Is the availability of pro audio equipment to the masses making sound in general better or worse? A quick search on Thomann can get you a little PA system like this, ready to go. Just throw in a mic or 2 and for under a thousand quid you have a gig!
With the rise in technology, and the affordability of equipment like this, a new breed of “sound engineers” has appeared in the world. A group of amateurs who think they can achieve the same results as a professional would have. They can suddenly be at the same level as someone who took years to study his art, and years to perfect it. Now this new guy on the block, money in hand, goes to Thomann and buys the same equipment that a pro would have and voila, a new genre of professionalism is born. The lack of experience doesn’t matter anymore. He can now buy his experience – because as far as most people are concerned, having sound equipment is all that you need. As long as someone knows how to plug it in, it will be fine. But is this good or bad?
The budget has been set aside for the new console – but the search continues to try to find the best performing mixing platform that will add to our already impressive inventory of pro audio equipment. We need something with the highest audio quality, 100% reliability, and a small footprint to keep staff costs down for our customers.
And no more tape!!
So we decided to take the Avid (formerly Digidesign) VENUE SC48 out for a test drive. It ticked all the boxes we were looking for – except one. The console was beautifully simple to use. 2 of our engineers who had never seen the desk before took to it like a duck to water. The audio quality blew the Yamaha’s out of the water. And to keep with the H20 references, we sank like a stone when we tried to lift it! The desk was beautiful, but just too heavy! It immediately added a bill for another staff member for the day, and we were not happy with passing this cost onto the customer.
Easy to love!
We will certainly take it out as much as we can on shows where we have the staff anyway, but for the moment, the search for a compact, small/medium size digital desk continues!
But on the bright side, it does have an awesome Vegas mode! Check out all the flashing lights and buttons in the video below!
Will that Midas desk really make your band sound better? Surely that Klark Teknik graphic cant make a whole lot of difference? Pay €100,000 for a PA or €10,000?
€18.50
€109
All the above questions are questions that I have asked myself before – other than the band bit, so in my case my client’s band. I ain’t gonna say buy the most expensive gear you can find, and I ain’t gonna say “just buy cheap shit”. With a combination of skill and knowing “the right tool for the job”, this post will show you how to maximize the rewards of spending your hard earned cash! Continue reading “Cheap & Cheerful VS Big Brand!” »
I ended up mixing a gig from a projection box on Friday night. Part of Dublin’s Culture Night was a screening of a few Irish short films, followed by a late showing of a classic – The Commitments. This all happened outdoors in Templebar’s Meeting House Square.
Splicing the reels together...
I had a few DVD’s to play and a few speeches and DJ’s to amplify, but the fun started when a professional projectionist came in to power up the real 35mm projector! A Blueray player was always enough for me – until I saw the quality of this picture! But the picture quality was not what really got me. I got to see the projectionist splice together 6 reels of 35mm film to make up the entire 2 hour Commitments. He then rolled it onto a huge reel and fed it into the amazingly complicated box of wheels and pullies.
Sunday the 12th of September meant an early start for the AMP Sound Systems crew! Just off from a late night at Darver Festival, we were in Phibsborough in Dublin for Phizzfest. AMP Sound Systems was subhired by The Sound & Music Co. to provide sound equipment and staff to the event.
The gig consisted of everything from rock to trad! The sun shone down all day – with the clouds only bursting as the case was put on the desk and the punters had gone home! It was a fabulous festival, and we hope to get the chance to work on it next year. Well done to all the organizers and thanks Vinny for putting the gig our way.
Now just for Vinny… The rig consisted of a centre-cluster of 4 x 600W DAP Subwoofers, 2 600W Mid-Highs and 3 EV sxA250′s for monitoring. FoH and wedges were mixed on a Yamaha LS9-16 by Eoin O’Grady.
It may have been pouring rain on Saturday, but that did not stop us rigging a D&B line array and amplifying some great bands! Darver Intercultural Festival in Co. Louth brought acts and punters from all over the world to display their culture, crafts and music! Acts from Africa, Lithuania, Ireland and many more performed a small set before all the bands hopped up together for a big jam session!
The rig consisted of a groundstacked array of 4 D&B Q7′s on top of 2 QSubs on either side of the stage, with a centre cluster of Meyer HP600′s. FoH was mixed on a Yamaha M7CL. Wedges were a combination of D&B Max12′s and EV sxA250′s.
Yes – a once in a lifetime experience, never to happen again – Eoin wants feedback! As most of you know, this blog is still in its infancy - even though it has been such a great success so far in the few short weeks it has been alive!
On a side note – thanks for all that support. Visitors have been piling on board. And it puts a smile on my face to know that you enjoyed the stuff I write so much that you even clicked the “Like” button! Thank you!
Yamaha’s studio manager has saved my bacon a few times at gigs. Most of our work can only be done once we reach the venue. Yes, it is possible to be organised and have all leads wrapped correctly and have a clear channel list made out, but thats about all you can do before you get into the thick of things at the gig. Now, along comes digital mixing desks, and along with those comes software to edit your shows offline. See it in action!
Every so often, you get a gig which isn’t terribly entertaining. Maybe cos it aint your type of music, or is just too easy and not a challenge. Now, it doesn’t happen much I have to say, but when it does you have to find some way to keep yourself occupied – and the saving grace is usually a digital mixing desk!
The video below shows the terrible effects of a bored sound engineer:
I luckily managed to clear a day off for myself in between all the other festival bookings – just enough time to nip out to Knockanstockan Festival in Co. Wicklow to mix one of my favourite bands to work with – The Eskies!
Equipment, Life of an engineer, Random Thoughts, Sound Theory | Eoin O'Grady January 18, 2011 | 
Comments (0) 
I luckily managed to clear a day off for myself in between all the other festival bookings – just enough time to nip out to Knockanstockan Festival in Co. Wicklow to mix one of my favourite bands to work with – The Eskies!