The Editor’s 3 Dot Lounge
Keeping as much focus on the human and business
aspects as “strictly gear”
By
Keith Clark
Given the time warp of the magazine publishing business, I’m writing
this note just prior to getting on a plane for the annual trek to Anaheim
and Winter NAMM, but you’re reading it after I’ve returned to the office.
Despite the chronology issue, I can provide an accurate overview of my
trade show experience: conversations with a lot of interesting professionals
from all facets of the audio industry, and an introduction to equal amounts
of interesting new equipment.
Yes, the new product cycle keeps chugging along, sluggish economy or not.
Keeping up with this inexorable tide is one of the challenges many of
you face on a daily basis. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time to
adequately digest it all and assign an appropriate value structure. And
yet... and yet... does it really even matter in the big picture?
No doubt, gear is cool. But determining what’s a proper investment for
a given situation, operation and application goes more to the heart of
the matter. Also, how can/should these tools be applied, and to what benefit?
That’s where part one of my trade show experience comes in, asking a lot
of questions of professionals and focusing on their views and answers,
and that’s where a significant amount of our efforts regularly lie with
this magazine.
In this issue of Live Sound, you’ll see as much focus on human and business
aspects as “strictly gear”. For example, Michael MacDonald leads off with
his views on how sound companies can gain competitive advantage through
differentiating their inventory and services. For the uninitiated, Michael
has tremendous experience in the sound biz. Most recently, he led JBL
Professional as president, ascending to that position through years of
tireless work in many facets of sound reinforcement.
Our coverage of the current Tori Amos tour centers upon a conversation
with Chris Beale of SSE Hire, a successful U.K.-based sound company. Rather
than simply talking “what goes where” with the tour system, Chris shares
some behind the scenes on loudspeaker technology development and extends
this insight into what these efforts, combined with other emerging approaches,
might mean to sound companies in the very near future. He also gives us
an exclusive first look at a Nexo GEO loudspeaker. (Because gear is cool!)
I also can’t stress enough a thorough review of Fred Ampel’s report this
month regarding sound pressure levels. He provides solid, documented evidence
of serious (and unfortunately, commonplace) level abuse problems.
My point is this: I’ve seen many live shows over the years; some sounded
good or better, others unfortunately were the exact opposite. Some were
indeed too loud, others were, for lack of a better term, a muddled mess.
I can say with a good degree of certainty that the equipment, per se,
wasn’t the primary culprit in the vast majority of cases. I don’t pretend
to be an expert in this regard, only an informed observer who’s learned
that what we’re so often talking about is the human factor as it relates
to sound, systems and technology, combined with their application. I’ve
heard the magic of artist, system and venue perfectly matched, and this
is the best of what humans can do. As for the bad shows, well, that’s
the downside with us mere mortals.
The most important thing is that we all strive to be better. And that’s
the real big picture.
Keith Clark is the editir of Live Sound International He can be reached at kclark@livesoundint.com
February 2003 Live Sound International