Don’t miss it! Visit http://mixonline.com/ms/nashville08 to register today.

The Orpheum Theater (Los Angeles) was filled with music-loving concertgoers to check out a performance by Don Was and the Was (Not Was) band, featuring Brian Wilson and Kris Kristofferson. What those folks didn’t know is that they were also getting the first look at the new EAW MicroWedge Series stage monitors. Rat Sound Systems supplied the SR rig and support, including crew chief Tom Caraisco and monitor engineer Andy Turner.

The MW12 is the first EAW MicroWedge Series product to be released since an agreement was reached between LOUD Technologies Inc. and MicroWedge developer Rat Sound Systems in late 2007. “The old MicroWedge was solid and performed well when compared to other wedges, but these new ones are night-and-day superior,” enthuses MicroWedge inventor Dave Rat, who is working closely with the EAW Engineering Group on the development of the new series. “This is a whole new deal. I knew the wedges were a big step forward, but what I did not expect was such an overwhelming embrace so quickly from our own engineers, and the artists and band engineers."

“We really, really like the performance of these new wedges,” notes Caraisco. “Once Andy got things going onstage and went through all of the mixes, he was genuinely pleased.”

The full-range VariLine VL 62 from Dynacord (www.dynacord.com) features a neodymium, 6.5-inch woofer and a 1-inch compression driver mounted to a CAD-optimized, 90x40-degree rotatable horn for high-SPL applications where minimal footprint is desired. Specs include 150W RMS handling, 122dB max SPL and an operating bandwidth of 90-20k Hz. The VL 62’s 16-ohm operation allows up to eight cabinets to be connected in parallel to any Dynacord amplifier to create large distributed systems.

Digidesign Launches Live Sound Webinar Series

Lawo Introduces mc256 Production Console

RF Central Unveils New Transmission Capabilities at NAB With Debut of ENG-II Dual Band

Check out the current issue of Game Audio Digital Magazine.

FOH engineer Jayme Braun recently finished up the third leg of the Adore 2007 tour. You can also find Braun mixing house for JoJo, Switchfood, Bryan White, Mandisa, New Breed and many others.

Getting a great vocal tone that stands out in the mix but that does not kill everyone in the front row to hear it above the music can be a real nightmare. Here, the right mic choice can save the day. I use the Shure KSM9 because it has a switchable pickup pattern. In really small venues with a loud stage, I use the hypercardioid pattern for the extra noise rejection on the capsule. Another trick that really works well is to determine the dominant frequency in the singer’s voice and then cut about 2 to 3 dB of that frequency out of every other instrument onstage. This creates space for the vocal to sit in and lets the vocal cut through without pushing the level really hard and possibly distort your preamp. Adding a highpass filter at around 170 Hz can help keep sympathetic vibrations in the mic stand from causing feedback on stages that are hollow.

Will Downloading Kill the Music Business
I'm pretty much an absolutist on downloading music--I only do so when the artist is voluntarily giving it away. I've long voiced worries that the file-sharing culture will kill the music business, making us all worse off--a classic example of the tragedy of the commons. Don't worry, file-sharing advocates reply; bands can use albums as loss-leaders for their concert revenue. MORE