The song (which is available now on iTunes) has been on repeat in the warehouse for the past few days, and we will do anything we can to support this Irish artist on his journey to Azerbaijan and beyond. You too can help Andrew climb up the charts by purchasing the single for only 99 cent on iTunes by clicking here.

Best of luck Andrew!

We hope that your New Year brings more great shows, talented casts, great musicians and most importantly - great craic! We look forward to being behind the mixing desk for you again in 2012.

For more information, or to book Eoin for a show, please visit EoinOGrady.ie.

There are many free apps in the store that can read these codes – just search for “QR Codes”.

The skydive is being arranged by Skydive Ireland who will prepare and train all the jumpers before they hit the skies! The cost of the dive has already been covered by Eoin, so every cent of donations will go directly to Temple Street. It is a fantastic cause, and any support would be greatly appreciated.

Please consider making a donation through mycharity.ie as this money will get to the charity quickly and safely. Or else feel free to nab Eoin at a gig where he will be carrying a sponsorship card at all times!

AMP Sound Systems would like to wish Eoin the very best as he falls from the sky, and would like to sincerely thank everyone who makes a donation!

Donate online – click here

Cheap PA Systems for the masses!

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?

There are many parts to that answer, but before I answer it I must point out that I am aware that there are some cases where “anyone” can do the gig and that is perfectly fine. It will sound just fine, and realistically, a professional wouldn’t do any better. But these cases are always at the very low end of live sound – an area where good engineers don’t want to be anyway.

I am not for one moment trying to say that anyone who buys equipment from Thomann and does a gig for very little money is a bad engineer. Some of them are very good. And your gig might sound great! That is brilliant for you – hang on to him/her for as long as you possibly can.

But these guys are cheaper…

Well they are obviously going to be a lot cheaper than a reputable sound provider. Of course this is good for the band or musician. But what happens if you take this analogy on board:

You have the option of paying a doctor in your local GP’s office €60 to diagnose your symptoms and provide a cure. But you could also go to a back-alley doctor who is operating a practice illegally and most likely without proper qualifications. Yes, he will only charge you €20, but I severely doubt that you will go to him!

But how can this real doctor charge 3 times more? Because he has spent years studying his art, and you are not paying for the 5 minutes you are in with him – you are paying for the years he spent learning how to be a doctor.

Now take that example further – the doctor is your sound engineer, and your health is your bands sound! If the doctor messes up, you will be worse off!

But his last few gigs sounded great…

If you were smart enough to pop along to some other gig that your new potential “engineer” is mixing, it will give you a great insight into the quality of his work. If it sounds crap, you can just go and get someone else. But if it sounds good, does that mean that you should book him straight away? Certainly have a chat with him, and see if he is available.

But again there is a caveat to this. He may have worked with that band many times before, and after months of fine tuning has managed to get it sounding great. Your show will be a lot different, and you will need someone who can adjust quickly and notice and resolve problems instantly. A good engineer will know straight away what is wrong with the mix, and fix it. This will make your first show sound as good as any other show you will play. “I don’t know the band” is no excuse.

Basing your judgement on a past gig may not answer all your questions. His equipment might be working fine at the gig you saw, but what if something goes wrong? Does he carry spares? Probably not. Does he know how to fix things when they do go wrong? Probably not. A good engineer has gone through all these problems before, and has the experience to deal with them correctly. He also will have connections or possibly the sound company to back him up with replacements.

But you did it too…

He knows his stuff...

Yes I did! It’s how most people start. But I also made mistakes at those gigs, and learnt from those mistakes. Mistakes that will never happen at one of my gigs now. All I am saying is to not to skimp on your sound budget. If you want it to be done right, pay for it to be done right.

There are plenty of gigs where the amateurs can practice and learn. Leave them doing those gigs. Lots of them will develop into very experienced and skilled sound engineers. Book them when they reach this stage. If you are only at this stage yourself, then thats fine. But as soon as you are at the higher level, book a sound engineer who is at or above your level.

You get what you pay for is the most true statement when talking about sound engineers.

Look at an engineers portfolio. Check up on his/her testimonials. If an artist was genuinely happy with the sound, they will be happy to pass this information on. Do your research. If it is too good to be true, then it probably is! You get what you pay for!

And we hope that your New Year brings more great shows, talented casts, great musicians and most importantly - great craic! We look forward to being behind the mixing desk for you again in 2011.

This means that we have equipment and engineers available this week. If you have been let down by your sound company due to the adverse weather conditions, or are a sound hire company yourself and need us to cover one of your gigs, please do not hesitate to give us a ring on (01) 524 2720 and hopefully we will be able to help you out.

Thanks to Eoin at AMP Systems for providing a wonderful sound system for our party in Solas, Dublin. He braved a snow blizzard to get it out to us, so I really appreciate their dedication to their clients. He was always friendly, helpful, and flexible.

Thanks again!

– Louise Bernstein