TC Group and Gibson Guitar To Merge - FOH Online

48 Pages·2008·14.04 MB·English

TC Group and Gibson Guitar To Merge
By Breanne George
RISSKOV, DENMARK and NASHVILLE, TN — TC Group, the Danish holding entity for
five major pro audio brands, is currently in the process of merging with Gibson Guitar,
the legendary musical instrument manufacturer. The announcement was made by both
of the companies’ chief executive officers — TC Group’s Anders Fauerskov and Gibson
Guitar’s Henry Juszkiewicz — at this
year’s Winter NAMM show in Anaheim,
Calif. While the merger is fundamentally Led Zeppelin Jolts
ThE NEws MagaziNE For LivE souNd agreed between the parties, the for-
Crowds with Concert
mal completion is expected by March,
according to Fauerskov. of the Century (So Far)
FEBRUARY 2008 Vol. 6 No. 5
“Gibson is in the music industry what
The Gig of All Gigs: New Year’s Eve in NYC TC Group is in the audio industry,” Fau-
S
erskov says. “In the musical instrument r
e
d
business, Gibson is a premium brand and n
u
an organization committed to supplying a
S
the market with quality products — and n
TC group is the same in the audio world. oli
C
In that sense, we see a strong match be-
tween the companies.” continued on page 5
How much pressure is there when you
Shure Catches are mixing the biggest concert event of
the millennium so far? Big Mick knows…
Counterfeit Microphone The iconic FOH engineer, best known for
his 20+ years mixing Metallica, was one
Makers in China of two engineers behind the desk at the
reunion show at the O2 Arena in London.
NILES, IL — Shure Incorporated an- Mick handled the band — Jimmy Page,
nounced that large quantities of coun- John Paul Jones and second-generation
terfeit microphones, which were being drummer Jason Bonham — while Robert
sold in India, were traced to their source, Plant’s long-time FOH guy Roy Williams
Easlem Sound Instrument Factory (also minded the lead vocalist’s channel and
known as Xingyou Electronics Equipment some 40 effects returns. Monitors — and
Co. Ltd.) in Guangzhou, China. there were a ton of Turbosound wedges
“This is not just a Shure problem. It is and sidefills — were wrangled by Dee
a pro audio industry problem, and we are Miller, Mick and Roy drove a Midas XL8
committed to fighting this criminal activ- feeding an army of Meyer Milo line array
ity,” said Sandy LaMantia, president and cabs. And the show was — by every ac-
CEO of Shure Incorporated. “We are grate- count I have been able to find —nothing
ful to the authorities in China for their help short of spectacular. The Hammer of the
in this raid and will vigorously continue our Gods swings again. Turn to page 18 for
efforts in China and the rest of the world.” the “full roar” treatment.
For months, Shure worked with
private investigators and local authorities
in China to uncover the location of the Feature
counterfeiter’s manufacturing operations. 16 Train HOW staff in the basic tenets of
NEW YORK — When it comes to daunting audio gigs, few can match the challenges presented In cooperation with the Jiangmen and
good sound — and make a profit.
by the annual New Year’s Eve Show in New York City’s Times Square. With a live audience in the Enping Technology and Science Bureaus
hundreds of thousands and a TV audience in the millions, this is one of those gigs where the (TSBs), Shure raided Easlem’s Enping
Installations
whole world really is watching. Long-time audio provider Maryland Sound International (MSI) City-based factory, known as Enping Yi
22 MSM Systems creates a concert-
pulls off the seemingly impossible every year, but the most recent show was made better and Xing Electronics, where evidence was
easier with the addition of Studer and Soundcraft digital mixing technology. obtained that the factory was producing friendly church on a budget.
Two performance stages — each with a 96-input Studer Stagebox — and a broadcast stage with counterfeit Shure and other brands
Road Test
10 inputs were all fed to an optical splitter, which fed both a Soundcraft Vi6 running monitors for of microphones. The penalties to be
each performance stage and a Studer Vista 5 SR in the main “mix container.” continued on page 6 imposed by the Jiangmen TSB are still 26 The long-awaited Dolby Lake
being determined. Processor review is finally here.
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C o N t E N t s
February
2008, Vol. 6.5
Installations
Feature
t
Features Columns
o
h 12 New Gear: Winter NAMM 2008 35 The Bleeding Edge
FOH hit the convention floor for a We really aren’t getting paid enough to

s firsthand tour of new gear that stood out damage our hearing…
from the crowd.
’
t 38 Theory & Practice
16 See Tom Mix. Mix, Tom! Mix!
How much audio distortion is too much?
a Learn how to effectively train house-of-
worship staff on the basic tenets of good
h sound — and make a profit doing it. 39 The Biz
W 24 We get festive with major U.S. music
18 FOH Interview festivals.
Big Mick, iconic FOH engineer, gives Led
Audio installers found innovative solutions to bring Zeppelin the “full roar” treatment. 40 Anklebiters
the Salt Lake Tabernacle into the 21st century.
How much should you educate your
22 Installations
clients and hold their hands for free?
MSM Systems created a concert-friendly
church to accommodate the energetic
44 FOH-At-Large
congregation and diverse mix of bands at
Welcome To My Nightmare La Fe en Jesucristo Church. Do we live in a culture of cheating?
26 Road Test
Departments
t The long-awaited Dolby Lake Processor
review is finally here.
o
2 Feedback
27 Road Test
h
We get pumped with the Dynacord 4 Editor’s Note
PowerH 2500 and 5000 power amplifiers.
s 5 News
29 Buyers Guide
’ 10 International News
t This month’s listing — subcompact line
a arrays — is small, but mighty. 11 On the Move
h 32 Vital Stats 14 Showtime
Rane Founders/Owners Dennis Bohn and
W 34 34 In the Trenches
Linda Arink get personal with a special
he said/she said edition.
A mysterious whistling noise during a 36 Regional Slants
worship service brings this sound guy to
Klondike Sound’s passion for audio starts
the brink of madness.
with the magic behind the music.
FEEDBACK
union Sundown?
I was dismayed to read the Dan Daley piece Bullshit. Nobody wins when there is a strike. If you And I am likely to surrender my NARAS
about the Local One strike in the January In the first place, these "executives" are in are a worker who is on strike, it takes an aw- membership, based upon the last mass
2008 edition of FOH. He did not provide any no position to know this, but are in a perfect po- fully long time to recover your lost wages. e-mailing from Neil Portnoy, which seems
information about the cause of the strike, the sition to parrot such crap fed to them by theatre If the strike lasts for any length of time, you to indicate that NARAS will be crossing the
producers' demands, or the amount of time management or producers. Second, labor is not will never recover the lost wages. No union writers’ picket lines to present the Grammy
spent trying to negotiate an agreement be- paid from the same "pot" as capital expendi- member wants to strike. The worker strikes Awards show. I hope that other IASTE, IBEW
fore the body finally had to strike or give in to tures and improvements. Third, if an incoming because he is unwilling to continue to work and Musicians Union members feel the same
the producers' demands. He did offer one big show needs a piece of gear, the producers will if the changes in wages and/or conditions way and refuse to cross the lines.
scary scenario easily bought into by anyone get the gear. Fourth, pro audio manufacturers demanded by management or the producers I've been in this business since 1965
unfamiliar with the business, and any young are the last ones to know whether or not a pur- come into effect. and making a living at it since the 1970s. I
readers who have not seen this all before. The chase has finally been decided upon. They only The short duration of the Musicians Union have seen a lot of changes and a lot of in-
most egregious part of the presentation, in my know when an order is placed. Ask the same strike was mentioned in the article. Ask any- novation. What I see now reflects what I am
opinion, was the large yellow block declaring guys how many times they thought that they one involved. The reason for such a short seeing in other aspects of our Bush-driven
that, "Several executives from pro audio man- had made a sale, only to find out that some duration was because the IATSE stagehands economy. Management is crying poor while
ufacturers let me know — off the record, but other manufacturer got the order instead. stood in support of their musician brothers profits climb, executives bank multimillion
in no uncertain terms — that the cumulative Whatever these highly placed "executives" and refused to cross the picket lines. Believe dollar salaries and enjoy golden parachutes,
effect of these work stoppages would include do know, they do NOT know who is going to me when I quote, "if we do not hang together, jobs are sent off-shore — all on the backs of
cutbacks in spending on audio technology." spend what money where, or when. we will surely hang separately." and to the detriment of the American worker.
continued on page 8

EEddiittoorr’’ss NNoottee
By BillEvans
Publisher
Terry Lowe
Don’t know why really, but the And it’s not just rock ‘n’ roll he said, [email protected]
What Have
coverage in this issue of the trying to get back on to the subject of Editor
Bill Evans
recent Led Zeppelin show caused the church thing. When the leaders of
[email protected]
YOU DONE a bit of an “I remember when” kind of a church — any church — set out to do
nostalgia among most everyone I a service, they do it with the express Managing Editor
Breanne George
talked to about it. Love ‘em (me) or hate intent to change lives. Rock bands are
To CHANGE [email protected]
‘em (my wife), you could not ignore probably out to put on a good show
them. Yes, they were horrendous live and make some money. Changing a life Technical Editor
Mark Amundson
Someone’s at times, but just like the generation is a side gig at best. But in the house of
[email protected]
of rockers who came up in the late ‘60s worship setting that is the main gig.
and early ‘70s and point to seeing Elvis So when the pastor/priest/bishop/ Contributing Writers
Life Lately? or The Beatles as their “I wanna play rabbi/grand high mucky muck goes to Jerry Cobb, Brian Cassell,
Dan Daley, Jamie Rio,
guitar” moment, an awful lot of next- give the big inspirational message that he Steve LaCerra, Nort Johnson,
generation players point to Zep as or she hopes will touch the hearts minds, David John Farinella, Ted Leamy,
Baker Lee, Bryan Reesman,
their reason for doing what they do. and souls of the gathered congregation, Tony Mah, Larry Hall,
So what does this have to do with how successful do you think they will be Ken Rengering

the world of pro audio — especially in if the message is inaudible, distorted past
Photographer
an issue that is supposed to focus on the the point of understanding or plagued Steve Jennings
house of worship market? Easy. Those with feedback? Anyone who works in a
Art Director
kind of life-changing events only have church audio setting has a huge burden
Garret Petrov
that kind of impact if the technical — they must make sure that the message [email protected]
details — like great sound — have gets to the listeners clearly and without
Production Manager
been attended to. distracting audio problems.
Linda Evans
[email protected]
Graphic Designers
Crystal Franklin
[email protected]
David Alan
[email protected]
Web Master
Josh Harris
Think about it, how much would I have And it is not just church services. [email protected]
been affected by that single performance in What about weddings, funerals, National Sales Manager
L.A. in 1977 if the sound had been horrible, award ceremonies? If anything, these Dan Hernandez
the vocals buried or the whole thing present even more pressure than [email protected]
plagued with feedback? I can guarantee many typical rock ‘n’ roll gigs. National Advertising Director
you this: It does not matter how great So, hats off to us. We change lives Gregory Gallardo
the band is, if the sound sucks — THAT is all the time whether we know it or [email protected]
what people will remember. The owner not. Just getting the message heard General Manager
of Klondike Sound, who is profiled in this — be it from the pulpit, a smoky William Hamilton Vanyo
[email protected]
month’s regional slants, is a great example. club or a huge rock show in an arena
His passion for sound began when he heard — guarantees that we will have a Business and
The Beatles totally overblown by the crowd significant impact. Kind of puts a Advertising Office
6000 South Eastern Ave.
in an early concert before anyone had different spin on “just another gig,” Suite 14J
figured this rock ‘n’ roll concert thing out. doesn’t it? Las Vegas, NV 89119
Ph: 702.932.5585
Fax: [phone]
Toll Free: 800.252.2716
Circulation
Stark Services
P.O. Box 16147
North Hollywood, CA 91615
Front Of House (ISSN 1549-831X) Volume 6 Number
5 is published monthly by Timeless Communications
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Overseas subscriptions are available and can be ob-
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Reserved. Duplication, transmission by any method
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permission of Front Of House.
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44 FEBRUARY 2008 www.fohonline.com
News
TC Group and Gibson Guitar To Merge
continued from cover
Fauerskov says he see the merger as an “That brings some common understand- Fauerskov also noted, the company will, no tronic in 1976, and later founded TC-Helicon
opportunity for TC Group to make a huge ing, but it is more of a coincidence,” he says. “It doubt, be looking for new hires, particularly in 2000 and TC Applied Technologies in 2003.
impact in the guitar industry by integrating gives us something fun to talk about, but has in areas such as marketing and product Lab.gruppen and Tannoy were bought in
TC Electronic around the electric guitar. TC not been a major factor in this agreement.” development. 2002. Fauerskov says the principal reasons
Electronic currently manufactures guitar ped- Fauerskov admits he foresees challenges “There is that strong link in terms of why TC Group entered into the acquisitions of
als, stomp boxes and computer-recording in the coming year, and a lot of hard work on technologies and also very important for Lab.gruppen and Tannoy was to get involved
equipment relevant to guitarists. behalf of both companies to make the merg- the organizations and the future is the in new businesses, expand into more markets
“Obviously, on the sales and distribution er a success. “It is important that we get the brands involved and that the people be- and increase the use of TC Group technolo-
side, there is some overlap because TC Elec- right people together across the companies hind those brands always think quality first,” gies in amplifiers and loudspeakers.
tronic sells to some of the same customers as to work together on the future of the organi- Fauerskov says. Headquartered in Nashvile, Tenn., Gib-
Gibson. By doing what we have already done zation, future products and so forth. It won’t Risskov, Denmark-based TC Group is a son Guitar is a worldwide legend in musical
with amps and speakers, we plan on bringing be easy.” leader in pro audio and an umbrella com- instrument manufacturing and music tech-
the electric guitar business to the next level.” To facilitate the necessary collaboration pany for five major pro audio brands, which nology. The company, founded in 1894 in
The operating companies will continue between TC Group and Gibson Guitar, project include TC Electronic, TC-Helicon, TC Applied Kalamazoo, Mich., specializes in classic mod-
to make and sell products under its indi- groups will be appointed that will work Technologies, Tannoy Ltd. and Lab.gruppen. els of every major style of fretted instrument,
vidual brand names, but behind those will together on various aspects of the business. TC Group began with the founding of TC Elec- notably acoustic and electric guitars.
be a holding company called Gibson Guitar
Corporation, Fauerskov says. Current share-
holders of both companies will jointly own
the combined businesses under the Gibson
Guitar Corporation name.
From a market perspective, Fauerskov
says customers will not notice a difference.
“TC Group will continue to sell under each of
its brand names, and Gibson will continue to
sell under each of its brand names.”
Although no plans will begin until the
merger is complete, Fauerskov says there
are already discussions behind the scenes
in terms of new product development. “To
make significant new products, particularly
in the electronics world, that takes time. Our
goal for 2008 is to start work on some great
new things to enter the market with.”
In regard to what brand name will be
aligned with each new product, Fauerskov
says the decision will be determined on a
case-by-case basis. “If the product is a guitar,
it is obviously more affiliated with Gibson. It
will depend on the specific situation — we
have many brand names available to us.”
The new holding company, Gibson Guitar
Corporation, will have an equal number of
seats on the board from TC Group and Gib-
son Guitar for equal representation. “There is
going to be an even number from both par-
ties, and there is also going to be a number
of people who are jointly appointed so that
we end up with an uneven number,” Fauer-
skov says. “That is usually best with decisions
so you don’t have a hung jury.” The board will
not be appointed until the merger is final.
When asked if there are plans to take the
new company public, Fauerskov says it is a
possibility. Although the issue has been dis-
cussed, he says there are no specific plans at
this time. “That may happen, it is certainly not
off the table, he comments. “It could happen
two years from now, 10 years from now — it
could happen not at all.”
Although both companies share similari-
ties, including a shared passion for music and
quality products, differences do exist between
them that could bring challenges. For instance,
TC Group is European-based, as is the man-
agement style, which is very different from
Nashville, Tenn.-based Gibson Guitar. Fauer-
skov admits there are national and historical
differences that require a learning curve on
both parties’ behalf, as well as an understand-
ing of the unique markets of both companies:
manufacturing, developing and selling guitars
compared to the pro audio world.
Perhaps a connection that brings some
commonality is the similar backgrounds of om
company CEOs Fauerskov and Juszkiewicz. ms.c
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5
www.fohonline.com 2008 FEBRUARY
News
Village Baptist Church Moves in Wireless Direction
DESTIN, FL — Blessed with a 1,400-seat With an upcoming production on the ho- plying four separate stereo
worship center, Village Baptist Church in rizon, Curtis contacted Bill Manning at All Pro mixes via a pair of SR 3256
Destin, Fla., schedules an ambitious calendar Sound in Pensacola, Fla., to get a new system transmitters. Aviom A-16
of dramatic productions, multi-media activi- in place. “Of course, Sennheiser is well-known series rack-mounted moni-
ties and services that span traditional to con- for their RF stability,” said Manning, “but when tor mixers and remote con-
temporary. Unfortunately, their wireless mi- you add to that the excellent sound quality trol units feed the systems
crophone collection, which didn’t work well of their handheld and headset microphones, and ensure that everyone
even when it was new, reached the end of its along with their ability to incorporate Neu- has a perfect monitor mix.
useful life and began distracting the focus of mann capsules, Robert was convinced.” To coordinate all of
their services. Village Baptist received a host of new these wireless channels,
Instead of praise for God and lessons microphones to fit the various needs of its along with 10 hangers on
from the Bible, annoying crosstalk between services and productions. Eleven Sennheiser from the old system, Sen-
microphone channels and periodic interfer- HSP 2 ultra-lightweight head-worn micro- nheiser sent engineers
ence from nearby Eglin Air Force Base cap- phones combined with eight SK 500 G2, to analyze Village Bap-
tured the attention of church members de- three SK 5212 belt-worn transmitters serve tist’s local frequencies to
spite their best attempts to ignore it. for inconspicuous reinforcement of vocalists minimize crosstalk and
Against this backdrop of wireless frus- and seven handheld SKM 5200 transmitters interference. Taking Sen- Village Baptist Church
tration, the church used six wired Neumann with Neumann KK 105 capsules. An impres- nheiser’s advice, the church purchased a die. It’s frustrating, but we’ve learned the
KMS 105 live vocal condensers and a handful sive rack of Sennheiser EM 3532 and EM 550 Sennheiser NET 1 system to integrate and hard way. We bought less than the best
of Neumann TLM 103 large diaphragm studio G2 dual-channel, true diversity receivers tie organize all its frequencies with a com- in the first place and so ended up buying
condensers. “We were very excited about the all 18 of the Sennheiser wireless channels puter interface. again. That’s more expensive in the long
sonic qualities of those microphones,” recalled down to the rest of Village Baptist’s existing “This is seriously great gear,” enthused run and we were forced to struggle with
Robert Curtis, media director for Village Bap- sound system. Curtis, “and it works beautifully. We’ve run inadequate gear for so many years. From
tist. “And when it became clear that we would In addition to microphones, the church 27 channels simultaneously without flinch- now on, we do everything with excellence.
be upgrading our wireless system, we knew upgraded to 12 Sennheiser EW 300 IEM G2 ing. We’ll replace our old wireless micro- Go with the top tier from the start and save
we wanted to move in that direction.” wireless personal monitors capable of sup- phones with Sennheisers as the old mics money in the long run.”
The Gig of All Gigs: New Year’s Eve in NYC Landmark Church of Christ Brings
continued from cover
Sound System Up to Speed
According to MSI Owner Bob Goldstein, “The both an analog broadcast split and Pro Tools
Studer Vista 5 SR is the console we have been recording of the entire event.
waiting for. In the smallest of footprints, it pro- Adding to the obvious technical challenges MONTGOMERY, AL — Like many retained all of the front-of-house
vides a ‘no limits’ solution to this project. We was the fact that this show takes place in one of churches around the country, Landmark equipment, which still had many years
can bring three stages worth of inputs, truck the busiest commercial corridors in the world and Church of Christ in Montgomery, Ala., is of useful life. However, he replaced the
feeds and playback into one console that is the powers that be can’t exactly shut things down undergoing a slow shift from services that existing amplifiers with QSC amplifiers
easy to use, sounds great and provides all of so the sound company can come in and set up. are completely a cappella to services that and upgraded the decade-old processing
the outputs required with total redundancy. “We have provided sound for some of the are driven by instrumental music with sup- with an Ashley Protea DSP. In addition, he
With a ton of Vista consoles in the broadcast most difficult productions in the world — Pink port by CDs and other media. When church replaced the modest choir’s wedges with
field and the extensive abuse we have put Floyd on the Grand Canal in Venice and at the members began noticing that their de- wireless Aviom personal monitors.
them through we know reliability is a non- Palace in Versailles; Super Bowl halftime shows; cade-old sound system wasn’t as ready for “When we started this project, we
issue. That is really important for this gig.” inaugurations and Washington D.C. Mall the change as they were, the church con- knew that it was likely that, in addition
Among the challenges of the Times Square events; and large-scale sports events, concert tacted Sound Designer Chad Edwardson at to new speakers, the room would need
production is the need for even coverage tours and festivals — yet these all pale in com- All Pro Sound in Pensacola, Fla., to explore acoustic treatment,” Edwardson said. “In
throughout an area that runs seven city blocks. parison to Times Square New Year’s Eve,” says ways that they could bring their sound sys- fact, with conventional high-Q loudspeak-
“Both analog and digital outputs — a total of Goldstein. “Not only can it be really cold, it is ex- tem up to speed with their ambitions. ers, we would have almost certainly need-
20 matrix output busses — were sent via Op- tremely crowded on the streets and sidewalks “Their old system worked reason- ed treatment. But because the treatment
tocore to an army of Crown amps, which fed except for 2:00 a.m. until 7:00 a.m. Furthermore, ably well for spoken word,” Edwardson would be very expensive, we waited to see
JBL VerTec line arrays installed throughout the we are not permitted to make noise at any time explained. “But the room is very live. Even if Danley’s tight pattern control would be
square from 42nd to 48th streets,” said Shane other than show time. In other words, we have without reinforcement, a person speaking enough to tame the room.” Fortunately,
Morris, principal engineer for Soundcraft and to be able to set up the system in a very short at the podium becomes awash in reflec- for the church, it was. From its position on
Studer USA. “And each of those matrix outputs period of time, turn it on and have it work flaw- tions from all the hard surfaces. The old the ceiling, each speaker neatly covers one
had its own EQ and dynamics control.” lessly the first time — all with the most com- speakers had wide-dispersion and threw section of seats with almost no energy di-
The system included more than a mile of plex set of circumstances imaginable. But we sound everywhere. When the service be- rected at the side or back walls.
optical cable with more than 20 signal “drop” love this gig — it forces us to stretch the defini- came a bit louder than simple speech, the “The church is very happy with the new
points. Additional outputs were supplied for tion of flawless performance.” room reacted in a negative way and the system and is now free to change the mu-
integrity of the sound kind of fell apart. sical content of their services,” Edwardson
The solution was to replace the old speak- concluded. “The Danley’s are robust. What’s
ers with Danley Sound Labs SH-50s, which more, the SH-50s deliver well-articulated
have remarkably tight pattern control and, bass all the way down to 50 Hz. Given that
thus, would avoid energizing the room.” they won’t be putting on rock shows, that’s
Like all of their full-range loudspeakers, more than enough to convey a complete
the SH-50 benefits from Danley’s patented and realistic frequency response for any
Synergy Horn technology, which improves sort of music they want to perform.”
its phasing, intelligibility and pattern
control over conventional designs.
In fact, the SH-50’s pattern control
extends well below 500 Hz and is so
tight that its edge is almost palpable.
That was crucial to the success of Ed-
wardson’s new design. He arrayed four
SH-50s from the ceiling in an explod-
ed cluster, with each speaker firing
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6 FEBRUARY 2008 www.fohonline.com
Ad info: http://foh.hotims.com/
News
Precept Ministries International Acquires LightViper Audio Transport System
CHATTANOOGA, TN — FiberPlex Inc. has snake system with two splits was speci- announcements as well as other audio
announced that the company’s LightViper fied by Precept’s 20-year veteran audio feeds back down the hill and patch
audio transport system was acquired by engineer Tom Byrd. as necessary to the auditorium and
Precept Ministries of Chattanooga, Tenn. The Byrd commented on the organization’s classrooms. A split from the LightViper
organization installed the advanced fiber investment in fiber audio routing tech- stage box also feeds the FOH console
optic audio system from its main auditorium, nology: “We use the LightViper to con- for auditorium audio.
which is used as a production studio for nect all audio between our A/V buildings. He added, “We now have really
its TV and radio production control rooms We typically use six wireless microphones clean audio feeds between all loca-
and various audio/video production suites plus other hardwired stage microphones tions, without any digital glitches or
located in a separate building on the 32-acre connected to the LightViper’s stage box any of the previous problems we had
pastoral campus. backstage in the auditorium. with long runs of analog signals. We
The evangelical organization’s daily The main output of this stage box have eliminated all grounding hums
Bible study TV program reaches 94 mil- feeds up the hill through 900 feet of fiber since we no longer connect with cop- Chattanooga Precept Ministries’ main auditorium
lion households worldwide. The con- to the media building’s Master Control per between the two buildings; our
duits that link the auditorium to the gear room. These audio feeds are then audio was routed with conventional dramatic improvement in our production
production building are approximately routed to various audio control rooms to snakes through the same conduit runs, work. The new fiber system also enables
800 feet long. A standard Model 1832 feed video machines. We use eight audio which caused constant signal and noise us to feed many more signals as needed
plug ‘n’ play LightViper fiber optic audio returns on the LightViper to route stage problems. The LightViper has made a between the main buildings.”
FEEDBACK
Faith Christian Center Church Provides Challenging Install continued from page 2
Non-union employees in all industries are
watching jobs dissolve, pays stagnate, ben-
upgraded to keep up with changing proprietary LineSim software. The Reference efits erode; all while prices for basic necessi-
services and growing membership. It Line 4215 is just one of ISP Technologies four- ties continue to rise, taxes rise and services
was at this point that Pastor Johnson way active line array systems, but the RL4215 are cut. They run in fear of management and
contacted Tony Sprando of Audio Vi- system was designed primarily for house of fear that they might lose their jobs. In our own
sual Presentations. worship applications. industry, I am seeing the quality of touring
Audio Visual Presentations, one of With the input of the engineers at ISP, personnel decrease as low budget shows and
ISP Technologies newer contractors, Tony Sprando choose two Reference Line non-union tours employ unqualified individu-
has been providing service in both 4215s, two High Definition Monitor 112s and als in key positions, just to increase profits. I
Audio Video sales and rentals and two XMAX 212 folded horn subwoofers for am a latecomer to the Union. It took me a long
turnkey solutions to houses of wor- the 500-seat sanctuary. Using the proprietary time to wise up and understand what was re-
ship, resorts, hotels, schools and gov- LinesSym Modeling, ISP engineers defined the ally going on to see the truth through the bliz-
ernment agencies since 1999. Based hang points for these speakers. With the com- zard of bullshit thrown out by management.
in Bend, the company was a natural plexity of the hang, ISP recommended one of Publications like this did not exist when I
Faith Christian Center Church in Bend, Ore. choice for Faith Christian to rely on. their Professional Installation Network riggers was learning the ropes. I wish that they had.
BEND, OR — Faith Christian Center Church, Because the building was an octagonal to help out with the hang. BC Sound of Battle FOH could educate or promulgate the fear and
established in 1929, continued to grow along shape, this provided a challenge to upgrade Creek, Mich., flew out to assist AVP in the rig- uncertainty that allows management to erode
with the small logging town of Bend, Ore. The their system to one that would actually cover ging portion of the job. wages and conditions in our industry. Why
current location was chosen in 1968, and the the whole sanctuary, including a wrap-around The church echoed this sentiment in say- don't you help the young workers understand
original sanctuary, which is now the gymna- balcony. After researching the many options ing: “It is our pleasure to highly recommend what is going on instead of being a manage-
sium, was built. As the church grew, additions available, Audio Visual Presentations decided Audio Visual and Tony Sprando. In September, ment propaganda organ? Your readers would
were made for offices, the Fellowship Hall an ISP Technologies system would be the best after accessing our needs, he put together a benefit from understanding the financials. If
and sanctuary overflow. In 1978, the church solution to the many problems the building preliminary study that showed the best perfor- you had someone who approached the mon-
continued to grow and the new building was design created. mance sound system needed to upgrade our ey aspects of the industry the same way that
completed. In September 2006, Pastor Mike The RL4215 line arrays are a dual element church’s sound. And at a price that was well Mark Amundson approaches the technical as-
Johnson decided that the sound should be four-way active system designed using ISP’s within our budget. “ pects, it would be greatly appreciated.
Bill Park
Ad m
info:h ms.co
ttp:// foh.hotim http:// foh.hoti
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8 FEBRUARY 2008 www.fohonline.com