TheAudioPod.com

Superbowl Half Time Shows need new life...

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 09:57:58 -0500

Ok, who doesn't love “The Who” but lets be honest... the Superbowl halftime shows have been AWFUL the past few years. Ok Springsteen is the exception but how do you expect to appeal to mass audiences with the likes of Tom Petty and The Who ???????

Come on!

The Super Bowl halftime shows use to be something people were excited to see because they had NO idea who might show up and perform.

Lets take a look at the list over the past 15 years or so...

XXX
1996
Sun Devil Stadium,
Tempe
Radio City
Diana Ross
Take Me Higher: A Celebration of 30 Years of the Super Bowl

XXXI
1997
Superdome,
New Orleans
Select Productions
Blues Brothers (Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman and Jim Belushi), ZZ Top, James Brown
Blues Brothers Bash

XXXII
1998
Qualcomm Stadium,
San Diego
Radio City
TLC, Aretha Franklin, Martha Reeves, The Temptations, Treach, Grambling State University Band
Salute to Motown's 40th Anniversary
Royal Caribbean International & Celebrity Cruises

XXXIII
1999
Pro Player Stadium,
Miami
Radio City
Chaka Khan, Gloria Estefan, Stevie Wonder, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Savion Glover
Celebration of Soul, Salsa and Swing
Progressive Auto Insurance
Partial clip of Gloria Estefan & Stevie Wonder[12]

XXXIV
2000
Georgia Dome,
Atlanta
Disney
Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton, 80-person choir, Edward James Olmos (narrator)
Tapestry of Nations
E*TRADE
"Reflections of Earth" Instrumental (Walt Disney World Millenium Celebration soundtrack), "Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand" (Christina Aguilera & Enrique Iglesias), *"Tapestry of Nations" Instrumental (Walt Disney World Millenium Celebration soundtrack), "Two Worlds" (Phil Collins), "We Go On" (Toni Braxton)[13]

XXXV
2001
Raymond James Stadium,
Tampa
MTV
Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock
Aerosmith, 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Nelly
The Kings of Rock and Pop
E*TRADE
pre-recorded intro skit with Stiller, Sandler, Rock, Aerosmith, and 'N Sync, "Bye Bye Bye" ('N Sync), "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (Aerosmith), "It's Gonna Be Me ('N Sync), "Jaded" (Aerosmith), "Walk This Way" (Aerosmith, 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Nelly)[14]

XXXVI
2002
Superdome,
New Orleans
Clear Channel Entertainment
U2
Tribute to 9/11 victims
E*TRADE
XXXVII
2003
Qualcomm Stadium,
San Diego
Jimmy Iovine and Joel Gallen
Shania Twain, No Doubt, Sting
AT&T Wireless
"Man! I Feel like a Woman!" (Shania Twain), "Up!" (Shania Twain) [15], "Just a Girl" (No Doubt) [16], "Message in a Bottle" (Sting with Gwen Stefani)[17]

XXXVIII
2004
Reliant Stadium,
Houston
MTV
Janet Jackson, P. Diddy, Nelly, Kid Rock and Justin Timberlake
Rock the Vote
AOL TopSpeed
"All for You" (Janet Jackson), "Diddy" to the tune of "Mickey" (P. Diddy), "Hot in Herre" (Nelly), "Mo Money Mo Problems" (P.Diddy), "Bawitdaba" (Kid Rock), "Cowboy" (Kid Rock), "Rhythm Nation" (Janet Jackson), "Rock Your Body" (Justin Timberlake with Janet Jackson)[18]

XXXIX
2005
ALLTEL Stadium,
Jacksonville
Don Mischer Productions
Paul McCartney
Ameriquest Mortgage
"Drive My Car," "Get Back," "Hey Jude," "Live and Let Die"

XL
2006
Ford Field,
Detroit
Don Mischer Productions
The Rolling Stones
Sprint
"Start Me Up," "Rough Justice," "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"

XLI
2007
Dolphin Stadium,
Miami
Don Mischer Productions and
White Cherry Entertainment
Prince, Florida A&M University Marching 100 band
Pepsi
"We Will Rock You," "Let's Go Crazy," "Baby, I'm a Star," "Proud Mary," "All Along the Watchtower," "Best of You," "Purple Rain"

XLII
2008
University of Phoenix Stadium,
Glendale
Don Mischer Productions and
White Cherry Entertainment
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Bridgestone
"American Girl," "I Won't Back Down," "Free Fallin'," "Runnin' Down a Dream"
XLIII
2009
Raymond James Stadium,
Tampa
Don Mischer Productions and
White Cherry Entertainment
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Bridgestone
"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," "Born to Run," "Working on a Dream," "Glory Days"

XLIV
2010
Sun Life Stadium,
Miami Gardens
White Cherry Entertainment
The Who
Bridgestone
"Pinball Wizard," "Baba O'Riley," "Who Are You," "See Me, Feel Me," "Won't Get Fooled Again"

So let MTV do the shows again. I forgive JJ and JT for the “oops” (which was totally staged anyway) and lets bring back some exciting acts to keep the people entertained during the 30 minute break in action. Of if you are too scared, then bring back the marching bands. But if I have to see Pete Townshend doing awful windmills and Roger Daltrey struggle to hit 1/2 his lowest octave, then I’ll just turn it off and blog about how I cooked more chicken wings during halftime next year.

(Thanks Wiki for the list)

Rock is Dead... Beyonce is the new Ozzy

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 19:42:02 -0500

For those of us who care about the production categories that were not featured in the 2010 Grammy Telecast... here they are:

Best Engineered Album, Non Classical
Ellipse by Imogen Heap
Imogen Heap, Engineer

Producer of the Year, Non Classical
Brendan O’Brien
Black Ice (AC/DC)
The Fixer (Pearl Jam)
Killswitch Engage (Killswitch Engage)
Working on a Dream (Bruce Springsteen)

Best Remixed Recording, Non Classical
When Love Takes Over (Electro Extended Remix)
David Guetta, Remixer

Best Engineered Album, Classical
Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10
Peter Laenger, engineer (Michael Tilson Thomas & San Francisco Symphony)
[SFS Media]

Producer Of The Year, Classical
Steven Epstein
• Adams: Doctor Atomic Symphony (David Robertson & Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra)
• Bernstein: Mass (Marin Alsop, Jubilant Sykes, Asher Edward Wulfman, Morgan State University Choir, Peabody Children's Chorus & Baltimore Symphony Orchestra)
• Corigliano: A Dylan Thomas Trilogy (Leonard Slatkin, George Mabry, Sir Thomas Allen, Nashville Symphony Chorus & Nashville Symphony Orchestra)
• Fauré: Piano Quintets (Fine Arts Quartet & Cristina Oritz)
• Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs Of Joy And Peace (Yo-Yo Ma & Various Artists)

Best Surround Sound Album
For vocal or instrumental albums. Albums only.

Transmigration
Michael Bishop, surround mix engineer; Michael Bishop, surround mastering engineer; Elaine Martone, surround producer (Robert Spano, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Choruses)
[Telarc]

Best Instrumental Composition
A Composer's Award for an original composition (not an adaptation) first released during the Eligibility Year. Singles or Tracks only.

Married Life (From Up)
Michael Giacchino, composer (Michael Giacchino)
Track from: Up - Soundtrack
[Walt Disney Records]

Best Instrumental Arrangement
An Arranger's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

West Side Story Medley
Bill Cunliffe, arranger (Resonance Big Band)
Track from: Resonance Big Band Plays Tribute To Oscar Peterson
[Resonance Records]

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
An Arranger's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Quiet Nights
Claus Ogerman, arranger (Diana Krall)
Track from: Quiet Nights
[Verve]

Best Recording Package
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Stefan Sagmeister, art director (David Byrne & Brian Eno)
[Todomundo/Opal]

Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
Neil Young Archives Vol. I (1963-1972)
Gary Burden, Jenice Heo & Neil Young, art directors (Neil Young)
[Reprise]

Best Album Notes
The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions (1935-1946)
Dan Morgenstern, album notes writer (Louis Armstrong)
[Mosaic Records]

2009 Airing of Grievances

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 07:32:29 -0500

And now.... for the 2009 Airing of Grievances...(taken with a grain of salt)

Comcast bought NBC...... great.... now we can have even more awful NBC programing even cheeper and have the quality go down because nobody will outbid Comcast for the content.

Apple.... and...AT&T ok, mostly apple, for signing a dam contract until 2010 when you knew you had a billion dollar idea yet were to conservative to launch it across all networks. You WAITED to put text messaging and video into your iphones until the 3rd generation and even then, the AT&T network barely was able to handle network traffic...... Apple, you annoy me, yet I love you at the same time...

AVID in general...

Pro-Tools for still not allowing me to mix with my own video card...

Apple again for finally allowing higher resolution downloads... yet barely releasing any music in your new hi-res format... YOUR EQUIPMENT IS AWSOME!>>> BUT WHY DO YOUR BUSINESSES PRACTICES SUCK??@?!?!?

To XM/Sirius Radio... for instituting an additional fee under the guise of a “royalty fee”.... ummm why do I need to pay an extra $2 a month to listen to music I already bought a subscription to hear..... what happened for the past 10 years?!? Were you playing all that music un-licensed? Wasn’t the $14.99 a month you were charging me INCLUDING the fee it cost to play the dam music,.... and also pay for operational costs... like paying an ASCAP or BMI license?!?

Swine Flu..... well... ok.. the media’s coverage of Swine Flu... lets face it, until some crazy colorado resident decided to fill an oversized birthday balloon, let it go and then proceed to film it, the only news story the media had was how many people had a runny nose.

To Major League Baseball.... just institute instant replay for any close play like in football... and put a dam clock in the game.

Finally, my last Grievance to be aired is to DigiDesign... you didn’t even show up at AES... even if you showed up with a laptop and a table... we (general audio-files) would have had a bit more respect for you.

Wow, I really do feel so much better.... maybe Jerry had something with this holliday.....

Happy 2010 everybody! see you on the flip side!

Comcast Tests TV over internet

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:36:59 -0500

Sorry for being a little tardy on my blog posts... I have been composing up a storm as of late and I’m finally almost done.

But.... this totally got my attention.

So Comcast this week decided to test a new service called Fancast XFinity TV which is their new TV over internet delivery system being developed to compete with Hulu and other internet content distribution websites.

From what I have heard, Fancast XFinity TV is going to be a plug in for your computer that will sit on your system tray (or wherever you put it) and let you access your Comcast content depending on which cable package you have. Example, if you only subscribe to basic cable, then you will only get the basic cable channels, if you get HBO etc, then you can see those as well.

Lets back up for a moment...

On December 3rd, it was announced that Comcast bought NBC Universal . This shook up the TV world because it was the first time that a distributor bought an original network. People saw it two ways,
it was going to be great because Comcast can now distribute the content any way they see fit. Internet, set top box, etc for very cheap money
it was going to stink because there would be less market correction for other companies negotiating cable contracts. Broadcasters might have to pay more to get their content on Comcast.

Ok, let’s continue
So, it looks like Comcast is doing both, paying cheap money for content AND trying to come up with a new business model because I believe the internet distribution system is becoming MORE popular than traditional TV viewing.

Back in February 2008 I did a blog post stating I was getting rid of TV. I am not a visionary by an means or ground breaking, but I do believe I might be part of a new way of consuming entertainment especially in younger age groups. I nearly cut my cable bill in half by getting rid of cable and increasing my bandwidth to my home. We watch HD movies via Netflix and X-Box 360 and watch all of our junk food reality TV shows via Hulu, ABC, CBS, NBC, MTV.com. And guess what, they still have commercials we have to sit through..... our only sacrifice is that premium channel content like HBO etc we have to wait for DVD to purchase. Oh... by the way... we can still get HDTV and football games via the digital tv rabbit ears we are purchasing. Yea it’s not your grandmother’s rabbit ear system, I will get full surround sound as well when content is delivered in 5.1

I’m doing an un-official poll right now of how people are getting their content, I’ll post it in a few days to see if the majority is swinging to internet distribution.

But here’s the brilliance of Comcast marketing,

So you pay for a cable subscription and internet, costing roughly around $130 a month...
You will probably have to pay to get this “Fancast XFinity TV” system service, say an extra $5 a month (who knows what they will charge)

So for $135 dollars a month, I can watch TV over the internet via Comcast when it’s already free via Hulu?????? Yep... Comcast is brilliant. People will pay... why? Because in the end, their interface will be LESS clicks to get to and search for than hunting for content on their own.

Let’s also talk about these issues.....
what type of format are they going to compress the video into and how are they going to deliver that on the web? Flash? MP4, WMV?
How are you going to deliver 5,1 sound via the internet without a new type of streaming codec?
Are your commercials still going to be +10dB louder than the content?

I’m not against this at all..... I just like to question the true motives....

UML Studio Repair Class Only...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:02:39 -0500

Click Here.....

Live Broadcast November 7

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 17:41:38 -0500

November 7th we will be doing a live broadcast from Western Ave Studios in Lowell MA on our LiveStream channel: http://www.livestream.com/theaudiopod

Here is the channel schedule

1:30 - 3:00 pm : Live camera
3:00-3:30 pm Tutorial on using LiveStream.com for broadcasts
3:30-5:00 pm: Live camera

Our LiveStream channel is up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Live events will always be announced on TheAudioPod.com and on the channel’s ticker.

To EQ or not EQ.. is there a question???

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 07:50:56 -0500

Emails, Yes we get Emails...

“Dear Mike @ TheAudioPod...

I was recently doing a project for class where the teacher told us to pick our microphones for their frequency response patters so that we EQ at the microphone. When I did this all of the instrument sounded flat in my mix and nothing popped. So I basically got the same exact sound as I get with recording everything with my RE-20 in my dorm room and EQ’ing the S#!t out of them in Pro-Tools. Why do I even have to spend any money on nice microphones???

Angry Kid (Justin Miller) “

A: Dude, AngryKid was a histerical-y funny animation from Atom.com. I hope that’s what your name is referring to. hehe.

Ok, I totally get what you are saying. I struggled with the same thing when I was in class and if any of my former teachers are reading; forgive me, you taught me well but you also taught me to learn the rules and then break them.

When we EQ at the microphone, we are looking at the frequency response of a microphone. In layman's terms, the frequency response of a microphone deals with the materials the microphone capsule is made out of, how it interacts with the microphone circuitry and how that affects the frequencies the microphone picks up. Lets look at two charts, one of the SM-57 and one of an Earthworks M30.

Lets notice two things, the SM-57’s chart Y axis hows it in 5dB increments where the M30 is in 1dB. This is like EQ-ing by 5dB at the board, only its built into the mic already. So on the SM-57 there is a +6dB boost around around 5 KHz - 7KHz. That’s a lot of boosting. The M30 has what... 0 dB response at 5KHz? But it does have a +2 dB boost around 15KHz so that might be good for something else.

So does that mean when you slap a SM-57 up on a snare drum, you are done EQ-ing?
NO!!!!!!!!!!!! (this is where the teacher might disagree with me for the sake of the exercise)

Yea it’s nice to get some pre-EQ-ing out of the way but in the end, you need to use your ears. Lets say you mic up a snare drum with the SM-57 and when you sit at the console you notice a buzz or ring in the instrument right at 5 KHz. So why would you accentuate this buzz or right with this mic choice when you are just going to notch filter the crap out of it in mix stage. Switch your microphone to something with a flat or lower response at 5KHz that will require less EQ to get rid of the buzz or ring.

Get it?

Now... lets say we slapped the SM-57 on the snare drum and the ring appeared at 2 KHz....
EQ THAT RIGHT OUT OF THERE!!!!!! So what if you were suppose to EQ at the microphone, not all microphones frequency response patterns fit exactly correctly with all the different instruments in the world. There is too much variation, if you can get close with the microphone, great, but still EQ at the board.

So Justin Miller, the point of the story is, do both. Yes you can record with an RE-20 and EQ after the fact and it will sound fine, but you could have saved yourself 20 minutes worth of mix time if you just listened to the instrument first with your ears and realized the snare had a buzz and ring in it and just choose something like the AKG Perception 400.

What what takes our art out of the dorm room and into the recording studio is the attention to detail and the ability to make decisions with all of the available data and choose the correct permutations. In other words,what makes you an Audio Engineer instead of an Audio Hobbie-ist is the ability to make decisions on mic placement, mic choice, EQ moves, recording media, sample rate, bit depth, performance intensity, volume changes, etc etc etc and know ahead of time in your head (through experience and lots of listening) what the end result recording will sound like.

So why do people use RE-20’s on everything and EQ them after the fact? Simple answer... it’s what they could afford to spend on microphones. I’m sure Justin that if you had the means to buy a TLM-103 or an M30 you totally would. Truth is, many recording studios (if there are any left) don’t have the means to keep an extensive mic collection. So engineers get as close as they can to the sound that they want with the closest microphone that will get them there, and then they EQ the instrument afterwards. It’s just a fact of life, that’s why the EQ was invented in the end.

So my friend, you are on the correct path... question your teacher, find a way to do it better. But respect him or her and realize, maybe this is the exact train of thought they wanted you to be on?

Superstitions...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:46:08 -0400

So I just finished the book “Mixerman” again and it got me thinking... Do I have any superstitions when I mix?

Yes, Yes I do.

If anybody knows me, I am a sports fanatic. I work at a sports TV station, I played every sport known to man (not well), I love competition and I love anything involving chasing after a ball, puck or any round type object. So with that said, superstitions are built into my DNA from sports. It’s pretty much my only OCD. Here’s the thought process behind a superstition in my own head...

You finally get something you have been struggling over to work correctly(golf swing, baseball swing, compressor settings, fly fishing, etc) or you hit a grove in your work or studies (rocking a complex mix, nailing that lick on the guitar, etc).
You have a rational explanation on why it is working, you know all the logic and science behind it.
You remember EVERYTHING that you were doing when it happened, what you were wearing, what was playing on the radio, the lights, the smells, what you were eating, etc.
Even though you KNOW how to repeat the performance and you can repeat it anytime now, you still have a sense of doubt that it will not work again for some mysterious reason. So you repeat EVERYTHING, (cloths, smells, etc) the same exact way EVERY TIME until you either forget about a certain detail that wasn’t necessary (smells) or they just turn into a superstition...

Listen, I never said this was sane....

So here is some of my studio superstitions:

I ALWAYS wear something blue to a mix session. In college it use to be this ridiculous plaid button down shirt but now it’s relegated to a ridiculous blue polo.
I always wear my Bill Belichick hoodie on sundays during football season, or whenever the Patriots play... or any sunday it is cold out...
I always eat an egg sandwich on days I go into studio to record or mix.
I always have Beef Jerkey and Dentine Ice peppermint gum with me in studio for snacking and nervous chewing.
Only drink Bottled water during a session
Compressors are always Red, reverbs are always Blue, delays are always Green and EQs are always Yellow
When labeling the channel strip... Drums and percussion are always Green, guitars are always Brown, vocals are always Red, Aux instruments (keyboards, strings, etc) are always Black.
The board ALWAYS has to have a “Rock” and a “Suck” track, which are usually on the last 2 channels of the mixer. (they also serve as two emergency channels if needed, but are rarely used) Turn up the rock, turn down the suck...
A Lava Lamp must always be present, computer images will do if fire code do not allow them present
Every session must start with a reference tune, usually Lifehouse “trying” from No Name Face
Every session must end with “Living on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi
Each break must be taken at the :45 second mark of any given minute. Example, take a break at 7:30:45 or 8:21:45
All studio documentation must be done in #2 non mechanical pencil on top of a note book so to get the really good indentations through the paper when you write.
There must be a coffee stain present on some piece of documentation, even though I don’t drink coffee.
The first pedal in a guitar pedal chain must be marked with a piece of white tape, masking or rumble tape is fine.

ok, I admit, I’m a maniac...

AES Wrap Up

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:42:17 -0400

So it’s been 3 days since the last day of the AES convention. Lets take a look at the entire convention’s top stories and new technologies.

The number one story on the exhibition floor was the absence of AVID’s Digidesign. This did not sit well with AES members but Digidesign’s absence was quickly forgotten as they perused the exhibition floor. Overall vendors scaled down their displays but this allowed smaller vendors to have more exposure than they normally would.

Audio over IP:

The biggest topic is of the conference is IP audio. I spent 3 seminars (Digital audio Networks, IP audio out of the studio, and Audio Processing for Internet streaming) all dealing with IP audio and it was actually very fascinating. All featured prominent people working in the industry from vendors all touting the same problems.
• Head to mouth phase problems for IFBs and Headphone mixes,
• 150ms delays of audio from site to source,
• 4 times the amount of delay in telos units,
• Bandwidth
• TCP/IP vs UDP/IP
• Breaking through your own firewalls.

Audio over IP deals with data transmission over copper or fiber networks and what internet protocols to use to decode the information.

This was all silenced however when the Harris rep Ted Staros got up and explained how they solved all these issues with their VistaMax products. VistaMax is an IP system Harris developed to transport audio over IP at less than 2 samples of delay!!! (That’s only 42 microseconds, less than 1 ms), it also utilizes something they called Channel Nodes that have 64 channels per node stem. Each node has 6 stems, so you can get up to 2184 channels of audio off of one node. you can daisy chain up to 6 nodes for a ridiculous amount of Audio channel processing communication from one site to another. Also this product not only can do it over Internet depending on DSL connection but also can function over fiber with the same 2 sample delay but up to 40 km without a need for a repeater.

Listener Fatigue:

I also listened to a panel discuss listener fatigue and how to hold listeners and viewers long.
First we defined listener fatigue as occurring in three types:
• Mechanical: dealing with the cochlear part of the ear
• Neurological: dealing with Aural Nerve fatigue
• Neurological: dealing with an overload of information that gets backed up in the looping buffer of the brain listening cycle.
Then we asked, what is listener fatigue’s symptom?
• Annoyance?
o Material presented, production techniques, unpleasing sounds?
• Upset physical sensation?
o Dizziness, upset stomach, anxiety, fast heart beat, yawning
• Loss of Articulation?
o Tougher to hear consonants and transients in program material

Ted Ruscitti is a focus group analyst and presented some very interesting data related to what consumers want in relation to audible and viewable content. Basically it comes down to quality of audio. Consumers are getting physically tired listening to current amounts of compression of signal and program.   The program dynamic range that is present in everyday life is what really keeps listeners and viewers engaged in the content.

Audio for Video Games

This year Audio for Video Games was one of the biggest topics at the AES convention. Some of the topics included,
Education in Video Games
Audio Game implements
Art and business of game music
Surround sound headphones
3D simulation techniques
Using the Unreal 3 Engine
Voice Over for video games
Interactive Speech
Interactive Music
Localization techniques

These were some of the most attended conferences of the convention. They injected artistic audio production
with IT and Computer Science knowledge.

Overall, the convention was very well attended and all the seminars were extremely educational. However a sobering image of the job posting board looked more like a job wanted board. The economy has definitely hit our industry very hard and many good engineers and producers are looking for work however good news is companies were actively seeking job applications at the convention as well. Apple was doing on the spot interviews for acoustic engineers for their iphone division to develop professional apps.

In the end, it was a great convention. It was interesting to observe a convention from the view of a tech blogger because it forced me to take in the entire vibe of the convention, not just the parts that interested myself. It gave me a bigger appreciation for different aspect of the audio industry. I can’t wait to do it again!

AES Day 4: Last day...

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:47:54 -0400

So today is the last day of the AES convention in NYC. It has been pretty quiet all day.

This morning I had the chance to go to an AC Power and Grounding seminar that took us through how to get safe, clean AC power during a live event without killing anybody or equipment. The lecture explained exactly how power gets to a wall outlet and what you can do with it from the outlet or the service box that the electric company installs for you. It also went over different phases such as Single phase and Three phase power options and when to use them where. It was a very informative session for the live sound system designer.

I also got a chance to stop by ADK microphones who gave me a great demonstration of their Tube mic and their solid state”hybrid” model and I have to say they sounded phenomenal. The Tube acted just like you would imagine, warm sound, good high end with a dip around the upper mids. The 3 Sigma Hybrid Mic had the lollipop top on it and its sound perplexed me at first.
The mic had the nice warm sound of a tube which emphasized the lower mids, however... the high end was very bring. As soon as I listened to Mike and Steve’s demo, I immediately thought... acoustic guitar, piano, string sections. Since I am of the school of thought to EQ your instrument with your microphone through mic selection, this mic had potential to be on lots of different instruments and kick some ass.

So stay tuned for a wrap up article tomorrow with a ton of pictures.