The Fashion Palace Presents: Super Gala Fashion Show

Okay, here is my next sound gig coming up this Sunday, November 3, 2013. The group is called The Fashion Palace and this event will be there Fall Fashion Show at The Dante Club in Sarnia, Ontario. I will be mixing sound and running lights for the show. My two daughters are modeling in the show so, it is a family thing,

The sound and lights are being provided by my friend John of the band Borderline. The sound system consists of an Allen & Heath Mix Wizard mixer, Peavey power amps, Peavey speakers and subs, Peavey/dbx/Lexicon signal processing, and Shure/AKG mics. Previously, this same audio system was used for earlier fashion shows in the same venue and it worked very well.

The lighting gear is a mixture of static par can lighting bars on tripods along with new, LED lighting bars on tripods. Because, the venue has no way of rigging lighting from the ceiling, everything must be ground mounted. Working with a strict budget, John is providing basic front lighting for the runway stage and colour lighting for the backwashes. For this show we have redesigned the setup to achieve better light levels from out front to better highlight the models on the runway.

Also, a local filmmaker has been hired to shoot video of the fashion show this year. Lighting levels will have to be bright enough to achieve desired results. I spoke with Brian, the filmmaker, about how he will shoot the video. He plans on capturing the show from all areas in the venue using a roaming camera technique. This show promises to be the most professional to date and I look forward to seeing the finished product video.

After the show is completed, I will post pictures and video from the November 3rd show for everyone to view. Until then, cheers everyone!

The Mixbusters Bring Back the Competition to Battle Against the New VLZ4

Found a new video on the Mackie website about how their new VLZ4 series mixers stand up to abuse compared to the competition. I was surprised at the how the other competition mixers did not take the abuse as well as the Mackie VLZ4.

They invited mixers in competition from the likes of: Allen & Heath, Behringer, and Yamaha to compete against the Mackie VLZ4 mixer. Check out the video to see the results.

Micro Mixers Available at Long & McQuade Music

In my last post, I talked about using micro mixers for smaller gigs when only a few inputs are required in a mix. I highlighted mixers from Yamaha and Yorkville Sound. To be fair, I thought I would add some more suggestions to "the mix".

Allen and Heath ZED10FX USB:

Allen and Heath ZED60FX:

Mackie ProFX8:

Soundcraft EFX8:

Behringer XENYX X1204 USB:

Peavey PV10 USB:

Behringer Europower PMP1000 powered:

As you can see there are a number of manufacturers catering to the small mixer crowd. Even with all the digital mixers out there in the field, there are so many times when a small, analog mixer can do the job just as well.

For more information on the mixers listed above, please go to the Long & McQuade website at:

http://www.long-mcquade.com/

For Peavey products, go to the Peavey website at:

http://www.peavey.com/

Small, But Mighty Sound Gear To The Rescue!

There are times when I mix sound for certain shows where there is only a few inputs required. So, that 32 channel you have is going to be overkill for the job! That is where a "micro" or "mini" mixer comes into play. When you only need to mix a few inputs grab a small mixer and go for it.

One of my upcoming gigs is mixing sound for a local fashion show at a banquet hall. Basically, I will be mixing 6 channels for the show. 1 input for a podium mic, 1 input for handheld vocal mic on stand, 2 inputs for CD player, and 2 inputs for an iPod Nano. For this setup I could use a small mixer with 6 inputs on it to accommodate the mix.

There are so many company now offering "mini" mixers in their product lines at very reasonable prices. Yamaha, Mackie, Behringer, Soundcraft, and Peavey for example. Some of these mixers have things like built-in EFX, one-knob compressors and built-in graphic EQs onboard. More that enough power onboard to handle the simple gigs.

One example of a "micro" mixer is the Yamaha MG82CX. It has 4 mono inputs, 2 one-knob compressors on first two inputs, 1 stereo input with both 1/4" and RCA inputs, built-in EFX processor, stereo outs, monitors outs, 48v phantom power, 2 track send and return RCA jacks, LED level meters and rotary controls for the inputs and outputs instead of faders.

Retailer Long & McQuade music has the Yamaha MG82CX listed on their website for $169.99 CDN. That is a whole bunch of features packed into a mini mixer at a really awesome price.

Recently, I discovered another example of a micro mixer made by Canadian sound manufacturer Yorkville Sound. It is the new, Yorkville pgm8 8 channel mic/line mixer. The pgm 8 is loaded with plenty of features for those smaller gigs. 6 XLR mic inputs, 2 stereo 1/4" inputs, 1 mono input that features a 1/4" line jack with a special switch to change the impedance of the input to accept instruments like guitar or bass directly without the need for a DI box, 7 band, graphic EQ, built-in EFX processor, 2 track send and return RCA jacks, master outs, monitor out, stereo returns, and channel inputs all on faders, and a really cool button that mutes all the channel inputs during intermission breaks.

Retailer Long and McQuade Music has this cool, micro mixer listed at $340.00 CDN on their website. Not a bad price for all the features packed inside. A perfect utility mixer for all those small gigs where only a few channel inputs are required to mix.

Both of these mini mixers would easily fit inside a laptop computer bag or an aluminum brief case for transport. Add a vocal mic with XLR cable, an ipod with cable, a pair of headphones, a few assorted audio adaptors and you will have a really compact Front of House mix setup that you could hookup to any speaker system at the venue. For those simple shows, you can leave the FOH rack at home and travel light.

For more information, you can check out the Yamaha MG82CX and Yorkville pgm 8 mixers on the Long and McQuade website. Here are the links:

Yamaha MG82CX mixer

Yorkville Sound pgm 8 mixer