US TOURING LIVE SOUND <
The US tour market relies on big gigs in obscure corners of this huge nation
America’s touring trucks certainly rule the road – but what about the concert rigs inside them? Rob Hughes speaks to some of the big US brands to find out what it means to manufacture in the States…
Uncle Sam’s sound S
everal countries spring to mind when you think about big touring rigs. Germany, France, the UK, Italy and several others are all the source of some of the finest tour-grade sound systems or their components. Nevertheless, I don’t know about you, but for me, America just about tops that list. It’s not that the US manufacturers are necessarily the greatest. I mean it’s true that the States is home to some of the best-sounding audio equipment around, but who would like the task of trying to prove that America’s line array offering is better then France’s? Exactly. The real reason, I think, is that the US has to be the most iconic touring nation on Earth. When I think about touring in the States I think of 18- wheeler trucks trundling along Route 66, 35 shows in but not even halfway through, on their way to a mega-shed in some far-flung corner of Colorado where, although you’d be lucky to find so much as a ‘gas’ station, 50,000 people will appear out of nowhere, having driven for most of the day for a chance to hear Aerosmith at 140dB. Of course, to provide stadium rock levels to this many people in so many different venues, you need some big old speakers – and a lot them. Naturally enough, America is the primary target market for American manufacturers. So what does the monolithic nature of the US touring sector have on these firms? What are the pros of having the world’s biggest arena concert scene and some of the oldest and most established production companies on your doorstep? Are there any cons? Let’s have a look at some classic US tour sound brands and find out…
CROWN
One of the oldest US audio manufacturers, Crown, now owned by Harman, was founded as International Radio and Electronics Corporation (IREC) by Clarence C. Moore in 1947.
www.audioprointernational.com
Initially it produced open-reel tape recorders for use by missionaries in remote regions of the world. The firm’s name was changed to Crown in the 60s and the introduction of the DC300 high-powered, solid-state amplifier offering 150 Watts per channel at eight Ohms and AB+B circuitry followed, establishing Crown as a power amp leader. Today, although a handful of DC300s are still in use, the company manufactures some of the most advanced tour grade amps available. The I-Tech HD series of touring amplifiers is representative of the firm’s achievements in this sector – Crown itself claims it to be the world’s most advanced professional amplifier and not without good grounds. This amp has become a favorite with American production companies such as Audio Analysts, which took 54 of them on a 45-show US tour with Bruce Springsteen recently. Crown’s market manager for tour sound, Brian Pickowitz, feels that the biggest ‘pro’ of being an American manufacturer is the access that it gets to highly educated and talented individuals. “There are plenty of colleges world wide that do an excellent job educating individuals in engineering, manufacturing and business practices, however, with the density of world recognised colleges in the US, it allows Crown to stay on top of the technology and employ individuals committed to staying ahead of the curve. A perfect example of this is being a part of CPES (Center for Power Electronic Systems) and employing individuals from this pool of power electronics knowledge.” >
crownaudio.com
AVID
While Avid itself dates back to the 1980s, the firm, which was initially focused on video editing systems, didn’t begin to dabble in audio until it acquired fellow Californian developer Digidesign
audioPRO December/January 2010/11 17
In any business you are likely to make better products if you design them in collaboration with customers. David Gibbons Avid
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