Download a PDF - FOH Online

Ad info:http:// foh.hotims.com
News
Alice Cooper Drives a New Wedge into “Psycho-Drama”
Alice Cooper shows no signs of slowing down with his lastest
Psycho-Drama tour.
TEMPE, Ariz. — After 18 albums and more
than four decades of touring, Alice Cooper certainly
isn’t showing any signs of slowing. Cur-
rently out on his aptly named Psycho-Drama
tour, the original shock rocker has among his
collection of essential stage items a guillotine,
electric chair, boa constrictor, plenty of fake
blood, and now, 10 coaxial L-ACOUSTICS 115XT
HiQ stage monitors.
Along with a pair of L-ACOUSTICS ARCS
and SB118 enclosures for side-fill and LA Series
amplification, the 115XT HiQ wedges round out
the loudspeaker complement of a monitor system
package furnished by Tempe, Ariz.-based
Precise Corporate Staging (PCS) LLC.
“Night after the night, the HiQs are performing
very well for Alice and his band,” says PCS
President David Stern, who has worked with
Cooper on and off for the past four years and is
additionally providing the tour’s FOH console
and processing racks. “In my opinion, there’s not
a better monitor built. Just like the 30-box V-
DOSC(r) rig we also own, the HiQ wedges are extremely
clean and rarely need much EQ, if any.”
Stern points out that the monitors are
beneficial in that they help minimize the
tour’s overall stage volume. “We’re running
the stage system in zones and I know that
Paul Bostic, Alice’s monitor engineer, appreciates
the exceptional clarity and articulation of
the HiQ’s design. This enables the musicians
to better hear themselves while performing
and spares them from the vicious circle of
having to crank up their amplifiers to compete
with the wedges.
Live Audio Companies
Find Strength in
Numbers
continued from cover
and share similar values and aspirations. I am
confident that with the resources provided,
Ashly will achieve strong sustainable growth,”
said Dave Parse, CEO of Ashly Audio.
Ashly Audio will maintain its brand identity;
the company will continue to engineer, manufacture,
and distribute the Ashly and Camco
brands from their current offices located in
Webster, N.Y. All employees of Ashly will be retained.
“We are natural partners, and this
investment not only provides synergy for both
firms, but will further our long relationship and
will allow us to bring Ashly branded products to
their full potential,” said Executive Vice President
Martin Szpiro. We are very excited about the
leading-edge technologies, both in amplifiers
and signal processors that Ashly is developing.
The prospect for our future together looks very
promising.”
In other news, Riedel Communications,
German manufacturer and supplier of communication
systems for the broadcast, theatre and
event industries, has acquired digital audio specialist
Media Numerics.
Media Numerics has developed the realtime
audio network RockNet. Shipping began
Q1 2008, and among the first users of RockNet
are productions like Bruce Springsteen, Queen
and the Grammy Awards.
“With RockNet we have a new product line,
which really complements our existing portfolio.
The acquisition also strengthens our development
expertise in the field of professional
audio products. We really look forward to the
further development and success of RockNet,”
said Thomas Riedel, managing director of Riedel
Communications GmbH & Co. KG.
FCC Puts Screws to
Live Event Audio Industry
continued from page 5
was sold. But check with your vendors and
find out if they are going to have some
kind of program in place to absorb at least
some of the blow of replacing fairly new
wireless gear. And no matter how good a
deal it is on eBay, don’t buy anything in
this spectrum. Period.
The rest of the spectrum? No one really
knows right now. Sabine makes a unit
that operates in the 2.4 gHz range that
should not be affected and X2’s digital
wireless along with Audio Technica’s ultrawideband
technology point to some possible
future tech fixes but none of those
by themselves are the answer to the entire
problem.
“While not unexpected, today’s FCC
decision will greatly complicate the lives
of wireless microphone users across the
United States and negatively affect tens
of millions of Americans listening to live
and broadcast events,” said Mark Brunner,
Shure senior director of Global Public and
Industry Relations. Brunner is among many
who have worked tirelessly on this issue for
several years. And now they — and our entire
industry — have lost. The future is not
entirely clear, but be prepared for interference
from lots of stupid and worthless
text messages to start hitting your wireless
mics and ears in the near future.