Distributed in 94 countries, Mix is the world's leading magazine for the professional recording and sound production technology industry. Mix covers a wide range of topics including: recording, live sound and production, broadcast production, audio for film and video, and music technology.
Hollywood, CA, May 8, 2008 – Dane Leon, guitarist for the Hollywood- based hip hop/rock band, downRising, is entrusting all the hard drive back-ups for its new self-titled album to Avastor’s HDX-800 triple interface drives.
The group, which has performed at top LA venues such as House of Blues and The Key Club on the Sunset strip, has had the honor of having one of its songs selected for the Gardener of Eden soundtrack, which was produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.
downRising’s album was recorded at Sunset Sound in Hollywood and tracked on Digidesign Pro Tools HD at 24-bit 96K resolution. With demanding storage requirements, Leon, co-owner of Recording Data Service (RDS), one of Avastor’s major LA dealers, knew that Avastor’s HDX-800 would outlast other consumer drives that had failed while tracking audio in the past.
“At RDS we supply the pro-audio community of Los Angeles with storage and recording media,” says Leon. “Our clients, who consist of the music industry’s top engineers and producers, insist on using Avastor drives for their build, quality and reliability and therefore, using Avastor for my album made total sense.”
The high data rate of the HDX-800 –with dual Firewire 800 ports-helps maximize editing and recording performance, making it the ideal external storage solution, for music professionals using MAC and PC based digital workstations.
The drives are individually speed tested and can exceed 60MB/s transfer rates due to the Oxford 924 chipset, 7200 RPM drives with up to 32MB of cache and efficient internal AC power supply.
Avastor offers one of the most comprehensive lines of external hard disk products, including over 20 configurations of drive interfaces and capacities for virtually every audio and video application.
For further information, please visit, www.avastor.com, www.downrisingmusic.com and www.recordingdataservice.com
About Avastor
Headquartered in Peachtree City, GA, Avastor was founded in 2005 to bring full-featured digital storage devices, with the highest quality and performance, to the professional audio and video marketplace. The company’s flagship product, the HDX hard disk drive system, is produced in the USA with a mandate for superior build quality and 100% quality testing, aimed directly at the demands of professional audio and video applications.
April 24, 2008 saw the Olympic Torch Relay arrive at Australia’s national capitol Canberra amid much fanfare and media attention. Following incidents earlier in its travels, local organizers worked overtime to ensure that the event ran as smoothly as possible.
The audio specification for the event required systems be provided at two locations, the first at the dawn torch lighting ceremony and the second for the end of relay presentation and concert. Leading Canberra company Eclipse Lighting and Sound were contracted to supply the audio design and equipment for the event. This also included a small system at Canberra airport for the torch’s arrival. The whole event saw an extensive array of Electro-Voice equipment used throughout.
Torch Lighting Ceremony:
The opening ceremony for the event was held at Reconciliation Place, located beside Lake Burley Griffith and leading up to Parliament House. The event coincided with the Canberra Balloon Festival, which saw multiple hot air balloons taking off between the presentation area and parliament house.
The ceremony involved pre-ceremony entertainment from the Australian National University Percussion Ensemble playing from two stages, followed by a performance from the Spectrum Swing Big Band from a third stage stage. Additional performances were supplied by the Aboriginal dance group ‘Descendance’ as well as the ‘Shaanxi Folk Arts group’ from China. The official ceremony involved a smoking (purification) ceremony from the local Ngunnawal Aboriginal community, followed by the national anthems of both Australia and China.
The official torch lighting ceremony led by the local chairman Ted Quinlan then saw the torch handed to the first of many runners that took it on a three hour route through the centre of Canberra. Entertainment for the official event was supplied by the Samsung choir who performed at Commonwealth Place on the lake’s edge. Audio was fed via a RF link to the main presentation site.
The audio specification was beefed-up close to the event to ensure that organizers were able to easily drown out any boisterous behavior from the crowd. This resulted in a 16 box per side XLD line array system being assembled in front of the main presentation area. This was supplemented by an eight box per side XLE system to cover the area behind the presentation area; additional XLC boxes were distributed to provide side fills. Foldback for the event was via T221M wedges; all power was from EV ‘P’ series amplifiers. Powered SxA360’s were deployed at Commonwealth Place as local reinforcement for the choir performance.
Electro-Voice microphones also saw lots of action: the choir was equipped with over 30 EV RE510 and PL80 microphones. In addition, the main presentation lectern was equipped with an N/D967. Despite the presence of over 10,000 people with an obvious political agenda, the audio was sufficient to ensure that all aspects of the presentation were clearly heard and no interruptions were made.
Torch Relay Conclusion Concert:
The torch relay concluded at Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park, where, on the shores of the lake, Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe was the final runner to the podium where the torch was handed over to its custodians for transport to its next location (Japan). This ceremony saw another performance from the Samsung Choir, as well performances from Australian Rock legends Russell Morris and Brian Cadd. The concert concluded with a set from Australian Idol performer Shannon Noll, to an appreciative audience in excess of 10,000 people.
The audio system for the relay conclusion consisted of an eight box per side XLC DVX system supplemented by three XLD per side (utilizing EV’s AGCD adapter bracket) supplemented by four Xsubs per side. All amplification was supplied by EV P, CP, and TG series amplifiers. The band foldback system consisted of 12 EV-loaded Dynacord Madras M15’s. Choir foldback was via EV Sx300’s and the system front fill was supplied via EV’s new ZX3 cabinets.
The whole event involved a cast of thousands, with over 40 crew members involved with the audio and lighting production. The organizers were exceptionally pleased with how the event was run and were very appreciative of how well the audio systems worked for the event. Eclipse MD Chris Neal received much praise for his efforts, those of his crew, and of the performance of the gear. Yet again EV ensured Eclipse with another stellar, stress-free event.
The largest street party in the U.S. and celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2008, the Calle Ocho (“Eighth Street”) carnival is a colorful celebration of Latino culture that fills the heart of Miami’s “Little Havana” district with over a million visitors each year. This year’s Calle Ocho sounded better than ever, thanks to an Electro-Voice sound system from Sound & Lighting Solutions.
24 blocks of SW 8th St. are closed off for Calle Ocho, a free event which takes place over two weekends as part of the citywide Carnival Miami. Along with an array of Caribbean cuisine and revelers from around the globe, the streets are filled with a kaleidoscope of carnival music; meringue, salsa, reggae, and bachata can all be heard on any of over 30 sponsored stages. As parties go, it doesn’t get much bigger than this…
Fort Lauderdale-based Sound & Lighting Solutions Inc. deployed a powerhouse sound system for the main stage at this year’s Calle Ocho, built around their new EV Phoenix manifold technology loudspeakers—a new line designed to provide a perfect balance of muscular punch and musical detail. SLS used 4x PX2181 subs under 2x PX2152 boxes per side; PX2122 completed the three pack stacks. This main rig was powered by EV CP4000S and P-Series amplifiers. In addition to the Phoenix rig, SLS deployed a stage-wide spread of Dynacord FX 20 subs and four flown FX 12 boxes for long throw duties, both powered by Xa 4000 amps. EV microphones, EV Xw stage monitors, Midas Venice 320 consoles, Klark Teknik graphics, EQs, and processing completed the spec.
“This was a huge event, and we brought the right PA for the job,” says Jay Krause of Sound and Lighting Solutions. “It was estimated that 565,000 people passed the stage between the hours of 11am and 7pm. We wanted to use a PA that would stand out, in terms of both sheer power and sonic fidelity. Since this stage was all about rap and reggae—featuring top tier artists like Flo Rida, Shaggy, and Timbaland—we needed lots of low end. Not a problem with the subs we were packing! The whole system sounded fantastic.”
Krause gave a no-nonsense post game wrap up on the day’s PA performance: “What didn’t happen at the show? Let me tell you: we never had a single amp go into clip mode; we didn’t lose a single driver; we didn’t have a single issue with the mics—static, etc.; we didn’t trip a breaker. What did happen at the show? We had 121dB’s with a 120Hz bass wave 75 feet from the front of the deck, with 126dB at the front of the stage; we confused the generator guy as to why the electrical draw was so low for such insanely high output—thanks to the CP4000 amps; we had compliments from all of the performers, regarding the clarity, bass, and overall performance; we had six audio companies from other stages stop by and ask us, amazed, ‘whose system is this?’ That said it all—in terms of sound quality and reliable performance, this rig was jaw-droppingly impressive… in a league of its own!”
Audio Crew:
Concert Production Manager – Bryan Rush (Rush Sounds)
Master Audio Engineer – Jay Krause (Sound & Lighting Solutions)
Front of house engineer Davy Kirkwood has been using a Midas XL8 Live Performance System provided by Britannia Row for the UK and European leg of the Rihanna tour.
Kirkwood arrived at the first date in Dublin directly from Jamaica in time for a few run-throughs with Britrow’s Josh Lloyd, who has completed the XL8 training at Midas’ Kidderminster headquarters.
“I’ve always been a Midas fan and have been using their consoles since 1977, but I think this sounds even better than the XL4,” says Kirkwood of the XL8. “Although I’d used other digital desks, I’d never felt as comfortable or as fast on them, and audibly they were a step down. However I find the XL8 a far more natural way of working, and very similar to using an analogue console.”
Kirkwood soon got to grips with the XL8’s automation, onboard effects and its many unique features.
“We used the automation on a song-by-song basis for effects and to change all levels except Rihanna’s vocal from song to song, and for a high pass filter in one number,” he says. “I accessed the channels via the POP (population) groups when mixing, and used a variety of compressors types on the two bass guitar channels and the keyboard bass.
“The onboard KVM let us view and control our show computer running the speaker system controllers from the desk itself. We also had our RT analyser computer running throughout the show on the surface.”
System engineer Chris Morrison took advantage of the Area B zone on the control surface throughout the show to control VT levels, CD etc, and help tweak things at one end of the desk.
The sound team also routed audio through the XL8’s network, without passing through the desk itself, removing the need for running any analogue cable from front of house to stage. The signal chain was completely digital between the stage box and the amp racks, routing digitally out of the XL8’s networked hardware into the on-stage processors.
Summarising his first XL8 experience, Kirkwood says,” This desk has changed my life. The quality of the pre amps and the overall audio quality is higher than any other desk I’ve worked with. The combination of the great desk and how Chris Morrison gets the system sounding every day makes it the best sound I’ve had with Rihanna since the start.”
Star DJ Joe T. Vannelli joins the ranks of top club owners with the recent opening of the Area Venezia in the North Italian town of Mestre. Worthy of comparison with the very finest discotheques in the world, the Area Venezia relies on a DYNACORD alpha concept system to provide the sound, while guest DJs like Boy George bring on the glamour
When a disc jockey and producer whose services are in demand throughout the world opens his own discotheque, one thing is clear: he is fulfilling a long cherished dream. Such, indeed, was the case when Joe T. Vannelli, the internationally renowned Italo-house and techno DJ, purchased an aging discotheque in the North Italian town of Mestre. With the aid of architect Massimo Cadamuro, Vannelli set out to transform the existing building into a superlative dance temple in which the quality of the sound system – tailored precisely to the acoustics of the various guest areas – would be such as to satisfy the very highest international standards. The result is the Area Venezia.
Having worked in many of the finest discotheques in the world, Joe T. Vannelli knew exactly which system he wanted for his own club: an alpha concept from DYNACORD, and he entrusted the task of performing the installation to the Renate-based pro audio company dSoundPro. To tailor the system perfectly to the architecture of the building, dSoundPro’s team of experts ran the simulation software EASE. The results of EASE’s acoustic CAD simulations revealed not only the position and orientation but also the power handling characteristics of each loudspeaker, all needed to obtain an even distribution of the sound throughout the club, with constant sound pressure levels along both the vertical and horizontal axes.
The wisdom of choosing an alpha concept system was immediately apparent during the two-day opening festivities on February 22nd & 23rd, which proved an unforgettable experience for over a thousand guests on each occasion, with Joe T. Vannelli enjoying himself hugely in his new role of host. Barely a week later the club saw its first guest appearance by an international star: Culture Club vocalist, DJ, and bird-of-paradise Boy George, who delivered a suitably stellar set. Since then, special guests including Niki Belucci and Satoshi Tomiie have consolidated the club’s reputation as one of Europe’s finest, as did the March 1st release of the house compilation “Area Venice”.
About the Area Venezia
In the Area Venezia, Architect Massimo Cadamuro has created a discotheque laden with opulence and luxury. In addition to its striking glass pillars, dazzling laser shows, four bars, and generously dimensioned dance floors, the new discotheque boasts a permanent exhibition of the work of the designer Alex Turco. The Area Venezia has also been accorded the privilege of using the celebrated Venice logo designed by Thibaut Mathieu – further recognition of its status as one of the world’s elite clubs. For further information on the Area Venezia visit www.areavenezia.it
About Joe T. Vannelli
The internationally renowned house and techno DJ, producer and radio presenter Joe T. Vannelli of Milan began his career in 1977. He had his first European club hit in 1989 with “Play With The Voice” but it was his production of “Children” for Robert Miles in the early 90s that elevated him to world stardom. In addition to regular club tours and remixes for cult acts like Erasure, New Order, and Mark Morrison, Vannelli presents the house programme “Slave To The Rhythm” on Radio Deejay. For further information, visit www.joetvannelli.com
EV was everywhere at the first annual Live Indie Rock Wars, billed as “The Three Day Live Event That Will Change Rock Music History”, held at Lake Las Vegas on April 25-27, 2008.
Bosch Communications Systems pro audio brands Electro-Voice and Dynacord co-sponsored the event, which showcased the top 21 bands from this competition. These up-and-coming bands were all in the running for the $50,000 grand prize and two year management deal. The winners of the event “The Underground Rebels” also won a complete EV mic package.
Bosch Communications Systems pro audio rep Buck Tallman was on site to support the show: “This is what it’s all about! A live, full-bore rock n roll war! We were there to provide hands-on support and meet the bands—we’re committed to supporting new talent, and that fact was heard loud and clear over the course of the competition, with EV mics all across the stage and an array of EV, Dynacord, and Midas PA equipment (provided by FBP Group of Las Vegas) ensuring every band sounded its best on the big day. It was an awesome event, all bands sounded great, and we were very proud to be a part of it.”
Equipment List:
EV N/D967 vocal mics
EV N/D767a vocal mics
EV Raven instrument mics
EV Cardinal instrument mics
EV N/D478 instrument mics
EV RE200 condenser mics
EV N/D868 kick drum mics
EV N/D468 drum mics
EV SxA250 stage monitors
EV P3000RL amplifiers
Dynacord Cobra-4 main PA
Midas Verona (FOH), Midas Siena (Monitors)
Klark Teknik Square One Graphics & Dynamics; DN370 EQs
Renowned Engineer/Producer Records Nashville Luminaries.
Pictured in Studio B at Ocean Way Nashville are Ricky Skaggs’ bass player Mark Fain and engineer Bil VornDick adjusting the Telefunken | USA Ela M260. Photo by Jim McGuire.
After extensive testing, popular Nashville engineer/producer Bil VornDick has purchased a pair of Telefunken | USA’s small capsule Ela M260 condenser microphones. This new version of the classic 1959 microphone features a New Old Stock Telefunken EF-732 tube and a custom wound transformer from AMI/TAB-Funkenwerk.
“When I was recording Rodney Crowell’s acoustic guitar,” recalls VornDick. “I was getting a bright and slightly harsh sound from other mics, so I tried the new Telefunken with a cardioid capsule and it worked great the first time out of the box.”
The Ela M260 comes complete with a set of three interchangeable capsules (cardioid, hyper-cardioid and omni) as well as an adaptor to allow the use of most AKG CK series capsules along with other capsules made by Red / B.L.U.E. and JZ / Violet.
“Next up, I was recording Charlie Haden’s standup bass in a room with Jerry Douglas, Brian Sutton, Bela Fleck, Pat Metheny, and Bruce Hornsby,” VornDick continues. “I switched to the hyper-cardioid capsule and put the mic near the top side of his bass because I wanted to target his sound and minimize leakage from the piano and other instruments in the room. An engineer’s hardest battle is making the musicians feel on playback that the instrument sounds like it did when they were playing. Charlie listened back and wanted to take the microphone home with him, so I scored a home run with him.”
VornDick is a graduate of Nashville’s Belmont College with a degree in Music Business. In a career spanning three decades, he has recorded over 500 albums, with 45 Grammy nods and eight winners. His long credit list includes Bob Dylan, Ralph Stanley, Rhonda Vincent, John Oates, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, T. Bone Burnett, and among scores of other top artists, Alison Krauss, whose career he developed and whose albums he produced as well as engineered.
“Recently, I was working with the Lovell Sisters and put a pair of 260s on the dobro using the cardioid capsule and I was just stunned,” VornDick continues. “I have been using my pair of vintage Neumann U-67s for years but these new mics easily did the job better than ever before.”
The new Telefunken | USA Ela M260 system includes a wooden microphone box, 10-meter Gotham Audio cable, shock mount, mic clip, owner’s manual, and a fully transferable 10-year warranty.
“The 260s have a nice smooth texture,” VornDick explains, “so if your are working with an instrument that is a little harsh or too bright, it gently smoothes it out. Here’s another example: if you’re not careful when recording a mandolin, you get undesirable overtones between the bridge and the tailpiece that have nothing to do with the tempered scale. But I put the 260 about six inches away and got a perfect sound. I’m looking forward to using these mics on a hammered dulcimer, which in my opinion is the hardest instrument to record.”
The new Ela M 260 from Telefunken | USA is an exceptionally versatile microphone which exhibits the same sought after qualities found in its historic namesake, including a frequency response that accommodates an extremely wide range of applications. As drum overheads and on acoustic instruments of all types, the Ela M260 responds exceedingly well, providing especially life-like results.
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