« August 2006 |
Main
| October 2006 »
 Sydney, Australia-based production company Production Technologies recently expanded its equipment portfolio with the addition 16 EAW NT Series loudspeakers, including eight EAW NT29 and eight EAW NT26. Established for three years, the company caters to a broad client base covering the live music, corporate and broadcast markets.
“Having owned EAW JFX260's and being very happy with them, the decision to purchase the NT29 and NT26 was an easy one. The fact that they are powered and incorporate Gunness Focusing Technology was also a major factor. They sound great, work brilliantly straight out of the box and have been flat out since we took delivery” comments Production Technologies Director Nick Macfie, pictured at right with colleague Ron and two of the recently acquired NT Series loudspeakers. (Photo courtesy of the company.)
Click here to find out more about Production Technologies.
The new Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida, accompanying the hotel and casino of the same name, features an installed sound reinforcement system headlined by EAW MQ Series large-format array loudspeakers meeting a variety of applications. The multi-use facility, configured like a small arena with two levels primary levels of seating for about 5,500, regularly hosts a busy slate of concerts and trade shows along with special events like boxing matches and rodeo.
Richard Wagner of RAW Media Teknologies, based in Winter Garden, Florida, put together the sound system for the venue, which handles all PA needs except for concerts, where a separate system is put into place. The MQ Series loudspeakers are split into two "exploded" clusters to cover the vast majority of seating and the floor. Cluster components include EAW MQ1394e and MQ1364e mid-high modules joined by dedicated MQ1312 low-frequency modules. Additional delay coverage to certain zones is supplied by EAW UB82e low-profile loudspeakers.
"We needed to overcome the exceptionally high volume levels a crowd can produce in this venue, particularly during boxing matches, while also keeping sound energy controlled - off the walls and floor as much as possible," explains Wagner. "The MQ Series is an excellent choice for applications like this."
 Polar Focus makes some of the best and most innovative rigging solutions in all of professional audio. But are you aware of the company's simple bracket system that's expressly designed for EAW AX Series loudspeakers?
Polar Focus can provide simple brackets to group AX Series loudspeakers along with other standard parts, as well as a complete transition from the loudspeakers as specified right up to the roof attachment, including all hardware kitted for a fast and effective installation. Various configurations of steel or wood (solid and glue lam) beams are easily accommodated. Check out this handy solution on the Polar Focus web site, and also note they provide other nifty tools such as a reference images page to identify common roof structure types.
 EAW Online Forums are a great resource for specific information about "everything EAW" as well as a valuable place to get tips, guidance and "how to" advice.
A user recently logged in to ask for assistance and opinions about a new mobile system he’s putting together for crowds of 500-600. He’s thinking about LA215 full-range loudspeakers and LA118z subwoofers, but will this best meet his needs? What about optimizing power for the rig, and at the right price point? Click here to check out the helpful advice offered by the EAW community!
 EAW has just launched “Brains, Boxes & Beyond (B3),” a series of technology seminars appearing throughout North America to provide in-depth education to audio professionals. (A recent session at Boston Light & Sound is pictured here - left to right are Bill King, Jay Vigneau and Jhonald Miranda.)
The seminar series, which kicked off with a packed session in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, will be presented in larger metropolitan areas around the U.S. at regular intervals in the coming months. The curriculum for the one-day intensive seminars was developed by EAW Technical Training Manager Bernie Broderick and EAW Commercial Product Manager Dave Raneses, who collectively offer more than 40 years of audio training and product development experience. (To attend an upcoming B3 session near you, check out the B3 web site and contact your local EAW sales rep firm.)
“The focus of B3 is teaching crucial and universally valuable audio concepts as opposed to simple product demonstrations,” Broderick explains. “With these seminars, we’re committed to providing truly useful solutions to audio professionals who face an ever-changing work environment as audio systems become more capable, and as a result, more complex.”
 “We also understand just how busy everyone is these days, and that’s why we’ve made the commitment to take this educational effort on the road,” adds Raneses. “Access to knowledge shouldn’t come at a huge price tag or time expense for professionals who are already working extremely hard to serve their customers.”
Each seminar session runs for a full day and offers diverse audio coursework in a live lab setting, with six educational sessions presented. Two subjects covered in-depth include point-source theory and line-array theory, as well as various mechanical, acoustic and operational topics. Rather than being confined to a classroom, attendees utilize full-scale EAW systems to evaluate and further refine the points being presented. Open dialogue is encouraged and there is plenty of opportunity for discussions and Q & A with instructors and fellow attendees alike.
 “As an industry leader, we believe it’s essential to provide working professionals with truly useful education that applies directly to their work on the front lines of sound reinforcement,” notes EAW Brand Group Vice President Jeffrey Cox. “Anyone who takes the time to attend a B3 seminar will come away with valuable knowledge and insight, regardless if they choose to utilize EAW products or not. That’s our mission.”
More information about the “Brains, Boxes and Beyond” Technology Tour, including the most current tour schedule, can be accessed at a specific website to be launched soon by EAW. (Again, to attend an upcoming B3 session near you, check out the B3 web site and contact your local EAW sales rep firm.)
 Since first shipping last year, the ground-breaking EAW NT Series self-powered loudspeakers with “Gunness Focusing" DSP technology, have made huge strides into the global professional audio market. Not surprisingly, the U.S. marketplace has quickly taken to the advantages presented by EAW’s NT Series for both live-portable and installed applications.
“What we’re seeing in virtually every situation is that once a customer hears NT Series loudspeakers, the discussion is over. A simple demo is worth a thousand words,” notes Jamie Anderson, EAW Brand product manager. “And this response hasn’t been limited to a single market. The NT Series is exceeding expectations across a wide range of applications, including live, corporate, fixed installs and clubs. Its uses seem to be limitless.”
Further acclaim can be cited by the fact that the NT Series has been nominated for a prestigious 2006 TEC Award in the “Sound Reinforcement Loudspeaker Technology” category, as well as taking “Best Sound Product” honors at the 4th Annual Club World Awards held earlier in 2006 and sponsored by Club Systems International magazine.
Meanwhile, NT Series continues to be specified and installed in mission-critical applications such as handling all sound reinforcement coverage needs for a new system recently commissioned at the prestigious Bainbridge Island (Washingon state) Performing Arts Playhouse, a purpose-built live entertainment venue.
“NT Series loudspeakers are really flat, almost to a surprising degree – even a die-hard fan of a competitor in the demo process had to admit that he was impressed,” stated Brad Walker of Flamingo Audio, which specified the new system. “The processing really takes care of everything – matching the drivers to the amplifiers, the crossover slopes, and even driver-alignment delay. Everything in them is absolutely purpose built to work optimally with each other.”
In addition, nearly 200 NT Series systems have already gone to customers throughout Europe; from Spain, France and Italy, to as far afield as Norway, Iceland and Latvia to name but a few. These systems have been installed into a huge variety of applications. According to EAW international sales manager, Sean Martin, reaction to the new technology has been nothing short of euphoric.
"What's amazing about the NT Series is that in almost every case, it inspires people sufficiently for them to ring us up to tell us how pleased they are with the product. Habitual EAW customers are used to dealing with high quality product, so they don't necessarily call us up to say thank you every time we sell them a KF760 system because they already know what they're getting. NT Series is different – without exception, customers are blown away by how good it sounds, and are genuinely pleased to tell us about it."
Martin also noted the sheer variety of applications in which NT has been deployed. In Norway alone, NT has gone into both a house of worship and the National Theatre in Oslo, while in Latvia, an NT system was put through it's paces at a jazz festival, "An ideal application in my opinion, as jazz buffs are notoriously finicky about sound quality!" quipped Martin. NT Series systems have also found their way into government buildings, performing arts centers and educational establishments as well as to certain rental companies.
Perhaps one of the most interesting applications in Europe is at the Culture Lab, a multi-application, multi-user digital media facility that forms part of Newcastle University in the UK, whose aim is to enable the development of new digital technologies for solutions to arts, humanities and social science research problems. A comprehensive NT system, along with a Mackie TT24 digital mixing console, was supplied for Culture Lab's live performance space. Newcastle University's John Ayers who specified the system explained that given the huge diversity of applications for which it would be used, flexibility and superlative audio quality were of paramount importance.
"We required something that could go from being a classic sound reinforcement system to being a creative part of a complex electro-acoustic production,” Ayers noted. “That meant that each component had to sound as good individually as the sum of the parts. Nothing else came close to NT."
"I think John's reaction sums it up perfectly," added Martin. "There’s currently nothing else on the market that can touch NT in terms of audio fidelity, added to which it's lightweight, compact and self-powered. I think that we can look forward to great success with this product, and with future products that will benefit from the same technology, for many years to come."
The Grand Hall of the historic Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket, Rhode Island recently received a new sound reinforcement system headlined by a selection of the latest EAW components, including AX Series full-range loudspeakers, EAW Commercial CAZ Series power amplifiers and an MX8750 digital signal processor. Also new is a Mackie Onyx 4880 house mixing console.
After being shuttered for more than 20 years, the all-volunteer Stadium Theatre Foundation began raising funds to restore the venue to its original 1926 grandeur, and today, the completely renovated facility hosts more than 90 events a year, ranging from full-scale concerts to theatrical productions to lectures and nearly everything in between. Earlier this year, the foundation sought a professional-caliber sound reinforcement system for the Grand Hall, a shoebox-shaped room with approximately 1,100 seats split between the main floor, balcony and side boxes.
 The system development and installation team included Stadium Theatre Tech Director Dan Peloquin, Providence-based sound/production company ATR/Treehouse, Mary Cook, Scott Jordan and Joe Fustolo of the EAW Application Support Group (ASG), as well as reps of the theatre and foundation. All worked together to develop and install a suitable new sound reinforcement system for the venue.
ATR/Treehouse of Providence installed the system, which includes left and right clusters offering a stereo image and a single center loudspeaker providing voice/spoken word reinforcement. The clusters, flown above the main floor with a custom rigging solution provided by Polar Focus, are both topped by single AX396 full-range loudspeakers (with 90-degree by 60-degree coverage pattern). Additional low end extension is provided by two AX122 dual 12-inch-loaded subwoofers that feature a trapezoidal cabinet matching that of the full-range loudspeakers.
 The center loudspeaker, tucked as tightly against the apex of the stage proscenium as possible, is also an AX396. To give it an even lower profile, it was mounted horizontally. In addition, four EAW UB12S compact loudspeakers were also specified to provide frontfill to the first few seating rows.
“The goal is vocal intelligibility to the highest degree possible, but with an ability to ‘stomp’ the system for more full-range, dynamic musical applications when needed,” says Cook. “Sometimes you want and need more than 100 dB in the house, so the design took this into account.”
 All loudspeakers are driven by EAW Commercial power amplifiers that were rack-mounted in a remote upper floor room adjacent to the stage area. Seven model CAZ2500 amps are dedicated to the house loudspeakers (bi-amp mode) and subwoofers (bridged mono). A single CAZ1400, in bridge mono mode as well, powers the four front-fill loudspeakers.
An EAW MX8750 digital signal processor joins the amps in the rack. Four output channels of the eight-channel unit are dedicated to left and right full-range loudspeakers (two channels each), and two more channels provide mono-summed output to the center loudspeaker. Another mono-sum output feeds the subwoofers.
 A Mackie Onyx 4880 console, centrally located on the main floor at the house mix position was selected for a variety of reasons, with ease of use and plenty of channels topping the list. The Mackie board also offered the desired balance of pro caliber performance and features, and a price that fit the budget requirements for the project.
Given the extreme differences in expertise on the part of its users from night to night, the console also had to be operator friendly while still meeting rider expectations. “In general, this system is very easy to operate,” notes Peloquin, “and the Mackie console is just right, simple yet sounding great.”
“It’s such a balanced system, with no hot or dead spots. That’s what impresses the people coming here the most,” he concludes. “Frankly, we believe it has made us the premiere facility in the region, the jewel of the state because of our success at addressing the missing link of sound quality.”
 At LDI 2006 in Las Vegas next month (October), EAW will be putting together a full-scale concert reinforcement system to compete head-to-head with several other systems at ET Live. This outdoor event presents a great way to see (and hear) live demos in a real-world performance stage environment.
Premium components in the EAW system includes two main line arrays made up of eight KF760 elements over four KF730 compact elements. These will be joined by eight new SB1000zF flyable subwoofers per side as well as four BH760 subs stacked per side.
This main system will be augmented by four KF730 front fills located at 12- to 15-foot intervals along the downstage edge, along with two NT59 loudspeakers (located one each on down stage corners for side fill) and six NTS22 subs at center stage (used for center sub fill).
Perhaps the biggest news is that this rig will be driven by three brand-new UX8800 processors - one stage right and two stage left. As a result, both the KF760s and KF730s will be “focused” via the UX8800s. And of course, Smaart6 will be used to tune the system and for analysis during the event.
ET Live is available to all LDI attendees. Each stage will start off their demonstration by playing the same pre-recorded track and then feature a live performance in a round-robin format at 25-minute intervals. The featured band at the EAW stage is classic rockers Yellow Brick Road, a Las Vegas favorite.
 “NT is something really special. The first time I heard these loudspeakers, I had to have them, and my six NT boxes have stayed busy almost non-stop since they arrived.” – Mike Goodreau, Ace Audio
Ace Audio, a growing regional sound reinforcement company based in Middletown, Connecticut recently added EAW NT Series and KF Series loudspeakers to its inventory.
Headed by Mike Goodreau (pictured right), Ace Audio has been serving the central Connecticut area for more than 23 years and is currently enjoying increasing business prospects. In addition to working with a host of music festivals, the company also provides systems and support for a growing roster of civic organizations, corporate clients and political fundraisers.
 For many of these events, Goodreau notes that his recent investment in four EAW NT29 powered loudspeakers and two NTS22 powered subwoofers has already been paying big dividends.
“NT is something really special. The first time I heard these loudspeakers, I had to have them, and my six NT boxes have stayed busy almost non-stop since they arrived,” he notes. “It’s a premium system, but one that can pack easily into a van, with enough output to do a decent-sized event, and it’s truly plug and play – the system sets up in minutes and needs absolutely no EQ. Now that’s a true value for a sound company.”
Another recent gig, the popular Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival in Preston, Connecticut served as a milestone for Ace Audio. Marking its 29th anniversary, the annual festival features a bill of “who’s who” bluegrass artists such as Rhonda Vincent, Grammy-nominated Blue Highway and several others, and it was a prime occasion to unveil the company’s new eight-box EAW KF730 small line array rig. (Click here for more info and photos on this gig.)
“The fidelity of the KF730 is astounding. It was a jaw-dropper at that initial festival debut, as well as another one we worked right after that,” he says. “This is an important investment, allowing us to step up in terms of the size and scope of the events we can serve.”
 Also seeing steady use at numerous medium- and smaller-scale live events are Ace Audio’s new EAW KF650z three-way systems (pictured right at a Mystic Seaport gig) and EAW FR Series compact loudspeakers, another a recent addition. The addition of this diverse roster of loudspeakers is attributable to more than just exceptional sound quality, Goodreau points out.
“The support provided by EAW is just phenomenal. In fact, the other day I got a call from someone at the company who was just checking in to make sure everything is going OK for us,” he concludes. “I’ve dealt with several other speaker suppliers over the years and I still don’t think any of them know who we are.
"Certainly none have ever bothered to call me. The point is that we’re not only investing in technology that works great, but we’re dealing with a manufacturer that’s stepping up to provide additional advantages that are good for our business.”
 For several years, Gemini Sound of Dallas has had a great business relationship with Dallas-based Texas Instruments (TI), particularly in support of the company’s trade show efforts. In an extension of that work, Gemini is currently providing a high-end surround sound system - featuring EAW JFX260 compact loudspeakers and SB180 subwoofers - for a traveling exhibition highlighting TI DLP Technology that’s appearing at NASCAR tracks around the U.S. during the 2006 racing season. The effort is tied into TI’s sponsorship of Hall of Fame Racing’s number 96 car driven by Tony Raines. (Image courtesy of Gemini Sound)
Gemini, headed by Tim Cain, also provides an extensive inventory of EAW KF760/761 line array systems for notable touring artists such as Usher, Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam and numerous others. And, Tim and crew are currently in the midst of installing a huge (28-box) KF761-based system at a university. More on that project coming up soon…
 “DSA is the total package. To attain anything close to the same result in performance would have been a lot more complicated and expensive, and it’s very questionable whether the quality of performance would even be close.”- Fred Micera, Audio Engineer, Qwest Field
Coming off a Super Bowl appearance last season, the Seattle Seahawks returned to the gridiron this weekend for the kickoff of the 2007 National Football League (NFL) season. The team’s home games are played at Qwest Field, which since it opened in 2002 is recognized as one of the premier stadiums in the league, featuring a venue-wide EAW loudspeaker line-up (in fact, it’s more than 98 percent EAW) under the direction of veteran Audio Engineer Fred Micera.
This past off-season, Micera was charged with formulating audio system designs for not one, not two, but seven Qwest Field club spaces that underwent renovation during this past off-season. All of these audio systems serve fan-critical areas, receiving the game-day radio broadcast in addition to a live feed of pre-game activities, team entrance to the field and national anthem, and all have one big thing in common: they’re headed by EAW DSA (Digitally Steerable Array) Series loudspeakers.
 The three larger club spaces are each served by two sets of single DSA250 and DSA230 topped by a single EAW SB120 subwoofer. Meanwhile, the four smaller spaces are handled by a single DSA250, again topped by a SB120.
The biggest challenge presented by all of these spaces? Each is comprised of thousands of square feet of coverage area dominated by multiple reflective surfaces, many of them parallel. Further, the Qwest Field audio system electrical system was already quite close to full capacity, ruling out the addition of extra power amplifier channels. And, the physical structure of each club offers few options for mounting additional loudspeakers, and particularly high-output devices.
 Micera (pictured above) overcame these challenges by specifying and deploying DSA loudspeakers after an introduction in the form of a recommendation and hands-on demonstration by Seattle Pro Audio, headed by Michael Gardner.
“The first attraction is the ability to both tightly focus coverage and also direct it under balconies is the first attraction,” Micera explains. “In addition, the ease of mounting of these systems is another big plus, and the actual mechanics of it are so simple and well-defined in the user’s manual, that it really simplifies and lessens the cost of installation.”
Each DSA loudspeaker is simply plugged into adjacent AC outlets, while the subwoofers are driven via existing spare power amplifier channels that were available.
 Micera notes that the intelligibility of DSA is “astounding, so very, very clean,” even though they have yet to be equalized. During the demonstration process, with DSA’s brought in to be evaluated in a club space, even uneducated listeners could easily hear and understand the difference in truly focused coverage verses just bouncing sound around the reflective space. Further, this impact was realized with a “less than optimum” source of radio broadcast playback as opposed to full-range programming.
“The DSA Pilot software package is outstanding as well, very handy and intuitive,” Micera adds. “The integration of Smaart within this package is great, with the ability to overlay response filters within the Smaart platform a huge bonus.
“DSA is the total package,” he concludes. “To attain anything close to the same result in performance would have been a lot more complicated and expensive, and it’s very questionable whether the quality of performance would even be close.”
 Editor’s Note: The following post was written by Keith Clark for ProSoundWeb shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Like a lot of pro audio industry folks, Karen Anderson and Linda Seid were flying back to the U.S. on September 11, 2001, returning from the PLASA convention in London attended on behalf of EAW. As the tragic, horrific events of that day unfolded to the shock of the free world, they were thousands of feet above the Atlantic, anticipating the comfort of home, family and friends they would enjoy within just a few hours.
The pilot abruptly interrupted these cozy thoughts, cryptically announcing that due to air traffic being closed on the eastern coast of the U.S., the plane would instead be diverted to Newfoundland. A bit later, the destination changed to Montreal, and finally, they would be landing at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Thus began an odyssey they’ll forever remember, one mixing profound sense of loss, fear and uncertainty with the kindness of strangers, the kinship of seemingly very different people brought together through fate and circumstance.
“Our pilot sounded very restrained; you could tell he was feeling some stress,” Anderson, explains. “After we landed, he read an official statement that was sketchy, basically telling us that two planes had collided with the World Trade Center, another at the Pentagon and a fourth plane was missing, but not much more.”
As soon as the plane landed, like many of her fellow passengers, Karen pulled out a cell phone and got busy dialing, calling her husband Jamie (of EAW) at home that day with a horrendous case of poison ivy. He was able to fill in some of the details.
“He told me that the World Trade Centers were gone, and I said, ‘what do you mean gone’?” she notes. “They’re down, destroyed completely, he tried to explain. I heard a lot of gasps from others on the plane getting the information at the same way, and you could feel the tension level rising in the cabin. Passengers without cell phones began asking those of us who did to call folks with land lines who in turn could call loved ones and let them know they were OK.”
The plane had set down just after 1 pm, toward the rear of a very long line of jets parked in lines on the tarmac. The cabin quickly starting heating up to an uncomfortable degree. It had become a waiting game, and fortunately for the passengers on this particular flight, the pilot and crew took all steps possible to help ease the strain. The cabin doors were opened to allow the flow of fresh air, the pilot made himself visible, talking with passengers and answering questions as best as possible.
“The vibe on the plane became more like a pub, for lack of a better description,” Anderson describes. “Folks wandered around and chatted, some just moved up to first class and plopped down, the bar was opened and people helped themselves to whatever they wanted. After about four hours, the smokers had had enough, and the pilot was very cool, letting them set up a smoking lounge in the rear galley.”
 Positioned toward the end of the line, they waited close to eleven hours before disembarking, all the while with ambulances and buses speeding up and down the tarmac. In total, more than 8,000 airline passengers would be detained.
“We finally got to first in line and were able to get off the plane,” notes Seid, whose husband is EAW’s Rich Frembes. “It was absolutely surreal – we walked under and around huge jetliners illuminated by searchlights, passing a row of armed guards on the way to the terminal. We were processed through customs and told to proceed directly to our bus, do not pass ‘go’ and collect $200, just get to the bus.”
“They must have commandeered every bus in Halifax – transit buses, school buses, private buses, mini buses – you name it,” Anderson adds. “Our group of passengers was kept together and herded on to a school bus. Some of the more industrious ones had made reservations at local hotels and also had tried to rent cars, thinking they might be able to drive home.”
 Off the group went into the chilly Nova Scotia night for a two-hour ride to Camp Aldershot, a Canadian Army Reserve Training Camp next to the town of Kentville. Close to 800 passengers were decamped here, what Anderson estimates as the last four to five plane loads in line. Arriving at the camp around 4 am, they were shown to the barracks and told to “pick your bunk”. They still had only sketchy images of the attack, let alone having seen none of the shocking images on television.
“We hadn’t had the ‘luxury’- for lack of a better term - to see it unfold piece by piece on TV like most everyone else at home,” Seid offers. “When we finally found a TV in the officer’s quarters and turned on CNN, we got slapped by the whole thing at once, the planes, the fire, the explosions…”
Anderson finishes the sentence: “…that was probably the most intense time, when 780 people collectively are seeing this for the first time. There was shock, there was crying, and it didn’t matter what nationality you were, people were just losing it. This is when it really hit us that this was real, it was very real, and we were stranded far away from home in this army camp with people we didn’t even know.”
 They were directed to register with the Red Cross on site, providing name, flight number, next of kin, what barracks they were staying in… Next, a meal at the camp mess hall, and then an attempt to get some sleep. Access to luggage was denied for security reasons, a policy continued until their departure. They had only what had been carried on the plane. Showers were available in a communal shower room affording no privacy, but there were no complaints about this or anything else.
"Physically, this wasn’t a hardship. We were really lucky, actually. From what we heard, some of the earlier groups had it much tougher, forced to bunk in gyms and exhibition halls, where they had nothing, not even a good place to wash up,” Anderson explains. “We also heard that those who landed in Newfoundland were stranded on their planes for days – there was simply no place else for them to go. So in comparison, we really lucked out.”
 “Both the Red Cross and Canadian reservists on site were tireless in trying to meet the emotional and physical needs of their guests. Food was plentiful, soccer games were organized, and even a day care and lending library was set up. Worship services were conducted for a variety of different faiths.
“The Canadian reservists were amazing,” Anderson adds. “They were gentle in their approach and language, making everyone feel safe and secure. They’d stop by and talk with you, asking if you were all right, and they would do everything possible to get you the information you wanted, even tracking you down with an answer in the midst of all these people.”
 A routine of sorts settled over the camp, with time divided between meals and information checks with staff members, inquiries about when they might hope to fly home. Some stared at television for hours, others napped and still others formed friendly groups that would talk and travel to town together.
Seid and Anderson found themselves part of a spirited group comprised of English, Irish and German folks with whom they shared conversation for hours, and taking trips into town. Cabs were available, and the Kentville Fire Department graciously used spare vehicles to take groups anywhere they wanted to go. Essentials like clean socks and underwear could be purchased at the local mall, along with about any other necessities and comforts desired.
A member of the group had been forced to miss his scheduled wedding in the U.S., so to console him, he was taken by his new mates to a local bar, who ensured he was able to forget his troubles. “- He missed his own wedding so it was only appropriate,” Anderson explains.
A Pakistani passenger – a citizen of UK - was subjected to a lengthy interview by Canadian Secret Service agents on hand, yet he showed extreme grace in being singled out, humorously telling the group that he was shown a picture of someone and asked “is this you?”. The individual pictured, presumed to be a suspect, was tall, thin and bore absolutely no facial resemblance to the shorter and obviously unrelated passenger.
He further added that the agents were unfailingly polite and even somewhat apologetic about having to detain and interview him, and he came away with a sense of being glad that the agents were being thorough in their work.
Days were remarkably similar – “you ate, you slept and you waited for news, read the paper and talked to others, trying for the most part not to dwell on the tragedy too much,” Seid offers. “Most of us could only stand watching the news on TV for 15 minutes at a time and then you had to try to think about something else. It was really so hard to grasp, especially being stranded so far from home.”
 “The bonding of the people was the most amazing part,” Anderson continues. “You could just be walking around the camp and see someone upset and not feel inhibited at all about walking right up to them, asking ‘are you OK’? And suddenly you’d find yourself sitting with a man from Belgium or a woman from Greece, talking about whatever. People dropped their pretenses, their barriers, and it was the most heartening thing.”
Reaction among the international group was unanimous as to the horror of the tragedy, but opinions about possible U.S. response were varied. Many expressed concerns that the U.S. would respond immediately with a knee-jerk military action of destruction, a very real possibility but proven unfounded with the benefit of hindsight.
“It was also interesting to hear their opinions that they wouldn’t be allowed to enter the U.S., that our borders would be completely shut to international visitors,” Anderson adds, noting that concern, too, went unfounded.
By Friday (9/14), there were rumors that planes would be released, that maybe everyone was going home. It was a nerve-racking time, with airliners from Lufthansa and British Airways returned to Europe. It turns out that U.S.-based carriers would be allowed to carry on to their original destinations, but others were turned back to their point of origin.
Passengers were reunited with their luggage as they were herded back on to the school bus that would take them to the airport. One woman came up with a wonderful gesture, suggesting that all passengers donate all of their leftover Canadian currency to the Red Cross, a suggestion that proved understandably popular.
Following two hours navigating airport security, where their Swiss Army Knives were confiscated, along with a variety of cosmetic items like nail files and tweezers, Anderson and Seid were finally en route to Boston’s Logan Airport. “One guy’s socks were almost confiscated because they’d been on his feet for four days and could have been considered a biological weapon,” Anderson jokes. "We were all pretty haggard by that point".
But the adventure wouldn’t end that easily, with their plane diverted to Hartford, CT, where Karen was finally reunited with Jamie and daughter Jessie at 2 am, admitting that she “lost it” a bit at this point. Meanwhile, Linda arranged for a ride to her apartment, picking up a guest along the way in the form of a semi-pro soccer player from the U.K. named Tom, en route to Ottawa to see a specialist about his injured knee.
“We finally got to my apartment at about 4 am, and I was so happy I almost bent down to kiss the carpet,” Seid says. “I woke up a couple of hours later, in my own bed and with a relative stranger crashed on my couch, and it seemed like the last several days hadn’t really happened, that instead it had just been a weird dream. But it wasn’t.”
Later that day, she helped Tom get a bus that would push him further along to his final destination, and both Karen and Linda reported to work bright and early the following Monday morning, while some of their fellow employees were still stranded in London.
“It’s really difficult to come to terms with this tragedy and how to express our own story in any words that mean something,” Anderson concludes. “As I reflect, the one thing that stands out is that from out of the absolute worst in human behavior came the absolute best in human behavior."
 “From my point of view the KF760 is the perfect line array for these large outdoor festivals.” – Oz Bagnall, ML Executives
Creamfields, the number one UK dance event of the year, traditionally heralds the end of summer for the dance community. Celebrating its ninth anniversary, Creamfields drew a record crowd of 45,000 that made its way to the festival’s new home of Daresbury Estate in the heart of the Cheshire countryside.
Headlining the main stage this year were the The Prodigy, and as headline act, the audio system was designed to meet the specification on their rider. This included EAW KF760 line arrays from UK rental specialists and long-term Prodigy suppliers ML Executives, which is based just outside of London.
 According to ML Executives’ Oz Bagnall, project manager and system tech for Creamfields, the concern as always with The Prodigy was being able to provide a system large enough and powerful enough to match their legendary onstage monitoring needs while still offering headroom to spare. As The Prodigy's FOH Engineer Jon Burton notes, "Think of it as driving an expensive car with a big engine. You don't drive it flat out all the time, but when you put your foot down, you want to feel the power as it accelerates smoothly and quickly, not hear a strange whining noise from under the bonnet! That's what I require from a PA system."
 Bagnall's second concern during the design process was noise pollution. "This is a new site with very strict SPL levels, and the potential to pollute nearby residential areas was considerable," he observes. "To get around this we put together a powerful EAW KF760-based system using 40 KF760 cabinets and 48 SB1000 subs. At each side of the stage we flew 20 KF760 as high as possible on three motors, using the pullback bar on the bottom to angle the array quite steeply down into the main area. In this way we were able to achieve very high SPL for the audience while reducing the noise pollution off-site by a considerable margin."
For a dance festival such as Creamfields, and especially for a band like the Prodigy, it’s vital to have a lot of energy available at the low end. Bagnall therefore opted for a substantial stack of 18 SB1000 subs per side running a conventional sub/KF760 processor configuration.
For added low-end impact, the ML team added a center stack of 12 more SB1000s, which were tuned to a much lower frequency band and driven from a separate matrix. "This allowed Jon to feed this extra reserve of energy into his mix at crucial moments during the set," explains Bagnall. "Although the restrictions didn't allow us to run the system flat out, it still delivered a high quality, extremely dynamic sound which all the engineers, not just Jon, enjoyed using on the day. From my point of view the KF760 is the perfect line array for these large outdoor festivals. You get a great live feel with superb detail and that bit of extra ‘growl’ when you want it that really makes it a proper live sound."
 Jim Griffiths of newly formed consultants Vanguardia, whose task it was to ensure that noise levels were contained within the statutory limits, was very impressed by the professionalism of the crew. "It makes a huge difference to the efficacy of my job when I can work with a crew that truly understands the restrictions imposed by the site and is happy to work with them. At Creamfields, ML Executives delivered an excellent package that both achieved the design criteria and gave everyone what they wanted.
“I heard the client saying that the whole experience rated 20 out of 10, and I'd have to agree with him!"
 SmaartLive Version 6 has been chosen as one of the Live Design International 2006 Sound Products of the Year by a panel of working sound designers and technicians. The award will be made at the upcoming during the LDI Convention in Las Vegas this October.
SmaartLive v6 includes a host of new features and a reworked architecture that allows Smaart to run native under both Mac OS X and Windows from the same unified source code. Click here to find out more, and go here to sign up to be a v6 Beta user.
 "Poor speech intelligibility in our daily lives. The absolute need to comprehend instructions in life-threatening situations occurs more frequently than one might expect. Whenever we walk into a place of public meeting, the presumption is that in the event of emergency, we will receive clear instructions. Our ability to understand these instructions directly impacts our ability to survive."
So notes EAW Vice President of Engineering Jeff Rocha in an in-depth article entitiled "Native Language and Speech Intelligibility Problems" published on ProSoundWeb. Jeff thoroughly examines this vital issue and provides a detailed analysis that's a must-read for every audio professional working with critical applications involving life-safety criteria. Click here to read the full article.
Cowboys Orlando nightclub recently took its high-end dance sound reinforcement system to another level with the addition of EAW Avalon Series loudspeakers that are expressly designed to meet the challenges of providing premium club sound quality.
The Orlando, Florida club, currently marking more than 37 years of continuous operation, features traditional and progressive country music in addition to house music that’s especially popular with the “All Ages” clientele on Friday nights. A huge dance floor occupies the back half of the club, which offers a capacity in excess of 1,000.
 Cowboys Orlando Owner Steve Sullivan has been hands-on in transitioning his sound system from a live format to DJ/dance, working closely with RAW Media Teknologies of nearby Winter Garden. Sullivan’s selection of EAW Avalon Series loudspeakers served as the culmination of this effort, which saw him travel to the company’s Whitinsville, Massachusetts headquarters at his own expense to get a first-hand demonstration of several viable loudspeaker candidates.
Following the demo, both Sullivan and RAW Media Principal Mike Frazee decided that the Avalon Series was best-suited for this application. “I really liked what I heard with Avalon in general, and in particular the sound signature of the DC4,” Sullivan notes. (Steve and Mike are pictured above left.)
 The club’s 60-foot by 30-foot dance floor space has a significant drop in ceiling height near the halfway point. As such, Frazee determined that coverage in the higher portion would best be achieved with larger Avalon DC2 loudspeakers, and the lower area optimally served by smaller DC4 loudspeakers
Both models offer dispersion that “opens up” quickly, insuring that even the closest dancers/listeners are receiving optimized full-range output. “The DC4’s open up a little quicker, making them perfect for the more condensed space.
“We took advantage of the handy back angle of the cabinets to tuck them up into the ceiling as tightly as possible,” Frazee adds.
 Sullivan also elected to go with EAW SB528 subwoofers, which are loaded with dual 18-inch-woofers. Four of these subs are posted on the deck (packed two and two) within the higher ceiling zone and two more supporting the lower zone. The system is topped off – literally – with two EAW Avalon DCT1 dedicated supertweeter arrays, centrally mounted at the higher ceiling.
“We feel that since we’ve put in the Avalon Series, we’ve taken care of a very important piece of our puzzle,” Sullivan concludes. “We’re really pleased, and the people on the dance floor are dancing with an enthusiasm we haven’t seen in quite a while.”
|
