig in a very different way.

Stagehands, who are hired by the local promoter or venue to assist the performer’s touring crew, are in no position to make the final determination on whether the installation is safe.  Even if engineering diagrams and stress and load bearing engineering specs were made available to us, we were not qualified to analyze them.  That’s like requiring the popcorn vendor to certify that the popcorn was packaged in a sanitary manner.  Their job is to sell the popcorn.

In the case of the Indianapolis stage collapes, Local 30 of the IATSE was fined $11,500.00 for four violations related to securing the roof.

I don’t mean to make light of any safety concern, but if a stagehands local is going to be ultimately responsible for an equipment package that they are exposed to for a single day, then it could bring the concert industry to its knees.

The only solution here is for the structures that are used for outdoor events to be certified by the manufacturers and for the users (promoters) of these structures to honor the limitations that the certification mandates.  No “after the fact” fine levied on somebody why was just doing their job is going to change anything.

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Granelli Audio Labs has finally found a way to improve, or at least change, this classic microphone without modifying its sound.

They’ve taken a real (not replica) SM57 and bent it at a 90 degree angle so that it takes up less space on the drum riser or in the studio.The maker of this unique product claims that the sound of the mic is unchanged and that it maintains identical performance specifications to the original.  Unfortunately, the modified unit costs roughly double what you will pay for an SM57 off the shelf.

If you’d rather try bending one yourself, we’ve got ‘em here.

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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 buyers guide of Front of House magazine for February 2012 features digital audio snakes.  These replace the standard audio mic snakes (multiple mic lines bundled into a single jacket) that have been the pro audio standard for ages.

The standard mic “snake” or multi-cable almost always uses the XLR standard connector at both the female (microphone) and male (mixer) end of the cable.  This has been in use for decades.  Consequently almost every manufacturers’ microphones will work with almost every cable makers cables and will interface with just about every mixer manufacturer’s products.

The digital version of the mic snake is designed to take an analog signal generated by the microphone, convert it to digital data, transmit it to the mixer position and then either plug directly into the mixer or turn the signal back into analog audio so that it can be introduced to the mixer as a re-converted analog signal.

I counted no fewer than 12 different digital protocols in use in the buyers guide, which means that one company’s  equipment will not work with another’s.

While it is great to have device that reduces the amount of wire and the associated weight and bulk, having a system that will work only with itself means that sharing, cross renting, short term supplements (all practices that has helped lots of small companies grow and larger ones exploit more opportunities) is no longer an option.  Your stuff is not going to work with their stuff.

Until the pro audio industry adopts a standard for the transmission of digital audio like the xlr connector was adopted for analog audio in live sound systems, this is really going to be a problem.

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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.

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One of the worst audio connectors ever invented appears to the the one that will last until the end of time.  That’s the quarter inch connector.

This common audio connector dates back to the 19th century when telephone switchboards were first created, and it is almost unchanged in today’s version.  It is a two or three conductor connector and is used on millions of musical instruments and audio components.

The way the male version of this connector is designed to mate with the female version means that the center “hot” (signal carrying) conductor must touch and “short out” with the sleeve “cold” (ground carrying) conductor in order to be completely connected.  This almost always results in a loud popping noise in an energized audio system and may cause speaker or amplifier damage.

The standard version of this connector has no latching mechanism, so it is easy to unplug an instrument by accidentally stepping on the cable or tangling it up.

The reason that this connector will probably survive forever is that it is the standard that was adopted for electric guitars.  Because vintage guitars and vintage amplifiers are in such demand by today’s musicians, it means that the quarter inch standard must survive.

Otherwise, a guitar player with a collector’s edition guitar couldn’t use a new amplifier or a player with a new guitar couldn’t plug in to a vintage amp.

Unfortunately, this bad piece of design is with us forever.

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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.

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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.

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One of the things that was most enjoyable about the show was how video was used.  The Wrecking Ball tour reverted to “old school” image magnification, something that used to be the industry standard, but which has been replaced by flashy active screens.

The three projection screens just magnified (made larger) the images of of the performers. No video inserts, no airplanes landings, no man on the street interviews, just the show made larger.

Best of all, it did nothing to call attention to itself.  The screens were not  the overly bright, in-your-face active screens that demand that you look at them, sometimes in a way that completely washes out the performer.  Best of all, because the images were projections, they made use of very high resolution video, giving detail that active L E D screens are not capable of delivering.  All image and no pixels.

We tip our hat to the set designer, and Pete’s Big TV’s, the video production company, for a job well done.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.