In my situation… I dont have a monitor engineer, and often times its a challenge enough to handle page turns, much less run over to the monitor console to adjust the mix.

One concept… a foot pedal controller to adjust monitor levels.

Some features:

• foot pedals to increment or decrement individual channel levels
• highlighted LED bars with user customizable overlays indicate to the user which channel is being adjusted
• a middle foot pedal which serves to select the appropriate channel to adjust
• no master volume control on the pedal board, as that is set once at the main amplifier… ideally only individual levels would need tweaking. I may need to rethink this a bit. (its only a software and overlay mod)
• output is digital only… in keeping with minimally invasive audio, I want to keep multiple audio signals off the stage floor as much as possible. (likely the data will be midi sysex messages to control a midi mixer)
• a LED bargraph meter to provide feedback as to current level setting

Comments invited

To add insult to injury, the church I play at logistically stacks the deck against me in a huge way. It has a very powerful HVAC system, which seems to reverberate off of the projection screen creating an area of massive standing waves… right where I am located. The end result, while I can hear the low frequencies just fine, ie my bass, other must-hear sounds like the vocalists, and the keyboard are pretty much buried whenever the HVAC system comes on.

Granted, years ago, this would have been just a minor annoyance. Many times back then I ended up in positions, where I could only hear myself and the drummer, and due to a much higher skill level it was no big deal. Well… add in rust, and what once was just annoying, is now frustrating.

So, the solution… easy, just add an extra wedge, and feed the vocal and keyboard mix back to my location. However, like 99% of church gigs, there is no rack of splitters for FOH/monitor mixers, nor a splitter snake, nor is there even a monitor send on the PA, much less any amps/wedges. Thus, what might be a simple deal in a concert setup becomes significantly more difficult where I am currently planted. Obvious super simple solutions like changing my position, and or turning off the HVAC system during services are not very realistic. Its the same deal with spending $2000 for an off the shelf solution (I dont have $100 to spare, much less $2000), to say nothing of the possible integration problems with the existing system.

Being similar issues plagued me years ago, in venues ranging from churches to dance halls… there does seem a need for simple, lost cost, minimally invasive monitoring system. Stay tuned for more.

Health insurance for an independent contractor is impossible. This country is in a terrible health insurance situation. We have at least 400,000 songwriters affiliated with the three performing rights organizations who have no coverage at all. These are people that we know don’t have health insurance. It reflects what we’re seeing on a national level in the U.S. Health insurance has just become so expensive for independent contractors; more than half don’t have any health coverage.

Ideally, it would be nice for ASCAP to get group rates, but we would need 70-80 percent of our members to sign up for our health insurance to get group rates. If you don’t do that, you get something that is called “negative selection.” Negative selection means that if you go to any organization and say, “We don’t care if ten or 10,000 of your members sign up. We’ll take any ten or more. If they sign up, fine.” Who signs up? People who can’t get insurance anywhere else. It just blows the whole thing apart. You can’t do that. You need a broad base of people to sign up. We can’t get 70 percent of our members to sign up. Those who really need insurance may have a spouse that has insurance and they’re not going to sign up with us. Or, they can’t afford it, even with a group rate. People who are just starting out of college can’t afford it, for example.

Read more at

http://www.ascap.org/playback/2005/summer/features/musicpro_story.html

Ultimately though, user experience or not, the unit suffered reliability problems. Granted everyone early on was going egads, this is not going to work, despite the fanfare, and testing they tried to put it through. I remember the cigar ash and beer mixture they poured on one while it was running to dispel user perception of a lack of robustness. The thing is… even mil grade pots are screened today, the technology of screening substrates with resistive material, and getting 50,000 plus life cycles is not unusual, if not even more. Realistically, the technology to do such is not all that new either, so Alesis was likely correct from a tech point of view… but ultimately something did go seriously wrong with their implementation.

The instruments intrinsic value is not the wippy internal tech stuff, like one micron resolution or otherwise, but that it provides many magnitudes of greater usability as a computer music interface. Light bulbs have been coming on left and right for the last few days, despite having never played with one, nor even seen one other than online. What they have, imho is really a world changer (even if it is not a success, nor widely adopted, the Eigenharp blows far too many paradigms to be ignored no matter what happens). As they mention in the video, the QWERTY keyboard and mouse is for word processing, its not designed for music. It really is insane when one thinks about it a bit… typing and mousing for musical impression? This is why I believe the Eigenharp is a world changer. Thus, onto the issue at hand, one micron resolution.

First of all, no musician on this planet can hold to any level of absolute positioning anywhere ever close. Physiological issues like blood flow pulsation will more than throw a wrench into 1 micron positioning, to say nothing of ambient air flow, or even temperature variations. Notice the key word I used, absolute….

More likely, is a pseudo relative thing. Ie, the Eigenlabs folks created one or more massive absolute dead zones (probably based on semitones) during the initial measurements, such that absolute positioning is not a factor, and then after an initial measurement period, use the high resolution measurement as a delta value for purposes of artistic nuance. Dead zones would still provide capability to start out with a sharp or flat tone if desired, without requiring incredibly precise finger position for intonation if being sharp or flat initially was not the intent of the artist.

This of course assumes they are using technology capable of really resolving 1 micron of resolution. Thats where the second part of hmmm comes in. Magnetic measurements wont cut it, as simply changing position of the instrument will throw off nearly any type of magnetic sensor due to the earths field or surrounding metal or body effects. At least without some incredibly high tech physical or electronic shielding that is.

About the only type of sensing device to have that level of resolution, in a reasonably small package is optical interferometry. In a nutshell, you fire off a laser and have it reflect back on itself, such that an interference pattern is generated. Then, as an object moves, so will the interference pattern, and as such one can detect incredibly small movements, in most cases well under a micron. Philips was working on this some years back with the PL2020, but it appears that parts data went blank, although they still have some marketing stuff available on their website.

Another possibility, is that the 1 micron thing is just marketing hype. For example, if you set maximum XYZ key travel at 0.080″, and digitize it at 12 bits resolution, toss the lsb, and you will find the output has a resolution of 1 micron. Such a sample is likely pretty noisey, drifts like all get out, and is pretty useless, but some marketing guy might have fun with it.

Either way, I find the instrument fascinating… Too bad I dont have a kazillion dollars to get one. About the only thing I might do, is resurrect some of my old notes on wind instrument design. It might be pretty cool to look at such interfaces once again.

Reasons why not to do so

• its messy and can be a bear to clean up
• screens are easily damaged
• multicolor printing requires precise registration and equipment
• transporting ink across state lines can be a challenge
• do you want hazmat in your bus or van
• flash dryers require 240V
• conveyor ovens are huge, many require 480V 3 phase
• quality may suffer without process control
• finished good racks are huge
• raw materials + finished goods take up valuable space
• labor is always a concern

And while the above are very legit reasons why not to do so… I have to remember that a band doesnt need to produce a multiple color glow in the dark tshirt with puff or high density rubber ink at high volume, nor do they need to do design change overs in 10 minutes. Low volume tshirts are a different animal than high volume shirts with specialty inks, and most of the other issues can be worked around.

Whats super cool, is lots of folks are already doing this, and there is a wealth on info online, albeit nothing beats experience. Some great forums to get rolling are http://www.gigposters.com/forums/ and http://www.t-shirtforums.com/

I also found this cool link on building a four color press… its no high speed robotic job, but for making a few hundred prints, it sure looks like it could do a great job.

Beyond the labor and overhead savings, on demand also provides for a high degree of customization, and specialty merch, far beyond tshirts.

Far too many young groups, wing it… probably because the tour manager is just as inexperienced as the band is. And yes, every tour manager has been at that point, even grey beard codgers. It takes some time to get your stride. Granted, in my day a massive day timer and a ledger pretty much had all the pieces, but it also meant making gobs of copies at Kinkos, and if there should be a change… yikes. Todays tools make life easier, whether it be Excel, Outlook, & Visio, Quick Books, or likely some other combination, provided one can tweak things to talk to one another as needed. Bearing in mind, there isnt a nice canned social management app prime for integration that works worth a hoot, much less one set up for bands…

That was, until I saw Bandize, to say nothing about the additional modules and ERP capability. Talk about a tool I wish I had twenty some years ago, and it has multi functionality, for those of us who run multiple groups and live on the road. I dont anymore; too old, but man, that would have been such a time and aggravation saver. Some of the functions include: Show/Tour Planning, Accounting, Contacts, Merch, ToDo, Social Sync, Asset Management, Calender, and Messaging/Collaboration.. and it all runs online with a browser interface.

Granted, I have not played with this, and until one does, and ideally with live data, its pretty much impossible to tell how good or bad something is. Otoh being that the guys who put this together have all these modules up and running, it appears they did some pretty serious market research and testing along the way. Hehe, any bands need an old grey beard for a bargain to put this through the paces for them? LOL

That being said, like all things, there are pros and cons. The days of old with paper and such were a pain, and if the ledger got torched, or an assistant flew out with the contacts book a day early, one was in a major jamb. With this being a new deal, just coming out of beta, there obviously is a bit of concern. Ie, will it scale, what happens if it usage sky rockets, what about service outages, or other bugs, what if they dont make it through next year… etc.

And of course, another biggie is multi… and I must admit the pricing is a bit scarey. Ie, I believe you get what you pay for, and the very low price is more than a bit concerning. For a new band, and an inexperienced manager, a low price is a good idea… For a guy charging $$$$ per day like I did years ago, it makes me go hmmm. Sure, this is not SAP, but it provides value to a tour manager not unlike the value SAP provides to a F1000 corp. On the other hand, generic business tools like basecamp are only a tad more than bandize so maybe not. Sometimes age and experience creates less than helpful expectations, esp concerning new product pricing.

And lastly, while its an amazing integrated tool, off line backup of data in a non-proprietary format, as well as 3 ring paper binders are a must, especially for the newbie. Old codgers know this… lightning will occur at the way wrong time, a major isp where your concert is will die, your laptop will be stolen, your binders get introduced to a couple beers etc. Backups and multiple ways of dealing with key data are a must, just as they always were.

No matter what, for the young band starting out, this software appears like it will save untold amounts of aggravation and headaches. For the inexperienced tour manager, I think it will be a major life saver, and at $15/month, even if one just uses a couple modules, well worth giving it a shot even for local shows.

A few in the recent past made it in alternative arenas, ie film, gaming, contract, or even publication… but significant income was due to media in one way or another. As the revenue model based upon media continues to shrink, radio/tv converge to narrower and narrower conservative focuses… huge barriers are coming up as concerns the song writer. Then, throw in the explosion in the indie artist realm, where the long tail grows even further, and the song writer could well end up left out in the cold.

Yet, the songwriter cannot be left in the cold… they will not willingly go galt. Songwriting is their passion… and unlike many fields is not fungible. A lame songwriter creates lame music no one wants to hear. A good songwriter creates great material…. if their revenue is cut, they will still produce, but the volume of production will drop, as they need to backfill revenue to eat. If that happens, listeners will have a bird, and there will be a demand that songwriters produce, the problem being, how to compensate them, when the music media revenue model has crashed.

Its nothing that some terry cloth and Bug and Tar Remover cant deal with, short of PAR can heating… but it is an extra hassle. Its also a good thing to sched periodic cleaning of cables and stage gear if you do use duct tape… or eventually, the folks will be having birds when their hands get covered with goo during set up and tear down.

Also, some versions of duct tape can be pretty reflective which may or may not be annoying. Lastly, some brands tear sideways, backwords, and upside down… pretty much anything but straight.

Gaffer tape, otoh is super cool… its a lot easier to tear straight, has better strength & temperature specs, is almost always mat (not reflective), and doesnt leave a residue mess (well, dont leave it on forever LOL) However, its substantially more costly. Permacell 665 is the standard, albeit corporate changes have tweeked the name and such over the years, but it is the “right stuff”.

Some less common uses include…

Transit case marking, rather than stencils, ie if you move, or are a sideman, you dont want stenciled labels, you want something that can be changed somewhat at ease. Granted, if you are in a big enough league to afford case wraps, thats even better, but for most, gaffers tape works wonders.

Shoe traction can be improved, especially if wardroad consultants come up with a cool image they went to present. Far too often said image is not practical for choreography, as the shoes are for show, not for movement and as a result may be like walking on ice. Gaffer tape, or duct tape can work amazingly well in this regard.

First aid… but not right over the injury, but as a durable cover over traditional first aid bandages and the like. (sure… most just grab a towel and duct tape, but its safer to use sterile first aid approaches, and then duct tape).

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/21/deadly.nightclub.fire/

Ninety-six people died Thursday in a fast-moving fire at a Rhode Island nightclub, Gov. Don Carcieri said Friday afternoon, adding that only a handful of the bodies have been identified.

Over the years, I’ve seen a ton of potential fires, but fortunately never has anything get beyond something which a small extinguisher couldnt deal with. It can be pretty obvious things, like a drape that got too close to lighting gear, and didnt have enough fireproofing, or odd deals, where a speaker cable gets shredded when a drunk gets into the wrong place at the wrong time.

The thing is, with signoffs, most of the time, unless the stage gear is brand new, and you have recent traceability, its going to mean a personal sign off… and then, if something happens, well you know who gets to go to jail. Whats worse, is one can think one did all the right things, and still find themselves in a jam. The only real way to know, at least with some confidence is to run your own tests…

Fortunately, FDNY has published a study guide for Certificate of Fitness for flameproofing materials used for artistic enhancement in public buildings, and they include a field flame test.

Field Flame Test

Three sample strips, at least 1 1/2 inches wide by 4 inches long, must be tested individually in a safe and draft free location. The material must be suspended with the long axis vertical (ideally the sample strip should be suspended using a steel tongs). Then the flame from a common wooden match must be applied to the center of the bottom edge of the sample strip for 12 seconds. The effect of the flame on the sample strip must be carefully observed and recorded. In order to pass the field flame test, the material must meet the following criteria:

• The flame must not spread rapidly over the entire sample
• The sample must not continue to burn for more than 2 seconds after the match has been removed.
• Flaming materials must not break or drip from the sample and continue to burn when they reach the floor.

Granted, for many, at least those starting out, fire sign offs are going to seem way out there… the thing is, the club fire in Warwick, RI was a small venue, it likely did not have signoffs, other than permits for pyro etc. Fire is no respector of size, nor venue, and if by chance, something shorts out, a beer goes flying into the wrong thing, someone falls, etc… you dont want your stage backdrops or other material bursting into flame, and potentially killing people.

This is especially the case for new bands, where perhaps they made their own props, from who knows what material, and whether it was fire proof or not…. Or maybe, they had one of the guys run stuff through the laundry at home, and thus rendered any fireproofing worthless. Its no time to find out you have a problem, when there is a 4ft flame behind the drummer. Test, and if it fails, reapply fireproofing and get it right. This is no place for games.