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Recipe For A Possible Transcendent Experience

November 4, 2012 by Nathan Lively Leave a Comment

Hey there! If this is your first time here, why not sign up for updates via email in the sidebar over on the left? 😉

I’ve been going through the transcriptions of my Sound Design Live interviews to find good material for my eBook. I came across this great story from bay area DJ, William Wardlaw, about meeting a transcendental experience on the dance floor. It probably won’t make it into the book, but I wanted to share it in some way. You can listen to the entire interview at the bottom.

sound-design-live-william-wardlawYou told me a story once about this cathartic moment you had at a club in London that made you realized the power of, I don’t know if I can say dance music but the power of music or being a DJ in general so I was wondering if you could sort of tell that story and then lead into why you still go out to shows and what is great about a club experience I guess. Is that too many questions in one?

No, I like it. Well, I was lucky, I was in the honors program at North Carolina Chapel Hill, just saying, and the honors program has this small study abroad program. One was in Prague, but one was in London and my junior year, I spent my fall semester doing the honor semester abroad in London and it wasn’t my first time to Europe. I’ve studied abroad for a month at a time when I was 16 and 18 in Germany but I grew up in Ohio and in general, being the heterosexual kind of dorky dude in Ohio and in North Carolina means you aren’t exposed to very much dance music I liked. I won’t get too off topic but it suffices to say my awareness was pretty much Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method and that was about it as far as electronic dance music is concerned.

When I was living in London, one of the world’s top clubs hands down is Fabric, and I was within walking distance of Fabric, just a couple of blocks away and I knew it by reputation. I don’t even really know how. I think probably through URB Magazine. The moment that you mentioned, it was really a collection of moments but just the sense of being in a room that sounds perfect and if anyone has been in room 1 of Fabric, that room sounds perfect. It’s so just, the sound is amazing. Room Two is awesome in like a banging warehouse sound but, Room One is just something else and world class is really the best way to put it.

To be in a room with positive people, you’re so packed in that your arms have to be by your side or above your head because there is… You can’t do like your elbows out because that’s just not an option. You’d be a jerk trying to do that because you’re just going to… So, you’ve just got like no personal space but you’ve got complete anonymity. People around me couldn’t be less interested in who I am or in checking in with my ego essentially and that’s a recipe for a possible transcendent experience.

It changed my life. I knew that there was a lot about that experience that I wanted to keep experiencing and unlike a lot of people, for me, it wasn’t about – it wasn’t a drug fueled experience. It wasn’t an alcohol fueled experience. I couldn’t afford to drink. I didn’t do drugs but I couldn’t afford to do drugs even if I did do drugs really because I could barely afford to get into the door.

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Filed Under: Audio Technology Tagged With: dance music, Europe, London, Music

I’m Writing A Book!

September 6, 2012 by Nathan Lively 4 Comments

sound design live header

Well, an eBook, but still, it’s exciting. I decided to compile the interviews I’ve done through Sound Design Live into an easy-to-read handbook for all of my brothers in the pro audio world. It is especially aimed at independent contractors like me who need to be familiar with many different technologies and live events.

This is much more than just a simple transcription of the interviews. I’m compiling the information by theme and distilling it down to its most potent form so it will be exciting to read and the information will stick in your head.

This is going to be the most fun book about audio ever! It will read like a brilliantly deep and funny conversation with your best friend. My job is easy because these industry leaders are some of the most interesting people I’ve ever meet and generally have a great sense of humor.

If you’d like to take a look at the ProAudio Manifesto Sample Chapters, be my guest. It would be great to get your feedback on everything from layout design to content quality.

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Filed Under: Audio Technology Tagged With: audio, ebook, independent contractors, interview, podcast

New Project Seeking Collaborators: Vocalist, Choreographer/Dancer

May 8, 2012 by Nathan Lively Leave a Comment

Normally posts about my music would go on Zé Dos Frangos, but it is under construction at the moment.

I am starting a new musical project and the most fun thing I can think to do with it is dance. I’ve been watching a lot of YAKfilms and CirqueDuSoleil recently and I would like to do something similarly captivating. Let’s combine urban dance, acrobatics, and indie rock into a really fun show to perform in theatres, music venues, and film. The first two creative elements I want to put together are a great vocalist to interpret the music and a choreographer to help me pull together the visual forms.

VOCALIST: My preference is a female vocalist who could also cover keyboard, guitar, or bass parts, but I am open to other possibilities. If you would be excited to work with the music in this demo, contact me.

CHOREOGRAPHER: If you have contacts in the local dance community and would like to help me put dancers with these tracks, contact me.

I just threw this together today to see what it would look like.

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Filed Under: Audio Technology Tagged With: Berkeley, choreographer, Dance, dancer, Music, san francisco bay area, VOCALIST

FOR SALE: Used Professional Wireless Microphone Systems

April 19, 2012 by Nathan Lively 2 Comments

SALE ON HOLD WHILE SOME INVENTORY IN USE

I am an A/V Technician for Stage, Lights & Sound in Richmond, CA and I am helping them upgrade their wireless microphone inventory. As part of the upgrade, we are selling off some used, but very high-quality material. As the technician who used this equipment in the field, I can guarantee that it is fully functional and in great condition. Click on the images below to open the respective Craigslist ad.

Audio Technica Wireless Handheld Microphone 1400 Series
Audio Technica Wireless Handheld Microphone 1400 Series - $150

Shure LX SM58 Handheld & Lavalier Wireless Microphone System w/Antenna Splitter and Rack
Shure LX SM58 Handheld & Lavalier Wireless Microphone System w/Antenna Splitter and Rack - $450

Shure Dual PG58 Handheld Wireless Microphone
Shure Dual PG58 Handheld Wireless Microphone - $435

Shure Dual Lavalier Wireless Microphone PG185 - $445
Shure Dual Lavalier Wireless Microphone PG185 - $445

Shure PGX14/PG30 Headworn Wireless System
Shure PGX14/PG30 Headworn Wireless System - $299
Shure SM58 UT2 Wireless Microphone System UT4
Shure SM58 UT2 Wireless Microphone System UT4 – $199

Telex Handheld Wireless Microphone FMR-450- Set Of Four
Telex Handheld Wireless Microphone FMR-450- Set Of Four - $825

Telex SAFE-1000 Handheld Encrypted Wireless Microphone System
Telex SAFE-1000 Handheld Encrypted Wireless Microphone System - $499
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Filed Under: Audio Technology Tagged With: A/V Technician, audio, Shure, shure sm58, Tools and Equipment, Wireless microphone, wireless microphone systems

Finding Speaker Coverage In One Step

March 4, 2011 by Nathan Lively 3 Comments

One of the most fun things to do on a design project is push speakers around and look at the resulting prediction using MAPP Online Pro. It can also be time consuming, though. I usually need to try a few different speakers and positions before I find a working solution. That’s why I have been keen to try out Daniel Lundberg’s formula (that he developed using information from Sound Systems: Design And Optimization by Bob McCarthy) to find ideal speaker coverage angle. With a few pieces of information detailed in his article I was able to eliminate a lot of guesswork and go straight to workable solutions.

NOTE: For those of you attempting use the formula, put away that calculator and download this spredsheet.

Here you can see me use the architectural visual aids in MAPP to draw triangles for measurement.

Section wArchitecture
Section view of ground floor and balcony

 

 

Using Daniel’s formula I was able to determine initial coverage angles and then refine them to these results.

Section View wCoverage
Section view with speaker coverage identification
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Filed Under: Audio Technology Tagged With: Bob McCarthy, sound system design, Sound Systems, speaker coverage

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