Comedy of Errors

...so there I was, running audio for the Aquila Theater Companys' reinterpretation of the Comedy of Errors....an hour into it, everything was going good, the audience (aprox 400 Middle School students) were enjoying the performance, I was enjoying it, and then...people started leaving...within minutes the place was empty...what the....? Apparentley, some parents/teachers? in the audience felt that the material was inapproriate for middle school students, so they walked out...show over...

Thankfully, the evening show went off without a hitch, and it was fantastic...

it's a small world

it's a small world...I wouldn't want to paint it....

According to Sitemeter recent visitors to "have podium mic"
have been from the following places ;

Melbourne, Australia
Manchester, England
Enniskerry, Ireland
Bothel, WA
Oxford Park, Australia
Buffalo, NY
Sevenoaks, England
Liverpool, England
Hamburg, Germany
Newark, DE
Cranbury, NJ
Gray, ME
Sydney, Australia
Altrincham, England
Brooklyn, NY
Edinburgh, England
Gold Coast, Australia
Ipswich, England

it would not be a crime

It would not be a crime if
someone were
to break into my house...

and clean it...

i'm just sayin'....

places i visit...

When the cat is not sleeping on my computer these are some of the non-audio related web sites I've been visiting recently :

• Whatever - the online home of author John Scalzi
• lifehacker - tips and downloads for getting things done
• Astronomy Picture of the Day
  
• Gizmodo - the Gadget Guide

The Story Of The Podium, The Microphone and The Light

Once upon a time I was doing a corporate show, where we had about 10,000 watts of PA, moving lights, 2000 people in the audience, and a podium.

Now, first understand that our podiums have two microphones, typically something like the EV PC18-XLR (pictured on the right), and our podiums all have a gooseneck light made by Littlite (pictured on the left)..

So the event begins with a speaker who has a wireless lavalier microphone. The theory being he will be walking around the stage, and with the wireless mic he won't be tethered to the podium. Great theory, right ? Not quite, because the first thing he does is walk up the podium and push the microphones down, and then proceeds to give his speech standing at the podium. This is not a problem, he has a wireless lav, I turn it up...everything's great...
This is the problem : first speaker now intros the next speaker (who does not have a wireless mic)...next speaker walks up to the podium..looks at the mics that are pushed down...pauses... pulls up the light...and begins his speech speaking into the light...needless to say there are now 2000 people, plus myself who can not hear a thing this guy is saying...the next speaker (who must have realized that the light was not a mic) walks up to podium...pauses...pulls the light closer, and begins speaking...meanwhile I am too far away from the stage to do anything except bang my head on the console...

Now, these are all CEO types, who I KNOW have given speeches, and you know.. talked into MICROPHONES!!!!!!!..

Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is : if it emits light IT IS NOT a freakin' MICROPHONE.

The End.

Yellow Pages, why ?

This was delivered today... I think it is called Yellow Pages, it seems to be 50 pounds of paper with phone numbers listed... not really sure what to do with it... neither is the cat...

Ring Nebula (M57)

from German website Astro-Kooperation
with some cool space pictures.
As they say, "klicken Sie hier..."

Rober Forster-Velvet Underground

Update : Greetings to all the visitors from the Robert Forster site. These pictures are more of the 'behind the scenes' variety, taken while I was setting up for the show, thus the quality is less than stellar. However, the show and the band was stellar. Also, I posted some more pictures here...

Update #2 : More pictures here

As part of the Wexner Center for the Arts show Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms, we provided PA and monitors for Robert Forster :

"Celebrate the opening weekend of Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms with this special event spotlighting the music of art-rock legends the Velvet Underground—a band Warhol produced and championed.

"You’ll hear timeless Velvets’ classics performed by Robert Forster, one of the founders of revered Aussie indie band The Go-Betweens. We’re one of only two venues in this country to host Forster’s tribute concert, which he originally performed with his band at a Warhol exhibition in Queensland. (The other venue is Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum.) Forster and his excellent combo rip into "I’m Waiting for My Man," "All Tomorrow’s Parties," "What Goes On," and others from the Velvets’ influential catalog. Polish up your "shiny, shiny boots of leather" and step into the electric demimonde of the Factory era."

set-list-on-a-plate

what is it with turning left ?

What is it with turning left ? This is NOT a political question..


The Last of the Mohicans:

Duncan : "There is a war on. How is it you are headed west?"
Hawkeye : "Well, we kinda face to the north and real sudden-like, turn left."

Hard Days Night :

Reporter : "how did you (the Beatles) find America on your first U.S. visit"
John : "Just turn left at Greenland..."

Looney Tunes :

Bugs Bunny arriving accidentally at the South Pole : ''I knew I shoulda toyned left at Albuquerque."

phantom power

Two ways of assigning phantom power on the Yamaha M7 :

1. Select channel
-tap on Head Amp
-tap on "+48V"
repeat for each channel that needs phantom power....

or (the more better way)

2. go to User Defined Keys
- scroll to "SET BY SEL"
- go to "SET +48V"
.....now, holding the user defined key and hitting the Select key on on any channel turns phantom power off/on....

WalMart

From Flowing Data

This cool animation shows the spread of WalMart :
"Watching the Growth of Walmart Across America"

no podium ?

It's not just a job, it's an adventure...
we spent four days on Lake Cumberland..
working...

sometimes you just have to take one for the team.....

Lake Cumberland, KY....

somebody has to do it....

Bluesfest

We just got back from the Riverside Bluesfest in St. Marys, Ohio

One of the artists was Ana Popovic , an amazing guitar player born in Belgrade, Serbia, she and her band had done a show two days before in Amsterdam, then traveled to Ohio and put on a fantastic show...