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Mix Blog Live: Lessons From The Professor
Steve La Cerra mourns the loss of one of his real heroes, the drummer Neil Peart, who lived life with passion and grace, not...
Steve La Cerra
New Products
Product of the Week: NEXO P+ Series P8 and P10 Point-Source Loudspeakers
NEXO is starting 2020 by expanding its P+ Series of point-source loudspeakers with the addition of the P8 and P10. Both models are designed...
Live Sound
Mix Blog Live: Resurrecting an Audio Dinosaur, The Final Chapter
The Ampex 351 was working, but relatively noisy, so Steve La Cerra started replacing tubes; he found that not all tubes are created equal.
Live Sound
Mix Blog Live: Music for the Holiday Mood
Having a tough time staying in the holiday spirit? Here’s some music to lighten your mood, in no particular order… The Christmas Song, The...
New Products
Product of the Week: Behringer Wing Digital Mixing Console
The folks at Behringer have introduced a new digital mixing console called the Wing, a 48-channel, 28-bus desk with 24 motorized, 100mm faders. Onboard...
Live Sound
Mix Blog Live: The Zombie Zone
What do you do when you show up to a gig and the mix position is, uh, less than desirable, and a bunch of...
New Products
Product of the Week: Appsys Pro Audio MVR-64 Multiverter
The MVR-64 from Appsys Pro Audio is a universal format converter for digital audio that could help solve some of your connectivity issues. It...
Live Sound
Mix Blog Live: A Legal Mess
The recent kerfuffle surrounding Taylor Swift singing her songs at the AMAs goes beyond a simple one-night performance, and the rights aren't as simple...
New Products
Product of the Week: Pliant Technologies MicroCom
Introduced at the AES Convention in New York City, MicroCom M is the newest wireless intercom system from Pliant Technologies. Intended for use in...
Live Sound
Mix Blog Live: Why Does An Advance Have to Be So Difficult?
Voice on the phone: Is this Steve? Me: Yes. Hey I’m Curly Joe (not his real name). I’m doing sound for you on (date...
Technology
Warm Audio WA-84 Stereo Pair
Small-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone Holds Up Against Original
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Mix Blog Live: Resurrecting an Audio Dinosaur, Episode 4
Has it really been three months since we last visited the Ampex 351 Audio Dinosaur? I estimate that I’ve logged 200,000 miles since the...
Technology
Product of the Week: Clair Brothers C10-TrueFit Line Array Loudspeaker
The latest addition to the C-Series Loudspeakers line, the C10-TrueFit from Clair Brothers, is a mid-sized, passive line array element featuring a custom horizontal...
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Mix Blog Live: Newberry Opera House
Eighteen eighty-one, United States. President James Garfield is assassinated. Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company. Billy the Kid escapes...
Technology
Product of the Week: Whirlwind Cab Driver
Here’s a really useful device from our friends at Whirlwind USA. The Cab Driver is a compact (4.75 W x 4.5 D x 2.5...
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Mix Blog Live: Back to the Future
Most audio engineers are familiar with the term snapshot memory, a method by which all (or at least most) of the settings of a...
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Mix Blog Live: Is It Live, Or Is It???
A few nights ago, some of my coworkers were discussing the song “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish, the video for which has collected more...
Technology
Product of the Week: Royer Labs AxeMount SM-21 Dual Microphone Clip
Using multiple microphones on a guitar cabinet is not a new idea, and some of the problems engineers face when using this technique include...
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Mix Blog Live: Best Show Ever
I’m lucky to have a close-knit family and we often find excuses to get together, whether it be for a holiday, a birthday or...
Technology
Product of The Week: Tectonic Audio Labs DML500
Tectonic Audio Labs has expanded its line of flat-panel loudspeakers with the addition of the DML500. Based upon Tectonic’s patented Distributed Mode Loudspeaker technology,...
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Mix Blog Live: The Expensive Seats Aren’t Always the Best
One of the issues that I deal with on a constant basis is making a P.A. sound good for the front rows of a...
Technology
Product of the Week: PROCESS.AUDIO Sugar
A few months ago, PROCESS.AUDIO, a division of pureMix.net, quietly released Sugar: The Ultimate Audio Sweetener. Developed by a team of award-winning engineers and...
Technology
Product of the Week: 64 Audio N8 Custom In-Ear Monitor
Developed in collaboration with GRAMMY-nominated bassist Nathan East, the N8 (pronounced “Nate”) from 64 Audio is a custom-fit IEM intended for musicians and audiophiles...
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Mix Blog Live: No Excuses
I almost never have the luxury of touring with production, so on any given show there are a ton of variables in the P.A....
Technology
Product of the Week: Drawmer 1974 Stereo Parametric EQ
Hot off the assembly line from Drawmer (distributed in North America by TransAudio Group) is the 1974 Stereo Parametric Equaliser. As its name implies,...
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Mix Blog Live: Resurrecting an Audio Dinosaur, Part 3
When last we left my Ampex 351 Audio Dinosaur, I had installed a newly rebuilt power supply, ensuring that all sections of the 351...
Technology
Product of the Week: Ashly mXa-1502 Mixer-Amplifier
Intended for use in restaurants, sports bars, small clubs, event centers and hotels, the mXa-1502 from Ashly is a combination mixer-amplifier capable of providing...
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Mix Blog Live: The Power of Chicken Nuggets
July 5, 2019, 11:30 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time I return to my hotel room after a gig at the Rialto Theatre in Tucson, Ariz....
Technology
Product of the Week: Lectrosonics D Squared Digital Wireless Microphone System
Designed for a range of applications including broadcast, film production and live events where high-quality audio and reliability are required, Lectrosonics’ D Squared digital...
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Mix Blog Live: Resurrecting an Audio Dinosaur, Part 2
At the close of the first episode of “Resurrecting an Audio Dinosaur,” my lovely Ampex 351 tape machine channel was alive and working—though I...
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Mix Blog Live: Resurrecting an Audio Dinosaur
You’re looking at the electronics for a single channel of an Ampex 351 tape machine that was built in the early 1950s. Ampex manufactured...
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Mix Blog Live: Victor Jay Solotoff, 1945 – 2019
Brooklyn, N.Y., 1979 My friend John is a year ahead of me in the same school: John Dewey High School in Brooklyn. At the...
Technology
Product of the Week: Aviom BOOM System
The BOOM System from Aviom is a series of products that enhance headphone or IEM systems, enabling the performer to feel bass frequencies without...
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Dreaming of a Standard Digital Mixer File
Many engineers who enjoy console du jour know how much fun it is to carry a wallet full of USB drives
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Mix Blog Live: O Ware, O Where
The wheels of progress never stop grinding, especially when it comes to digital audio, so it’s no surprise when manufacturers of digital gear introduce...
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Mix Blog Live: Formation, Transformation and Deformation
On April 17, 2019, one of my classes had the opportunity to participate in a very special event. Held in the Rotunda, Mercy Hall...
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Mix Blog Live: Cabot Theatre
This past week I visited the Cabot Theatre in Beverly, Mass., which opened on December 8, 1920, as a venue for vaudeville and silent...
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Mix Blog Live: SDMF?
A few nights ago, I mixed a show at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Wash. We’ve played there every year since around 2000,...
Technology
Product of the Week: Adamson S-Series Loudspeakers
Scheduled to debut at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt, Germany, next week are four new additions to the S-Series from Adamson Systems Engineering: the...
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Mix Blog Live: Sonic Limitations
I don’t like surprises, at least not while I’m working. I think a lot of engineers feel that way, and that’s part of the...
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Mix Blog Live: A Tale of Two P.A.s (In the Same Room)
February 27, 2019: Tonight I’m working the O2 Institute in Birmingham, England. Originally constructed in the early 1900s as a Methodist congregational chapel, the...
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Mix Blog Live: Follow That Plow!
Friday, January 18, 2019, 2:00 PM I hate touring in the winter. A projected Snowpocalypse has the media in a frenzy. I’m worried about...
Technology
Product of the Week: Nemesis CCS-2 Computer Control Switch
Here’s a great idea that’s long overdue: The CCS-2 from Nemesis is a rackmount device that allows two computer systems to share a keyboard,...
Technology
Product of the Week: QSC CP Series Compact Powered Loudspeakers
QSC’s CP Series of active loudspeakers were developed to bring the company’s tradition of performance and reliability to a very friendly price point for...
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Mix Blog Live: AES@NAMM Goes Big
It’s been a few years since I’ve been to a NAMM Show, though throughout that time I’ve consistently attended annual AES Conventions. What I...