C o N t E N t s What’s hot What’s hot Feature AES Preview Yes, we will all sit around bitching about how it is a recording show masking as a live event show, but first, here is a look at some of the new toys. Welcome To My Nightmare An expanded tale that includes killer eggplant, broken teeth and cola missiles. And he swears it’s all true… FEEDBACK What Up? How are you doing? First off, I really like what you guys do with <strong>FOH</strong>. The EPD is really a valuable tool, as well. I started working at the Vic Theater in Chicago in ‘98 and have since gone on to much bigger things and much smaller gigs. I was just reading your review on that new Audix mic. It really made me smile. It’s really hard when the singers bring in the condenser, and they insist on using it. It’s always the cover/tribute bands that are like this. These are the same bunch that brings the two full stacks of 4x12s into a 300-seat bar. It just won’t work, and they never want to take your advice. I have been doing this rock ‘n’ roll BS since ‘95 and the majority still has little or no faith. Sometimes you just have to put 12 36 Features 16 <strong>FOH</strong> Interview Not one, not two, but three takes on the worldrenowned Montreux Jazz Festival. 18 Production Profile Bikes, babes and big bad bands. Just another evening at the Buffalo Chip in Sturgis, South Dakota. 20 Hometown Heroes We asked, and you voted. Here are the regional winners in the 4th Annual <strong>FOH</strong> Hometown Hero Soundco Awards. 24 Road Tests The Lex MX300 Effects processor gets juiced up by a Peavey Distro, and it all ends in a set of Future Sonics Ear Monitors. 28 Whose Mix Is It Anyway? A fractured fairy tale about intellectual property, honorable mixers and the Central Scrutinizer. 30 Product Gallery Digital EQs are great tools. But the blade cuts both ways…and it’s sharp 32 Installations So what if it’s the freakin’ Fillmore? When you want your own P.A. — and you are Billy Corgan and Jon Lemon — you get your own P.A. 44 Regional Slants Cruising with Jonny B. How a prog-rock bass player grew up to become a solid local and regional soundco owner. the earplugs in and go with the flow. Actually, I don’t even bother trying to explain how the stuff works to the weekend warriors anymore. It seems better just to tell them that they rock, and that I really dig what they are doing. I swear they just don’t believe me when I tell them that Van Halen was using a little Bluesbreaker amp behind the massive stacks on stage. Some big acts even have the miked cabs in a road case just to keep down the SPL. The quieter the stage volume is, the better it’s gonna sound the majority of the time. I like to say that some amps and cymbals are for outside use only. The weirdest thing is that the real artists actually want to work with you to get the best sound. Local yokels are just like, “I’ve been working on this guitar sound for years, and it’s the best! ”Or, “ This Beta 87 is the best mic cause it’s the most expensive.” www.fohonline.com OCTOBER 2007, Vol. 6.1 Columns 38 Theory and Practice Actually, this time out it is theory VERSUS practice. 39 The Biz What spiraling ticket costs may mean for the future of the biz. 40 The Bleeding Edge The MI biz has MIDI. Why can’t pro audio decide on — and adhere to — a standard for transport of digital audio? 42 Vital Stats He may never cop to it, but EAW’s Jeff Cox may be the individual most responsible for the bandwagon that line array has become. But he was the first on it in the U.S. 48 Sound Sanctuary Even the church market has room for a little self-power. 52 <strong>FOH</strong>-At-Large AES: Let the feeding frenzy begin. Just don’t forget about that stack of riders back at the shop… Departments 4 Editor’s Note 2 Feedback 5 News 9 International News 11 On the Move 12 New Gear 14 Showtime 42 In the Trenches We have a Chi-town cover band called Hairbangers Ball, and all six of them insist on using the 87s, even the drummer. The drummer, of course, needs hi hat and overheads always, no matter what size venue they are playing. It’s weird, cause I was taught that 80% of what we do is communication, and 20% is technical. I still believe in this but know I have learned to pick my battles. Anyways, thanks for putting out <strong>FOH</strong>. PLUR Mike J. Freelancer for life! Jam Productions, Edge Audio Services, Frost Lighting, The Aragon Ballroom, The Vic, The Park West, The Riviera and the vast suburban wasteland of cover bands.
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