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…

Red Certified Front-of-House engineer Martin Frey continues to send us notes from the road. He uses MW10 Microwedges as monitors, and we recently set him up with a UX3600 to deliver the focusing setting as well as the White, Grey and Blue settings developed by Microwedge co-developer Dave Rat. He recently sent us this brief update and a photo.

Martin will host a webinar on drum micing technique on November 6th. Register here…

=====

Pictured here, I’ve just loaded my UX3600 with the GreyBox settings for my MW10′s at FOH. As you can see, the window on my laptop is showing live, real time interaction with my UX3600, with both input and output signal.

Earlier today, I downloaded the newest version of EAW Pilot (released just yesterday) and installed it seamlessly and effortlessly onto my laptop. I had already downloaded the UX8800 processor settings from the EAW.com/docs software page. Installing the USB drivers for the UX3600 in Pilot was both quick and easy, as was loading the MW10 Greybox settings.

10 minutes later, my MW10′s were singing like birds!

With plenty of filters available for tweaking, I can easily…

Once again, our Estonian distribution partners Heliart have put together a great rig for yet another music festival. Rock Ramp covers a range of genres from hip hop to heavy metal, so flexibility was a key, particularly with the stage monitors. More on that in a minute…

Even though this was a good-sized, rock-oriented event, Heliart chose to go with the compact NTL720 self-powered, three-way line array system. At just 7 modules per side, this array still packed a serious punch. Rain threatened throughout the day, so the main arrays had Under Cover covers to protect them. Fill systems included the VFR129 and JFL210.

For main subs, Heliart used the trusted SB1000 in a cardioid arrangement. Because the stage was tall enough to fit a 2-high stack of SB1000 underneath, they were able to put a stack well behind the main stack. With appropriate distance and delay, this produced exceptional low end in the audience area and cancellation on the stage.

For monitors, Heliart used the MW12 Microwedges. Because they had so many different kinds of acts in the festival setting, they used…

An NLT720 weighs less than 50 lbs (22.25 kg), but a mere 7 per side provided by EAW’s Estonian distribution partner Heliart proved plenty heavy enough for the Rabarock Festival in the city of Järvakandi in the Baltic republic. The annual event features local Estonian heavy metal acts as well as bands from across Europe.

These videos of Estonian band Metsatöll show a little bit of the madness.

The system included NTL720 mains, SB2001 main subs and MW12 Microwedges, plus JFL210 front fills and JFL210 side fills supplemented  with VFS250 side fill subs. All of it was controlled with UX8800 signal processors, and to get maximum performance from the Microwedge monitors, Heliart powered them bi-amplified, using the “White” DSP settings. Heliart chose the White setting to cut through the high on-stage levels common with heavy metal bands.

Microwedge active processing allows three options for processing created with our development partner Dave Rat of Rat Sound:

• White - As Dave says, “EAW lab coat white – pure and unadulterated”
• Grey – Rolled off slightly at the top for a little less edge
• Blue – Dave Rat’s “blue-collar…
  continue reading »