Indio, CA, April 12, 2013 – Influential sound reinforcement company Rat Sound deployed the new Anya  ™ system from Eastern Acoustic Works® (EAW®) at the Coachella Festival’s Gobi tent. The system employed seven Anya modules per side with a single out fill module flanking a main column of six. This was the first use of the new Anya system for a public event, and the Coachella Festival is one of the largest and best known in the world.

Rat Sound principals Dave Rat and Jon Monson, who worked with EAW to develop the MicroWedge™ line of stage monitors, contributed throughout the research and development process for Anya. According to EAW President Jeff Rocha, the decision to deploy the initial pilot build for the high-profile event came relatively late in the planning cycle.

“When Dave and Jon came to the factory to work with the final engineering prototypes, they asked if they could use the first 16-module build live at Coachella,” Rocha said. “Naturally, we were thrilled to showcase our new product at one of our industry’s most important and demanding events.”

The Coachella Festival,…

 On Day Two, we brought in our Avalon by EAW system for DJs and EDM performers, comprising a pair of SUB.two’s and a pair of CLUB.three’s in Polar white and Machine grey. We also spent some more time tuning the main KF740 PA. That night we enjoyed some great sets by Tall, Tall Trees and Kishi Bashi. (Photo at left shows Kishibashi with Tall Tall Trees (at right).)

But this still wasn’t South by Southwest.

South by… For Real

The real SXSW events started on Day Three with a massive party thrown by local arts and entertainment website Do512. Four bands, mostly new folk acts, played the main stage with DJ Kidslyce covering the changeovers.

The photo at left can’t express the degree to which everybody everywhere was having a wild-good time. The line stretched around the block for hours and still had 20 people at midnight. And when those Avalon subs got to thumpin’…well, you know what can happen.

Day Four Preview

Tonight’s party, thrown by interactive marketers MRY, features only two DJs on the main stage, so we brought the…

Load-in, Part 1

Even though the first part of South by Southwest – the Interactive Conference – doesn’t start until Friday, the first wave of EAW staff and our associated partners are already onsite at The Belmont. The first order of business is to strike the existing PA so we can fly the temporary KF740 rig supplied by our long-standing partner Gemini Light, Sound & Video from Dallas. (Photo at left: Gemini’s Chad Cain cables the stage right array.)

Our regional factory representative firm Aldridge Marketing pitched in with some NTS250 powered subwoofer systems they had in their inventory as well as a wicked cool matrix to help us manage signal flow amongst the three separate PAs we’ll have set up.

Local riggers Shur-Rig have supplied new, safety-rated rigging points to set the main arrays as far to the corners of the stage as possible, opening up sightlines for the large numbers of video cameras that will record and potentially televise some of these events.

Austin-based Big House Sound, who installed the existing PA and have worked with the venue for years…

Yesterday, we posted to Facebook about a story we saw announcing that DJ Magazine has moved their Winter Music Conference pool parties to the Delano Hotel. Again for 2013, EAW will supply the Delano with a world-class Avalon by EAW™ sound system. (Photo: Benny Benassi at WMC 2012)

Unlike last year, we will have four SUB.two hybrid subwoofer systems to power the dance floor. And, unlike last year, the Delano will run programming for the entire WMC event. Keep any eye on DJ Magazine for more info on their events.

South by Southwest

Before we can get to the Delano, however, we will spend the better part of two weeks in Austin, TX, where we’ll bring a KF740 systems and a separate Avalon by EAW system to The Belmont for their South by Southwest events.

The Belmont is a “buy-out” venue, meaning that client organizations book the venue for one or more days to produce their concerts. One client that has already announced their line up is The Warner Sound. They will be showcasing acts…

Our weekend at the Columbus Theatre for Revival! and Revival Too! was a memorable one. 7, er, 8 acts on 2 stages for Revival! on Saturday and then 5 acts on one stage for Revival Too! on Sunday. On Saturday, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras came on stage to deliver certificates of recognition to the Columbus’ owner Jon Berberian and Columbus Cooperative founder (and our production manager) Bryan Minto. And then the Mayor sat in the VIP box for Brown Bird.

Our friend Frank Mullin posted this fine set of photos on Facebook. It was one for the books.

Acoustic Instruments Galore

Compared to our recent experiences with Decibel Festival, the so-called New Folk scene could not be more different. Where EDM performers deliver a simple left/right feed, these acts brought every conceivable acoustic instrument, including ones they invented themselves. More on that below.

First, let’s just appreciate the vast array of instruments used, in no particular order:

Orchestral strings - playing string bass is pretty much a requirement to even hang around this scene, and 5 of the 8 acts…

No word of a lie – last night was inSANE! Three incredibly strong acts simply demolished Neumos, turning an overflow crowd into a single, sweaty, writhing mass. The Avalon by EAW sound system got its heaviest workout yet, and it performed flawlessly.

Opener Jerry Abstract chose his stage name wisely; he played some seriously spaced out material. Long, droning bass notes punctuated by throbbing beats and topped off with tweaked-out, highly modulated HF effects. Surpisingly, despite being so, well, abstract, the whole set was entirely danceable.

Octave One – the Burden brothers who bring all the gear – delivered a powerful set of what’s mistakenly called “analog” techno. (They might not have laptops, but every single piece of gear except the Mackie mixing consoles is a computer. But, whatevs…) They got so wrapped up in their work that brother Lawrence literally kicked off his shoes mid-set and left them on stage. Your correspondent personally delivered them during the headliner’s set.

As Octave One flowed through their material, the crowd took that magic step from observers to participants. From that point forward, all…

Last night saw a sold out Neumos Jet Jam Presents showcase turn into a sweaty, writhing mass of humanity. Opening act Shlohmo spun a DJ set that got the crowd moving most vigorously and, much to our surprise, packed up against the bank of SUB.two subwoofers.

Baths (photo at left), an LA-based artist, played next and, no offense to any other acts, absolutely stole the show. It was clear from the outset that this was the performance of his life. As the crowd responded more and more positively, he gave yet more to the point that _he_ actually thanked the crowd over and over for their participation. In the end, he played an impromptu encore off his new album and, because he had not expected to do so, was a bit unprepared. He had to start three times before he got it right, but it was all the more charming for the flaws. Watch for this kid to break out in a major, major way.

Manchester EDM seen mainstay Star Slinger closed out the night with a UK-style DJ set that mixed classic tracks with programmed drums. His hard-hitting set brought the…

Last night was nothing short of mind-blowing. Opener Cyanwave worked out on the quad SUB.two array we brought and got the energy flowing. Bvdub’s set delivered a mix of ambient HF sounds with thick, driving bass.

But let’s not mince words. Monolake, aka Robert Henke (photo at left, Robert at right with visual artist Tarik Barri) – yes, that Robert Henke who created Abelson Live – just destroyed the place. Your correspondent has seen a fair number of musical performances, but Monolake takes soundscapes to a whole other level. He’s really something other than else!

Super-precise sound in a swirling, four-channel mix. Preposterous bass tones that last for days. Dramatic sonic sweeps. And did I mention the fact that it the whole room was spinning? At least that’s how it felt.

The Twittersphere exploded with all talk of nostrils vibrating and the need to make this amount of bass illegal. People expressed concern for their friends’ health – not hearing loss, but heart attacks.

Mr. Henke, for his part, could not have been happier. Literally. He said to me personally and then posted to his Facebook page, “This is the…

It’s been a hectic 48 hours, but we’re all loaded into Neumos and ready to rock. The crew at Neumos couldn’t have been nicer, and despite the lack of preparation time, the team from Decibel has made sure we had everything we needed.

So, let’s party! It’s about 4pm PST, and we’re waiting for the first sound check to start up. We better hurry, because the first VIP party is slated for an hour from now!

Tonight’s showcase at Neumos is called dB in Dub, and it features some dubstep performers from three continents.

Up first, local act Cyanwave will play a set that’s described as “expansive” and “a journey from dance floor to headphones and back around again”. Next, we’ll have bvdub, a performer 20 years in the dance music scene in his native  San Francisco via China, where he currently resides. The headliner is Monolake, a performer from Berlin who delivers “live audio/video”. I guess we’ll find out exactly what that means in a few hours’ time.

One new twist for us is the prevalence of visual artists as part of the showcase. Already, we have a permanent installation that will…

We’re going to Seattle for the Decibel Festival! EAW has agreed to provide two very different PAs for two very different venues at this week-long electronic music conflagration held each year on the last week in September in our other hometown, Seattle, WA, USA.

Last week in September…right, that’s this week! We better pack.

We’ve talked amongst ourselves about working with dB for a couple of years, and this year we found a way to make it work. We’re totally geeked!

Here’s the basics. For headliner Orbital (Thu.) and The Cannabinoids featuring Erykah Badu (Fri.) at the Paramount Theater, we’re partnering with HAS Productions – the first Red Certified™ KF740 provider – to deliver an innovative solution to this notoriously difficult movie palace converted into concert venue.

And in Neumos, typically a rock club, we’re bringing our own Avalon by EAW™ system for the whole shebang –five showcase performances, Wednesday through Sunday. Each showcase features a different style of music, so we’ll get a wide range of opinions on how the system performs.

Dealing with a Movie Palace

Many…