Review: Allen & Heath dLive

Lessons learnt Allen & Heath has come a long way in the digital console market since the release of their first effort, the iLive. I was initially skeptical about iLive because I thought it was over-priced and clunky – indeed the first generation console didn’t find widespread market acceptance here in Australia. But since then the company has revised the software several…

Read More

Soundwave Festival Restructured: Poor management led to losses

Returning in January with new dates, Soundwave Festival boss AJ Maddah hopes to repay millions to angry production suppliers, venues and bands. The recent collapse of the previous operating company saw 186 creditors unpaid with debts of $25.8 million. Soundwave was a profitable business for Maddah and his partner Joanna Ward, grossing $62 million in 2013. They took the profits and invested in…

Read More

Opera House Forecourt Hobbled: Noise regs make venue not fit for purpose

Social media has given voice to punters as venues battle oppressive noise regulations and turn down the sound. Typical of recent complaints was the Tame Impala concerts at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt. Complaints flooded social media; one tweeter told the Opera House during the gig, “listen to the crowd! The music isn’t anywhere to…

Read More

Prepare for expansion: Staging Connections throw off the chains

Staging Connections changed forever in October when Freeman Company took over. Suddenly the crippling $40 million debt was gone. Now the company has an additional $90,000 a week that previously repaid debt and interest. That money could hire 50 top staff or fit out a cluster of venues each year. Previously the management were preoccupied…

Read More

Review: Mackie ProFX22v2

Tidy tiny analogue I was recently asked by a friend for a recommendation on a small format analogue console which sounds decent. Mackie was not only among the brands which sprang to mind, it was the first. Small format analogue is kind of their domain – they’ve been doing it for years and they do it…

Read More

Using WHS as an aggression tool

It was long enough ago but still flashes into my mind whenever I’m being actually pure and nice and someone is being directly mean and nasty in return. We were doing an outdoor gig at Katherine in the N.T., and at the end the modest fireworks display absolutely delighted the indigenous kids. They were amazed,…

Read More

Review: PRG ReNEW

Renew, recycle, reuse The success of the Source Four as a luminaire is hard to deny – the modular design of the light source and swappable lens tube have made it a favourite for theatres and venues the world over. PRG now offers a product designed to allow users to make use of their existing…

Read More

Review: GaffGun

Shoot your cabling duties down This might be the invention for which the entertainment industry has been waiting, seemingly forever. Now it’s here, and it’s pretty cool. The GaffGun first blipped on the CX radar when videos of the thing began appearing all over our individual social media feeds. Yes, most of our friends are…

Read More

Course costs skyrocket – Confusing choices await students

The government student loan scheme called Fee Help has led to high prices for degree courses at the three big private college chains, SAE, JMC and AIM. All three now charge slightly under $50,000 for a two year bachelor degree. All three offer a degree based somewhat on sound, and music production. All three make…

Read More

Roadskills: The QUEEN Extravaganza

The Queen Extravaganza, billed as the official Queen tribute show, is the mastermind of Roger Taylor and Brian May, two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters. Taylor personally took on the role of producer with long time Queen keyboardist Spike Edney as global music director. The show, a celebration of the music of Queen,…

Read More

TOOLBOX REVIEW: HOFA CD-BURN & DDP – STANDALONE V1.6.9

  New to The Mill’s long list of software recently has been HOFA’s CD-Burn & DDP – standalone version – a fairly simple but effective red-book audio CD burning and pre-master DDP (Disc Description Protocol) manufacturing program that runs rock solidly on the Mac platform (it’s also available for PC). HOFA, a German mob from…

Read More

WOW

Each spring, the World of Wearable Art Awards Show (WOW) takes centre stage at Wellington’s TSB Bank Arena. The show has been described as one part fashion show, one part Cirque Du Soleil and one part Eurovision. Over 100 garments from 130 international designers are transformed and showcased on stage in a distinctive two hour…

Read More